Ya Man

Week two started yesterday and I am already feeling more at home in such a new place. It was nice to be back at mass and Devon Pen and have people know who I am and welcome me into their place of worship. Aunt Daph was there even though her husband was home sick. Also there were lots of children there that I had met earlier in the week so there were lots of familiar faces! My understanding is that my role in mass is to sit with the kids and keep them as quiet as possible and eventually I will start teaching Sunday school. After mass everyone stands around for about 15-20 minutes talking and such. I drove up to Devon Pen with William (who is two months away from being a deacon) and on our way home we piled about 12 kids into his car and drove them to friendship gap to cut off some of their walking.
The Devon Pen church is small…only about 10 pews and a few chairs set up in the back. When it has people in it, it tends to get hot! I found William homily very interesting as well…he really engages everyone in church and encourages their responses. I’m already catching on to some of the hymns so I can sing and clap along. While I was in Pittsburgh, Brother Paul gave a presentation on his life in Jamaica and he gave us a list of things that will let us know we have finally arrived and one of those things was that you won’t be standing so rigid in church and really get into the music. I’m still not completely comfortable but I find the music so engaging!
Most of the homes that I visit in Devon Pen are made of concrete, wood, sheets of metal, or a combination of some or all. They tend to consist of 1-3 rooms all together. The families usually consist of 5 or more so as you can imagine space is tight. Amazingly enough they make it work. I think what has taken be back the most is the over whelming amount of generosity. For people who have almost nothing they are the most giving. The other hard part is that it’s so rude to say no thank you if you’re offered something but you also know that food could feed a few. I take biscuits up with me to the missions and give them to the kids when we go to the river or out playing. Biscuits here are known as cookies and we got a large donation of them when we arrived. The roads to the homes are not paved…only the main roads are and it is quite a walk to many of them. The nature aspect up in the mission is beautiful but there is so much poverty in it.
On Tuesday I spent about 2 hours at Aunt Daph’s. I sat with Mas John for awhile talking and listening to him, Aunt Daph gave me some cornmeal porridge with bread and butter! Another first and I loved it. Her grandson Richard and I played games with some kids from Miss Vera’s and shared a mango together. I got to see Aunt Daph’s daughter Patricia kill chickens that they will sell to a local restaurant up the road. A lot of my visits are just sitting, talking and getting to know people. Aunt Daph is a great resource and I am looking forward to getting to know her and her family more this year!
Charity came on Tuesday as well which was really exciting! The family is coming together!