And then there were two (well technically four...)

So the field school kids are gone. It is very weird not having twenty other people around. I am sure I will like some of the quiet, but I know it will get old quick.

I am watching the LSU - Arkansas game right now. It feels so nice to be able to watch it. I will probably miss the championship games though, unless there is a third game, b/c we are going to the south coast with three other people to document a church, an aqueduct, and any other buildings we can. It will be nice to see some more of Jamaica than just the northern parts. We are going to Alley, a small town, and then on the way home, we are going to stop in Negril and stay there a night to see what it is like. It should be a nice little trip.

This last week was filled with work and play. We basically finished documenting our first building in sketchup. It has more detail than the other buildings we have to do so the others should go faster. We went to the beach several times, including today. I actually think I got some sun today and not sunburn. I dropped down to 50 spf for today and the sun was a little stronger than it has been the other days we have gone to the beach. The field school peeps left plenty of extra sunscreen so Gareth and I should be set for a long time.

I think my favorite thing about Jamaica is the sounds. I have a lot of them memorized and they have become kind of likes sounds of "home." There is the ice cream man who rides around on his bike and honks a little horn. There are the dogs who bark late into the night. There are the honking horns - Jamaicans use their horns a lot when people are walking in the road, or really for whatever reason they like. There are lots of sounds of people talking. My favorite sounds come on Sunday when you can hear singing from several of the churches. If you walk around town, you can hear sermons, singing, etc. It's really nice. I think these sounds will stick with me and when I am home, I will hear a bike horn and think oh there goes the ice cream man...

Tonight we are going shrimping with Peter. We are also going to take the boat to the Rock and get dinner. I am excited b/c they have festival - it's a type of biscuit made with cornmeal that is delicious. Otherwise, the Rock serves a lot of seafood so I had a cheese patty so that I won't be starving and will survive on the festival. After dinner, we are going to take the boat to glistening waters. I am going to bring my camera this time (in a ziploc bag) and try to take pics and video of it to put on facebook so others can see how cool it is. Then tomorrow morning, we leave for Alley...

So far the Manse is feeling more like home. When we get back on Wednesday, Gareth and I are going to set up our own rooms and the studio/living room. Then on Thursday, Jessica and Josi (the other two people still here who we are helping on this project with) leave and it will be just two of us....which will be very weird...

Well, LSU is really laying it on Arkansas so I guess I'll watch the rest of it and then get ready to get on Peter's boat - fingers crossed that his engine doesn't die.

j

--this is a juggling whale & while he can only juggle one thing at a time, you try doing that & holding your breath for six hours & let's see how well you do--