Random stories from a Kingston girl

attention attention please

2006-10-18T10:30:00.000-05:00

Sorry guys. This time I'm not setting the trend, I'm merely following the crowd!

See you there!

Sunday morning shock

2006-10-17T11:33:00.000-05:00

I was on my way home from church on Sunday morning and stopped off to buy newspapers from a man at the side of the road. He was normal newspaper selling man, just on a corner, in a residential area, near a supermarket.

I was counting out my change, trying to get rid of as much silver as possible, when a lady came up to the car selling something. I wasn't really paying her attention, being too busy with the silver (earlish Sunday morning, holiday weekend, brain wasn't working too quick) and just kinda replied with a huh?

When I glanced up, I saw something bright red being shoved into the car. As I already mentioned, it was still earlish and my brain wasn't working too well so I had to do a double take. It was bright red, velvety, part of it was cup-like and there wasn't much of it. Just as I was processing this information, the woman yelled at me

'Is a man thang'

And indeed it was. Bright and early on a Sunday morning, she was trying to sell me a man thong with my Sunday newspaper.

I laughed too much to even find out how much it was before I drove off, leaving it behind.

(I've tried to find a photo online to match this post but haven't had any luck. Instead, I am debating stealing one from Cali-J ... )

Asking for advice...

2006-10-14T20:27:00.000-05:00

I have a question for the men out there. When you see a woman driving down the road and you yell something along the lines of 'hey brownin, me like yuh, yuh know', what do you expect to happen?

Should I stop the car at the next available point, get out and come and talk to you? Or should I yell my number out as I drive by? Should I just ignore you? Or should I copy one of my friends who has taken to yelling something along the lines of 'me like yuh too - let me when you buy the diamond and I'll come check yuh' back at them?

Just wondering. Because you see, I was always taught it is rude to ignore someone who is talking to me. But at the same time, I really don't want to accidentally get into a relationship with a man who I met while he was sat at the side of the raod at 8:00 in the morning with his morning red stripe and spliff.

Ladies - have you got any alternative responses?!

Twice in one day!

2006-10-11T16:09:00.000-05:00

I’ve been contemplating writing about this for a while and have been ummming and ahhhhing and have decided to finally post something on the topic of Transfigure. You see, I'm interested in politics. But disheartened with it all.

To start with, my problem is that I’m confused. I’m confused as to what really is going on. You see, as far as my law knowledge goes, if it is indeed a ‘gift’ then the PNP technically have done nothing wrong. Until we face issues of funding political parties and pass some legislation, then there is nothing to say that they can’t take gifts. However, yes they are on iffy ground taking a 'gift' just before a contract is renewed.

Of course, ideally we don’t want our politicians to owe anyone anything. But being realistic, unless they are funded from public funds, they are going to have to take money from the private sector.

We need to set up laws that say that all donations over X amounts need to be declared. That we can or cannot accept donations from foreign. That companies giving money can or cannot get state contracts.

But the other side that no one seems to be mentioning is that JLP has been campaigning big style for months now. Where is that money coming from? Is it just that they have better bank contacts that mean that nothing about their donations gets leaked?

I’m still confused though. I feel that having one party in power for so long isn’t good for democracy. They become settled and they feel they can get away with anything. A change is good, new ideas, shakes everyone up, prevents complacency. But at the same time, the JLP have done absolutely nothing to convince me to vote for them. They have not said a word about any policies they’d introduce. They say they’d spend more on education and health, but not said how or where it would come from. Instead, they seem happy to just go on allegations and accusals.

I hope that we deserve better. I have a dream that these elections will actually revolve around what is good for the nation, what they would do with power, how they would help us. Give us some concrete ideas rather than just ‘we’ll fix it.’ Because lots of bad things happen in Jamaica that need facing. But also, lots of good things happen in Jamaica. I’d love to hear the JLP say that we think PNP has done X badly and Y well so we will change X by doing this and we’ll keep Y.

I’ve registered to vote and my vote is up for grabs. I just hope that someone can convince me to vote for them using a positive reason, rather than relying on the cass cass.

Food glorious food

2006-10-11T10:09:00.000-05:00

Now without wanting to sound like a hungry belly, I'm going to do a review of my food from the weekend because it was a good food weekend! And I'm having to put in some extra hours at the gym this week to make up for it...

Friday as you all know was lunch at coffee mill. Their frappes are heavenly and their smoked marlin bagels are out of this world. I just love that place, it is so calm and mellow depite being right in the middle of New Kingston. Shame about the parking though...

Friday night I kinda skipped food. Gin and Tonics and birthday cake provided all the sustenance that I needed! I was too busy talking and laughing to eat food, a great time was had by all. (Although looking back at the photos now, I didn't realise quite how precarious my new dress was on top - no wonder all the guys loved it!)

Saturday morning the man was at a golf tournament so I was required to smile sweetly at people which have pre-lunch drinks there. Then it was lunch with the girls at Restaurant East, our favourite lunch spot. It's a gorgeous Japanese restaurant with good service and great food. Although I had one misfortune - I enjoyed the food so much that I was unable to eat most of my dessert! Sushi, teryaki chicken... mmmmm

Saturday evening I was supposed to go to a friend's birthday party, but I skipped it... stayed in bed instead... (and someone needs to tell me how to use iconthingys in blogger as I wanted to put in a nice wink!) Apparently the jerk there was excellent though!

Sunday I was taken to Cafe Aubergine for lunch. Although they have just opened a branch in Kingston, we decided that it was a good day for a drive out so headed out of town - it's in Monegue on the way to Ochi, the drive takes just over an hour. The hills were looking good and the trucks weren't on the road so it was a good journey. And it was totally worth it. The food was excellent - stuffed crabs, salmon in dill sauce and lemon mousse with a really nice bottle of chardonnay...mmm.... The only problem was staying awake on the drive home!

And the weekend was finished with homemade melted cheese on toast - perfect sunday evening food!

So now I'm looking forward to the Kingston Restaurant Week which is coming soon, an excellent opportunity to try out all those places you've been meaning to go but haven't quite made it to yet!

It's my birthday...

2006-10-06T13:55:00.000-05:00

... so a very bad for me coffee was in order at lunchtime. Decided to save the alcohol until this evening but in the meanwhile, this drink on the right hit the spot!

I got one of those forwards today about your personality based on the month of your birth. Apparently, someone born in october...

Loves to chat (I think most people who know me would agree with that!)
Loves those who love them (Of course!)
Loves to takes things at the center (Not sure what that means)
Has inner and physical beauty (Glad that's been recognised!)
Lies but doesn't pretend (Hmm, white lies or proper lies?)
Gets angry often (Not really)
Treats friends importantly (Definitely)
Brave and fearless (Er, no, I'm a scaredy cat)
Always making friends (yup)
Easily hurt but recovers easily (Yes, I tend to get upset and then get over it quick)
Daydreamer (Sorry, didn't read that, my head was in the clouds)
Opinionated (Of course as I am always right!)
Does not care to control emotions (Hmm, not quite - I care to, I'm just not good at it)
Unpredictable (Nah)
Extremely smart (I wish!)
but definitely the hottest AND sexiest of them all! (Well, I'd agree with this one... but every month ended with it!!)

Not Christmas yet!!!

2006-10-05T08:58:00.000-05:00

My computer is behaving rather strangely at the moment. Well, actually I lie. It’s not my computer that’s behaving odd, it’s other peoples. My office computer is just behaving dead. Apparently it is being fixed today … I am waiting anxiously. So in the meanwhile, I am forced to wander around the office, grabbing anyone else’s when they step outside for more than 2 minutes. And the one that I was on this morning was being rather odd.

I tend to be in early in the mornings as I like to make myself a hot drink and read the newspapers online before everyone else arrives and the day starts. I did that this morning and was dismayed to see every single blog and newspaper site that I looked at was talking about Christmas! I got upset – it is way too early to think about Christmas. After all, we haven’t even had my birthday yet (which is October 6 i.e. tomorrow!!!).

After huffing and puffing and trying more sites, it finally dawned on me. I’d seen all of these stories before. In fact, they were all old news. And when I finally let the coffee sink in and rubbed my eyes, I realized why. All of the pages were dated 23 December 2005.

I am now slightly concerned by how long it took me to work that one out.

Stories from the past

2006-10-03T15:05:00.000-05:00

This post is the fault of island spice - another addition to the caribbean blogger family.

I had this 'boyfriend' once. Fortunately I didn't have him for too long. I quickly learnt his very strange ways. He was one of those short-term guys you get involved with after a long-term relationship, you know the type - someone who is so different from the ex (and hence you soon realise sooo wrong for you).

Anyway, I don't know what I did to this guy. But he decided that it would be good to fall madly in love with me in a very short length of time. He decided that we had a cosmic connection and the stars meant us to be together.

And about the time he said this, I was trying to figure out how to get away from him... So I broke it to him as kindly as possible, we were not meant to be together. It wasn't working. And I wanted out.

At which point he got rather upset. And started to try and pile guilt on me. Apparently he has been thinking that we should get married (hell, I'd known him for 2 months!!!) and I was just running away from the strength of my feelings for him.

When I pointed out that this was in no way the case, he eventually gave up and left with the parting line of 'I think you need to see a psychologist to help you sort out your inability to truely find love and to give of yourself.'

