The Big Day

Despite the overcast skies in Kingston, there is a buzz around the place. Maybe it's just because I work for a Ministry where speculation is rife about who our boss will be as of tomorrow but people are buzzing. And not too much is being done either at work... everyone is too busy discussing what they will wear this afternoon!

Why? Because it is Sister P's inauguration this afternoon! I was feeling special as I have a ticket with my name on it for this event... until I discussed that over 6,000 people have been invited! But I am still pleased to be going - I can't wait to see all the bling outfits in the crowd.

Confusion is everywhere - what exactly does a lounge suit mean for the ladies? The options that my office is going for range from formal evening ball gowns to business suits to anything bling. Apparently we could alternatively wear our national dress, but I am of the opinion that national dress doesn't really suit me.

So I'll settle for what my etiquette books tell me - in late afternoon / evening, lounge suits mean cocktail dresses for women. So a simple cocktail dress will be worn by me. But my camera is in position in order to take photos of all bling outfits and the excitement!

PS Yes Owen, you are right. The girl in the background on tv talking enthusiastically and laughing was indeed me. I didn't realise the cameras were there - otherwise I would have tried to behave with more decorum!

Important issues in the Caribbean

Firstly - the press meeting is over. It went well - watch out for me on TV tonight! I hope I managed to look interested all this time.... And yes, as usual things came together, but it was a little too close for my liking at times.

Secondly, I have just looked for something on the Caricom website. And while I was on it, I checked the list of upcoming Caricom events to see if there was anything I should know about. And I was interested to note that from March 27 to 29, in Trinidad and Tobago, there will be the Second Special Meeting on Red Kidney Beans. Now, I am wondering - what is this meeting about? Are we going to be looking at special directives about the kidney bean? I hope we are not going to become like the EU where everything has to be standardised as that would mean the end of Red Peas in Jamaica and no more rice and peas... rice and red kidney beans just doesn't sound the same to me. Or maybe it is to outlaw cruelty to the beans - I am sure that I am not the only child who grew up in the Caribbean who had to grow beans in a jar with newspapers, and then threw them in the bin as soon as the science project was over? Now that is cruelty to the poor bean!

Thirdly, I went to Dipsomania on Friday night. This was a carnival party with loads of live acts. And wow, it was good! Danced all night, enjoyed the drink (a friend agreed to drive!), Machel Montano was excellent and there was an excellent vibe. Only bad point was someone tried to pickpocket me - fortunately I felt them take my phone so grabbed them and started to cause a fuss. They decided that the odds weren't good so told me I'd dropped it on the floor and then ran. People present at the party included Mark Shields. For those of you who don't know, Mark Shields is the British guy currently working for the Jamaican police force, one of those 'wonder-cops' brought in to solve everything. I thought about it, but decided against informing him about my security issue in the middle of the party!

But after Friday night, I am now well in the mood for carnival - bring it on!

The Journey

I arrived at the airport at a quite ungodly hour on Wednesday morning and survived the check-in queue. In front of me was a woman, looked in her late 20s. She had fake nails, fake hair, fake eyelashes... and this was at 7 in the morning. I wondered what else was fake... With her were her 3 kids, aged 3, 6 and about 12. These kids were great. They quietly stood in the queue, moved forward the many bags whenever necessary and minded their own business while their mum discussed her men on the phone with a friend for the entire 20 minutes we were stood in the queue. Apparently he wasn't looking after her properly, she was having to spend her own money on her hair! Harsh life.

On board, instead of watching the flight safety demonstrations, I started to look through SkyWriting, the Air Jamaica inflight magazine. Flipping through, I came to an article titled 'Web Watch: Into the Blogsphere' and something bright pink caught my eye... a review of Jamaica Girl!

Well, according to them... 'Jamaica Girl is a twenty-something who documents her daily experiences in Jamaica since her return from university in England. This blog is Sex and the City-esque and from stories of the last party she attended to daily sagas at her job to social commentary on the local transport system, Jamaica Girl gives her readers an insightful look at the pros and cons of adjusting to life in Jamaica'

So now I feel famous - my first ever review!!

Also reviewed was Mr Mad Bull who apparently 'has a special affinity when it comes to the topics of Caribbean beauty queens and reggae music. The content is upbeat, light and ‘steers clear of deep politricks and religion.'

That kept me smiling for the rest of the flight.. until I reached New York... more on that later!

Back on the rock

Came back in last night, back at work this morning. My feet are killing me, my skin is dried out from the cold (despite copious amounts of moisturiser1), my bank account is empty, my eyes are swollen from lack of sleep, I have too much to do at the office now.... but I don't care. I'm happy. I had an amazing time. It was great to get off the island and I am pleased to be back! Anyway, more later - lunch is calling!

It's up to you, New York, New York!!!

Blogging will be suspended for the next few days as I will be busy doing more interesting things - eating, chatting, drinking coffee, having cocktails, gossiping, going to art galleys, shopping, giggling, looking at wedding dresses, looking at bridesmaid dresses, pretending to be Carrie Bradshaw, taking photos, dancing, chatting....

You get the idea? I'm finally off to New York! I catch the early plane tomorrow morning and can't wait!

Am sure that there will be stories and photos on my return... stay posted!

Over you?

Friday night. Picture the scene. Out with my friends, looking cute (!) and we enter our usual haunt. Now I knew that there was a chance that the ex would be there, and I also knew that there was a chance that the get over man would be there (they are friends - d'oh!)... However, I had not got as far as putting these 2 things together and making the connection...

