Happy Halloween!

Greetings from Halloween at Saint Gabriel!

Thanks for blogging with us. It's been interesting to see the Jamaican people and to learn a bit about Jamaica.

We especially enjoyed the pictures you took.

We hope you have a safe trip home.

Thursday, the week is winding down!

Hello everyone - the week is quickly winding down. As much fun and learning that adventure dog is doing he is anxious to get home to you all. I always say the best thing about traveling is coming home - I believe Adventure Dog agrees with me here. Adventure Dog had a very busy day again yesterday but he had a headache at the end of the day - there were a lot of screaming children to deal with!! The children are very scared and don't know what to expect, but some of them have very bad teeth because they eat too many sweets and don't clean their teeth very well - their parents want to make sure that they come to see us because it may be their only chance to get dental care so the parents are very forceful and the children fuss and fight a lot.

Too bad about the Yankees - Adventure Dog and I watched the game for a little while before we went to bed. Maybe tonight they will do better!

I am sure your door is looking great by now and you all have your costumes ready to go - Jamaicans do not celebrate Halloween - most of them have never even heard of it!! See how lucky we are!! Are you all going to trick a trunk? My car will be there all decorated - unfortunately Adventure Dog and I will miss Halloween this year!

How is everyone feeling - are your classmates back to school or are a lot of people still out sick?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Jamaica
Look at this site and it will give you a brief history of Jamaica - it is very interesting. There are so many things about the world that we live in that we don't know about it. I will tell you my favorite thing about Jamaica - everywhere you go, everybody is so friendly - they don't know you but their attitude is that we all are connected and that we all know everybody and they always greet you with a smile and a greeting - it is the nicest thing!! Imagine walking down the street in Milford, or at the store, and people you have never seen before smile and say hello - it would make everyone so happy. Maybe you want to try it and see what happens.

OK, time to get to work now - have a great day - Adventure Dog wants me to remind you to work hard and be nice!!

Hello again - hope you are feeling better.

Hi all - I hope some of you are feeling better today - here's adventure dog waking from a much needed sleep - as you can see he is being well taken care of! Yesterday was very hot again and we worked very hard so we were very tired!! Adventure Dog was especially busy - we went for a walk to a school and to a day care center to do oral hygiene instructions and give out toothbrushes and guess who was the star of the show - that's right, Adventure Dog!! All the children wanted to hold him and play with him but I was very careful with him so that he wouldn't get hurt or scared. Only a very few lucky ones got to actually hold him.

This is my first patient of the day - a very scared 9 year old who needed her front tooth taken out - she was very brave with the help of Adventure Dog. Mrs Soulier is going to have to give me lessons with putting photos on the blog - for some reason now that I can get them on here they are not in the order that I would like - I am going to take a few more minutes to try to figure it out and then I have to go to my breakfast meeting and get to work.
I'm so sorry you didn't get to go on your field trip yesterday, I know a lot of you were looking forward to it.

Some typical Jamaican food is spiced with what they call "jerk" - it is a combination of spices that make it very spicy hot - it is delicious if you like spicy food. They also eat a dish called "callaloo" a lot - this is a leafy green vegetable - often it is mixed with peppers and onions, sometimes fish. Another food item they eat a lot of is called a "patty" - this is similar to a soft taco, but the edges are closed and it is usually filled with meat or vegetables.

Jamaica Language is a reflection of the diversity of the people of Jamaica. The wonderful blend of various races and cultures has affected the languages spoken in Jamaica. English is the official language of Jamaica.

The most unique of the languages of Jamaica is a dialect formed by the amalgamation of words from many languages with English. It is known as Jamaican Creole or Patois. It is the most widely spoken language of Jamaica. Patois is popular because of the musical lilt and rhythm in the words of the language. It is also used in the lyrics of Reggae, the famous music of Jamaica.

The immigrants from outside Jamaica have brought with them their language as well and languages like Spanish, Irish, Scottish are also spoken. The other two significant languages of Jamaica are Taino (mixed with Spanish) and Arawak, specific to particular regions.

The Jamaican Creole having elements of English is however not easy to understand for outsiders because of the way it is spoken by the Jamaicans.

I wanted to put some more here but I really have to get going - I will write more later. Have a great day!

Greetings from Some of Us!

Guess what? We did not get to go to see the Mayor today. So many of us are out sick - 7 yesterday and 5 today - that we had to postpone our trip until a later date.

What language do Jamaicans speak? Is it Spanish-related?

Wow! It's so hot there. We have a cool rainy day today.

How are you and Adventure dog today? You were soooo busy yesterday!