Obviously if I wasn't in love with him, I was mad.

Well I have to say that if that was the case, I'm happily mad until this very day!

Uptown Girl

2006-09-26T16:17:00.000-05:00

I have this saying that if you are not careful, Jamaica turns you into a snob. And it does it in so many different ways...

Example 1: Yesterday I had a flat tyre. Now, I know how to change a flat and if this was while I was living abroad, I’d have knelt down by the roadside and got on with it. But no, I can’t do that here, my car limped the short distance up the road to a gas station and got a guy there to change it and gave him a money.

Example 2: If I go to a big party or concert somewhere like Mas Camp, I’ll only go now if I am going to the VIP section – I can’t deal with the hassle and harassment in the cheap area.

Example 3: If my car is in the garage, I’ll call a friend to come and pick me up as I’m not going on the bus. And this is the girl who used to walk to the underground station, then take a train, then get a bus and then walk again to get to work when I lived abroad.

Example 4: I was in Notting Hill carnival one year, and was quite ok with the jumping up with anyone and the crowd reaching through the security at points. Yet when I came home and jumped carnival last year, not only did I pick the ‘uptown’ carnival, but I also picked the band which had the rep as having the best security people. And I made sure that these security people kept the crowds away when we went through certain areas.

And if you live in uptown Jamaica, you have to make a distinct effort to ensure that this snobby side doesn’t completely take over. To avoid joining in with all the uptown conversations that say Jamaica is going to the dogs, that say that everyone who lives below half-way-tree is lazy, that take for granted that you should never have to do anything manual for yourself which you can pay someone else to do.

I’m lucky – everyday my job reminds me of the problems out there, but also introduces me to people who are trying to make the best out of what they have. Hopefully that will help me not to let the snobby side take over completely…

Why come back?

2006-09-22T15:51:00.000-05:00

Every now and then, one of the little things happens that make me glad I came home. I had one of those moments in the gym last night.

I was in the process of dying, that bit when I have just finished my cardio stuff before heading to do weights, and went into the changing room to put down my MP3 player. And I saw a little girl in there who must have been about 6 or 7. I’d seen her around before – she seems to wander around with a book or watching tv while her mum exercises. Yesterday, she was talking on a phone, a pink razor phone. So I stopped to admire it and told her it was very pretty and that she must have important phone calls to make. She smiled shyly back at me, and I started to walk off. At that point, she came up to me (remember I am very sweaty at this point) and gave me a huge hug and then ran off.

Why does that make me glad to be back in Jamaica? Well, children in foreign don’t do that. They’ve all been taught that strangers are nasty and dangerous and if you even smile at a child in a shop, their parents will run and grab them and give you a dirty look.* I want to have children somewhere where they can talk to strangers, where adults they vaguely know will pick them up if they start to cry and where they can be hugged by a teacher when they do their work well without the teacher fearing a lawsuit.

*And yes, I know that parents are cautious for a reason, there are paedophiles out there and I am not denying that. However, statistically children are a lot more likely to be abused by someone they know well…

Fareign

2006-09-18T16:24:00.000-05:00

We were talking at work today about ‘people who go a fariegn’ and the discussion went around to what their responsibilities are. This all came about because someone had been to a funeral where the relative from foreign stood up and said ‘Me always loved mi auntie. Even though I was in fariegn, she did always send me tings and look after me.’

Now apparently that is not acceptable and the woman who stood up should have been so ashamed of herself that she should have kept her mouth shut. For how can we expect someone in Jamaica to support someone in foreign? Things should always be the other way around!

They should send you…
… Barrel at Christmas
… Barrel with school bag and shoes at the start of the school year
… Medicines for whoever in the extended family might be sick
… Food supplies (as even if you can get them here, they taste better when they come from foreign)
… Clothes to wear to funeral, wedding, Easter Sunday church, graduation, court, hospital …
… Supplies in case of an emergency

And if they aren’t able to fulfil these duties? Then they disappear and never visit home. People can’t face coming back to Jamaica and having people think that they were not a success. As everyone knows, once you work hard a fariegn, then you will become rich.

Which is why people are confused by people like my friend who gone to fareign but her fariegn is to work for UN in Africa.... not really going to be sending back barrels from there!!!

More on the issue...

2006-09-13T15:19:00.000-05:00

Thank you for your comment anonymous aka Marissa. To explain, 'Anonymous' annoys me because I never have a positive comment from anonymous, always negative. And it’s not the ‘real name’ that I need, it’s just some identifying feature that makes you seem more real.

To clarify… I am not insecure. In fact, I see it that I am secure in that I am able to contemplate this relationship, weigh up the pros and cons, ask others opinions, and deal with the negatives that come from people who know me as well. However, (and I don’t want this to come across like I am a slut!) I have dated a fair number of men over the years, the vast majority of whom were in the more acceptable age-range for me. And I know that there are many other men out there who are my age who I could date. I am not settling with an older man due to lack of options. And these men come from a wide variety of circles – I’ve dated men from church, men I’ve met in clubs, men I’ve met through work, men I’ve known from school, men I’ve met while travelling, men who are friends of friends, (never dated a man I’ve met at the gym… maybe I should work on that...), men I’ve met in the National Art Gallery and men I've met dancing salsa.

Maybe it is that I am boring for my age. Maybe I am too old for my age. Maybe I should start looking in other places! However, I find that the guys I know near my own age do nothing for me at the end of the day. Guys my age who I am good friends with admit that they don’t like dating girls my age as ‘we have issues’, we ‘want too much from them’ and we ‘are too independent’. I even had a good friend (a guy with a good job, just finishing his MBA, cute etc) tell me that he couldn’t deal with a girl like me as we would expect to have intelligent conversation in an evening after work when all he would want is sex! And I want a man who is secure in himself, knows what he wants and can deal with me being who I am.

I know that this sounds like I am generalising – I know that there are some really great guys out there who are my age. However, I think most of them are taken by the smart girls who saw them early. Or they live abroad, and I can’t deal with long distance. Or maybe they are gay… but that’s a whole other post!

So at the end of all of this… I am still continuing. I am getting to know this great guy more. And I am thinking about the issues. And talking about them with him. He wants to know that I am fully aware of what I’d be getting myself into. And I want to know that he is fully aware of what he is getting himself into.

So I’ll continue to discuss it here, because it is something that is in my mind a lot. And after all, it is my blog!
And all comments are welcome – positive or negative! However, please just make up a name or something? It makes everyone seem more real, more human and more friendly!

PS - I notice that the usual male suspects who comment here and who are in the age-range of the 'older man' are missing at the moment!

Replying

2006-09-12T13:48:00.000-05:00

I like comments. Getting an email to tell me that someone has commented while I am engaged in some mind numbing task on the computer can be enough to make me smile. I like feeling that there are some (yes, some. not huge numbers but enough) people out there who enjoy reading my rubbish. I like reading other people's blogs and commenting there and getting comments in return, it makes me feel part of something.

But there is something I don't like.

Why is it that whenever someone has something negative to say, they are 'annoymous'? Can't they even bother to make up a name? I don't mind negative comments - if I did, then I'd stop writing or close comments. But I do find it sad that someone who wants to criticise me does it annoymously.

And in answer to my recent Mr or Ms Annoymous - my parents knew who I was with in Treasure Beach. And yes, I am fully aware that there are issues to be thought about - otherwise I'd have been calling him MY man for ages now! So a challenge to you...

Please let me know if you can introduce me to any men who are of a more suitable age who..

... make me laugh when i'm in a mood
... call me to check up on how things are going if he knows i'm having a rough day
... would be willing to leave their friend's party early because I want to
... would be happier sitting around talking in Christophers than being upstairs dancing in quad
... wouldn't be freaked out by the fact that I want to get married and have kids soon
... is supportive of that fact that I have a job which I am good at, which takes a lot of my time and which I intend to progress at
... don't think it is clever to spend more on their car payments than on their house
... keep pink wine in their fridge for whenever i come round
... would rather attend jazz and blues festival than ATI weekend

I know lots of my friends who are looking for someone like that and have been looking for a very long time. Yes it's a decison for me to make - would it be better for me to take the risk with someone who is older and deal with those related issues as I go along, or wait around for someone who is nearly as good as him but younger that might never show up?

And also - thanks for the assumption that I am a trophy girlfriend - I'd always thought that I wasn't quite pretty enough for that category and also was too outspoken for that!!!

Housekeeping

2006-09-06T16:10:00.000-05:00

I've just tidied up my links. Some new people come along, some old people leave blogland and some people just get too annoying for me to continue reading (that would be you, you shameless self-publist!).

And I have no idea why it is that my links seem to keep falling to the bottom of the page.

On completely different news, I signed for the apartment yesterday!!! So it will be mine one day! All I have to do now is wait on the surveyor, valuer, mortgage company, tax office... to do their work. Hmm, I guess I'll get the jeys one day!

Why did I have to come back?

2006-09-04T14:18:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning, still hoping to be in Treasure Beach. I opened my eyes and couldn't see the sea through windows that covering most of the bedroom walls. There was no smell of coffee in the air and I couldn't hear the pelicans hitting the water as they dived for their breakfast. I was back.

And to make it worse, the school year begins this week which means that traffic was back on the road. And that cold that had disappeared in the fresh air and sunshine? It was back as well.