So we walked in and straight infront of me I saw the ex. Playing dominos. Against the get over man. Oops. So I had to go over and say hi to the ex (I'm a nice girl - I am well mannered and polite!). And smile sweetly at everyone else at the table. And walk away... quickly! Fortunately the get over man has some tact and behaved himself so hopefully the ex is none the wiser*. But I am proud of myself - I managed to have a nice and friendly conversation with the ex later in the evening and left and was still happy. I must be getting over him! A weekend in New York will complete the cure nicely.

Anyway, we decided that a change of venue was needed so headed to another bar and were sat down, having a nice time. And then the boat man found us. Now I thought that the boat man was a friend... but he was being a bit too friendly - I'm hoping that excess alcohol is to blame. When he left us, my friends and I sat down and worked something out - Jamaican rich older men must like blondes! Prior to the change of hair colour, I was unharassed by them and now I can't move without finding one! Oh well, if it gets too much, I could always become a red head or something!

* Am deliberately trying not to have the ex find out about get over man as he would be annoyed and don't want to hurt him at the moment. If things get any more serious then yes, I'll tell him. But not otherwise. Which does limit options when going out with get over man - Kingston is so small that if we go anywhere, am sure we'd see someone we know who would report back!

Gym Bunnies and soca

I am still going to the gym - it's been nearly 2 months and I am still persevering. And what's more, I have now increased to 3 my trips per week. I have this theory that it is best to start easy and build up so I am proud of my 3 trips. And it is starting to make a difference - I saw a friend yesterday who I hadn't seen for a couple of months and he turned to my friend and asked if I was loosing weight - he got a big hug in response!

But I am still not a gym bunny yet... and I doubt if I ever will be. You know the gym bunny - the girls who go EVERY day. The girls who know every instructor and vast quantities of information about them. The ones who always bounce in the gym and never break a sweat.

I got stuck behind one in a class yesterday. I was doing well, holding my own. I was following most of the instructions... just inserting the occassional step instead of bounce but good none the less. Until I got distracted by gym bunny infront of me. She was not really following the instructor... because she as making everything harder. Now that's just not fair. I'm struggling to keep bouncing etc and she is adding in extra high kicks and jumps. She should be banned for making the rest of us fell inadequate. Humph.

But it is all worth it - I went and ordered my carnival outfit yesterday!!! Ok, so I am only going for the t-shirt option but the shorts are short enough that I wouldn't have dared a few months ago! And I feel I will have the energy now to jump and wind all the way with the Frenchmen's crew... with the help of lots of drinks... and to get me in the mood, I have found a soca station on the internet so I am very cheerful in the office today!

Blog category

I am realising that the tone of this blog has changed recently. I am becoming a bit of a single girl writer - writing about men and hair and sunbathing. However, I have decided that that is probably wiser than the alternatives - such as writing about work or politics. Maybe when the cabinet reshuffle has taken place and we all know what is going on, I'll start back my stories of the Ministry. But in the meanwhile, it will have to be more stories of being single in Kingston!

Friday night, went on a girls night. Just three of us, a small and select group. Passed by a friend's party and then headed out to a bar, Peppers to be precise. Now, we are all single girls who make an effort at most things we do - we work hard, try and get promotions, look after ourselves, study hard (when necessary!) etc. So we decided that if we want to not be single all our lives, then we have to work at that as well.

So we took the first important step. Instead of following our usual habit of sitting around a table and chatting to each other all night, we decided to sit at the bar. And make eye contact with suitable looking men.

Suitable looking group of men #1. We thought they were making eye contact with us. They were smiling in our direction. We were feeling good. Until we realised that there was aTV above our heads which was showing the West Indies on their way to winning a match. As that is such an unusual thing, we knew that there was no hope in breaking their attention that evening.

Suitable looking group of men #2. Well, they were suitable looking (one in particular...) until we realised that he never took his left hand out of his pocket while talking to us. Hmmm, hiding a wedding ring? Time to move on.

Suitable looking group of men #3. We were doing well on this one. They headed over. They were talking and laughing with us. And they kept coming closer. And closer. Until it was literally the case of having to shove them out of our faces. And the music wasn't even loud. Sorry guys - I like to know you at least a little before I start to feel parts of you in that close contact with me!

We decided that after three attempts we needed to head off. We'll have to try again next week - we just need a better location!

But in the meanwhile, my 'get over him' man is working very nicely!

All at sea

This is my current desktop background - can you tell that I am getting excited?

However, the friend I am meeting there is going to be annoyed with me. She told me specifically that I am not to be too tanned when I see her. Apparently she is in the middle of snow at the moment and feels that her skin tone matches what's outside and that standing beside someone brown will make her feel bad. Oops.

I was doing well - I was spending all my time indoors and hence was developing a nice pale colour myself. But all of that has now changed due to one evening at Christophers...

Ash Wednesday is a public holiday in Jamaica (how we love the Christian influence on our country!). So Tuesday was like a Friday for us so I went out for drinks with 2 friends. While out, they saw this guy they vaguely knew so we went over and said hi and got chattting. Apparently this nice older guy enjoyed our company (see, being educated and able to talk about a variety of issues can be useful!) and hence invited us to join him on his boat the following day. He was talking the media out to follow a sailing race in the habour and wanted us to go to.

So off we went and enjoyed the life of the others for a few hours. And we enjoyed it. And if anyone watched CVM sports last night and saw the footage of the race and noticed the camera man zoom in on 2 girls in bikinis on the front of a boat... that was me! And we're received an invitation to return and enjoy ourselves some more. Excellent.

But now I am paying for it - my back is very sunburnt! But the rest of me is looking nice and brown and healthy again.