Jamaica Day 1: The Beginning of The End

Walking into Houston Hobby Airport, it was good to see the people I would be spending the next two weeks of my time with. Though it is my second time coming to Jamaica, I am still unsure of the experiences that await me. This trip will be my final trip with Post Oak, it is an overwhelming yet exciting feeling.

Our travel to The Good Hope Plantation went by in the blink of an eye. Our walk into The Coach House was truly breathtaking. Though it is my second time coming here, this house is still so unique, serene, and beautiful. Furthermore, we spent much time settling in and enjoying each others company. We played board games, ping pong, read books, swam in the infinity pool, and got to talk.

Our first seminar of the trip was in my opinion the highlight of our day. From freshman to seniors, it was interesting to see what everyone had to say. I personally spoke about self growth, some spoke about their potential challenges, and some about physical as well as mental stress. What is important to me is to see how everyone faces their challenges and how everyone grows from this trip, what they learn, and how they react to new experiences.

Additionally, change is extremely important in our lives, and unfortunately many are scared of change and some can't bear the idea of it. This trip introduces what change feels like: no social media, no television, no fast food, no air conditioning, no going into your room at 3:30 pm and being alone for the rest of the day. Introverts face a daily challenge of socializing for the majority of the day, and extroverts may need to learn to be more aware of others.

Today was the start to the ending of my time here at Post Oak, but for some it may be the beginning. Jamaica presents everyone with change, challenges, and new opportunities for growth. I hope everyone uses the experiences here in Jamaica for self or group growth. It has been an amazing four years of growth for me, and I can't wait to take this final step into a new chapter of my life.

Day 1: Epic flight of the A-termers

Jamaica A-termers just chillin' with the Costa Rica A-termers at Hobby Airport this morning before we got on the plane

Excited and enthusiastic A-termers at the Montego Bay Airport after a long 3 hour flight

Day 10: A Final Look at the Film - Anna

During the our work here, the film group initially discussed a few topics for the film. Our original thought was to dig deeper into Jamaica's history by better understanding who were the significant people responsible for the turning points that shaped the country. We wondered if there were people who weren't represented for what they did and tried to think about how Jamaicans would be impacted if people with a shared history as them more were more heavily represented.

We started out by looking into how Jamaicans feel connected to and represented in their history through their family lineage and a shared history in their community. After many discussions and interviews and going through a long process of rethinking how the film will turn out, we finally have a more clear idea. Our film will show what it means to be Jamaican from the eyes of Jamaican people. It will be based in family, pride, and memory.

Throughout our experience of talking to locals we have not only learned so much about the people we are talking with, but we are also constantly furthering relationships with people. To me, the connections we make here are one of the most valuable aspects of the trip. I think it is an incredibly important part of our field school because we are always surrounding ourselves with Falmouth's rich history, so it's also really important to connect with the people in Falmouth now. After coming back for three years, it's special to be able to see the relationships we have created in years past continue to grow. These connections have created a network of people for us that provide us with resources to be able to do research to sustain our films each year. 

Day 10: Coming To A Close- Gabe

       
                                              The Tradition Continues! End Of Trip Picture
                                                                                   

                        In these last two pictures, Eddie teaches Sage and Josey how to plumb stones.

A final group picture at the restoration site with (from left to right): Kamar, Emory, Josey, Kenneth, Eddie, Sage, and Gabe

                                             

                        Andreas and Tyler are eating lunch in the back of Dr. Conolley's truck.

A final group picture at the archaeological site with (from left to right): Rim, Tyler, Dr. Conolley, Luke, Andreas, and Ren

A final look at the archaeological site!

Photos Day 9: Bonus Bioluminescent Blog - Claire

Tonight we took a fun excursion to visit Glistening Waters. What makes Glistening Waters glisten is billions of microscopic organisms which "charge" using the energy from the sun and glow blue during the night when disturbed in the water. Our captain, Jerry, proudly expressed that Glistening Water in Jamaica has the brightest glow in the entire world, although these organisms can be found in three other locations around the world.

Ren, Cole and Sage do their best to conceal their excitement before the ride begins. 