What have you been eating? Anything special to Jamaica? How about A.D.?

Are you working or staying right near the water? The beach looks beautiful.

We just came back from getting our pumpkin blessed and will be working on our Halloween door for the rest of the week. It is going to feature lots of funny jokes from a Dracula joke book we found at the book fair. Do Jamaicans celebrate Halloween - or a holiday like it ? That would just create more work for you!

Hope all is well, and we look forward to hearing more news from both of you.

XOXO back at you from Victor!

Our First Day at Work

Werel - it was great to hear from you - I regret to tell you that I have no pictures for you today - we were very busy and a few people took pictures but I wasn't able to get their cameras to download them.

We were so busy today. We saw approximately 120 patients. It is so hot here - very humid, probably in the 90's, we have no airconditioning at all in the places where we work - all day long we are sweating - we drink a lot of water and still it's not enough. In the afternoon it rains a little but not enough to cool things off. The patients sweat a lot also!
Adventure Dog has been such good company - for me as well as the patients. For me, I tell everyone why he is here and it helps me not miss my family so much. For the patients, especially the children, they are scared to be going to the dentist so they hold Adventure Dog while we are doing the procedure and he helps make them feel better - so you were right about that!!
Nic - I haven't seen any lizards or iguanas but they are definately here - if I do I will try to get a photo for you - but they move very quickly. Yes, Brandon, they are still eating a lot of sugar cane like I showed you in the slide show last year - you have a good memory!! That is not the biggest problem here for their cavities here though, it is really the candy and the sugary drinks - just like in the States!!
As far as the time goes, we are one hour behind EST - and you are right again, that will change after Sunday when we set the clocks back - why do you think some places have DST and other place don't?

I know you are going on a trip to the Mayor's office today - have a lot of fun and make sure you ask a lot of good questions, like you are of me. I know that you will enjoy Peter Pan Pizza - you guys are so lucky that you get to go to a nice school and go on field trips and get such a good education.

In Jamaica the music that they are popular for is called Reggae Music - it has a very good beat to it - maybe Mrs. Soulier can play some for you - the biggest Reggae star is Bob Marley - he is not alive anymore but his name is always who first comes to mind with Reggae Music.

Each day I will tell you something about Jamaica - if there is something in particular you would like to know then tell me and I will find out if I can. Do you know what language they speak here?

I will try to get more photos for tomorrow - farewell to all from Adventure Dog - and a special hug and kiss for Victor!!

How's your first day?

Greetings from 4th Grade!

How was your first day of work? How many patients did you get to see? Did Adventure Dog get to see any patients? Maybe he can be sort of be a therapy dog! Has he been good company for you?

Nic wants to know if you've seen any iguanas or other lizards yet.

What is your weather like today? Today is a nice day here. We'll have a high of 62 degrees and it is mostly sunny. Do any of the places you're working have air conditioning?

Brandon wants to know if there is sugar cane in Jamaica like there was in your slides last year.

We hope you are having a good day and that Adventure Dog is enjoying himself.

Thanks for being in touch with us.

P.S. We wondered if you were in our time zone. We did a little research, and it looks like you are 2 hours behind. That will change on Saturday with Day Light Savings Time.

We've Arrived in Jamaica!

Well, after a long day of travelling, due to many delays in the airport, Adventure Dog and I finally landed in Jamaica last night. He was very excited and loved his very own pouch to travel in.

We are here with a group of 30 people, all volunteers, who are going to be spending the next week helping the Jamaicans fix their teeth. We are setting up four different clinics in four different villages.
Today, we met our team, there are 9 of us. We went to the clinic that we will be working at and set it up so that tomorrow it will be ready and we can get right to work.

Jamaica has a lot of people who are very poor and don't have enough food to eat - so when they need to have their teeth fixed they have no money. Even if they had some money, there aren't enough dentists here to help everybody. Even though Jamaica is a very poor country, the people here are very friendly and very happy, and the country is truly beautiful. It is an island, which means it is surrounded on all sides by water, and the inner part of the country has high hills.

Ask Mrs. Soulier to show it to you on the map, or maybe some of you have been here before. The part of Jamaica we are in is Montego Bay. Do you remember last year when your class helped to collect toothbrushes for me to bring to Jamaica, and I came into school and showed you all a slide show - maybe you can tell Mrs. Soulier about that.

Let me know what types of things you are interested in and I will be happy to share them with you, or if I don't know I will find out. Send questions and when I write again I will answer them.

Until then, Adventure Dog and I are going to have some dinner and get to bed early. Tomorrow we start work and it will be a long day - and it's very hot down here and that makes it even harder work!! Until next time....