Picture this. It’s June of 2000. I’m a geeky 20 year old pre-med Biology student at Florida State University who has never left the country without Mom and Dad, and my first trip is in a few hours. I’m headed to some of the most destitute neighborhoods in the mountains of Jamaica to do medical missionary work as a part of the International Medical Outreach program. I had never been to Jamaica, never had a Red Stripe or a jerk anything. Poor thing. I had not lived! LOL! But seriously, finding this makeshift diary in my sacred box of keepsakes this past weekend brought back so many touching memories, and has allowed me to reflect on my growth not just as a traveler, but as a woman, over the past 13 years. Though I bid farewell to my medical aspirations not long after this trip, my desire to help people in situations less fortunate than my own has not changed and reminded me why I need to plan a Heal the World trip for 2012.
Left to Right: Shannon, Tim, Greer, Aaron and me |
The doctors on our trip: Dr. Keen and Wayne |
Awkward phase |
Lime Cay was okay. Not much to see. The water was pretty when we got back to the mainland. We all went to the bar and tried Red Stripe beer and some bammy. The bammy was good – like a fried bread type of deal. The beer made me tipsy and I didn’t like that because I couldn’t really appreciate the surroundings as we drove around the island. [Okay let’s talk about why one Red Stripe made me tipsy? I CLEARLY did not drink enough in college. Such a nerd lol…]
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