"Down the way where the nights are gay, and the sun shines daily on the mountain top, I took a trip...and when I reached Jamaica I made a stop!" So goes the old folk song. The Jamaica SST team is finding this song to be true. We are indeed having much sunshine on the mountain top and some rain as well!

The 15 member SST group plus faculty leader Sheila Yoder and Art McFarlane, husband of co-leader faculty member Pat McFarlane,arrived at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay about 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, May 2. Pat McFarlane and a bus driver met them there and all traveled together to the Youth With A Mission campus above the Montego Bay harbour. After an afternoon to relax and settle in, the group met for a "getting to know you" exercise in ASL and a discussion on intercultural communication and culture shock.

The next morning we gathered for breakfast and worship and then met the faculty assistant, Jacki Hanna, and her husband Byron, who shared with us about Jamaican culture. Then Art McFarlane lectured on the Jamaican patois. In the afternoon we boarded a bus to visit the Caribbean Christian School for the Deaf in Montego Bay. Here we received a tour of the school, met and talked with students and had a delicious Jamaican lunch of chicken and rice and peas. Following this visit we drove to Rose Hall, the great house of a plantation which once had 2000 slaves, and heard the story of its mistress Annie Palmer. We also learned much about Jamaican life during slavery and life on a sugar plantation during that time period. In the evening we practiced our Jamaican patois and then spent additional time learning about Jamaican life and culture. Our Youth With A Mission host, Jeffrey, and Art McFarlane provided tips on culture and daily life.

Friday morning we worshipped with the YWAM teams who were present and then talked together about the academic component of SST - syllabus, journals, projects. At 11:00 we headed by bus to Montego Bay where students explored the town. Some visited the craft market; others visited Sam Sharpe Square and learned about this freedom fighter; most everyone ended up for part of the afternoon at Doctor's Cave Beach for a delightful swim. In the evening Sheila led a discussion in preparation for our work in the various deaf schools. Then we shared together in a worship time, committing our work in the schools to God.

Early Saturday morning most of us boarded the bus for our ride around the island to the different schools. Megan and Sam were taken by Jeffrey, our host, to the Carribbean Christian School for the Deaf in Montego Bay. Pastor Campbell from the Jamaican Christian School for the Deaf transported Rachel and Lynda. The rest of us climbed on the bus for a long day of riding to Browns Town, Kingston, May Pen, Mandeville and Top Hill to the various schools in these locations. Sheila, Pat and Art arrived back in Mandeville at their apartment about 10:30 p.m.

So the SST students are now scattered across the island and beginning work in their respective deaf schools. Pat and Sheila plan to visit the two students in Kingston later this week and will visit the other students the following week.

We have all been enjoying the fresh fruit - pineapple, oranges, melons - available here. It is almost mango season, and we look forward to eating many of those as well! We are crossing two cultures here - learning about Jamaican culture as well as Jamaican deaf culture. We have much to learn in these next weeks but are feeling up to the challenge!

Jamaica SST unit students are now working at the seven deaf schools across the island. One student, Mary, is working with the Jamaican Association for the Deaf. On Thursday several SST'ers accompanied their students to the Children's Expo at the National Arena in Kingston. Today several SST'ers are accompanying their students to a speech contest sponsored by the Optimist Club. Mary and Phil are serving as judges at this event.

Pat and Sheila visited Phil and Mary on Thursday. Phil is working in Kingston at the Lister Mair/Gilby High School for the Deaf. He noted that his signing is improving in the four days since he has been interacting with the students. Phil lives just above Kingston in the Blue Mountains.

Mary is working at the Jamaican Association for the Deaf doing a variety of assignments including interpreting. Next week she will interpret a police report at the JAD social service centre where she works. Mary has been asked to do this because she is the most qualified worker available to JAD. She is learning to depend on God in this position where she has moved from student to expert almost overnight.

Cody, Kevin and Emily are finding similar challenges at the Caribbean Christian Center for the Deaf in Knockpatrick (near Mandeville). Pat and Sheila found Cody designing a poster and tickets for a May 26 fundraising event. Kevin was surprised to find himself substitute teaching one morning in a classroom of six middle-school-aged youth, teaching math and science. He is also working at the school's clinic. His first patient was a child needing a bandaid "to make it feel better". Soon he had a crowd of would-be patients around him, all with "injuries" needing attention.

Emily has begun a ballet class since her arrival at the school. Her students are eagerly learning ballet positions. (Don't miss the picture of Cody in Emily's ballet class; the students urged him to join the class on the day Pat and Sheila visited. Ssh! Don't tell the GC soccer team!)