But at least I have some good memories of my weekend. A gorgeous villa, complete with a private beach and a veranda with a fabulous view of deserted coast line. Good company - we've managed to come out of our first weekend away together feeling happy. Excellent food.

But the good weekend does mean that I now have to do some serious thinking - can I really picture my life with a man 18 years older than me?? If so, then I suppose I'd better upgrade him and find him a new name!

Why is it that...

2006-09-01T09:15:00.000-05:00

... I am going away for the weekend to Treasure Beach and I wake up this morning with a bad cold?

Grrrrr

I've had some medicine, am drinking lots of green tea and orange juice and hoping that lying in the sun will cure it quickly!

A Good Excuse

2006-08-30T11:46:00.000-05:00

I got a call from one of my friends yesterday saying 'I need help with something I am doing for work'.

At which point mild panic sets in. What does she want? Will it be painful? Will it involve sitting for hours stuffing envelopes or putting stickers on envelopes?

And then she says she needs me to meet her after work for the Jazz evening at Christophers. Things are looking up.

And they get even better when she explains what is happening. Her large private sector organisation is about to do a new advertising campaign and is in need of some talent. And that evening, they were looking out for cute young male talent.

So I was needed to go to Christophers, to sit down with a drink, listen to live jazz, and discuss the merits of the different men in the room. So far, sounds like a regular girls night out. But this time we had an excuse - if we saw any men we liked, we had a legitimate reason to approach them and get their contact details and a photo.

Excellent.

So being the good friend I am, I went and helped her. And we found some good talent! Now that's a good way to get rid of the blues.

And in case any one is interested, the band was good!

Feeling off colour

2006-08-23T15:57:00.000-05:00

I'm having one of those days when nothing is wrong, but I'm not quite right. You know, when you had a good night's sleep, but you are feeling tired. When you are doing something at work which is interesting, but you can't quite concentrate. When you are hungry, but nothing appeals. When you end up picking fights with someone, but there is no real reason. When you want to listen to music, but everything you try sounds boring.

The most annoying bit of it all? You don't know what's wrong, so you can't make it right.

And to add to it all, no one seems to have updated their blogs so I've got nothing new to read!

I'm having one of those days today - and I am looking forward to going to bed tonight so I can get up tomorrow on the other side of the bed and try it all again.

From the mouths of children

2006-08-18T11:35:00.000-05:00

I walked into work this morning and saw a little girl standing there. Her mum had obviously come to the office for something and left her standing there by the door. She looked about 3 or 4.

The reason she was standing there was pretty obvious - she was talking on her cell phone. Well, by cell phone I mean one of those you get with sweets inside it, not a real one. But the fact that it wasn't real didn't hinder her in any way. She was standing outside to get better reception apparently.

I could hear some of her side of the conversation which went something like this...

'Where yuh deh?'
'Oh, me deh a town'
'No, me caan afford dat, me no get di money yet.'
''Im say it soon come, but me no inna dat'
'So me say'
'Me credit soon done so later'

She has clearly been listening lots and knows what you say on the cell phone well!

Starting to get bored

2006-08-15T17:49:00.000-05:00

I'm not well. I ate something at the weekend which obviously didn't want to be eaten by me. It is now getting revenge by making my legs feel like jelly, giving me cramps worse than any period and causing me to make frequently trips to the bathroom. I've had to stay home from work and do nothing.

But I must be getting better now as I am starting to get bored at home. My head hurts so my concentration span is zero which means that I can't manage to read a book and I can't follow the plot of any movie whcih I don't already know by heart. I have had to resort to watching lots of MTV and falling asleep during the tennis which is on at the moment. And I keep having strange dreams... which I'd tell you about but I think I have now been on the computer for long enough as the screen is starting to blur!

Online Petition

2006-08-11T08:46:00.000-05:00

I usually avoid discussing overly serious things here. But I'm going to break my rule this time. Here is a link. Please follow it. It's a petition calling for a ceasefire in Lebannon and Israel. I'm not sure how much good these things actually do, but at this point, I figure anything is worth a go.

So please, click here and go and add your name.

Thanks

Weekend Break

2006-08-09T14:20:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted - I've been away from computers. I've been in Negril. Well, I suppose there are computers in Negril, I just choose not to use them!

Negril was busy this weekend as it was a public holiday, Monday was Independence Day. and to celebrate this great occassion, a group of young entrepreneurs comes together to thrown 10 parties in 4 days, occasions for rich kids to drink all they want, make lots of noise and party in their bikins! I restrained myself and didn't go to a single party - I was too busy sleeping in the sun in the days to go anywhere and too busy sleeping after the sun in the evenings to move. And when I did feel energetic, I had my new camera to play with... results of which playing are shown above!

However, after three days of sunsets and rum punches with three happily married couples looking cozy and me saton my own, I need reminding of the joys of being unmarried! So any ideas on this subject would be gratefully received...

More dreaming!

2006-08-03T11:48:00.000-05:00

I hope this works - I'm stealing ideas from cream today!

create your own visited country map

Seeing this makes my feet itchy. It reminds me that there is so much of the world left for me to visit! Until then, some notes on my limited travels...

I think that my favourite city would have to be Barcelona. It is just so alive and so colourful, and the food is great!

I'll admit that I have kinda cheated with one bit of colouring - Kenya. I haven't been outside of the airport. But I did spend an enjoyable 6 hours or so there in the departure lounge which was also in use by their national rugby team... mmmmm. Need to go back properly. I was tempted but didn't cheat by putting in Zimbabwe as I never actually got out of the plane there!

I think that the place I found 'most foreign' to me was the Ukraine. Coming from the Caribbean where we place so much emphasis on education as the way out of poverty, I found it hard to comprehend that there were people sitting around who were unemployed despite having PhDs in Physics and other similar areas.

I tried to come up with a best memory but I couldn't narrow it down! Options included riding a camal in the Sahara, watching the sun rise after trecking for hours up a mountain in Malawi, dancing salsa in Prague, drinking too many cocktails in New York, just sitting and watching the world go by in Amsterdam and too many more.

And when I think of those memories, I realise that I am making the right decisions again - other people mnay have expensive cars and lots of clothes, but I'd rather have those memories and be able to look forward to making more!

So next on the list is Cuba...

So, where do you love?

Memories

2006-08-02T14:50:00.000-05:00

I can't quite put my finger on why exactly it happened this morning, but as I drove out of my gate I was suddenly reminded of Greece. Maybe it was the bright bright blue sky, the incredibly vivid green of the bushes, the red of the poinciana standing out as I came down the hill. Or maybe it was a song on the radio that brought it all back, or a reminient of a dream that I had had. Maybe it was the smell in the air, that hot yet clean smell you get after rain.

Whatever the reason, I was suddenly struck with memories. Memories of my one and only trip to Greece, a week in Kefalonia about 5 years ago. I could almost taste the fresh salads you got with your meals - if you were able to convince the restaurant that although you had a british accent, you didn't need chips with every meal. I could feel the hot sea and the sand between my toes. I could smell the lethal ouzo - smelling it was enough for me. I remembered the twin beds in our room, and falling through the gap that always developed in the night after we'd pushed the beds together.

I hadn't thought of that holiday for ages. It was packaged away at the back of my mind - like much of the rest of the two years I spent with that boyfriend. Yet this morning, it decided to come out. And despite having moved on from him a long time ago, it made me smile.

I'm Very Sorry..

2006-07-27T08:41:00.000-05:00

... that I missed the great Jamaican blog meet-up last night! According to Dr D, no excuse is good enough, but I'll tell you mine anyway.

The apartment I thought I was buying fell through yesterday. For the second time, the seller liked someone else more than me so sold it to her. (Note to self - maybe I should start taking flowers and a bottle of wine for the house sellers to make them like me?)

So I wasn't in an overly good mood yesterday evening. But then, a ray of sunshine emerged from around the back of the cloud - someone knew someone who had a place in the same complex which they wanted to sell. So last minute plans were made - I went to see it last night. The idea was that once I'd been there, I'd head to the link up.

Well, the lady who is selling it did mention that the place 'needed some work' so I wasn't expecting a super pretty place. However, I also wasn't expecting to be met at the door by 3 dogs - it's a one-bed apartment!!! Well, some work would firstly include a heck of a lot of bleach and fresh air - I haven't been in somewhere so dusty and dirty for a while. It would then involve tearing out and burning the carpet in the bedroom, which currently looks like it is made of dog hair. Then a new bathroom would need to be installed - I don't think that the current one is supposed to look black... and the same with the kitchen... There's no a/c or water heater... However, if she makes it cheap enough, then I would buy it... and spend the difference making it nice.

So the end of the story was that by the time I left there, I felt so dirty and smelt of dogs so much that I decided I couldn't come and be sociable - you'd all be wondering who the miserable smelly person was which isn't the first impression I wanted to make with the blogging community in real life!!

However, I promise promise promise that next time, I'll be there... and if I get this apartment, La Kabana would be a great place to meet as I'd be living less than 5 minutes away!

The perils of the internet

2006-07-25T16:35:00.000-05:00

I am currently in a limbo - the man I am trying to buy the apartment from is currently off the island. I think everything is OK, but I would love to have things signed so that I know that it is really mine. In the meanwhile, I am trying not to get too excited - don't want to build my hopes incase everythign falls apart.

