July 1st- July 2nd

My adventure in Jamaica began with a long journey full of delayed flight, and hot, stuffy planes. I was lucky to sit next to a friendly women who is a Jamaican local that I got to know amongst the waiting, she told me everything I needed to know about coming to Jamaica and assured me that I would be "taken care of". The longer I'm here, the longer I see the truth in this.

After I landed in Kingston and got through immigration, we took a long 2 hour drive to Robins Bay, St. Mary. We drove in the dark, along a windy road accompanied by blasting music emanating from the houses and shops at every corner. I could feel the vibrations and the liveliness in the few moments I had been there already.

When I finally got to the farm Agape and Kwao, the owners of the farm kindly greeted me. Agape made me a delicious vegan dinner and tea made from seaweed. We all chatted and I met their 6 beautiful boys as they tiredly came in and out of the kitchen. My exhaustion took over, and I was taken to my house, which I share with Erin, another Pitzer student, and Kyria. I feel asleep to the sound of the ocean, excited for what the sunlight would bring me.

I awoke to a beautiful sunrise and a view from the Ocean right from my bed. Agape and Kwao have their own beach and the locals love to go there. I met my roommate, and we went up for breakfast. We had some delicious vegan (everything is vegan here) banana pancakes, straight from the farm of course, with fresh honey from the bees. I met the two other interns. After breakfast I went down to the beach for a swim, I was astonished by the beauty. You can see fishermen boats docked all over the bay, and the water is so warm and clear. I forgot what it felt like to step out of water and not feel cold. After my swim I went back to the house to practice some yoga and took a nap on the hammock. I awoke to go on a hike to "the point" which is one of the points of the cove. Erin showed us all the local plants including sea rosemary, sea grape, sea mint, and love bush. After our walk we had a delicious lunch and then Agape gave the new interns a presentation on sustainable, treatment-free beekeeping. After the presentation we ate from freshly picked Julie Mangos We got the rest of the day off so I spent it at the beach again, and hung out with the interns and the guest at the farm on the patio, watching the boys bike around and play. As we waited for dinner, we smelled all of the 30 essential oils that are harvested right at the farm. It got me so excited to start distilling and beekeeping, which will come tomorrow.

Until next time!