Ms. Lola Wright, principal, says that these students are happy to complete the line at the end of the job description which says "and anything else you are asked to do". Ms. Wright took the GC students to a community sign language class where they were seen as experts because of their knowledge of American Sign Language.

Meanwhile Sheila and Pat are settling into their apartment in Mandeville, working with their assistant Jacki Hanna on plans for the six weeks of academics following service. They also take daily walks on the hills and streets around the town. Next Tuesday they hope to visit the four students who are working at deaf schools in or near Montego Bay.

Kevin developed this top ten list when we were in orientation at Youth With A Mission in Montego Bay. He shared it with all of us just before we left to work at the deaf schools.

Ten Best Things About Taking A Cold Shower At YWAM

10. The bathroom mirror never fogs up.

9. Your roommate will never be mad at you for using up all the hot water.

8. You always leave the bathroom with the feeling you have done your part to conserve water.

7. The buildup of a soap ring in the tub has become a thing of the past.

6. Your towel takes less time to dry because you never really get wet.

5. You have less chance of slipping and falling in the tub because each step taken towards the shower head is performed slowly and cautiously.

4. Shower time gives you an opportunity each day to practice your balancing and do some stretching.

3. We are in Jamaica now instead of during their winter months.

2. You have the ability to isolate what part of your body gets wet and when.

1. You will never again hear screams of agony for an inadvertant flushing of the toilet.

Pat and Sheila headed to Montego Bay on Tuesday to visit Rachel and Lynda at the Jamaica Christian School for the Deaf and Megan and Sam at the Caribbean Christian School for the Deaf (Montego Bay campus).

Rachel and Lynda serve 24/7 as assistant teachers and assistant house mothers in the girls' dorm. They live in a small room within the girls' dormitory and across from the principal at this 30-plus student residential school just north of Montego Bay near Lethe.

Megan and Sam are working as assistant teachers and as leaders of after school entertainment activities. Part way through the first week Sam became a temporary teacher for three special education students.

Rachel and Lynda and Sam and Megan are all challenged by the mixture of Jamaican Sign Language and English coded sign systems used within the classroom settings. Of course, they continue to hear Jamaican patois as they interact with hearing educators within the schools. (There are very few deaf teachers in the schools.) Our students are really crossing two cultures here - Jamaican deaf culture and Jamaican hearing culture!

Students continue to enjoy and try authentic Jamaican foods - curried goat, chicken foot and rice, jerk chicken and rice and peas, coconut pie and ackee and salt fish. (Don't miss the picture of Sheila holding the open ackee fruit in front of the Goshen College notebook.)

Amber and Vanessa are working at the Jamaica Association for the Deaf school in May Pen about 45 minutes from Mandeville and an hour from Kingston. They assist in the classrooms helping students with homework assignments after the teacher has presented the lesson. Since this school is not a residential one, they live with the principal, Mrs. Rhoden, and her family. Mrs. Rhoden also boards two deaf young women during the week, so Amber and Vanessa have a large family to relate to during the week. They usually set the table and do the dishes each evening. Mrs. Rhoden loves to cook, so they are sampling many Jamaican foods!

High in the hills of Browns Town, Jamaica, sits St. Christopher's School for the Deaf. This school has the distinction of being the first deaf school established on the island; it began in 1936. Here Geneva and Amanda help with classes and spend time after school playing with the children. Uno has become a favorite pasttime, a much requested game by the children of St Christopher's. Just down the hill from the school is the town's library where Geneva and Amanda sometimes accompany their classes to get books.

Katie and Angela live near Top Hill and quite literally on top of a hill from which they can view the lush parish of St. Elizabeth. Maranatha Christian School for the Deaf has about 25 students. Some live at the school, and others come by bus each morning. Katie and Angela each work in one of the classrooms during the morning and then teach computer classes later in the day. Students are excited to work on the four computers available in the computer lab/library. On the day Sheila and Pat visited, the smaller children were drawing their houses and writing My House at the top of their pages. Katie and Angela created a computer keyboard with the ASL alphabet hand shapes on the keyboard letters to help students write their papers.

Sheila, Pat, Angela and Katie and our coordinator's husband, Byron Hanna, drove from the school to Treasure Beach for lunch by the sea. Look closely at the fish Katie and Angela are eating - whole fish complete with eyes and tail. Katie and Angela dubbed the escoveitched fish "delicious"! After lunch everyone except Byron took a dip in the sea, a cooling way to relax on this hot afternoon.

