Life in Jamaica

It's Wednesday.
I can't believe we've already been here 5 days.

It feels like we've done a lot but in reality our schedules have been pretty empty.

Our kiddos start stirring around 6 a.m. We have open windows so the roosters and other random Jamaica noises find their way into our rooms and wake us all up a little earlier than normal.

After getting the kiddos ready we find our way down to the kitchen where we help ourselves to breakfast. This is usually cereal or oatmeal that we brought along with some island fruit that some of the Jamaicans have been kind enough to give us.

Every day have we have gone for an early family walk through the community so that we can keep the house quiet a little longer for those who want to sleep in a bit more. We load of the kids in the stroller and go for a stroll. Jamaicans are up with the sun so we have lots of people to talk to. Adelyn loves to point out all the animals she sees and has developed a hobby of chicken chasing. The Jamaicans find this hilarious.

We come back from our walk, hang out with the college students as they eat their breakfasts. They have a morning meeting that our little ones can't really sit through so we busy ourselves until they are done with that.

The group heads out for their work assignments and we stay around the house. There are always people around so there is usually something going on to busy Adelyn while Tyler takes his morning nap.

The team returns for lunch and heads back out and then both kids go down for afternoon naps. Since they play so hard here and it's super hot, they sleep really well. After naps we usually play until the team returns. Then baths, dinner, and bedtimes.

Every day has been a bit different but for the most part that is what things have looked like.

The Jamaicans love the little white kids running around. The Jamaican women can't get enough of them. They are constantly calling Adelyn over to them but my confident little toddler just struts right by them as if she doesn't hear them.

There is a gal here who LOVES Tyler and who TYLER really likes too. He lunges for her when she shows up. Her name is Shanique and she is 16. It's precious to watch. She shows up after school is out, finds Tyler, and whisks him away for a bit. This is a big cultural difference here. In Jamaica it seems like a kid is everybody's kid. Jamaican kids don't seem to have stranger anxiety and I assume this is because they are so used to being taken care of by many different people. Shanique doesn't find it strange at all to snatch my 11 month old out of my arms and walk off. It's completely harmless but I laugh about the idea of this happening in America.

 I've seen a huge shift in both of my kids on how they respond to strangers. At first they both buried their faces into my leg or shoulder when a new person would try to talk to them.

Now Tyler is reaching his arms out to anyone who shows interest in him and Adelyn put on a dance performance for all 40 college students this evening. That was after she went around the group and gave every single person a high five.

 

Today we took the kids to Mandeville to run a few errands. We got to visit the market there which was quite the experience. I've never seen so many colorful fruits and vegetables in one place. It felt like stalls where piled on top of each other and we were of course attracting quite a bit of attention since we had two white kids with us. 

It wasn't meat day but I was told that when the meat market is open there are freshly butchered animals just laying out on unrefrigerated tables. I'm not too bummed to have missed meat day.

There is just so much to take in and so many things I don't want to forget about this adventure with my family. I do know that I am tired though and probably need to sign off for the evening. The Jamaican roosters are relentless in the morning!

Jamaica Church

On Sunday we were able to attend a Jamaican church service. I don't even know what to think. There were many things that I admired and appreciated about how they worship here but there were also things that were hard to sit through and watch.

When we asked what time the service started we never got a straight answer. We were told that it was sometime between 9:30 and 10:30. Pretty much whenever the pastor got there. I found that to be really funny. It's so Jamaica.

We were fortunate that the church service actually meets in the building that we are staying at. The reason I say that is because it lasted no less than 3 hours. Not exaggerating. There were multiple people who were up front speaking. Tons of singing. At one point the leader had all the children come line up front to yell, "Jesus." She warned them that the devil would get them if they didn't (I warned you there were painful parts to sit through). It went so long that I even had to slip out and make lunch for my kids!

I was saddened when I found out that a lot of people don't come to church because they don't have nice enough clothes. This is a picture of Christianity in Jamaica though. There is so much legalism and an expectation to be cleaned up and have your life in order if you are going to go to church. While there is a deep spirituality and recognition of God in this country, they really miss the reason Christ came to die. He came for the sick, not the healthy. He came for the poor in spirit not those who feel righteous because of something they have done on their own.

On the surface many people who visit Harmons think that these people are admirable in their boldness to proclaim faith in God and their recognition of Him as the giver of life and all things good. While this is true I am seeing the culture here through a different lens. I am more and more seeing the repercussions of a belief in God without understanding his grace through Christ. I am seeing how paralyzing and hopeless it would be to rely on yourself and your good works for eternal life.

