July 16th, 2017.

I just wanted to tell some funny stories that have happened to me this summer. To start I brought one pair of work boots with me that I've had for years. Great boots and I knew my feet would be safe wearing them. Well the first week here, they broke. so I was panicked and was looking for some tape to just wrap them up. Like any good American I know, duct tape fixes anything. Well its crazy expensive in Jamaica so I couldn't find duct tape anywhere! The only thing I could find was white electrical tape, so it had to work. After a week of the electrical tape holding my shoe together I stumbled upon some bright yellow duct tape when visiting the Knockpatrick School for the Deaf. So since early June I've been wearing one yellow boot and one brown boot. Another thing that happened to me was that when packing to come down here was that I gave myself a good 4 hours the night before to pack before I had to go to the airport. Because of that I forgot to pack work shirts. So the first time I saw a souvenir shop I went and bought a 5 for $20 deal on t-shirts. They are some of the most ridiculous shirts I've ever seen, but I had to get them. I'll attach a photo of my favorite shirt. 




Its been a fun past few weeks! Its cool to see the progress on the work that we've been doing down here. Ive poured a lot of concrete, painting a lot of buildings, planted a lot of citrus trees, and made mistakes doing all of it haha. The construction manager for the village, Lawerence (a.k.a. "Big Fish), always says "work smarter, not harder" but he doesn't tell you the smarter way to do things until after you've tried it the harder way first. Its a learning process but I'm having fun along way. Ive made a few more trips to Kingston to visit Deaf Can Coffee, its one of my favorite places to go see. Everyone should check out their website at www.deafcancoffee.com. Im only here for one more month so I'm trying to take advantage of every opportunity I can. Also my parents are coming to visit in less than 2 weeks and I can't wait for them to experience what I'm doing down here, and see the beautiful Jamaica. Until next time

Your favorite red bearded Jamaican American,
                Chuck Vines

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