Labour Day, May 23, in Jamaica is not a day to head for the beach and lie in the sun. Instead most people become part of a work project somewhere. In Mandeville, Sheila joined in a work project at her landlord's church, Mandeville Bible Chapel. She dug up soil and took out rocks, loosening it to prepare it for planting. Later, we heard that her coworkers talked about just how hard she had worked! On the Sunday following, her work and those of other individuals was seen at the church as three varieties of new palm trees (Japanese palm, Christmas palm, and Foxtail palm), pouis trees, a black olive tree and flowers (lantana, hibiscus, coleus, and periwinkles) lined the property.

Meanwhile, at the Caribbean Christian School for the Deaf, Emily, Cody and Kevin were busy labouring - helping to clean up the lawn and campus. Cody commented, "I like our Labour Day compared to theirs because we don't have to labour!" Jacki Hanna explained to us that this focus on actually labouring on Labour Day was proposed by Prime Minister Michael Manley in the 70's. "It used to be a day for going to the beach," she laughed.

This national holiday was followed on Saturday, May 26, by a special fundraiser at Caribbean Christian School for the Deaf in Knockpatrick. So Kevin, Cody, and Emily also laboured to make this day a success! Kevin parked cars, Emily worked at the admission booth and also led her dance troupe, and Cody created a slide show on the computer and also played a bit of soccer with the team he coaches. Pat and Sheila spent part of the day there and helped to fold forks into napkins for the fundraising lunches of jerk chicken, curried goat or baked chicken.

Amber and Vanessa traveled from May Pen to join in the fundraiser, and Katie and Angela also came from Maranatha Christian School for the Deaf to be part of this event. They took the plunge and used Jamaican "route taxis" to get there and back. Katie and Angela actually used three route taxis to make the long journey. (Route taxis, much like U.S. busses, travel standard routes throughout the island and can usually be accessed in each town.)They felt proud to have accomplished this cross-cultural challenge.

On Day 21 of rain since Sheila and Pat's arrival in Mandeville, they headed off with local coordinator Jacki Hanna and her husband Byron to visit Geneva and Amanda at St. Christopher's School for the Deaf in Browns Town. As they traveled, the sun began to shine, revealing hills of lush green foliage, banana trees and coffee plants. Then the rain began again as they descended from the hills into Browns Town. Geneva and Amanda joined us for a trip into Runaway Bay for lunch. As we left the school, we quite literally dropped into a water-filled pothole, blowing our left front tire. While Byron and a police officer who was passing by changed the tire, the rest of us held the umbrellas. (No major cultural difference here between Jamaica and the U.S.!) Then we continued on to lunch and a good visit where we heard Amanda and Geneva's stories.

Since Pat and Sheila's last visit, Amanda and Geneva have each had a day of substitute teaching in one of the classes in addition to their usual work as assistants. They continue to entertain the children after school hours by playing Uno and other games. Geneva became a heroine one day when she caught a white croaking lizard in Amanda's room and took it outside, showing it to the children who were amazed at her courage. Meanwhile Amanda has the honor of stomping out the occasional cockroach in Geneva's room. So they share their various adventures! Geneva writes in her journal of another adventure. "You have not lived until you have had a fire ant on your toilet paper!"

Amanda and Geneva have also visited the Anglican Church in Browns Town, visited the local library, visited friends of Amanda near the sea since Sheila and Pat last saw them. They are looking forward to seeing their peers as we gather back in Ocho Rios for our retreat at the end of our service time.

In Kingston Town Mary is engaged in interpreting assignments with Jamaica Association for the Deaf. She is also preparing to lead a workshop for interpreters next week.

Last week she and Phil helped with Children's Day at Lister Mair Gilby High School, the JAD school to which Phil has been assigned. The day included a movie and a special lunch for everyone.

Phil wrote in his journal. "Yesterday at LMG was Children's Day. The kids did not need to wear their regular uniforms but did have a dress code of jeans, a white shirt/P.E. shirt and white or black shoes. The kids arrived around 8 for worship and then a movie was started for them around 9:30-10:00. Between these activities, the kids just hung out and I played cards with them. Then lunch of chicken and rice and peas was served to all the kids and teachers who sat at tables with table cloths. Then, ice cream was served. Finally, the afternoon program started at 1:30ish. The program included a clown, four different dance groups and a hat competition."

Phil continues to assist by teaching and helping teachers in several classrooms. He has helped students review their learnings on the ear and continues to enjoy having conversations with the young people he teaches. He lives up in Irish Town in the Blue Mountains above Kingston. Not far from his home is Strawberry Hill, a lovely resort with glorious views of the mountains and Kingston below.

