Elder Pullan in Jamaica: Wagwaan white-mon?

Wagwaan white-mon? (note from wikipedia: means "What's going on?" in Patois)

Welcome to Jamaica. A land a rolling green hills and people that hate to make commitments. Surprisingly, the hardest commitment to get out of people here is getting them to church. We always get an "I'll try my best" rather than an "I will".

Welcome to Jamaica. I am beginning to be able to understand people better. I feel at home now and I love May Pen. We end up riding upwards of ten miles on our bikes each day, so it is a good area for me. I am able to get the exercise and rush I need through weaving through the pedestrians, pushcarts, potholes, and cars of May Pen. It is a crazy town with a lot of personatlity to it. There is nowhere else like Jamaica. Hopefully the photos I am attaching will come through.

This last week was district conference. President Brown got up and gave everyone the vision on the work. There is going to be a stake in Kingston by the end of the year, and a stake in May Pen by the time he is released. Now is Jamaica's time. This is a very exciting time to be called to the work.

For dad's question about being a minority- I get called white-mon simply to identify me and as an insult several times a day. People think that I have money to give them because I am white and they are lazy. There are tons of jamaicans that don't work. They don't have house payments because they build their homes. As long as they have food for the week, they chill and roam the streets. This is not true of all Jamaicans, but you do not have to work to live in Jamaica. People have the mindset that they will take what comes as God gives it to them. If you ask a Jamaican where they see themselves in five years, most will say "I can't tell the future". If you ask them what their dream job is, they will say "I will take whatever God gives me". The mindset that you can go out and get whatever you want simply does not exist here. This is a generalization. Not all Jamaicans are like this, but you do tend to hear it a lot. Don't think that I am dissing the people. It is important to understand this to really get a feel for Jamaica, however. I love it here and the people are great. They are friendly God-fearing people. But we should all be very grateful for where we live. We are definitely blessed.

By the way, we do do our wash in a bucket. We have a wash lady that does most of it for $500 every monday. We hang them on a line to dry out behind the house. Our showers are... refreshing and come from a single pipe with no head. Welcome to Jamaica. And it's not our apartment that is ghetto. Jamaica is ghetto. All of it. Our apartment is nicer than a lot of places we've been. Love you mom. And I like the pillowcase. Thanks for everything. I will see if I can figure out the mailing info for you and give you a list of what I need next week.

I love jamaica. I love the work and I love the people. I miss you guys and I love to read about the happenings at home.

Good luck with the play matthew and rachel. And good luck getting rich beyond your wildest dreams lydia! (With her Fair Days entries.)

Love, Elder Pullan