Jamaica, Day Two

First Day of Actual Work

[This time I've got photos, but can't get them to go into the text where I want them. Getting frustrated, but I guess you can figure out which picture goes with which part of the text, right?]

The sky has been threatening off and on, and there was definitely a storm our first night, but the only rain we’d experienced so far was the few little “rain forest-style” rains during our hike. However, this morning it was pretty gray. We optimistically put on our work boots, gloves, sun screen, and sturdy clothes, hauled along our water and our small but mighty Water Nazi, Teri, whose job it was to pour 8 ounces down each and every throat every 2o minutes (!!), and headed off to the greenhouse operations area.

On the way, we passed Mary, the patient and shy little donkey, pulling her wagon loaded with branches, and the goats, all hanging out in their high houses out of the mud. We were set to digging ditches in the horrible, clinging, heavy clay, just like home! In my case, it’s more like Ohio than Kentucky, but others were saying it was just like what they had, or used to have, in their gardens. Our job was to dig a ditch all the way around the approximately 30’ x 64’ greenhouse.

How many Union Church members does it take to dig a ditch? We are reliably informed that the important factor is to have at least one Methodist among us. Luckily, we have two, one to help with ditches and one to help with the other job, of measuring, squaring, leveling, and putting up framing members.

We came home for lunch in a glow of accomplishment, having finished more than we expected to, but were chased in by rain which started out intermittent and became quite determined in the afternoon.

So we are inside, wearing dry clothes and smelling the yummilicious smells of Pinto’s cooking, and you are caught up!