Meanwhile in Maypen, Amber and Vanessa are currently helping to proctor exams for the children in the classes they help with at the Jamaican Association School for the Deaf in that town. They are learning to play cricket with the children, and Amber received a hurt toe as her souvenir. Amber is also learning Jamaican dances from her students who are about to enter yet another dance competition.

Vanessa reflected in her journal on the opportunities she has had to observe in classes. "Today I sat in with the pre-school class.This was my last class to observe after being with every grade for an entire day. However, I think I've been doing more helping than observing, so Amber and I might continue to simply sit in a different classroom (separate from each other) each day and help the kids with their work.

The pre-schoolers were learning prepositions, and numbers the first half of the day and had P.E. the second half. P.E. consisted of dance practice for the students involved in the competition and cricket. I played cricket with the boys and then got a few dance tips from the older students while dancing outside."

Amber writes in her journal, "I learned today that chocho needs water to soften-not just oil. I learned that sheets can dry on the line in about half an hour. That black flies will not leave the kitchen no matter how much you scrub the counters. That I'm beginning to understand our old Auntie's patois."

Amber also reflects on what she's observed about driving in Jamaica. "There are very few stoplights. Cars are all over the road, avoiding pedestrians, bikes and potholes. The horn is used for all communication, including greetings, warnings, thanks, and expletives. Road rage, in the midst of the mayhem, is rarely seen. If you have a car, you offer rides to anyone who might be going your way if there is any possible way to fit them in. Any taxi is bound to carry more people than the vehicle is supposed to carry."

Katie writes about foods which she eats at Maranatha School for the Deaf. "The staple for breakfast is actually the drink. Every morning I get a mug of chocolate tea. It tastes a lot like hot chocolate, but it is thicker. Another common breakfast food is sandwiches. They are usually cheese, butter or peanut butter. I usually enjoy these and they fill me up pretty fast. Some mornings we'll have Johnny cakes. They are like a fried biscuit. They're very greasy but tasty. The fact that they are fried reminds me of the fair back home. It makes me think of elephant ears.

Usually with the Johnny cakes there is chicken sausage. I think they taste more like hot dogs. They also look like hot dogs, cut into slices and they are often served covered in a sauce. This is one food that I hated at the beginning. I've gotten used to it now, and I like it.

We also occasionally have pancakes and syrup. These taste the same way they do at home. For lunch and dinner there is usually some sort of meat. It is typically chicken, fish or pork. It is never processed meat and usually has quite a few bones in it. I usually like the meat and don't mind picking around the bones. A lot of the kids eat the bones, but I'm not quite to that point yet. The meat is also usually flavored in some way. Rice and peas or beans is a staple food for dinner."

Sheila ate her first roast breadfruit this week and enjoyed it very much. (See the accompanying picture.)Although it is called a fruit, when it is roasted, it tastes much like a potato with a similar texture. Sheila reflected, "I hope we can make breadfruit for the students when they come. It will be fun to introduce them to it."

If you read the June 8, 2007, Gleaner, you will note the following article title: "Deaf association to host sign-language seminar". If you read further, you will note, "The Jamaica Association for the Deaf (JAD) will be hosting two one-day workshops on 'The Profession of Sign-Language Interpreting'. The workshop is open to all serious signers currently functioning as sign-language interpreters in school, seminars, medical, religious, formal and informal settings, as well as other interested members of the public."

Mary, who is working with JAD, is one of the presenters of these workshops. She has been preparing her powerpoint presentation and is looking forward to the opportunity to lead part of the workshop along with Shoshana Sullivan whose name appears in the article. The workshops will be held Monday, June 11, and Wednesday, June 13.

The photo shows Mary and Phil who both work with JAD in Kingston (Mary with the office and Phil at the JAD high school) with the new group of Deaf Cultural Facilitators who are preparing to go out into the JAD schools.

Sheila and Pat are completing final visits to SSTers at the different deaf schools as our six weeks of service come to a close. Last Friday Sheila visited Angela and Katie at Maranatha School for the Deaf in Top Hill while Pat checked in with Vanessa and Amber in Maypen. Tomorrow, June 12, Pat and Sheila will visit Megan and Sam at the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf in Montego Bay and Lynda and Rachel at the Jamaican Christian School for the Deaf in Lethe. This Friday will be the last day SSTers will be present at the various schools. After saying goodbye to the students and teachers at the schools, SST students will travel Sunday, June 17, and Monday, June 18, to Palm Ridge Retreat near Ocho Rios for a post-service retreat and the beginning of classes. During this time we will not have computer access, so look for the next blog about June 22 or 23 after we have come to Mandeville.

