Off we go...into the bush!

I should be sleeping, considering I only got three hours of sleep last night, but I am mixed with angst and excitement for my adventure to come! This is something that has never been done before. The Wallis clan...the Glaint, and the Wam, hitting the road for 5 whole days! We are going to see parts of the island that I haven't even seen yet. We are going to brave driving on the wrong side of the road. We are going to be in the same lanes as the taxis and country buses. Man, I am so excited. And scared. I hope we don't die. I am worried I am going to fall asleep on the road when I have to be alert at all times. Yes, I have an issue with falling asleep at the wheel, so sue me. But I am not even going to be driving! My dad is. I am just worried that the second I close my eyes will be the one time I will not be able to scream, "Left side left side!!!" and that is it and we will die.

Wish us safety and good travels! Hello Kingston, Lindsay, Taylor, Jason, Molly, and Dave! Woohoo!!!

Hold onto your hats folks!

I have not blogged in a really long time and I have good reason. I have been busy! A busy little beaver. Because I have so much to report on, bare with me. I am going to have headers so you can come back if you need to!

Wedding in Port Antonio, Portland, Jamaica, West Indies
The first weekend back in town from my trip back home, I had to travel to the other side of the island to Port Antonio. It is so much prettier than Negril, and Negril is pretty gorgeous. So many mountains and trees and beaches. I was asked to be in my friend Tasheka's wedding. I read scripture. It was fun. I have never been in a wedding and I was really nervous and I read it too fast in a mic to everyone and it was just a little weird...but then I was on the program again to give a toast to the groomsmen at the reception! I didn't know any of them and had no idea what to say so I just got the mic and cracked a few jokes and wished them all well. It was a bust, but it was fine too. I was pretty excited about wearing a nice dress though. It took hours and hours to get all the way to Porti. And 6 transfers! Negril to Lucea to Montego Bay to Ocho Rios to Port Maria to Anotto Bay to Port Antonio. Holy cow dude. Talk about a sore butt. I will attach a picture for your viewing pleasure. Negril is on the westernmost side and we traveled the north coast.

Cut, stitches, ouch.
So...I have been lazy lately about my dishes, which the cockroaches love. I am not as thrilled. I am definitely going to step it up, but anyways I was putting my dishes away last Sunday and a heavy glass fell from my cupboard (not sure how this happened) and broke onto my counter top. Then, from the counter top it fell broken onto my little toe slicing it clean open! After yelling a lot and calling for help and not getting any, I hobbled over to my tub to try to rinse it and assess the bleeding. I quickly realized that it was deep enough to need stitches and the bleeding was bad enough that I needed some real help. I walked over next door to my dad's place that he rented and called out to him, while creating a nasty puddle of blood on his front steps..it was dripping....so much bleeding! So after he helped me to his bathroom he did some first aid and Sandy, my other neighbor came along. While she was administering first aid, I was on the phone calling people that would be able to take me to the hospital for stitches. It didn't really even hurt and I wasn't crying or anything but I know Peace Corps and they would have been pissed had I not called them and took the necessary precautions. So I call my friend Simon who I thought could use his boss's car to take me and he shows up in a hurry and then he administers first aid. So, three people doing first aid quickly turned my toe into something that was not half bad and I really didn't want to go into the hospital at all. Instead we bandaged it up and I went into the doctors on Monday for my two stitches. The stitches were fine, but the shot to numb my toe was worse than the whole thing! I felt like I was getting stabbed right in the bone! I will attach a photo for your viewing pleasure.

Donkey Races
Yesterday was the annual Donkey Race and Family Fun day in Negril. The even is put on by the Rotary every year and I helped out. So did 8 other PCV. It was so much fun. The donkey's were hilarious and people had so much fun! There were carnival type games, and a little Ferris wheel and bouncy castle and merry go round. There were a watermelon eating contest and beer drinking contests and face painting. Hundreds of Jamaicans and tourists showed up with lots and lots of little ones. It was so hot that I was sure I would get burned, but I put so much sunblock on that I left unscathed. I was originally supposed to race a donkey, then I got demoted to decorating the donkey, then I was supposed to be a bartender, then a face painter, and I actually ended up just being a runner and did loads of things. But I don't even care because it was so much fun! I did get to bartend towards the end of the night and it was loads of fun. I definitely want to bartend one of these days....maybe grad school? And yes, I will attach a photo for your viewing pleasure.

I guess that is actually about it out of me. I want to tell you about how a lizard on the ceiling managed to pee and poo on me, and how my attempts at Jamaican squatting leave me in quite a mess. And about the head on motorcycle collision...with another motorcycle, but I am just going to leave it at that.