You can see how excited Anna and Claire were! 

The upperclassmen are clearly excited for the luminous lagoon! 

Gabe, Luke, Andreas, Tyler and Sutton are excited too!

Photos simply don't do the luminous lagoon justice. 

The glow was more green in real life!

Day 9: The Mystery of Archeology - Cole

     Working on the Archeological site at Kent has been a very educational and interesting process. I have really enjoyed working on the site because of the mystery involved with Archeology. We didn't know what we were going to find, and now that we've found something, we aren't exactly sure what it is. What we found appears to be a line that stretches across every hole that we have dug, so far it is close to 20 feet, but it hasn't stopped yet. This line is such a mystery to all of us, especially the students working at the site.
     This idea of not knowing what you're going to find is so intriguing to me. Although you don't always find something groundbreaking, it is still very important to continue to look for answers to events, people or things in the past. We need to know what has happened in the past, because it might affect us right now or in the future, and because uncovering history is very important as well. It would be much harder to do this without the work Archeologists do in the field. For example, Dr. Conolley tracks the movements and lives of the natives of Jamaica, the Taino, and he was able to tell that the Taino and British were trading with each other because of the items he found at different sites. Being able to track groups of people at certain times is a really important and cool skill to have, which is why I am thankful to be working at the Archeological site with a professional who is able to help us with any questions we have.

Day 9: Hard Work Pays Off - Luke

Anna, Luke, Claire and Sutton with the students of the Falmouth Primary School.

A student smiles at the camera at the Falmouth Primary School.

 Sutton, Luke, Claire, and Anna conduct a small video interview with a teacher when they first  arrived.

Sutton, Claire, and Anna research historical figures, at the library, to understand family representation. 

In the last two photos, Josey, Emory, Sage and Gabe install a new course with stones and mortar at the historical restoration site at the Good Hope Estate.

Andreas and Tyler sift out dirt in order to find fragments of artifacts at the Taino dig site. 

Andreas and Cole digging and uncovering artifacts in a new excavation, Unit 13.  

Day 8: New Friends and New Foundations - Josey

Today, I went with a group of students to restoration for the second time this week. We were reconstructing an old house, which required quite a bit of work including moving stones, and putting mortar in between the stones to keep them in place. The only thing that was different was we had two students from William Knibb Memorial High School who came to work on the project with us. When they arrived we were all a little nervous to meet them, but it was still exciting to get to know them and work together with people our age living in Jamaica. While going around to introduce ourselves, we noticed that they used different names for the grades they were in which gave us a new perspective on how things that seem so simple to us can be so completely different in international countries. After this, we told them about what we would be doing and the goal for this site over the course of this trip. We gave them a tour of Good Hope Plantation and gave a brief history of the different areas and the work done on the plantation, then we headed back to the site to start construction for the day.

Working on something like this you realize how important the tiniest details are. Every block has to be put in in a perfectly straight line, exactly level, or else you have to lift it back off, fix it, then go back over it again. It is a lot of work. The work we mostly did would be putting the mortar in between the stones to make sure they stayed in place. We did this along with the other students. Once we started to talk to them a little more it was interesting to learn about all the sports and games they play, for example, in school how it is popular to run track and field, play basketball, or play netball. It seems like for a lot of things we were all pretty similar, like how we all listened to similar types of music, or enjoyed playing hide-and-go-seek tag during lunch. Then there were other things that were different like the movies we watched or even the way we dress, which to us often seems like just a minor detail. Looking back, it was such a great experience getting to work with people our age, and getting to learn about the difference in the things we are so used to at home and the way things work here in Falmouth.

Photos Day 8: New Friendships and Collaboration - Ren

Students play a quick game before going out for the day.

Claire, Anna, Sutton, & Gabe take a photo with some local students. 

Ms. Tucker, Wakima, and Anika join Andreas, Sage, Emory, and Josey at Good Hope.

Josey, Emory, Wakima, and Anika work together.

The Restoration Crew lays down Mortar.

Photos Day 7: Monday Mortar Mayhem - Sage

Cole, Ren and Sage reading with their morning coffee.