While Goshen College students have been building relationships with deaf students and adults at their various schools, Sheila has been building a relationship with the deaf community in Mandeville. She has regularly attended the deaf church near Mandeville (See the accompanying pictures) and also attended the weekly Thursday evening deaf fellowship in Mandeville itself. We are grateful that the deaf community has extended an invitation to GC students to attend both the deaf church and the deaf fellowship during their Mandeville stay. These activities will become an important part of the students' language and intercultural education.

The deaf pastor, Damian Campbell, and his wife, Felicia, have been insightful guides as we have entered this community. They are busy empowering the deaf community through "nurturing seeds of hope and faith" at the deaf church. In addition, they are advocates for social change as they experience, and observe, the discrimnation of the deaf community by the hearing community. One example of this discrimination: although a law was passed approximately one year ago giving deaf people the right to drive, many communities have not yet recognized this law. Therefore, most deaf people are not allowed to have a driver's license. The Campbells graciously work to educate the hearing community about the many gifts and skills deaf people can contribute to society when allowed to do so.

In this final 6 weeks students will have the opportunity to meet people like Pauline Bent, a deaf woman who teaches at Maranatha Christian School for the Deaf. She is one of the few deaf teachers in the deaf schools where one finds mostly hearing teachers. Pauline is also unique because she is fluent in three langauges: "country" signs, the indigenous sign language of Jamaica, as well as Jamaican Sign Language and English. They will also meet Marlon Cleghorn, a deaf cycling enthusiast, who once rode his bicycle three hours from Mandeville to Montego Bay to enter a cycling race from Montego Bay to Lucea about 36 kilometers away.(Remember, this is hilly Jamaica with narrow, curvy, mountain roads, and he could not drive to the starting line as he is not allowed to have a driver's license.)

Students will have formal JSL classes taught by two deaf adults, Felicia Campbell and Tashi Bent, at Jamaica Bible College in Mandeville. As Sheila and Pat read student journals, we have found many comments indicating students are looking forward to our learning time together as a group in Mandeville.

Jamaica Mennonite Retreat Centre rests in the hills above Ocho Rios with a view of the Caribbean Sea below and with many tropical flowers and trees surrounding the guest houses. Here we gathered after our goodbyes at the various deaf schools around the island for reconnection and rest and the beginning of our six weeks of study.

We began by sharing stories of our cross-cultural experiences. Pat asked students to share a time when they absolutely knew beyond a doubt that they had crossed into a new culture. They also discussed where they now found themselves on a model of culture shock which they had first explored during orientation days at Youth With A Mission in Montego Bay. Theo McFarlane then led students in an introduction to reggae music, inviting them to listen to songs from the early days of ska to roots reggae, dancehall music and modern reggae. He reviewed the themes in reggae (suffering, Babylon as the oppressor whether it is the police or the government, etc.)

On Tuesday Sheila invited students to share their observations from each of their particular service sites. Divided into small groups, students used specific criteria such as size of school, rural versus urban settings, etc. and then shared their findings with the larger group.

On Tuesday afternoon we had time to relax in the Retreat Centre's pool and continue our reflections and reconnections. In the evening Art McFarlane provided an overview of Jamaica's history from the early times of the Arawak Indians to the present.

Wednesday morning students were introduced to West Indian literature and then specifically Jamaican literature as Jennifer McFarlane-Harris led a discussion on post-colonial literature and the work of "Miss Lou" (The Honourable Lousie Bennett Coverly) whose poetry in the Jamaican patois raised respect for the dialect and the lives of the common people of Jamaica, resulting in respect for the Jamaican culture. "Miss Lou" in one poem reminds her audience that if they want to kill the Jamaican dialect because it is not good enough, then they will also have to kill the Yorkshire and Cockney dialects and the Scotch and Irish brogues as well. She further warns her readers and listeners that if they want to kill the Jamaican dialect, "You wi haffi get de Oxford Book A English verse, an tear Out Chaucer, Burns, Lady Grizelle An plenty a Shakespeare!" Students very quickly made the connection between the experience of the denigration of Patois with the denigration of sign language, be it American or Jamaican Sign langauge.

Wednesday afternoon our group visited Sun Valley Plantation, a working farm whose owners continue to raise coconuts, bananas and other products. Today they mostly raise coconuts in order to bottle coconut water for sale in the island. We saw many of the Jamaican plants such as breadfruit, pineapple, nutmeg, cinnamon, banana, etc. During the evening session back at Palm Ridge,students gathered to share and compare specific JSL vocabulary they have learned over the past 6 weeks.

