Day 6: Seaford Town and Tommy's Farm

So today we went about an hour and a half away from the hotel to a little town called Seaford Town. One of the reasons we went there was to tour the town. We started at an old church and journeyed to some of the oldest houses in Seaford Town that were over 100 years old. The interesting thing about Seaford town is that it was first settled by Germans. In 1835, a ship full of 532 Germans that were meant to be cheap laborers who were to replace the slaves when slavery was abolished. Of the 532 people that came over, 249 went to Seaford town. Before they came over they were promised land and houses built for them. They also expected to be payed weekly wages until they got on their feet. None of this happened. They arrived to 16 half finished houses and were not given any wages. After three years of harsh conditions about half of the population succumbed to tropical diseases and being overworked. But they cool thing is that you can still see the German influence on the town. For instance when we went to give school supplies to the children in the Seaford Town there were children that were more fair skinned with blonde hair and either blue or green eyes but they had the hair texture of a dark colored person. It was so weird. There was also a little girl who was dark skinned but had blue eyes! It's just crazy that traits would still be so very visible after so much time has past. Another thing that we went to Seaford for was to tour the technical college there. One thing that I found very interesting is that they have a program for housekeeping and like restaurant servers there. When we think of that back in the states it's pretty much an entry level position when you need a job and there's no education involved. The housekeeping students had the prettiest dresses on and i think that school uniforms should be utilized more in the states becasue they looked sharp that's for sure. Tammy, Nicole, and Lori supported their school by buying a few crafts the students had for sale. As part of our tour we had the hospitality and culinary students serve us lunch. And by lunch I mean way too much food that's for sure. After we were done at the school we left to go to a man named Tommy's farm. Tommy is originally from Switzerland but has been living in Jamaica for almost 15 years. It took us awhile to get to the farm because we were not given clear directions but by getting lost we experienced some of the scariest roads I have ever seen. Imagine being way up in the mountains, no guard rails, and on roads that are barely wide enough to fit two cars that often overlook cliffs or giant ravines. I was scared to death. Once we finally met Tommy we made about a fourth mile journey into the forest/ jungle whatever you prefer to call it. He showed us his little hut he lived in and then took us to an area where we all sat down. For the next couple hours, we learned about the different fruits Tommy grows and were able to taste almost every single one. My favorite things we tried were the giant lemons and the chocolate pudding tree. I personally did not think it tasted like chocolate pudding but it definitely had the texture of pudding. Tommy also told us about his way of life and his different beliefs about nutrition. It was very interesting to hear someone talk so passionately about the food he puts in his body. Once we were done with the farm we left and headed back to the hotel. Even though we were all very tired, we stayed up late making signs that had gotten ruined during the painting process of the school. Signs such as the letters of the alphabet and the days of the week. Now I'm soo tired I can barely function so I'm going to bed. Stay tuned for tomorrow's adventures.