While the spiritual condition of Jamaica may seem bleak there are glimmers of hope for these people as well. For example, Won by One has hired a wonderful, gospel-centered pastor. Despite fighting an uphill battle against culture he's made a lot of progress in the community and his church numbers are growing. He's put a lot of heart into developing the church in Harmons and the fruit of his labor is beginning to show. I also know of another great church about 30 minutes away that people speak highly of. So despite my initial impressions I do know that God is at work here.

Anyway, this post is more for my personal reflection than to update on our trip. Going to church here was such a unique experience that I couldn't let it slip into the bank of memories without thinking it through a bit more.

More fun stories and photos to come!

We Made it to Jamaica!

Well we made it.

We are in Harmons, Jamaica with our whole family. When we told people we were going on this trip we got a variety of responses. Some thought it was great. Some told us we were brave. Some (maybe some grandparents) expressed some concern. Some simply told us they would pray for us which I interpret as "wow, you are going to need the Lord's help to get there and back alive." Despite the variety of opinions on Austin and I taking our kids on a 3rd world mission trip, we are excited to be here and have loved seeing an entirely different world opened up to our kids.

As we were in route down here I began to wonder if we had made a huge mistake. Traveling with two little ones is WORK. I never realized how easy it was to fly on a plane without kids. I found myself growing envious of the people around us taking naps, reading books, flipping through magazines, and other leisurely things. Meanwhile we were working our tails off to keep our two year old occupied and our one year old busy with tearing pages out of the Sky Mall magazine.

As if it's not hard enough to travel with two kids two and under, we encountered quite a few obstacles.

Let me back up a bit...

The night before we left we stayed at my in-laws house.

As we were packing up some last minute things in our suitcases we weighed them to make sure they were both under the 50 pound weight limit.

One was 68 pounds and the other was 54. Yikes.
We had to frantically redistribute clothing, food, and toiletries to our carry-ons and even pluck a few unnecessary items out. So now my carefully packed and organized carry-ons were stuffed full of clothes, shoes, towels, and kid clothes.

After waking up at 5 am we headed to the airport only to find out that Tyler didn't have a boarding pass. It was a 30 minute process to get one which put our kids on edge.

So picture this scene. Two slightly frazzled parents with four huge, bursting at the seams carry-ons pushing a huge double stroller containing a overly tired 2 year old and a fussy infant. Now imagine trying to get all of that through security. Only one minor meltdown in that process.

 

We made it to our gate, got boarded and settled in ok. The flights went ok. Adelyn was a bit spooked by the take offs and landings but we managed. Tyler slept well on me in the Ergo and Austin did a great job keeping Adelyn busy. 

We landed in Jamaica, collected our huge carry-ons and began to move the circus towards immigration and customs. At this point it was 2 p.m. and both our kids had only cat-napped on the plane so they were getting really tired. 

We were headed towards immigration when Austin realized he had left our immigration forms on the plane. In a panic he had to backtrack and go hunting for our forms. When he finally got back to us we headed through the airport halls to be met with an insanely long line for immigration. 

I'm not exaggerating  when I say that it was probably a two hour line. I almost collapsed out of defeat at that point. I told Austin, "Our kids are going to go insane!" At that point I seriously prayed, "Lord, please let a staff person see us in this crowd and get us through faster." I kind of laughed at my prayer because it seemed ridiculous to ask that. There were lots of other kids in line and the airport was obviously understaffed. 

Anyway, while I was making trips back and forth to the bathroom with kids to change diapers and airport staff person went up to Austin and told him to step out of line and then he walked away. Austin was furious. He thought we were going to lose our place in line and have to wait even longer. He then came back and told us he was going to get us through the line faster. 

ARE YOU KIDDING ME. 

It was one of the most direct, answered prayers I have ever experienced. 

He checked over our forms and simply led us around the hundreds and hundreds of people straight to an immigration officer who stamped our passports and let us through. 

It was a miracle. 

However, we didn't get off that easy. We went to collect our bags only to realize that one was missing. A carry-on that we checked at the gate of the plane didn't make it. Ugh. 

Our kids were exhausted, hot, hungry and really starting to act up. 

I began the process of reporting our lost bag which ended up taking 45 minutes. As I'm talking to the man at the desk I can hear Adelyn's blood-curdling screams from across the baggage claim. She was losing it people. I don't blame her. So was I.

Finally we got the lost bag reported, arrangements made to pick it up in a few days, and headed out. 

Luckily our ride was still there waiting for us as we packed up our kids and began a 3 hour drive into the heart of Jamaica. Tyler slept most of the drive and Adelyn was pleasant too. She ended up sleeping the last hour of it. 