Thursday we spent at Dunn's River Falls which cascades 600 feet down to the Caribbean Sea. We climbed the falls, some of us two or three times, and also enjoyed the warm waters of the beach below where the cool waters of the river meet the warm sea water. Friday we headed for Mandeville and the remainder of our study time in Jamaica.

Our group arrived in Mandeville on Friday, June 22. While we waited at Mandeville Bible Chapel for transportation to our homes, our students created a human knot and then tried to "untie" themselves! They spent the weekend getting to know their families and becoming familiar with the town. A few students were able to worship at the New Life Deaf church located just outside of Mandeville at the Jamaica Deaf Village.

Monday we began classes at Jamaica Bible College with sign language classes led by Felicia Campbell and Tashi Bent, both deaf women from the island who have studied in the United States. We also received a tour of the Jamaica Bible College campus. On Tuesday we heard Donville Jones speak about his work as managing director of the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf as well as his experience raising a deaf daughter, Felicia, who is now one of our teachers.

We have just completed our first week of studies at Jamaica Bible College in the heart of Mandeville. Students are learning many new words in Jamaican Sign Language as well as hearing lectures and taking field trips.

Several students have returned to their respective schools at the service sites for graduation. On Sunday, June 24, Angela, Katie, and Sheila attended the graduation at the Maranatha Christian School for the Deaf. Tuesday Rachel and Lynda had the opportunity to attend the graduation ceremony at the Jamaica Christian School for the Deaf where they had served for six weeks. On Thursday the entire group attended the graduation at Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf at Knockpatrick near Mandeville where Emily, Cody and Kevin had worked.

Friday afternoon our local coordinator, Jacki Hanna, gave us a history of the town markets in Jamaica and prepared us to visit the Mandeville market to interview the higglers. We walked there in pairs and returned to Jamaica Bible College with our purchases. Kevin found a delicious pineapple. Cody purchased a ripe mango which he proceeded to enjoy while we had announcements after our trip. (Note his enjoyment in the accompanying picture.)

Felicia Campbell, one of the Goshen College SST students' sign language teachers, unexpectedly invited them to join in the activites at a nearby Deaf camp on Tuesday, July 3. The camp of roughly 100 people (deaf children and adults) was held at the Jamaica Deaf Village, roughly 15 minutes from Mandeville.

Our time at camp began with a fantastic traditional Jamaican lunch of chicken, rice and peas and cabbage salad. We were then assigned to assist in a variety of activities: a self defense course, art, basketmaking, football, papermaking, etc. The camp organizers included a group of hearing people from the US, many of whom could not sign. The SSTers willingly offered to do "whatever needed to be done" and many found themselves in the role of interpreter for the hearing people leading activities. Other students became assistants interacting with young campers to accomplish whatever project was being taught. Sheila ended up with dishwashing duty (Remember no paper plates or cups!) along with Tashi, another one of our sign language instructors.

This day ended around 5:00 with a tired but satisfied group of SSTers heading back to town in the camp van exchanging stories of their experience.

Our SST group traveled to Kingston on Thursday, July 5 for an extended weekend in Jamaica's capital city. We toured the National Gallery of Art on Thursday morning where we had the opportunity to know Jamaican culture better through the work of its artists. In the afternoon we visited the Bob Marley Museum. It was exciting to see where this great reggae artist had lived and worked.

Friday we visited the Jamaica Association for the Deaf. Anthony Aiken, a deaf cultural facilitator who serves on their board, shared with us about deaf culture in Jamaica. Then we toured Devon House, the home of the first African Jamaican millionaire. In a nearby shop we sampled the famous Devon House IScream (ice cream) known throughout Jamaica for its rich flavour. In the afternoon we had the opportunity to have a guided tour of the Natural History part of the Institute of Jamaica. Our guide introduced us to the birds, insects, and plants of Jamaica as well as life on the coral reef.

A highlight of our Kingston weekend was our Saturday trip to a coffee farm high in the Blue Mountains above the city. Here we talked with the owner and his wife who told us how they grow and market Blue Mountain Coffee. We tasted delicious samples of different roasts of coffee and also observed how the roasting was done. Some of us left with our own personal bags of Blue Mountain Coffee!

Before returning to Mandeville on Sunday, we attended the deaf church which meets at the Calabar High School in Kingston. Here we had the opportunity to worship and also to visit with deaf adults and learn more about Jamaican deaf culture.

