Monday, April 6, 2015

So Supershuttle came at 2:45, just as they said, for a 6:30 departure out of JFK.  Between the American/USAIr confusion, my passport not scanning, and the fact that USAir somehow didn’t have me down as TSA Precheck, I would have been prepared to have been annoyed except that one segment of the flight was first class.  That meant I got to check THREE bags (If I’d had three checkable bags) and the weight limit was higher:  70 lbs instead of 50.  There was food service on real china and wider seats.  I may have to do that again.

There were a variety of things going on:  the kids in back of me kicking the chair and their mother  insisting they weren’t;  the kids in front of me in First Class making noise; or the fact that I routed my flight through Charlotte because I thought that was where everyone was meeting, only to find that everyone had made their own individual flights,  which meant I could have gone directly to MBJ from JFK..

But we got here uneventfully.  No one from the Tourist Bureau to meet us, though the woman I talked to on the plane was met by someone who helped me through customs quite quickly.  We hung out for a looooong time then had some lunch, then headed to St. Elizabeth. 

This year, the US delegation was led by:
Bishop and Mrs. Lawrence L. Reddick, III, Senior Bishop and First Lady of the CME Church; Presiding Prelate and First Lady over the 8^th Episcopal District, which includes Jamaica.

The trip was ably coordinated by:
Ms. Beverly Ross, 8th Episcopal District, Beebe Tabernacle CME Church, Houston, TX.

Additional members of the delegation were:
Rickey Fontenot, 8^th ED; Sheeler Memorial CME Church, Houston, TX;

Clifford Harris, General Secretary of the Lay Department, 9^th ED, Pettie Chapel, Bixby, OK;

Clarence K. and Lakisha Heath, 8^th ED, Carter Metropolitan  CME Church, Ft. Worth, TX;

Dr. Judith E. Grant, Past President, Women’s Missionary Society; 7^th ED, Holsey Temple CME Church, Philadelphia, PA;

Velma Lois Jones, 1st ED; Trinity CME Church, Memphis, TN

Dr. Vanessee J. Burns, 8^th ED; Christian Chapel Temple of Faith, Dallas, TX

Dr. Ore L. Spragin, Editor, The Christian Index; 5^th Episcopal District and
Cassandra G. Perry, 7th ED; Williams Institutional CME Church, New York, NY. 

Once everyone had finally gathered, we stopped at a Mega Store for water and then at the Tortuga factory.  I started on what, in retrospect, seemed for a moment to have been an ill-fated search for a Digicell sim card. 

That’s all I wrote on the first day. I left out the group luncheon at the Pelican, the stop at the Mega Mart to get water and treats, and the first night's dinner at Treasure Beach.  Apparently I put the pictures for today and tomorrow all together, so I will put the links in both places,
Here is the link, which includes a variety of pictures from the journey in as well as the first day.  If the hyperlink doesn't work, just copy and paste this link:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10205315586343001.1073741891.1048146180&type=1&l=0455de5107