But I keep getting carried away and finding myself looking at furniture and household shops online. Being realistic, I am aware that most of the furniture for this apartment will either be tiefed from my parents' house and begged from anyone, with only a few essentials (fridge, stove, sofa, tv) being bought.

However, I am heading to England next summer for a wedding. And I am already trying to work out how much I can fit into my suitcases on the way back! I am already becoming like my friends who have houses and abandonning ideas of filling my suitcase with pretty new clothes for new dreams of colourful shower curtains, chunky cutlery, soft towels, interesting key hangers and huge pasta bowls. And I am able to research those dreams, do my window shopping over the internet so that when I get there, I know exactly where to head.

This will be the first place that is all mine - not rented and not shared with anyone else. It will be mine to make mistakes with the choice of paint colours, mine to hang my photos and paintings all over, mine to plant the garden as I want, and, of course, mine to get a kitten and train it as I want!

So in the meanwhile, while waiting for the selling man to return, I am trying to distract myself. This evening's distraction will be 'The devil wears Prada' - Tuesday nights is 2 for 1 at the cinema so an evening of girly laughter is ahead of me.

Trying to become a home owner

2006-07-21T13:56:00.000-05:00

As I've mentioned before, I am currently trying to buy a house. Well, to be accurate, an apartment. A little apartment. But somewhere that is mine. I have taken the decision that unlike many other girls my age, I am not going to sit around waiting on Prince Charming to come along to move me into his gorgeous house. I am going to try and make a start on my own!

I am one of those people who when I make a decision, I tend to go for it. And I've been like that about this apartment thingy. After contemplating and saving for ages, I decided about 2 weeks that it was time to act. And since then, I've looked at 6 places. I made an offer for one, but so did about 4 other people... and the person selling liked the young couple more than me. So now I have made an offer for another place and the man selling seems to like my offer. I'll give you more detail of the place should everything go through - I don't want to tempt fate!!

So now I am learning about the mortgage process in Jamaica. Mortgage rates here are mad - commercial rates are between 14 - 18% per annum, hellish. But you can borrow some money from the National Housing Trust (NHT) , a government agency that loans at much cheaper rates.

So I am going the NHT route and had my first visit to them this morning. I called and spoke to them and found out what initial documents I would need to get an initial letter saying I look like a nice person who, once they've checked me out more, they'd lend money to. The guy who I am buying the house from wants this letter so he knows I'm serious. Fine.

This morning, I went to their offices with the documents that they told me they needed. I went to one window, got redirected, went to the other and then ended up in the right place. And I sat and waited patiently. I expected the wait - I had taken a few sudoku puzzles with me to keep me occupied! And it wasn't too bad - only half an hour until a young man called me up.

The first thing he needed to know was whether I was married - huh? When I informed him I wasn't he said 'Oh, yes, that's good for me.' Urrgh.

Then he slowly went through my papers and then he sent me away. Apparently the people who answer the phones had forgotten to tell me to bring a letter from my employer - they had told me to bring my employment contract but that wasn't good enough for him. I wasn't impressed - why the people can't talk sense on the phone? Why they make me waste my time?

So now I have to go to my employer, wait about a week to get a letter from them, and then go back and join the queue again to even start the process. Grrrr

I just keep telling myself that it will be worth it one day when I am finally sat in my place!!!

Ouch

2006-07-18T09:31:00.000-05:00

I'm in a reflective mood today. One of my favourite bloggers has had a nasty experience - she has just been fired for what she has written on her site about her job. Now, from regular reading, I can't really see what her employers are making a fuss about - she has hardly written about work, and what she has written in very general and names no one. But none the less, she is fired.

So if anyone has a keen eye, they might realise that a few things don't make sense on my site now - some stories are missing bits and my 100th Blog Posting is now actually my 94th. She's got all her readers worrying now...

But on a completely different note, I went to the Wild Wild West party on Saturday night. My friends and I did some sort of costume, going for the saloon girl look, wearing what I thought were very short skirts etc.

Well, once again, I have proved I am getting old. Our skirts were among the longest in the place! And no one had told me that 'batty-rider' shorts were back in fashion!

We had a dilemna when we arrived - we were parking and noticed a group of girls walking in front of us. And we noticed something very odd - you could see the string hanging down from the tampax that one of the girls was wearing - her skirt was that short. So what do you do? On the one hand, it would be embarassing to tell her, but on the other, I'd want to know if it was me before I went into the party. So we went for the other option - we told one of her friends and got her to deal with it. I don't think that even when I was 18 I'd have worn a skirt that lenght!

The things you learn in Jamaica

2006-07-13T11:03:00.000-05:00

Now you know...

... that the reason why coconut water is good for you is that it 'washes off your heart'

... that you can't go to the beach on Ash Wednesday as you will drown

... if you walk down certain roads after dark, rolling calf will get you

... that there are only three types of illness - gas, pressure or sugar

... if you have a wart that grows on a vein, it will never go away

... that if you rub a hot pepper on your vagina after having sex you won't get pregnant

Anyone who tells you one of these, tends to proceed it with the words 'mi granny tell me seh...' which means that it is an undisputable fact!

Growing Up

2006-07-10T09:35:00.000-05:00

This weekend has made me feel that I am very much an adult now. Usually, I identify myself as being a young person, someone who still hasn't got any major ties - no house, no kids, no marriage, no debts. Although I have a job, I could still get up tomorrow and decide to go and work in Africa for a year and there is nothing to stop me.

However, this weekend it hit me - I am growing up. On Friday night, I didn't go out for drinks or food or to 'look man.' Instead, I went to the hospital with my best friend to visit our gorgeous brand spanking new god son. He was born on Friday morning and is adorable so far. So we spent the evening there, admiring him and congratulating his mum, a good friend of ours. He's my first god-child so I am feeling very proud of him!

Then on Saturday, I spent the afternoon at another friend's house - helping out at a 9 year old's birthday party. Organising loot bags, wrapping children in towels as they emerged from the pool, telling them not to try and jump straight from the bouncy castle to the pool (there was a big patch of concrete in the middle!) and serving drinks. I could deal with the fact that my friends' have babies - but having 'children' puts them in a whole new category!

And on Sunday evening, I went to view an apartment. I'm not really planning on buying just yet - am aiming to purchase at the end of next year. But this looked a good deal so went to look at it and spent the time discussing with the current owner things like where a washing machine would go, whether gas is available for cooking, what parking in like and whether animals are allowed! It was tempting, but need to take my dad with me to inspect it before I do anything else.

And in between all of that, I had to watch wimbledon and the world cup. So it's probably a good thing that the weekend is over - come back to work and get some rest!

Busy Thursday

2006-07-07T09:55:00.000-05:00

I had a very busy day yesterday!

Firstly I was co-ordinating a focus group session for CARICOM. They are planning a regional HIV/AIDS campaign and wanted to test the message in Jamaica. So we were ensuring that people from across the country got to Kingston on time, making sure they got food to eat and checking that they had bus fare to get home at the end of it. The workshop was split into males and females as apparently you don't get honest responses from a mixed group - the guys are showing off too much and the girls are flirting! Apparently the guys are usually hard work -they don't want to talk and discuss their views etc. However according to the consultant, our guys wouldn't shut up! They were all very keen to share their perspectives and experiences!!

Then I went shopping downtown. I haven't been for a while and I like to go when i get the chance. Things are cheaper down there, but I also like to support the area and stay in touch. I went with a friend as we are planning on going to a party next weekend called 'Wild Wild West' and we want to dress the part. We were about to leave one shop when we saw their bargain section and found skirts. Well, something resembling skirts - they are very small but very suitable for the saloon girl look that we are going for! And we figure, we are growing up, there won't be many more years when we can get away with wearing something that length so make the most of it while we can! And at the grand price of Ja $350 (US$ 1 = Ja $65) we thought it had to be done... So between that and the bargain prices at the wholesale, a good afternoon was had.

In the evening, I headed out to Port Royal for dinner and ate some excellent steamed fish. Kingston has been so hot recently that it was lovely to sit outside in the breeze and enjoy being cool!

So am kinda tired now - good thing that there was no traffic otherwise I'd have been very late for work this morning. And think that it might have to be a quiet night tonight, one of my friends is having a baby today so need to pass by there after work and then will go and do some sleeping!

Outfit extremes

2006-07-04T15:10:00.000-05:00

I now know what people like to read - when I ask questions about clothes I get lots of comments! So I guess if I wanted lots of readers, I really should go down that line of thought...

To answer your comments, I chickened out. Well, we both did. Friday night, end of a long week, went out for a couple of drinks after work and couldn't face the idea of the party. So had an early night instead.

But transferred the dilemma to Saturday night instead when one of my friends was having a party. So went to that with the man... and bumped into my ex. Which wasn't much fun - it was the first time he has seen me with the new man (who is his friend...) so a bit awkward. But in case you wanted to know, I managed to do the the sexy AND sophisticated look that night. Which, as the ex was the one to end it, made me feel good! I don't want him back at all... but there is that mean side of me that is pleased to see him looking at me as if he thinks he made a mistake...

