A Warm Welcome Back

As the student site leader for this year's GSI trip, I am incredibly embarrassed for completely forgetting to publish a blog prior to departing on our trip. However, I certainly hope that my feelings as a returning participant, in a new and exciting leadership role, are not tarnished by my unfortunately terrible memory.
 
Experiencing Jamaica through service was one of the highlights of my year last year, and I am honored to not only be able to return to serve further, but also help facilitate others' experiences as this year's student site leader. I'm incredibly grateful to have been able to work with Thea  and Phil to finalize travel and work plans and assist with this year's curriculum as well, and I'm very excited to help others see the meaning in not only the physical work they're providing these deserving schools and schoolchildren, but also the purpose behind this whole trip and why immersion and discovery of new and different cultures is rewarding for both those discovered and those discovering. Discussing the curriculum was one of my favorite parts of my experience last year, and I'm honored to not only be able to discuss it as a participant, but contribute as a leader this year.
 
 
It's incredibly humbling and really awesome to be back in Jamaica this year, and on the drive to Taino Cove I found myself recognizing landmarks, and feeling less culture shock and more comfort and excitement. Going back to Jack Spratt, and then Taino Cove itself, I felt less apprehension and I started looking forward to rediscovering Jamaica and finding new, meaningful experiences that can make this trip as rewarding and as incredible as my first GSI journey last year.
 
- Ryan Donatacci

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From Queenie to Papaya

It's already Wednesday and it's unbelievable to think we'll be leaving this beautiful country in a few days. This trip has been everything I could have imagined and more. We found a little home at Taino Cove in Treasure Beach. On the southwest side of the island, the resort is deep in rural land overlooking the ocean. The houses nearby a large and colorful, with large gates and lots of land surrounding them. The site we were working on was nestled into the side of a mountain - it's safe to say that I wasn't expecting this landscape. To be completely honest, when I thought of Jamaica I thought of beaches, some more beaches, and a few more beaches. It was breathtaking to see so much greenery everywhere we went. Our new home for the next few days, Whistling Bird, is a little piece of the jungle - beautiful and green - right on the beach in Negril. The tree frogs sing their song and the ocean breeze eases the humidity. The landscape is totally different than Treasure B...
Read more

The Work Ends

The week has come to an end and the Saturday when we first flew in seems so long ago. Thoroughout the week we not only did service and experienced the culture of Jamaica but we also bonded as a group. We talked about who gets ore out of service, the ones receiving the service or the ones providing it? I feel like I have gotten so much out of this experience that it is hard to say it affected the people we helped more. The children at the schools are receiving bleachers or an extension to their school, but i received an experience i will never forget. I formed close bonds with people who were strangers to me before this week. I got to see actual progress being made on these projects and know my sweat and hard work went into it. When we left the worksite today it looked like a building was taking form there and not just a few stacks of cinder blocks. I had so much fun on this trip and felt like I did a lot of good work. I'm going to miss Jamaica but who knows mayble I'll be back!...
Read more

To Higher Heights

Today was our first day at Higher Heights Academy. The kids are younger, the school is smaller, and the worksite is alot hotter. And by alot hotter i mean 105 degrees. I honestly do not think I've ever sweat more in my life, but the progress we made, made it all worth it. Our goal was to lay a meager 2 rows of blocks to make the foundation for an extension to the school, and we surpassed it. We laid 5 rows! That progress made the entire day of blistering heat, dripping sweat, and even a little nausea completely worthwhile. I would say that today was the most rewarding day solely in terms of work that we've had yet.  Something I have to note is everyone's concern for each other's well being, on and off of the worksite. I can honestly say that there was not more than 10 minutes that passed by without someone asking "Do you need someone to switch out for you?" on the worksite, or more generally, "Are you okay?", "Do you need water? bugspray? sunsc...
Read more