90 —Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 31,1979 She spent Summer out-spokin’ through Jamaica Joyce Brubaker, a Lancaster County lass studying at Hesston College in Kansas, probably has fonder memories of this past January than most. She, along with five other Pennsylvania residents attending Hesston and sixteen other students and four faculty members pedalled their way around the perimeter of Sunny Jamaica. The students were working out jiart of their college credits in what is called Interterm. Interterm at Hesston is a tune for students to explore new territories and to concentrate on one course for three and one-half weeks. There are fifteen off-campus courses with many elective and required courses held on the campus. Joyce, a sophomore at the two-year college, elected to enroll in the Jamaican bike hike which covered some five- ' hundred miles in less than four weeks. The trip was of fered m co-operation with an organization of the Men- - nonite Church called Out-Spokin’. This group organizes and conducts bike hikes in many parts of the world. Participants have the opportunity to see other land areas as well as peoples of other cultures and to witness in churches and conduct services of worship during the tour s. This 1977 Solanco graduate majors in Physical Education at Hesston, a 24 hour drive from her home in southern Lancaster County. During semester break recently, she explained what happened, what she saw and what she learned from her Interterm experiences in Jamaica. In addition to adding four credcits to her list, three in Sociology and one for Physical Education, she had the chance to increase her awareness of the people and the culture so different from anything she had known before. Another benefit she feels she gained during the course was a spiritual emphasis that is not comparable to anything she found on campus. On the fourth of January, after she and five other students had driven for 24 hours straight through to Miami, the hiking group totally 22 students and four in structors flew out of Miami. After a brief flight of less than two hours, they reached the island, travelled to the base point, a school, and made plans for the rest of the trip. Jamaica is an island wider east to west than north to south. The group started in the Montego Bay area on the north-west comer of the island and travelled south-west, then east and finally north’ and north-west to encircle the island completely. The terrain was mountainous in some areas and for the most part the roads were double land macadam highways. The charting of the course, the preparation of meals and purchasing of supplies and Schwinn 10-speed bikes was the work of the Out-spokin’ leaders, three of the four faculty members accompanying the tour. Each par ticipant received a bike, a sleeping bag, and essential camping gear for the duration of the hike. The bikes were equipped with flags and the riders always donned white helmits during the riding each day. “We were always being observed by the Jamaicans,” Joyce recalled. “We were so conspicuous with our bikes and flags and white helmits. ” “We always lined the bikes up in a row when we stopped.” “They had seen the Out spokin groups before.” “This was the eighth year for the hike in Jamaica, but we were still watched everywhere we went,” she added. “The children were especially curious about us.” “They wanted to know where we were from, if we had ever been m Jamaica before.” “And they always wanted to know what we thought about then- island.” “They were very proud of their home and it was important to them that we like it too.” she remembered. Seed necklaces, straw hats, and mahogany salt and pepper shakers were among the Jamacian items Joyce brought back from her trip. By Susan Kauffman Staff Correspondent I Joyce Brubaker with map of the island of which started at the top of the island in the Jamacia and course of the 500 mile bike hike Montego Bay area. As far as the economic background of the island, Joyce explained that near and in the urban areas, the conditions were not much different from those she had seen in the United States. But the living conditions in the rural areps A .-were very poor, she said. “Many of the people were just surviving with the garden and few animals they had.” Since the climate is a warm one with the temperature in the eighties and nineties <during the bike trip) Joyce noted the poorer people had very little clothing. “I don’t see how they could survive in a colder climate,” she surmised. “The women almost always wore a dress, often a bright color,” she added. The smaller children wore little at all. Although the people appeared to be healthy, they were much thinner than American inhabitants. “The Jamaicans are an easy-going, open type of people,” Joyce found. “They are not at all caught up in getting ahead.” “They feel free to express themselves without worrying about what others think.” During the bike hike, the group conducted worship services at various churches and a school. Joyce recalled how spontaneous the people were and how much they openly reacted to song and sharing. It was also strange to the American youth on the hike to hear the public schools filled with religious songs in the morning. Another aspect of the culture that was new to many of the group was bartering for the food and souvenirs they selected at the daily markets. “You had to haggle with the seller because he always set his price higher than he would actually sell,” Joyce said. “If you paid his first price, it was too much,” she added. The American dollar traded favorably in Jamaica. Joyce said they were exchanged at a rate for £1.64 for every American dollar. However, everything manufactured was very expensive. Great care was taken to keep the bikes under close observation for to replace one stolen would have cost at least $BOO. Only small cars were driven on the island and Joyce cared very little for the drivers themselves. “When we were travelling near the larger cities, we had to watch out for the traffic.” “Although the people as a rule are not tune conscious like we Americans, the drivers were very reckless! ” “They drove very fast and recklessly.” In addition to staying out of the traffic, the group had many other obstacles to overcome during their 500 mile long hike. The schedule called for an average of 35 miles a day with the highest mileage clocked at 55 miles one day in particular. The whole group was broken down into groups of five or six cyclists called a cluster. The cluster stayed the same in membership throughout the hike. Each cluster stayed together during the day’s rides and encouraged each other throughout the trip. Every 10 miles each cluster would stop for a brief rest break to allow time to rest and see that all the group was progressing along well. Following the clusters was the hike van which carried the camping pack assigned to each team member. Clothing, bedding and food as well as cooking utensils for 20 stint- ‘ >n(i adults had to M mto one \>n *■ * Joyce said she was fortunate in being in good physical condition for the biking. Others found difficulty m biking at first. Joyce competes in the one and two-mile events m track and participates in cross country events as well. To some of the group, the food caused some discomfort. Joyce explained that one of the Out-spokin’ staff members was the cook for the trip and she purchased and prepared local food dishes. While giving the members of the hike the chance to eat other cultural dishes than those American, many found the spicy food to be disagreeable. Joyce said she had no serious problem with the foods. While lunch was usually a cold sandwich eaten while moving during the day, dinner was a hot meal prepared after the evening’s campsite had been prepared. Often'the evening meal contained rice, chicken, fish or goat meat. “Curry goat was a popular dish in Jamaica,” Joyce stated. “The goat is much like pork in appearance but tastes more like lamb and has many small bones in it to be removed as you eat it.” “Another dish that'was popular was nee and a red pea served together with a spicy taste,” she recalled. Although the local, fresh water proved to be no problem, the change in climate, energy output, and food created some problems for the team members. Group support .and personal encouragement were an inspirational factor to the students who learned the value of helping others. While devotions were held each evening in a group settmg, each morning there was time set aside for per sonal quiet tune and devotions. Joyce explained that this quiet, solitary time was extremely important. “When you are surrounded all day, day after day with other people, working closely side by side, you have to have some time to be by yourself.” “It was good to be by yourself a little each day,” she said. •V- to barter for her hand-crafted Jamacian souvenirs. She holds a handmade purse and bag. V, ' ' ! ‘ ; l~> ‘<f*^r r (Turn to Page 91)
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