On the other extreme, I had to do a presentation on policy to the Minister and Ministry staff this morning. So it was into the suit and proper shoes - which is cruel in this climate. At least the conference room was well air-conditioned! And it went well, especially considering that my boss was supposed to be the one presenting and he had to go elsewhere at last minute leaving me in charge... and that the powerpoint didn't work. So am feeling very pleased with myself now and like I deserve some Haagen Daz on the way home from work as a a reward!

Dilemna

2006-06-29T12:40:00.000-05:00

Ok, like I totally decided it was time for a sex and the cityesque posting. I'm kinda like writing loads of really serious and big-worded stuff at the moment in my office and so I feel that my brain cells have like totally melted down and all that will come out is like cute and pink thoughts.
But once again I am discovering I am old - I can't keep up speaking like that for more than 2 seconds! What a change from the days when my friends and I could quote the entire film 'Clueless' to each other.

But on a light and fluffy note, I am having a problem. I might be going to a party tomorrow night. Why is that a problem? Because if I go, I'll be going with the man (which I guess might mean he really is my man rather than the man - but that's a whole other story...) and at this party will also be his ex-wife. And all their shared friends. Who I haven't met before.

So what is the problem? Obviously, it's what do I wear?!

Being a typical girl, I asked my friends for assistance and they have split into 2 camps.

Camp 1 - go for the sophisticated look. Clever, composed and classy.
Camp 2 - go for the hot and sexy look.

What do you reckon??

Need a roadblock

2006-06-27T11:09:00.000-05:00

I haven't had water at home for about 10 days. Yup, 10 days. Fortunately, we have a water tank, but that's not large enough to store enough water to run a house of 3 people for 10 days. So we have been practicing the art of filling toilets from a bucket, bathing with an ice cream container and carrying the washing to other people's housees.

We are used to not having water, we usually have it twice a week for about 4 hours each time. However, this is now getting ridiculous. And what makes it ridiculous is that:

1. The community to the south of us has water (lots of big pretty houses there).
2. The community to the east of us has water (lots of big pretty houses there).
3. The community to the north-east of us has water (lots of big pretty houses there).
4. The community to the west of us has water (lots of big pretty houses there).

Our community, however, has mainly poor people living there. We have a school but apparently that makes no difference.

So we suffer on, listening to excuses from the water commission that change on a daily basis and promises that never come true.

In the meanwhile however, it is a good encourager to go to the gym more often where there is abundant hot water!

Attempts at shopping

2006-06-26T15:19:00.000-05:00

I got brave today - I played with the code-thingy for this page design (thanks Beaver for the advice) and managed to get a picture of Kingston's skyline for the top of my page! I am now feeling proud of myself.

On completely unrelated news, I went shopping on Saturday and discovered that I am old. I tried on 3 what I thought were tops only to be informed by the sales assistant that they were infact dresses. Hmmm, I guess I have grown out of that stage of life where showing my derriere to the world is a good thing.

When I was trying these on, I noticed the sign on the wall in the changing room...

Huh? I always thought that the point of a shop was that they WANTED you to buy things. I didn't realise that they were doing me a favour by taking my money off me and that I had to behave well to be allowed to make a purchase! Oh well!

Friday musings

2006-06-23T15:49:00.000-05:00

A collegue brought in her Avon book yesterday. I had a look through it and ordered a couple of things. I liked quite a fewthings but made choices. Decided against spending too much... despite being constantly reminded that 'you don't have to pay until after next month's pay day!'

Another collegue (a very junior collegue, single, with a kid, earning a heck of a lot less than me) also looked through it. She saw lots of things she liked. So she ordered them all - 4 pairs of shoes, 5 handbags, toiletries, perfume... This is the same person who will complain about not having any money for her bus fare.

I thought to myself that we need to introduce some serious money management classes into schools. Teaching people about learning to say no. Learning not to buy everything you like. Waiting to see how things go etc.

But thinking about it later, I think that maybe there isn't really a need for this. Afterall, it's not like she will be paying - I am sure she'll find some man to give her the money! And apparently, men like being asked for money for shopping more than they like being asked for money for bus fare.

Oh well, as I would hate to ask a man for money, I guess I can't try out that theory!

Enjoy the weekend!

More hours in the day

2006-06-20T15:01:00.000-05:00

Negril was excellent. Slept, ate, sunbathed and walked up and down the beach. And that was about it. Just what was needed.

So now am back in Kingston and am counting down desperately to the end of the school term. I must be getting old - I used to dislike the start of the summer holidays as I got so envious, I wanted 2 months off.

Now, I look forward to it with great joy. For it means 2 months of hardly any traffic on the road. I gain an extra hour a day as that is how much my commute is cut by. I can't wait!

Now all I have to do is decide what to do with that extra hour - any suggestions?

A quick post...

2006-06-16T09:22:00.000-05:00

Just to say that I am off to Negril for the weekend!!! A quiet weekend (with the parents!) on an excellent beach with good food .... just what I need right now.

And one of my collegues just gave me two perfect looking mangos so i can take them down with me and eat them in the sea - excellent.

anyway, better go - have a (very small and slightly dodgy) plane to catch.

Have a good weekend!

Adventures in my little car

2006-06-13T11:29:00.000-05:00

I have a nice little car. We get on well. It can fit into a multitude of small parking spaces, it doesn't use much petrol and I think it is cute. Being proud of a little car goes against most people's views in Jamaica. Most people love big cars and SUVs - all the better for fighting taxis and scaring pedestrians. Apparently liking a small car is my European side coming out...

However, my poor little car sometimes has hardships to deal with. Like on Friday night. I was out with my friends and dropped one of them home afterwards. I was coming out of her drive-way when a mad taxi-driver (did I need to say mad - taximen are all mad) decided to break the world landspeed record driving down the road towards me. So I had to move out of his way prompto. In doing so, I managed to catch the kurb... I headed on my way up the road but quickly decided that I couldn't really ignore the dragging feeling and the klunking noise and pulled over at the top of the road. Me, on my own, after dark ... not a good feeling.

As soon as I pulled over, 5 young men appeared, all shouting 'I'm a mechanic.' I am convinced that every bush in Jamaica has a mechanic hiding behind it - if you ever break down, they magically appear out of the bushes - do they spend all day sitting there and hoping someone will need their skills?? They all said they could help - all I needed to do was get out and talk to them and see things etc.

Now, it was the end of a long and stressful week. And I was not in the mood. And I didn't feel inclined to have to deal with the chat, the stares, the requests for 'a money'... not even thinking of the safety ideas of standing on a roadside on my own with the gang late at night! So I did what all good girls in Kingston would do in this situation - I called for re-enforcements. And within 3 minutes, the get-over man* appeared to rescue me. So I re-enforced every stereotype these guys had - little white girl, alone and scared at night, makes call on pretty baby pink razor cell phone (it was a gift!!!) and gets rescued by a man in a big pick-up.

Ooops. Usually I am independent and try and would deal with it myself with the help of all the mechanics - but not after that week. I took the easy way out and did a damsal in distress act.

So to make up for it, today I took my car myself to have its road fitness done. I joined all the queues, stood in the hot sun, waited (im)patiently, and walked away with the certificate myself. I did note that of the 20 or so people I saw there doing the same thing as me, there was only one other woman - and she had her man with her! So now I am feeling proud of myself again!

* The get-over man is still around. I keep thinking I should change his status, upgrade his title to bf - and then I chicken out. I like the fun and light-heartedness that comes with being uncommitted for once in my life!

Being deserted

2006-06-09T10:00:00.000-05:00

Blogger deserted me. It went away and left me with a post ready to put up and lots of ideas.

Now it's back, I've been able to put up my post but my ideas appear to have deserted me now.

Oh well.

Rain and more rain

2006-06-09T09:59:00.000-05:00

I was driving to work this morning and came upon an unexpected traffic jam. Note the word unexpected. I come across many traffic jams in a morning but the large majority of them are expected and predictable - this one wasn't.

So I start to look around, assuming that there is a broken down car somewhere. But there wasn't one to be seen.

So I look for another reason - maybe a fire somewhere (obviously not - it was raining hard), a broken water main, a garbage truck… but nothing.

So I keep crawling along in the traffic until I reach the front of the queue and discover what the problem is.

A pothole.

A nice fresh big crater pothole.

The type that stretches all the way across the road.

The pothole that will blow your tyres, take off your bumper and cause nuff damage to your front end.

You know the type.

Thank you rain for the latest addition to the roads of Kingston!

Conversations

2006-06-02T14:18:00.000-05:00

Have you ever seen some people talk on their cell phones? You know, the ones who are obviously a bit confused about how the thing works? They hold it to their ear and listen first. Then they move it close to their mouth to talk into it - but of course they have to move it bck to their ear to listen again. So the whole conversation goes up and down and up and down.

Today I saw someone doing that. However, this person obviously cared about appearances as they were doing it with a brand new phone - the slver which is only just available in Jamaica. So up and down this posh new phone was going.

I did feel like going over and tellling them that as they had paid so much for the phone, they could be sure that it had a strong enough receiver to pick up their voice without having to move it from their ear or yelling....

But I decided not to give them that helpful piece of advice and kept walking on my way.

Bahamas - photos

2006-05-31T15:40:00.000-05:00

Am feeling lazy today, so am getting around writing a post by putting up photos instead!

This is lunch as it was prepared on the sailing boat. Ribs, chicken, bread and salad. Excellent! Just what was needed after a hard morning of snorkling.