During our trip to Kingston, the SST group had the opportunity to observe a rastafarian gathering or "reasoning" at Papine Square in the northern part of Kingston. The people in this spiritual movement believe that the former Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia is a god-king or the messiah. This movement might also be described as a retrieving or reinventing of African heritage/identity.

We were able to observe the rastas (both men and women) who had gathered, and also listen to their drumming and ceremonies honoring former emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. Some students were able to converse with individual rastas to learn more about their beliefs which include biblical Euro-Christian values/doctrines as well as ideas borrowed from Hindu East Indians who came to work in Jamaica. Students learned of their strong belief in family, their desires for peace and justice, and their knowledge of the biblical texts. It was an enlightening time of conversation and observation.

On July 11 we visited the Appleton Rum Factory to find out about this part of Jamaican culture. We viewed the fields of sugar cane owned by the Appleton Estate, learned how the sugar is separated from the molasses, and how the molasses is then fermented with yeast to create Jamaican rum. We also had the opportunity to learn how cane juice is made. Indeed, Geneva and Cody became human "donkeys" who squeezed the cane juice out of a large piece of sugar cane so we could all taste it. (See the accompanying pictures.) On the way back to Mandeville, we ate lunch in the bustling town of Santa Cruz in the parish of St. Elizabeth.

In addition, we went to Goshen. Yes, you read that right! There is a Goshen, Jamaica. We stopped to record this moment - Goshen College students in Goshen, Jamaica.

The weather here in Mandeville has been pleasant and breezy. We are enjoying the coolness that sometimes comes at this elevation and the bright sun on the mountain tops.

Thirteen SST'ers and four MCC'ers joined together this past weekend to climb to the top of Jamaica's highest mountain peak - Blue Mountain Peak. We left Mandeville on Saturday afternoon and traveled to Kingston where we met Ron Good, MCC country representative for Jamaica, and three young people who have been in Jamaica with MCC's Salt program this past year. We headed up to Mavis Bank where we exchanged our bus for jeeps which took us further up the mountain to a rustic lodge where we ate supper and spent the night.

Early Sunday morning following breakfast, (at 4:15 a.m. to be exact) we began our hike to the peak. All of us arrived there sometime between 7:00 and 8:30 a.m. We found the limits of our endurance tested and felt a great sense of accomplishment when we reached the top of the 7,402 foot peak.

We returned to the lodge about 12:00 a.m. ate lunch and took the jeeps back down to Mavis Bank, then the bus to Kingston and home to Mandeville. We discovered muscles we did not know we had and a bond of friendship and support we will never forget.

Note the picture of "Poor Cody" who found himself surrounded by girls on this mountain adventure!

Phil commented on his mountain hike. "It was so beautiful at the top. It was like I was in a fog." Note,the mountain top was actually in a fog this morning. "Sam's response to the hike was found in one word - "Ow!" Geneva noted, "Incredibly difficult; wonderfully amazing! Yes, Mom, I really did want my sweater!" Emily simply said, "Bring it on!" Mary exclaimed, "After two and a half months in Jamaica, we finally got high...7,402 feet!"

Lynda and Rachel spent their six weeks of service at Jamaica Christian School for the Deaf. They want to share some of their photos from their experience. Below are the captions they have created for the pictures

Hanging out with the kids on the bamboo bench before school

Toddler Kyan bosses Rachel around at bedtime in the girls' dorm

Lynda helps Troy on his final exam

Rachel helps Robertha during exam week

Night out with staff on our last weekend

Lynda and Rachel with Superintendent Mary

Rachel with Tka

Lynda with JaJa

Lynda with Roxanne

Martin, Jerome, Rachel and Lynda

We traveled to Nain in the St. Elizabeth Parish to visit Alumina Partners of Jamaica on Friday, July 20. There we learned about how alumina is extracted from bauxite. We were met by one of the company directors, Patrick James (who is also Pat's brother-in-law). He welcomed us and showed us a video about the history and work of Alpart in Jamaica. Alpart is the largest alumina manufacturing facility on the island and contributes over US$378 million to the Jamaican economy each year. Indeed bauxite is the second largest revenue producer for Jamaica after tourism.

We were then given a short lecture about the chemical process whereby the extraction process occurs and then toured the plant by bus to observe where the different parts of this process happen. We left knowing a lot more about the source of soda cans, window frames and car parts - all manufactured from aluminum which comes from alumina.

On Wednesdays we usually meet for lunch and discussions at Pat and Sheila's house - 11A Bonitto Crescent in Mandeville. This past week we dined on Sloppy Joes, macaroni salad, fresh veggies and chocolate cake and ice cream.

