Day 2
Tina and I are up and at em’ for our orientation meeting. I’ve been through this part of the speech before; a little introduction to Patois, health and safety concerns around the island, tips on communicating to your patience what you are doing, what it will feel like and what to expect later, and so on.
The second part of the meeting was getting our group assignments for the next week. Papa Joe was reading his list of clinics, and who was going to be assigned to each. He described one clinic, and who would be assigned there, then he started to give the details on the second clinic, Maroontown. Immediately Tina’s eyes were aglow. “I like the color maroon, I think this will be our clinic” says Tina. Then PJ described it as the furthest away clinic, about an hour up a narrow, steep, winding mountain road, through a tropical jungle, to a clinic high above. Again Tina was excited, “I think this is our clinic”, and again I looked at her and thought, that sounds awesome, but could be someone else’s assignment. Then Papa Joe announced that Maroontown was going to be staffed by the NJ/ NY crew. I have to admit, my heart sunk a little, but then he added, and Tina and Holly. It was fate, my friends.
After orientation and group assignments we left with our teams, stopped at the storage unit and gathered all of the supplies we could anticipate needing- a bigger deal for us, as we’re an hour away and cant just jump over for something that may have been missing. Then it was onto the gas station to get fuel for the generator, and then onto our first journey up to Maroontown.
The ride can be as brutal as it is beautiful. It is full of twists and turns, through palm trees, acai trees, jackfruit trees and banana trees, dotted with little parishes along the way. People walking down the road, to and from where I can not even imagine. Small shacks advertising Digicell phone credits for your cell phones on their plywood exteriors. What an amazing juxtaposed image! The cliffs on either side of our 1 ½ car wide road are steep, but the view (when you can see it through the dense foliage) rewarding. We have had an excellent driver for our trips up the mountain, his name is Preacher, and man, he is good!
While getting acquainted with our new route to work we are also getting to know one another. Tina could not have been more right on the money with having intuition that Maroontown would be our assignment. We are working with Jim and his wife Julia, Greg and his wife Monica, and their really close friend Susan. We also have another team member, but she has not arrived yet, her name is Sista and she is from Ocho Rios.
Our group is like six peas in a pod, singing and joking and having music around us at all times. The jokes are slightly inappropriate, just the way we like em’.
So we go into the clinic, unpack and set up as much as possible while trying to work out any kinks that we can anticipate. Before we know it its time to head back home. The drive home seems quicker, and its dark when we get back.
In true Great Shape style, our team heads straight to the Cricketer Pub for some cocktails and SF Giants. Before we know it we’ve been there for a while, so we decided to stay for dinner – Tina and I had previously planned to get a little fancy and dine at one the nicer restaurants, but as time does with us, it totally got away. So burgers and wings it is. Somewhere around drink number 4 or 5 or 6 Tina is being courted by our bartender Ricardo, who is hoping that Tina will ‘give him a chance’ because he is a ‘straight forward man.’ He also then also expressed his hope that this would in no way get him fired. This moment had Baby In The Corner written all over it, only Tina was not interested in carrying his watermelons! Imagine his disappointment after he made her a napkin rose, complete with Peach Schnapp scent and she still resisted his charm!
As we leave the pub we walk through the main lobby area where we run into another handful of our group. There is a band playing the ever so awesome and appropriately timed “We are family” and we break out into an impromptu dance party in the lobby. Oh yes, THIS is why I love this project! Ok, well that and many other things that I’m sure I’ll blog about in the next two weeks. From the band in the lobby Tina and I take our drinks out to the beach and walk along in the warm water in the warm night air over to the Piano Bar where there is a Martoonies style piano sing along in progress. The first song as we enter? The Piano Man. Of course it was.
By this time we aren’t too excited about singing, so we see Skip, another Great Shaper, and sit down next to him for a beer and an interesting chat about our lives. The night is getting late, and we have an exciting early morning, so back to our room we go to get a few hours before the 7:15 a.m. meeting.
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