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Picture yourself in the best club in Jamaica during Spring Break. Now picture the astonishment on the faces of other college students’ you meet when you tell them you are receiving three credits for being there. Those are the faces I saw over and over again during Spring Break in Jamaica with my Caribbean Literature class.
We spent our days doing all sorts of activities that allowed us to experience Jamaica in a way no other tourist ever could imagine. When we finished our activities early enough we spent the afternoon on the nicest beach in Jamaica, only fifteen feet away from our hotel, resting up for a long night at Margaritaville, other clubs on the island , or even a Beenie Man concert at the docks.
Our unforgettable experience would not have been so great if Professor Barbara Paul-Emile hadn’t worked so diligently for months before the trip to set up an action packed itinerary. We traveled around Jamaica in our private, brand new, air conditioned van to climb Dunns River Falls, swim in one of nature very own swimming pools based at the bottom of the secluded C.S Falls where a waterfall rains down on your head and you swing from rope swings. We went to Bob Marley’s house where bullet holes still mark the walls of his porch from the attempt to kill him. We met with the Mayor of Montego Bay in his office and he talked to us about the culture and problems that exist in Jamaica. We visited a community college and met with students and experienced their classes, which were surprisingly similar to our own, heard their remarkable choir, and ate lunch complements of the culinary class. We visited the tax free zone where many American Businesses, from computer companies to baseball uniform making companies, decide to base themselves because the elude being taxed. We saw the million dollar mansions Eddie Murphy and others rent when vacationing in Jamaica. We walked on plantations slaves worked on over one hundred years ago, ate the same fruits they cultivated there, and toured the lavish mansions their masters lived in. We parasailed and jet skied in Negril, and ate lots of native food like the class’s favorite- jurk chicken.
Everyday got better and better though we thought the previous day’s experience couldn’t be beat. Meeting all the constantly smiling natives allowed us to see they are proud of their homeland and rich past. We went to the home of —-, of the Meet- the – People program and she cooked us a traditional Jamaican meal and we met and talked with more natives who shared wonderful stories with us about Jamaica.
The trip allowed us to incorporate what we read in our books before the trip with our experiences in Jamaica. One of the very plantations we visited was the setting of one of the books we read.
Professor Paul- Emile has received Bentley’s Adamian Award for teaching excellence, and is recognized at the national level for her teaching abilities. She has just been appointed Bentley’s first Maurice E. Goldman Distinguished Professor of Arts and Sciences, which is a five year appointment recognizing a member of the Arts and Sciences faculty who has excelled in teaching and service to the college. It will allow her to develop new courses and finish works in progress for publishers. She is originally from Jamaica, and being such an enthusiastic teacher who is always smiling and upbeat, made our experience there fantastic.
I made eleven new friends on this trip, my class became so close in fact that Professor told us last night [April 25] at our reunion at Rhythm and Spice, a Carribean Restaurant in Cambridge, we are “family.” With a professor and group leader like her, who immediately puts a smile on your face and instantly in a good mood, we couldn’t help wanting to be together. I advise every student to fulfill a Literature, unrestricted, or arts and science elective this way.
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