In the afternoon we talked about principles of colonialism ("the doctrine of the superiority of the white race and the inferiority of the black. Europe was civiliser and Africa was savage. Skin colour was a badge of status, with blackness denoting slave labour and the gradations of colour moving downwards to degradation" - from The Story of the Jamaican People by Philip Sherlock and Hazel Bennett, p. 12)and how some of these principles are also at work in the Jamaican deaf community. (For example, the superiority of the hearing and the inferiority of the deaf. The hearing as "civilser"-educated and the Deaf as learner. Some measure of hearing as a badge of status...)

We discussed examples in small groups and then gathered to share our learnings in the larger group setting. Some of these included: at the deaf schools hearing people are in authority positions and there are very few Deaf teachers; Deaf people are still called "dummy" by many in this society; in addition Deaf people who have excellent Jamaican Sign Language skills but no speaking ability are not allowed to apply for a driver's license, even though a new law on the books says they may. Students were able to draw many other comparisons from their interactions with the Deaf and hearing communities.

This week we have begun our goodbyes to Jamaica and the people who enriched our lives here. We have only one more class at Jamaica Bible College and Community Institute on Friday morning. On Wednesday morning we completed our last JSL classes and had a special goodbye luncheon with Tashi Bent and Felicia Campbell, our JSL teachers.

We were pleased that Tom Meyers, Director of International Education at Goshen College, as well as Felicia's husband Damian were able to be present for this goodbye lunch at The Bird of Paradise Restaurant near Jamaica Bible College. Before heading to the luncheon each class took a picture with their teacher. Pat also caught Sheila beginning her goodbye to their apartment one afternoon.

Each SST student presented a project at Jamaica Bible College this week. Six students presented on Tuesday when Tom Meyers, Director of International Education at Goshen College, was visiting with us. The remaining nine students presented today. Some students presented in pairs, others as individual presenters. The projects were a wonderful reminder of how much we have learned about Jamaica and its people, both deaf and hearing.

Rachel and Vanessa joined forces to present a gallery of their art in Jamaica. Each had drawn pictures of select children from their schools. They also shared stories with us about these children's lives.

Emily regaled us with information about Jamaican weddings and invited others to participate in skits which represented some Jamaican wedding practices.

Kevin and Cody reported on the popular game of dominoes and taught everyone to play this game which plays a significant role in Jamaican culture.

Mary Roberts explored the topic of interpreting in Jamaica, including in her project the status of interpreting in another developing country, Kenya, as well.

Katie presented the history of Maranatha School for the Deaf via the stories she heard from many people connected with this school where she spent her service time.

Linda and Amber researched and presented on Jamaican bush medicine, inviting us to become involved in creating several remedies for common ailments.

Amanda and Emily introduced us to Jamaican critters, many of whom we have already met! They invited us to join in the game of BUGS as a way to review our knowledge.

Sam reported on foods of Jamaica and differences between United States and Jamaican foods. She treated us to plaintain tarts which she had made with the help of her host mother.

Megan Walker called her presentation "Mysterious Foods of Jamaica". She gave us the history of many of the foods we have consumed while here and tested our knowledge by inviting us to taste (and guess) a variety of foods while blindfolded.

Geneva introduced us to the seven prime ministers of an independent Jamaica, regaling us with stories and little known facts about these people. She tested our knowledge with a lively game of Jeopardy at the end of her presentation.

Phil concluded the presentations with a moving poem entitled "Where is God in Jamaica?" helping us see with him the many God moments of his (and our) SST experience

Angela and Amanda presenting their project on Jamaican Critters.

Students gave a party for their host families on Saturday evening at Mandeville Bible Chapel. After eating a variety of Jamaican delicacies (codfish fritters, jerk chicken wings, sweet potato pudding, pound cake and Milo), they presented a program for their families. Several skits portrayed their learnings about Jamaican culture - what a full taxi really means, buying pineapples at the market, etc. They presented Goshen t-shirts to JSL instructor Felicia Campbell and her husband Damian as well as local coordinator Jacki Hanna and her husband Byron. Vanessa and Rachel displayed the portraits of Jamaican children they had created for their projects. Amber exclaimed at the end of the party, "It was a delicious evening!"

The day before we left Jamaica, Amanda and her three roommates created a goodbye ritual for us. They painted their own toes with the Jamaican flag and its colors on the toes of one foot and the U.S. flag and colors on the toes of the other foot. Then they painted the toes of almost everyone else! "We have one foot in Jamaica and one foot in the U.S.!" someone joked. And indeed we felt that way as we prepared to depart this island.