Pictures!

The pictures-
This picture is of Doctors Cave Beach. This is my favorite hangout in
Jamaica. The beach allows volunteers in for free but for the general
public is costs about 5 US dollars. It’s guests are made up of
tourists and rich Jamaicans. That’s the beaches only but significant
draw back. I like the beach the facilities are amazing. I even make
sure to pack shampoo and soap because tourist facilities always have
working showers (no hot water but I never even realized that until
now). Also, I love chatting people up at the beach. It’s very easy to
start a conversation with a tourist. Just mention Peace Corps and
their eyes light up. But truthfully, I very rarely talk to tourists,
instead the other Peace Corps volunteers and I mainly talk to the
Jamaican employees. I know a few of them by name and I am known to
them as the country boy, because I live in the bush. I and the other
volunteers are very careful to avoid being labeled an “ugly American”-
the name of the book I am now reading.

The second picture is of a “Pine” pineapple field. I never realized
that pineapple grows on a bush. Jamaican’s think its hilarious when I
tell them I thought it grew on a tree.

The third picture is of an elderly lady. She lives in a one room house
with 4 of her daughters’ kids. Her daughter died of cancer a few years
ago so now she single handily raises the kids. She has no water, not
even a tank, no bathroom, she drinks straight from the stream and I
know swine live in the river upstream, no stove, and her house is
literally falling apart. The missionary group that came to do some
service work in my community went to speak with her and they sounded
like they might be able to assist her but they ran out of time. It’s
heartbreaking. I am trying to get her aid through Food for the Poor
but she has no documentation for the house because the leaks in her
ceiling destroyed all paper work.

I posted these pictures because they clearly illustrate the
distribution of wealth. It’s disturbing. And maybe that’s why we avoid
talking to tourists; we are beginning to relate to the employees much
better than tourists. Beginning.