Thoughts..thoughts..

Yesterday I finished out the work week at the sports department. I really like working there- mostly because the people and a little because of the work. It is great, however, working with fun people, who LOVE sports! I could definitely get used to being around sports talk all day, every day. There are four students that I work with to create the website and marketing plan. Davida, Jenelle, Shamaine, and Patrick are all UWI students who have worked in the office as student workers for some time now. They make me laugh a lot and planned an outing for us after work. They all have such different views on work, life, society, sports, etc. They seem to get into spats about their differences on most days and I just listen. I learn so much from listening. (I would like to try harder at doing this back in the US.) On Friday they started talking about none other than...hazing. Just when I think I am away from that topic, it peeks its ugly head out in Jamaica.

As I mentioned before there is a strong sense of Residence Hall pride at UWI. The students literally treat the halls like a fraternity or sorority. They have names, colors, and now I have learned, rights of passage. During orientation week each fall a lot of hazing happens between third year students and first year students. Mostly this includes embarrassing acts or drinking. I listened quite intently during this discussion in the office as Patrick defended hazing while Shamaine made it clear that she thinks it is wrong and offensive. She said that she feels that everyone has different backgrounds and you never know when hazing could hit the wrong nerve for some. She told me later in the day about a young girl who never came out of her room and they deemed her a "lump" - one who does not participate in hall activities. A year later, when her mother passed away from cancer, they realized that they had made many mistakes when putting her down for not being active in the activities.

This conversation has been on my mind, hence why I blog about it. Again, many many miles from FSU and the issues are the same. I am proud to say that at FSU we handle hazing in a very serious manner, whereas at UWI, those in charge turn a blind eye to the situation.

After work we all piled into a small cab and went to New Kingston for dinner and drinks at "Cuddyz." We had a lot of fun and it was nice to see the nightlife culture in Jamaica. During our time the issue of Chris "Dudas" Coke being captured came up. Although I am glad for this, it does pose many questions for the economy for Jamaica. I can't forget what cute little Miss Shamaine said, "I believe in Jamaica."

Today should be a good day- we are watching "my" team- USA- play in the afternoon followed by a men's field hockey match. I couldn't be more excited to see some field hockey.... if only they would let me out on the field!!!!!