Over Christmas break this year, my whole mom's side of the family went on a Royal Caribbean cruise that stopped at Falmouth, Jamaica. I was really looking forward to stopping here because I've heard how beautiful the country is, but also that the poverty is heart breaking. Jamaica was our first port of the trip, so we were all pretty excited to finally see land. On Christmas day our ship docked. When I woke up, my mom was already sitting on the balcony looking out at the town. I stepped outside, and it was just so pretty! There was a little tourist shopping area in the front, but in distance there were high hills that looked like volcanos with the sun shinning brightly above them. It was a perfect day!

We had an excursion at Chukka Beach for a relaxing day to soak up the sun. Walking off the pier opens up to the rest of the town. It was a small square area that is surrounded by shops. We made a mental note to stop and look around after our beach break. Then we proceeded to walk over by the shuttle busses to take us to our excursion. I remember the sun was blazing down on us, making it so hot! I was last to get on the bus and there were no remaining seats left, so I had to sit on the foldable isle chair next to a very large, old man. He told me hello and asked where I was from. I noticed an accent that I couldn't categorize, and when I said New Orleans he just nodded as if he didn't know where that was. So being curious, I asked where he was from, and he said Norway! I thought it was pretty awesome. Then the bus driver made us say those weird "introduce yourself" games using some Jamaican lingo. We had to say, "Me name is..., me favorite color is..., and me love.... While everyone goes around introducing themselves, I look out the windows to watch us drive through the town.

The houses were run down, the grasses were overgrown, locals were walking without shoes on, and it looked like a big mess. It made me realize how fortunate all of us really are.

When we arrived, the workers told us we were all guaranteed reclining beach chairs and lunch. The beach was pretty short, compared to the never ending beaches in Florida. There was a hut where lunch was served and a separate hut for the bar. The ocean was calm, crystal clear, and chilly. As we waited for someone to bring our beach chairs, a worker told us that there was none left. My Aunt Donna got mad because she said we paid to be provided beach chairs and we wouldn't get any. The worker then offered us normal lawn chairs, water rafts, and 5 free blended drinks from the bar. I was personally fine that we didn't have the chairs because I was planning on laying on my towel anyway, but now that we had rafts, I took them into the ocean with my cousins and sister.

The water was very chilly, but it was easy to get use to. We floated around for what seemed hours just talking and relaxing. The sand was so soft and smooth. Out deep in the water was a man windsurfing. He would get around 15 feet in the air and do flips and then land perfectly! He had everyone on the beach watching him. Minutes later, I was on my raft floating around when a black spotted jellyfish the size of a small football drifted by. I freaked out and we all got out of the water to dry off, and decided to go eat lunch.

My sister, Beth, stayed behind because she didn't want us to leave our bags unattended, so we went to eat without her. We sat down on picnic table with our plates of food, when all these homeless dogs come by us, begging. It made me really sad because they all looked frail and malnourished, so my cousins and I fed them the leftovers from our plates. When we were done, we talked to the cook and he told us all the dogs have homes down the street. He said that it's pretty funny because they come here when he cooks because the dogs know people will give them food. So instead of being annoyed by the dogs, I was thankful they were okay.

When we go back to our chairs on the beach, Beth was talking to three local Jamaican kids. They introduce themselves as Santino, who's 7, and his friend Kenny, who's 5, and Micheal, who's Kenny's brother and 3. We asked where they live and they said the garbage. It took me by such a huge shock, it was heartbreaking. Kenny and Michael's also said that their dad was the guy windsurfing, so I guess that's how they make their money. Then they went to lay on the water rafts pretending to go to sleep, and then pop up and say "Good Morning!" They did this multiple times, and then Santino started running around, hopping from chair to chair like a monkey. Then he took off full sprint and did a flip in the air, and came running back this way. My sister asked them what they learn in school, and they said, "The good and the bad, like if you step on someone's foot and don't say sorry, that's bad, but if you say thank you to others, thats a good thing!" Beth then started digging in the sand, casually looking for shells. Then the three little boys started getting handfuls of sand and shells and dumped them by Beth to help her look. They went into overdrive looking for shells like they were on some mission. They were so cute!

Since it was Christmas Day, my Aunt Donna decided to ask them if Santa Clause visited them this morning. I knew it would be a bad idea, but she asked anyway. They all shook their heads no, sadly. That moment really shook me because these three little boys were dirt poor, but seemed so happy and so full of life. It made me start to tear up. My Aunt then asked them if they wanted a coca cola from the bar and a three huge smiles appeared on their faces. When we gave the cokes to them, we took a quick picture. Then they shook the cokes up to make them explode, and then proceeded to stick the bottles in their mouths, making it fizz out everywhere. We all laughed and wished them a Merry Christmas, watching them enjoy their only Christmas present.

Soon we had to go, and tell our three little friends goodbye. It was hard to leave them because they just brought so much happiness with them. They made me realize how so extremely fortunate all of us truly have it, and because of them, I now want to go on a mission trip to Jamaica. I hope that I will be able to go back to the country soon one day, and help bring smiles to many children's faces.