On the move...

Wednesday, March 27

Word of the day: Mozartichoke

Today was traveling day. With a bittersweet farewell to the Whistling Bird and its warm, hospitable staff, James, the resort owner, saw us off with complimentary local coffee, jerk sauce, and a hearty farewell. We packed our bags into our cozy bus as tightly as we have become over the past few days. We stopped briefly for some souvenir shopping and with that, we departed Negril. The game that dominated the bus ride was Stacer’s clever idea of combining musician names with foods, which eventually progressed to our names and animals, etc.

On our way to our final destination, we drove to the YS Waterfall, a beautiful falls tucked into the hills, which Kate nicknamed Jurassic Park. Fun fact: she kept observing imaginary dinosaurs throughout the park during the afternoon. We were pleasantly surprised to run into Lobster, our happy and hilarious friend who had persuaded us to jet-ski back in Negril. (His real name is Dwayne, but he introduces himself as “Lobster the Fun Man.”) After a mini trek over yonder, we arrived at a series of stunning falls and freshwater pools surrounded by their own greener than green jungle. Although some cruise passengers beat us to the much anticipated zipline, we made up for the lost opportunity by eagerly lining up for the rope swing. It was refreshing from the humidity, but only poor Kary landed a belly flop.

For lunch, our ever-thoughtful Whistling Bird hosts had packed us PB&J sandwiches and tuna salad sandwiches, which we enjoyed following our Ting (grapefruit soda) and ice cream cravings. Another sleepy bus drive away, we arrived at our second site, the more rural St. Elizabeth, at a beautiful and truly special hotel called Taino Cove. Some of us wandered along the beach collecting shells while others checked out the waves on this new side of the island.

For dinner we were served a delicious variety of meats, fish, and vegetables, continuing our constant fascinating conversations over our plates. We tied up the day with the same (maturing) genuine reflections we’ve been sharing all week. We dwell seriously on our growth and goals, while occasionally throwing in the inevitable laughs that reflect our individual quirks and collective moments of comedy that make our team so unique and eccentric. Our team has demonstrated an impressive ability to reinforce and lift up our morale with positive motivation, patience through listening, and expressing our mutual appreciation.

Tomorrow, we will be painting a local school and interacting more with the delightful children. We’re about halfway through our trip, but we still have a lot left to give, and we can’t wait to give our alls tomorrow. More to come!