And it was followed by an afternoon snack of fresh fruit and rum punch. If anyone is going to the Bahamas, I strongly recommend 'Barefoot Cruises'.

Atlantis from the outside. Truely amazing. Not my style at all - too opulent / obstencious. And it felt odd to be walking around a place where some of the rooms cost US $25,000 per night, after being in meetings all week discussing how many children, young people and families live on under US $1 per day.

Christopher Columbus surveying Nassau Harbour. The first place he landed on by accident in the Americas was one of the Bahamas islands so I guess they should have an impressive statue of him somewhere. This photo was taken with my back to the residence of the Governor General (GG)...

which looks like this. We were wandering around the place as we were having an official reception there. As it was a commonwealth meeting, we were all comparing the residence of the GG in the Bahamas to the houses of the GG in our own countries! Just so you know, Jamaica's GG has a nicer place...

And I was very impressed by how much the Bahamas love pink! It is the colour of choice for all their public buildings - the Parliament, the GGs residence, hospitals and churches are all pink!

Back from the Bahamas

2006-05-30T10:38:00.000-05:00

I'm back in Jamdown - tired, over-worked and sun-burnt!

Bahamas was good - the meetings were long and tiring, but the hosts made up for it with some good parties in the evenings... I have to admit to being very impressed with the Royal Bahamas Defense Force Band - those guys can move a party. However, their best moment was when they were playing music before the start of the official opening ceremony. This is a big ceremony, flags everywhere, people parading around, anthems being played etc. The last piece of music they played before the event began was a version of a song called 'What Happens in the Party' which is about how anything that happens in the party, stays in the party - so if you misbehave, no one will know. I am not sure what message they were trying to send to all the delegates!

Nassau felt to me like a smaller version of Georgetown in Cayman - very americanised and first world - not enough potholes or animals wandering around to make me feel like I was still in the Caribbean. And I did laugh lots at the t-shirts on sale with photos of Bob Marley on them and the word 'Bahamas' - who were they trying to fool? We had an offical tour one afternoon (by official, I mean heads of delegations in one bus, plebs like me in the other buses, police cars to escort us...) which took us over to Atlantis - I have never been anywhere so OTT in my life - gold figures, carved horse heads everywhere, fake lakes etc. It was truly amazing.

I also managed to get a day off on saturday where I found myself a day out on a sailing boat - bliss. Lots of food, amazing snorkling and good company - a perfect chance to relax and switch off. Moments like that, I love my job! I have now put that photo on my desktop to remind me that I love my job sometimes while I try to clear the backlog that developed in my absence...

My 100th Post!

2006-05-20T09:01:00.000-05:00

I am in the process of preparing for my trip to Bahamas - I am filling my MP3 player to keep me amused on the flights so am writing while loading!

I drove home about 9 last night and had to stop at traffic lights. At these traffic lights, there is always a guy sellling his drawings. They are usually very inspid drawings, pictures of streams with colours never seen on this planet, pictures of 'pretty girls' (i.e. light brown skin, barbie figure and very long hair) or bad copies of a car he has seen in a magazine somewhere. But yesterday, he had something different on display - a 'romaniticised' picture of our Prime Minsiter, Portia Simpson Miller. She had some nice long flowing hair (and while Portia's hair is always immaculate, it never looks like it would move of its own accord) and she had some very light brown skin!

While I am very pleased that Portia won the Presidential race as I feel it reflected the will of most Jamaicans, I am worried for her. Everyone has these high ideals for her, views of the amazing changes that she will bring about, convinced she will solve crime and poverty. Yet she has no more resources to work with than an other Prime Minister has had and has the same harsh international environment to deal with. I wish her luck.

While sitting here writing this, I have heard a lady walk past my gate. She was calling out at the top of her voice

'Slippers, $50
Brand name Slippers, $100
Panites, $50.'

(NB - US$1 = JA$65)

I was tempted to go out and look, see if I could find something nice for my trip! But I resisted.

Brief summaries

2006-05-16T17:22:00.000-05:00

Life has been busy - that tends to be the case when I am not posting. It also means that lots of things have been going on which would make intersting stories, but unfortunately all I have time for now is some very brief highlights!!

I went on a Jamaica Geographical Society trip the other week to the Goat Islands. It actually was more of an 'expedition', complete with ancient ruins, smuggling routes, getting lost in a forest, finding our way out with GPS and being rescued by boats. Excellent time was had by all, with the day ending in a fish place with well earnt cold red stripes.

Was on retreat this weekend with a group of young people. It was at an all-inclusive hotel complete with 'authentic jamaican entertainment', i.e. Peter the Fire Man. Hmmm, always amusing and our young peopel joined in the fun! We also had a session on HIV / AIDS awareness, complete with a fake vagina - never seen one of those before.

Next week I'm off to the Bahamas for work which would be great aside from the amount of crap we have to do to get ready for it - I hate paperwork so if I see another claim form for a per diem, I am going to scream.

So I had better go and rescue myself from a pile of paper which is attacking me... if you don't hear from me for a while, it's because I've drowned!

Tagged!

2006-05-07T09:22:00.000-05:00

I've been tagged by beaver...

If you have been tagged, you are to come up with 7 qualities of your perfect lover. Do specify the gender. Then list down, and tag, seven other bloggers on their pages. If you've been tagged, you need not do this again.

This reminded me of a list I drew up when I was about 17 - in my first year of university. All the girls who lived on my corridor did and list and we stuck them to our doors, hoping that mr perfect would walk along and see them, realise it was him and come on in!

For some strange reason, I still have that list. It is in my shoebox of random papers I keep... so 7 extracts from that!

1. Ethusiastic to travel
2. Must be able to cook (or find good restaurants)
3. Taller than 5ft 6
4. Likes hot weather and beaches
5. Good teeth and broader shoulders
6. Not an American
7. Haircut within the last 3 months.

They all still apply, but here is a more updated list...

1. Intelligent and able to hold a good conversation
2. Interested in the wider world, cares about it and wants to see it
3. Able to deal with me in a bad mood - they never last long but can be bad while they are around
4. Wants children, and realises how completely it would change his life
5. Must have 'it' - doesn't need to be mr gorgeous, but must have something that makes me go mmmmm
6. Must have a steady income - doesn't need to be loaded but neither do I want to have to support both of us forever
7. Must be willing to try different types of food - I find that men who won't try food are often closed minded in other ways and don' have any sense of adventure!

Tag 7 other bloggers... beaver tagged most of the people I'd get!! So, anyone who feels like it, drop me a comment and I'll tag you!

Cloudy day

2006-05-04T13:23:00.000-05:00

I am having a bad mood day. You know one of those days when nothing really is wrong... but nothing seems to be quite right either?

I've been asked to go to the Bahamas through work for some big meetings that are going on there. Now that's really cool - i've never been there and it looks that the way flighs work out, we'll have a free day there at the end to enjoy. However, the accompanying problem is that my Jamaican passport expires... in a month. So I went this morning to try and renew it. And walked into the place and left. There were over 200 hundred people queued outside. They had yet to get in the building! So I turned around and left - I'll see if I can get it done through the Ministry some how instead...

Then I went to look about my car insurance. In the last year, I have gained a year's no claims, I have passed the magic age of 25 and my car value has decreased. So I thought my insurance premium would decrease to. Well, yes it did. By less than 5%. Huh??? Tiefs!!!!!!!

On the way back to the office, I decided that I had earnt a frapuchino - there is one place in Kingston that does them really well and it was on the way back from the insurance office. So I tried but could find no parking anywhere near the place.

Then the computers in the office are working against me. The printer is printing everything funny. And the common area keeps crashing.

All in all, not a happy bunny.

And to make it worse, the get over man is off the island so i can't even go and see him after work and get spoilt!

So now I am sat at my desk, trying to decide on some happy music to listen to - any suggestions?

Lost!

2006-05-02T10:58:00.000-05:00

On Friday night, the girls decided to go out. A group of mainly single girls who have taken a decision to be proactive. We've realised that we all spend a lot of time complaining about how none of us can find Mr Right (or for several people, even a Mr Right Now would do!), so we made a decision to be more proactive. We all called our male friends and did research - where do guys tend go on a Friday night after work. From our different sources, 4 places kept coming up, so we set out on Friday to find out if this is really the case.

We drove into the first place at around 6pm - Carlos Cafe. Now this place is near lots of offices so we thought it would be a good after work place. I'd also been later in the evening before and hadn't seen anything exciting! Well, that source was wrong. Not a single person was in the place!

The second place on the list was Christophers so off we went. Now Christophers is somewhere I frequent quite frequently and hadn't seen anyone in the target age range (hey, we're looking between 26 - 36, a fairly wide range we thought!) but i thought maybe they were near the back and I was at the front usually.... Well, there was a group of men in that age range, but they were all surrounded by girls about 5 - 10 years younger than us, all slim, brown skinned girls with long curly hair who were giggling aimlessly at their every comment. There was no way we could complete with that!

We decided to miss place number 3 on the list - Peppers. That decision was taken based on the experience we had last time some of us went there. We couldn't face the overly friendly man again!

