There are many things that I haven’t done, but much to my surprise, waking up to a rooster call is one of them. Until now. Between the huts are mesh cages housing roosters, guinea pigs, parrots, etc. After a sweaty but surprisingly good sleep, I woke up at 6 to find the sun already shining. I grabbed my yoga mat and water bottle and headed over to the open room above the kitchen where we will be drumming each night. The parrots in the cage along the wall were lively this morning, and my downward dog was met with much approval: “Hello,” “Hellooo,” “Hell-o.” Needless to say, they have a pretty limited vocabulary.
After I worked up quite a sweat (it’s not hard with what feels like 100% humidity), I changed into my suit and headed down to the beach for some swimming. A few people were already down there, so I jumped right in. The water was the perfect temperature. I let myself float for a bit, rocking side to side in the calm waves. I explored a little, too, and discovered two “whirlpools” made by the rocks. Lindsay joined me soon, and by that time, I had also discovered (although it was hard to miss..) a giant rock formation with stairs leading up 30ish feet to a sign reading “Jump at own risk,” and a cement diving board. Jump I did. Lindsay and I are working on a way to get pictures of each other jumping off, so look for those soon. Don’t worry, the local doing back flips off the board told me the water was plenty deep and it was safe to jump.
After two jumps and about a gallon of salt water up our noses (neti pot to the extreme), we headed up to the communal shower, which consists of two shower heads and encircled by bamboo. We checked our modesty at the flap and got clean. After a breakfast of toast, tea, watermelon, and papaya, the music therapy students (12 out of 24.. the other 12 are music education students) took a tour of the Great Huts grounds and the village of Boston Bay. We got some sweet sour sap juice (a natural relaxer and great thirst quencher - just think slightly creamy lemonade) and headed over to the town beach, which was a two minute walk away. In those two minutes, we spanned the area of the entire village, which includes 4 jerk stands, a grocery store, a recording studio, an ice cream stand, and “Dis Krazy Hype Bar” (Lindsay and I have been practicing our Jamaican accent with this phrase - “Dees krazee hype bah, mon”).
Next, Lindsay and I decided to find a nice place to read some of the books we were assigned, so we headed up to the cliff where there are seats overlooking the sea. We were really trying to take it all in, but just couldn’t. It’s hard to believe we are actually here surrounded by all this beauty.
Surprisingly, I started to get hungry, so headed out with Kristen and Alice to get some lunch. They were going out to get phone cards at the grocery, and we stopped at one of the stands on our way back. The two girls had chicken, and I had vegetables, rice, and beans. The veggies were sauteed onions and tomatoes and something that looked like chard, but was more spicy. I asked what it was, but couldn’t understand what he actually said it is. I only heard that he said it was only found in Jamaica. Very good, though.
We have free time until 3pm. If it doesn’t rain, we plan to go for a hike up a mountain to a coconut plantation. It’s a little cloudy now, but I think we will still be able to go. I’m looking forward to trying some coconut water, because it is more hydrating than regular water.
Think I'd like to take a short nap in one of the hammocks before we go hiking. Probably won't write more tonight. Tomorrow we are going on a longer hike. Should be fun!
Where I went cliff diving
Here's the outdoor cold water shower I shared with 10 girls
Main entrance of Kaya Tent
Inside Kaya - that's the bed Lindsay and I shared
The main (and only) street in Boston Bay
I realized that I never wrote about the coconut plantation hike, so here are some pictures:
Lindsay and I with our freshly cut coconuts
The trek up to the coconut plantation was hot, humid, and steep, but very cool!
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