We made it to the Harmony House, got unpacked, got kids down to bed, and finally sat down to rest. 

Here are a few pictures I've taken of our journey so far.

  

 

This is Tyler on the bus ride in Jamaica. The road was so bumpy that I had to snuggle his head in so it wouldn't bounce back and forth. 

 

Adelyn loves to go exploring outside.

 

Bananas

 

The house dogs love Adelyn.

 

Puddle stomping. 

 

She lost a shoe in the puddle stomping process and didn't bother to put it back on. 

 

You can't be worried about clean clothes here!

 

One of our favorite things to do is to go for walks as a family through the community. The Jamaicas love seeing little white kids. :)

 

This is what happens when you ask a Jamaican to take your picture.  Maybe he was trying to be artsy and make us off-centered?

I'll try to keep the updates coming!

Flower Girl!

 Well it was a big weekend for us. Adelyn was a flower girl in a friend's wedding so we were busy with rehearsals, pictures, dresses, and lots of bribery.

We weren't quite sure what Adelyn would do when it was her turn to walk down the aisle. It really depended on her mood at the moment. At the rehearsal, something set her off right as she was supposed to walk down down so instead she threw herself to the floor and lost it.

Well the big day came and we started prepping her.

We discovered that Adelyn loved Looney Tunes so I propped her up in front of my computer and played a few of them from YouTube. It worked GREAT. I was so surprised she let me mess with her hair. 

 Here she is all dolled up. She was loving all of the attention she got from the bridal party and wedding attendees.

About 10 minutes before she was supposed to be in the wedding, her hand got shut in a door. Not a big slam, it just closed on her slowly but enough to squish her fingers and to cause a scene. Luckily the tears were remedied with fruit snacks and a video on the phone. It could have been bad though.

She made it down the aisle like a champ. I was waiting for her at the front and when she saw me she exclaimed, "Mommy!" It was a crowd pleasing moment... haha.

Since were were all spiffed up, we took a chance to get a family picture.

Even Tyler got snazzed up for the wedding!

This little gal was EXCITED. After the wedding we let her party hard at the reception. She did really well despite the fact she was up 2+ hours after normal bed time. 

Ty Guy didn't make it to the reception. He got the luxury of a babysitter all to himself. 

Karis was a beautiful bride and was absolutely radiant. Adelyn came to know her has princess Karis.

It was a great weekend! We are catching up on some sleep today and enjoying the labor day. 

Ty-Guy: Three Months: Picture Overload

(I wrote this a month ago but just realized it didn't post!)

This sweet boy has melted my heart.

 He has such a sweet demeanor and is showing us more and more of who he is every day. The coos and gurgles are nonstop. He is starting to squeak and squawk louder and louder as well.

Ty Guy loves to be snuggled up in a soft blanket (I mean who doesn't, right!?) He has started to work his way out of his sleep sacks and wake himself up so we are fighting that a bit but over all he is a great napper during the day and still up 1-2 times at night. However, it doesn't seem that bad because he just goes right back to sleep after he eats. 

 So far, Ty has been a great on-the-go baby. I know that naps in the carseat will soon be a thing of the past so I'm taking advantage of the time that I know he can still sleep pretty much anywhere.

What we have noticed about Tyler is that he has a noise sensitivity like his big sister did (and still kind of does). There are certain noises that totally set him off. For example, when Adelyn was watching a video on my computer of herself dancing to the harmonica, he totally lost it. 

There was another time that Adelyn had a toy that made a cow mooing sound and he decided he hated that sound as well. 

And like most babies, he doesn't like the sound of other babies or kids crying loudly. He and Adelyn can really get themselves worked up. 

Tyler does great with babysitters and other people still. He's willing to give away smiles to about anyone who gives him one.

One of my favorite things to do is to get him up after a nap or in the morning when he's been by himself in his crib for a while. He is absolutely delighted to see someone and gives the biggest open mouthed smile. 

So far he's be super healthy. Other than a clogged tear duct we haven't had any problems whatsoever.

I seriously can't believe it's already been over three months since Tyler joined our family. He's been such a little blessing. 

Adelyn has entered into such a fun stage as well. She's got so much personality and passion about whatever she is doing. She has little routines that she has come to love. One of them is me putting Sophie in her bed in the morning. The first thing she asks me to do in the mornings is "Sophie in there..." meaning, put Sophie in her bed. 

Sophie is a good sport about it.

Adelyn is becoming more and more beautiful every day. Inside and out.