jamaica, a preview

for the first time in three weeks, i'm not sweating. it is, i know, not very ladylike to talk about sweat, so you can imagine my relief that it is no longer a part of my daily existence. neither is mosquito repellent. ptl. my arms and legs are covered with the marks of a three-week battle with the most annoying insect on the planet, and they still itch, just to remind me of what i've left behind and do not miss.

everything else, though, i'd take back in a heartbeat. because after only twenty-seven hours of not being in jamaica, i'm already homesick and aching to be back in the place that shows me so much of life. already, i've looked through my pictures at least twenty-six times. i scroll through them, as if looking long enough will put me back in that place, with that sweet girl sleeping on my chest, or that funny girl challenging me to a dance off, or those beautiful girls playing in the ocean for the first time in years.

i wasn't sure, yesterday, if i should hurry out of customs so that i could journal and cry in privacy, or stay as long as possible at the baggage claim, standing with the last (and few) jamaicans that i'll see in who knows how long. i just wanted to stay and let their accents linger in my ears before being drowned out by the sound of my life in america.

i'm hesitant to post pictures to facebook or update my blog and, with the click of the "submit" button, officially end the trip. friends and family can read lots of words and scroll through lots of pictures to look at three weeks of my life, as if it can be reduced to one hundred and ninety one photos contained in one album with brief captions, as if, even the third time around, the impact of this place is not so much more profound.

not to worry: the pictures will be posted, just not yet. i so want to share the place that brings me so much joy and life, but for right now, i'm savoring these memories for myself, protecting them in my heart. the stories and lessons will come, i promise, but slowly.

a preview of stories to expect:

• jolene, the aspiring jeweler
• my aversion to goodbyes
• potlucks and babies and fruit straight from the trees
• listening and talking and how i feel about both

and of course, summer updates, reading lists, recipes, etc etc are all in the near future as well!