Students prepare for their first day back after a fun weekend.

At the Good Hope restoration site, Josey fills limestone joints with mortar.

Sage strikes a pose in front of his handywork. 

Josey and Gabe observe intently as Andreas is laying mortar beds.

Claire, Anna, Sutton, and Emery take advantage of #goldenhour in Falmouth.

Mortar, Mortar, and More Mortar- Gabe

Today, I worked in the restoration group. As I had already spent a day in it, I expected today to be fairly similar. I was wrong. First off, the last time I was there, we were just tearing things down. This time around, we were building up. As you could probably tell from the title, we mainly worked in the mortar department. This included anything from shoveling mortar into a bucket to setting it down as a bed for the next stone to be put on using trowels. However, similarly to last time, it wasn't light work. It wasn't as physically painful as last time, when we had to move and carry large stones, but it still wasn't easy by any means. Shoveling the mortar required strength along with carrying buckets full of it. On the building itself, we mainly used it by setting mortar beds for the stones and then proceeding to adding support to the stones. As you can imagine, it had to be perfect and had to be level so that the next course, or layer, of stones would be even and straight. 

One thing that was different from last time was how much work we had to do. We had a lot to do the first time around, when we helped in just about every aspect of the destruction of the building, but this time, we helped when we could but we also spent a lot of time sitting down and observing. You might think that we were disappointed in a way, but that wasn't really the case because we understood why they wanted to take matters into their own hands. They do this for a living and have for years and maybe even decades, and we're high school students, and the building had to be just about perfect so that it can be restored accurately. This doesn't mean that they just ignored us, because, again, we really did help them throughout the day with the transportation and use of mortar, which as I said before, wasn't easy work. Overall, it was a slightly less active workday than the last time I worked in Restoration, but our work was still very meaningful and important. 

Day 6: A Church Experience Like No Other: Andreas

    Ok, so I am not sure how I am going to talk about this experience because today there was so much to  write about that I could end up with 50 pages, but I will try to keep it short for the reader's sake. When I originally heard that we would be attending church I was a little bit nervous. My reasoning for this was I never really attend church in America so I was not sure how on earth I would get through an hour and a half of church in Jamaica. From the times that I had attended church in America the only things that I can really remember is an old man talking in a really monotone voice and lasting for hours and hours. As I walked into the church, all my previous thoughts and expectations about church went away.
      The only similarity at all between American and Jamaican churches is the length, but other than that nothing is the same. I knew this the second I walked through the doors to the church. No only were people singing and letting the emotions flow but they were doing it so loudly that I could hear it before we even got to the church. It was like a whole new world behind the doors. We were instantly given seats in the front row which personally made me feel like we were welcomed and valued. But anyways as we got to our seats we all began singing the songs on the TV, but as I was singing I was also observing how differently people act in Jamaican church. People were breaking out in dance and letting their emotions flow. One lady even got on her hands and knees and prayed right in front of the preacher. Speaking of the preacher, he had to be one of coolest guys on the face of the earth. Although I could barely understand what he was saying, just the way he was saying it moved me intensely. The heart and passion that was in his voice made me think in depth about my beliefs and how I truly feel about church. These thoughts were focused a lot on should I attend church more often and how do I learn to be more appreciative of the people in my life and what they have done to help me in my life. So without a doubt I would say this has been my favorite moment on the trip so far.

By yours truly,

Andreas Cantu

Photos Day 6: Playing Tourists for a Day - Anna

At 6' 5", Dr. Q looks tiny next to the "avatar tree" during a morning hike.

 Everyone seems excited to raft down the Martha Brae!

We all enjoy a rum-less punch before our excursion.

A view of the Martha Brae from the entrance.

The drivers' of our rafts get ready for us.

Anna and Claire are first to set off on their raft.

Then Ren and Tyler...

Cole and Sage...

Gabe and Andreas...

Luke and Emory...

And finally, Sutton and Josie.

Dr. Lee and Dr. Q snap a quick selfie during their rafting.

Sutton, Gabe, and Andreas enjoy festival, a local delicacy.

We end our day with a beautiful view of the sunset from the Good Hope Coach House.