So that left place number 4 on the list - Up on the Roof. So we headed up the steps and onto the roof above New Kingston. And into a foreign world. Yes, there were people there. Yes, there were youngish men there. However, not one of them was Jamaican. We appeared to have found the place were all foreigners hang out in the city. And although we have nothing against foreigners, we were hoping for men who intend on being in Jamaica for longer than a 6 month contract.

So that was that. No luck at all. So if anyone out there has any suggestions, please let me know... In the meanwhile, I'll just continue to enjoy myself with my get over man!

Do all men cheat?

2006-04-28T14:29:00.000-05:00

As, according to 'sky writing', this is a 'Sex and the Cityesque' blog, I thought that I should report on yesterday's lunch conversation at my office.

Being a mainly female office, with most staff members in the mid 20s to mid 30s in various states of relationships, we were discussing men. And the perceived lack of suitable varieties of men that all the single girls hold to be true.

As one of the single girls at the table (well, close enough!), I was one of those promoting the view that it is very hard to meet a nice guy and I was informed by the non-single girls that this is because my expectations are too high. I queried this and was informed that it was the part of my expectations that said 'I expect a man to be faithful to me' that is asking too much.

Huh? Now, I know some men cheat. And yes, some women cheat too. However, I am not willing to accept this as being normal and a pre-requist for a relationship. If accepting cheating as normal is what is needed to get myself a boyfriend, then I guess I'll remain single - and enjoy 'non-relationships' instead!!!

Men out there - please reassure me - you can be faithful? I am not really asking too much??!

Carnival!

2006-04-26T08:33:00.000-05:00

I did it! I survivied carnival! And I had a blast!

Got there in the morning for the start, covered in glitter and sun-tan cream. There were 8 of us girls jumping together, a good fun group to be with. Enough of us to take it in turns heading to the drinks truck whenever necessary! And we were in a good band - nice security and marshalls and very nice food - they brought round things including salmon rolls as the day went on!

I must have been enjoying myself and slightly drunk - my brother took the photo of me above and I was looking for him but didn't see him... hmmm.

We danced up a storm all morning in the blazing sun hot.... and then the rains came down. Heavy rain. Soaked to the skin rain. So we danced harder to keep ourselves going! And jumped in puddles. And had water fights with random men from Trinidad. Posed for photos with a group of bystanders who were from Georgia and Turkey. Had more drinks. Danced with anyone we recognised on the side. Danced with anyone we thought was cute. Tried to avoid the TV cameras (apparently not entirely successfully). All good fun!

And the gym paid off - I kept going all the way to the end! However, I am now paying for it - 6 hours of walking / dancing in wet trainers means that I have developed blisters under my toe nails - not fun! So I am now limping around my office. And, despite many hair washes and scrubs in the shower, I still have glitter on me.

But I'll do it again! And next year, we are in full costume - after seeing the size of some people who were in bikinis this year, I feel very slim and cute! Also, if it rains, I might as well have on a swimsuit!

The Inauguration

2006-04-20T09:07:00.000-05:00

After such a long absence (been busy, work is mad, get over man taking up more time than intended, intense gym sessions to prepare for sunday's road march, internet been misbehaving...) I feel that I owe you all something. So, in response to popular demand, I will now present a review of the Inauguration of Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, the first female Prime Minister of Jamaica. If the internet will let me, I will even include photos!!!

Traffic going there was hilarious. SUVS queued for miles around. Everyone thought that they were important and tried to put on their flashing lights and develop a new lane between the other cars to get there faster. Chaos.

I felt cute – I had dressed as I thought fit (and was looking elegant, smart but not over the top! At least that what I think - and I'm attaching a photo to prove it!), and, most importantly, I had an invitation with a special coloured band on it that meant that I was due a reserved seat. Unfortunately, Mr Bruce Golding, Leader of the Opposition, and I had the same problem – we could not find our seat. But I have some manners, I decided not to cause a fuss and went and sat down in an unmarked seat. As a result, this is how far from the front I was - you can just about make out Portia giving her speech at the podium. It wasn't a bad view... as long as the lady in the huge yellow hat didn't move too much - that hat could block out everything!

Soon after sitting, we realised that there was a bonus of having sat in that area – we were sat just behind Beenie Man (a dancehall star) and his fiancé, D’Angel. That was exciting as she had on an ‘H’outfit’ and we got to watch the line that grew trying to get his signature! I decided against taking a photo as I was scared of his entourage! However, I did manage to get a photo of this - what I thought won the 'Best Hairstyle' award for the day.

The ceremony was remarkably short and not too heavy winded which impressed me, which meant we were able to get onto the most important business quickly … the food. Now imagine the scene – 10,000 people, sat in the sun, watching a formal ceremony, waiting for the food. As soon as some people realised that the end of the ceremony was approaching, they made their move. Without any sense of shame, they up’d and went. And went at speed - they were as close to runnning as their high heels would let them!!

As I was with a group of young people, of course we had to go and investigate the food ourselves - but we did manage to wait until the ceremony was over! There were about 10 different tents for the food to disburse the crowd - and the food was good! The deserts were even better... worth the 20 minute wait! But, of course, you did have people pushing in, craming their plates sooo full that things were falling off and gerenally getting too excited by the food. it reminded me of an article that had appeared in the paper that morning with instructions on how to behave, including 'do not over cram your plate- eat before you go and remember that there will be lots of others who want food as well. Do not use the toothpick in public - and if you have to, take it out of your mouth when you finish.' Some people would have done well to read that article!

So all in all, a good time was had by all. But I wasn't one of the very lucky ones who had a ticket to the ball that evening, so I'm sorry but I can't report on that event!

The Big Day

2006-03-30T12:18:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-28T13:13:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-21T11:56:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-20T12:20:00.000-05:00

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!!!

2006-03-14T14:20:00.000-05:00

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?

2006-03-13T13:07:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-09T14:43:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-07T15:40:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-03T08:51:00.000-05:00

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.

Sister P

2006-02-25T20:34:00.000-05:00

Well, results are in and we should have our first ever female Prime Minister in the next month! I'm happy... think it will be interesting to see if a woman makes any difference. I'm also pleased to see that the PNP has taken a brave step and come with someone who is more representative of most of the population.

Interesting times ahead...

Change of colours

2006-02-24T08:18:00.000-05:00

I went to my hairdresser last night, for a little trim. Now when I was little and we first moved to Jamaica, my dad used to cut my hair. Then I grew a bit and found this lady who was accustomed to cutting Indian hair and used her for many years. She wasn't great but was an improvement over most Jamaican hairdressers who are obviously more used to cutting hair that curls naturally than hair that is straight. So that meant that all through my teenage years, I had a hair cut, not a hair style.

Off I went to live in foreign, and with that came hair styles! Hairdressers who were used to my kind of hair. I got used to it and when I came back to Jamaica, I made an effort, asked around and found someone who I really like.

So I went to her last night (hey, a single girl needs a hairstyle!) just for a trim. However, we got carried away, not so much on the cutting but more on the colour.

So I am now looking very blonde! It's said that blondes have more fun so I guess I'll have to give this a go and see what happens...

But in the meanwhile, I am expecting to here lots of blonde jokes from people over the next few days so I thought I'd start with one myself ...

Why do blondes wear green lipstick?

Because red means stop.

On that note, I'm off - have a good weekend! I know I'll try and have an interesting one!

Jamaican wives?

2006-02-22T11:36:00.000-05:00

Three men were sitting together bragging about how they had giventheir new wives duties.

The first man had married a woman from Trinidad,and bragged that he had told his wife she was going to do all the dishes and house cleaning that needed done at their house. He said that it took a couple days but on the third day he came home to a clean house and the dishes were all washed and put away.

The second man had married a woman from Barbados. He bragged that he had given his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning, dishes, and the cooking. He told them that the first day he didn't see any results, but the next day it was better. By the third day, his house was clean, the dishes were done, and he had a huge dinner on the table.

The third man had married a girl from Jamaica. He boasted that he told her that her duties were to keep the house cleaned, dishes washed, lawn mowed, laundry washed and hot meals on the table for every meal. He said the first day he didn't see anything, the second day he didn't see anything, but by the third day most of the swelling had gone down and he could see a little out of his left eye, enough to fix himself a bite to eat, load the dishwasher, and telephone a landscaper.

Big Up

2006-02-15T11:03:00.000-05:00

I often complain about work so today is going to be a positive post! I am currently involved in short listing young people who have applied to be part of a programme we are running. And we have had some amazing applicants. There really are some young people out there who are doing great things - they are working hard and making a difference in whatever way they can. Working in their communities, being peer educators, getting involved in big issues that affect them like HIV/AIDS and violence - they are making positive choices.

We frequently talk down our Jamaican young people, complaining about how indisciplined they are, how they won't work hard etc. It's true, there are young people like that. But I think that the majority are good people, doing what they can. And there are lots who are not just good, but are great.

So big up to our Jamaican young people today!

Happy Valentines Day!

2006-02-14T11:56:00.000-05:00

I am frequently cynical about Valentine's Day (and this is not a result of my recent single status...)* I find that often those people who do the most on Valentine's Day are those who are the most useless the rest of the year.

So, for anyone who shares my sentimates, here is the website you have been looking for - enjoy!
http://www.meish.org/vd/

*NB For those of you who were planning on sending me flowers, chocolates or diamonds, I am still willing to accept them - you can try and change my mind about the day!

Recovery Plan 2 (and random office thoughts)

2006-02-11T15:11:00.001-05:00

When a girl is feeling down, shopping is always a good solution! So on thursday night, I allowed myself to be diverted from my plan of a gym session* and went to a friend's house for an evening of home shopping. We have this man who goes shopping abroad and bring things back for us to buy from him. He's great - he gets to know you, your sizes and your tastes fairly quickly and always comes up with something good.

My staff purchase this time was a little t-shirt. A pretty red colour. With big gold writing on it which says 'I'M SMART, I'M SINGLE.' It just had to be got, it made me smile and will make me laugh when I next wear it.

In other work related work, apparently once again Jamaica is doing too well. Another international donor is withdrawing funding, this time for population planning, because we have achieved our targets. I have heard from so many places over the last year that international funding is being cut for Jamaica because we are not poor enough. While I know that compared to some places, we are very wealthy, at the same time, we still have major issues to deal with. Oh well, we have to just keep trying with whatever we have.

* Yes, am still going to the gym! Yamfoot - haven't discovered Pilates yet but have been to Club Mix which is great fun! Getting in the mood for carnival...

2006-02-08T16:58:00.001-05:00

Recovery Plan 1

2006-02-07T14:15:00.000-05:00

Chocolate, red wine, crying etc are all very well and necessary, but I always find that something more major is needed for me to make process in my recovery. So I have embarked on the first major part of the process - plan a holiday!

Much as I love Jamaica, there are some times when it feels very small, and now is one of them. So this afternoon, I am off to beg some days off work from my boss so that I can run away. If days off are not forthcoming, I will threaten him with a nervous breakdown etc until he gives in.

So I am making my plans to run away. Run to New York is the plan. I have a wonderful friend - a text message to england saying 'X and I have broken up, need to get away - are you up for a girls' weekend' was sufficient to get the reply saying 'tell me when to meet and when and I'm there.'

So we are meeting in the middle, off to new york in the middle of march. Timing is important - has to be close enough that you can get excited looking forward to it but far enough away that you will be well on the way to recovery and won't waste the time being miserable.

The location is also important - new york, home of sex and the city, around st patricks day - lots of cute drunk men, good shopping, some culture and good bars. Just what is required. I also haven't been to New York since I was about 8 - a repeat visit is well overdue.

So all I need to do now is find a flight (90% done), get time off work (not started!), find a hotel in Manhattan (my dad enjoys looking at travel review websites so might give him that task - unless any of you have a suggestion?) and dig out some winter clothes!

The only problem is that I keep getting excited and wanting to call the ex and share my excitment with him - and then I remember that I can't do that any more. At which point, I have to go and look at some new york photos online to try and make me smile again.

Change of status

2006-02-06T08:42:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted recently for 3 reasons:

1. I tried this weekend but blogger kept eating my posts
2. The internet has been miserable and not working for me - but the technician says everything is fine now....
3. I haven't really felt like it

I did go to Jazz and Blues, and I am sure that some of the performances were excellent. However, my ability to enjoy them would have been vastly helped by not spending the weekend in a foul mood arguing with the bf. You know when things aren't going too well and you think that a weekend out of town will help... but in reality it just makes everything come to a head?

So, moral of the story is that I am now a single girl in Kingston. On the positive side, to quote a friend apparently I 'don't have a tree in my face', which means I should be able to find someone else! And yes, I know it is for the best in the long-run etc, not meant to be, better to know now rather than later, and all the rest of it.

But it still hurts like hell. Because, worst of all, he's one of the nicest people I know which means that I can't just hate him, curse him, plan nasty revenge etc and get over it. Instead, I have to just try and remind myself that it is the right thing and that, in time, I'll stop crying and eating chocolate.

I'm still alive...

2006-01-26T21:23:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

Sorry – got sidetracked by a lack of the internet… and too much to do at work so coming home too late with no desire to look at a computer. But all is good.

However, you are not getting a proper post now because.... I'M GOING TO JAZZ AND BLUES FESTIVAL TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My boss has warned me not to be 'ill' but as soon as I can escape from work, I'm in my car and on my way up there. So I need to go and pack now - need to find my warm clothes and comfortable shoes!

Have a great weekend ... I'll let you know all about it next week - as long as the internet comes back!

Pink is good

2006-01-19T15:10:00.000-05:00

Outside my office, there is a tree which usually isn't very exciting to look at. However, this week it has changed into a funky pink fluffy tree, which looks great. The tree now has no leafs at all, all it has is these bunches of bright pink stuff. It makes outside look a lot more cheerful - unfortunately I can't see it from my desk.

In other news, I had another night of distrupted sleep last night, however fortunately there were no gun shots this time. Rather, it was a session going on up the road. I eventually managed to fall asleep to the sounds of 'Let's Twist again' - not the usual choice of music for sessions in my area! However, they evidently cranked up the volume later in the night when they reached their usual music as I was awoken by 'Ghetto Story' at around 2 am which I didn't appreciate. So now I am tired. But will still be good and head to the gym after work today - then I should be sooo tired this evening that I'll be able to sleep through anything!

I hurt

2006-01-18T09:51:00.000-05:00

This is NOT a new year's resolution, but I joined the gym this week and went for my induction yesterday.

The reason I need the gym is that I currently spend too much time sitting on my derriere in traffic and not doing anything active. In foreign, I used to do stuff like going swimming and going for walks. And life in general was more active there - my job involved getting out more and little things like I used to walk to the pub for my alcohol - here I drive everywhere or get driven!

As a result, my clothes have been getting steadily tighter since I have been back and I realised that I needed to do something before the trend became irreversible.

Then there were 2 motivating factors that have meant that I have decided to do it now:

1. One of my friend's wants me to jump in carnival here this year and I know that currently I wouldn't be able to jump all the way to the end of the route, and also that the cute outfits wouldn't look quite as cute on me as they are supposed to!

2. One of my best friends in getting married in England later this year and I am going to be a bridesmaid!! And as I won't be able to try on a dress until close to the day, I couldn't face the embarrassment of getting to England and discovering it is too tight - I'd rather it be too big and then they can take it in!

So off I went last night. I had decided which gym to join solely on the basis of how close it is to my office - I have to make it easy for me to go otherwise I know I'll miss. So 6pm found me at Spartan, ready to be inducted. I thought it would be a nice gentle walk through - this is what we have, this is how we use it etc. Boy, was I wrong. It seemed to be about pushing me as hard as possible until I dropped.

On the way home last night, my arms hurt trying to turn my car - which is a small car with power steering. And this morning, I am discovering muscles in my shoulders that I never knew even existed. Oh well, hopefully I will be able to see a difference at some point before too long - I just have to keep going!

The weekend

2006-01-16T13:07:00.000-05:00

Something Good
I went to Hellshire on Sunday and ate too much food. But it's hard not to - the lobster was amazing, the festival was light and fluffy, and the fish was very tasty. I took 2 American girls who are here working in a school downtown for a month and they thought it was fab. However, we had to accompany them to order their food - otherwise the cost doubled! It was a glorious sunny afternoon and it wasn't too busy. I didn't venture into the water... but the child we had with us did and showed us what we were missing by refusing to get out and then showering us with water when he came running up the beach eventually.

There were the usual guys there selling things ranging from jewellery to natural oils for massages, from horse rides to copied cds and dvds. These guys have gone up market now - one of them was walking around with a portable dvd player to prove to people who were thinking about buying his dvds that they really worked!

Something Bad
I was woken up in the middle of the night by 5 gunshots, which sounded like they came from the road directly outside out house. About an hour later, the car alarm went off. And then about 2 hours later, the dogs started to go wild. So all in all, I didn't get a good night's sleep! We couldn't see anything amiss this morning, but we live in a fairly rural community with lots of bush so something could be in there - we didn't look. I'm hoping that someone saw an intruder in their yard and let off the shots to chase them away, the alternative reasons just aren't nice to think about.

The internet is a dangerous place...

2006-01-10T11:53:00.000-05:00

I had too much time on my hands recently. So I went off snopping around the internet to see what I could find. After looking through the usual suspects, I decided that it would be interesting to see what some people from my past were up to. So I plugged names into google and off i went.

And I found my ex bf's blog. Hmm, now which girl wouldn't open that? Just out of interest, obviously. Just wanted to see how he's doing (the occassional text messages that I receive never contain more that 'all is good - how's u?').

And he's doing well. The blog is complete with photos and stories of all the people I used to know and used to spend lots of time with. It felt very odd to see them all again.

And there were lots of happy photos of him and his girlfriend. Now that was the bit I didn't need to see. Exs are strange things. No desire at all to have him back. Am very happy in current relationship. I have completely moved on - to the extent of moving country and changing hair colour! But still have no desire to know about the girl who has taken my place. And to see them looking so happy together at all the places we used to be happy at.

But I can't complain - I was the one who was snooping. I guess that's part of the reason I don't have my name on this page - so he can't return the faviour so easily!

Grey day

2006-01-09T16:23:00.000-05:00

It's a rainy day in Kingston. I woke up this morning to the sound of the rain on the zinc roof and splashing on the road from cars driving past. It's the kind of weather that we don't get often in Kingston - cool and grey - and it is a nice change... as long as it doesn't stay for long! It was that type of weather which is perfect for staying in bed all morning . Unfortunately it had to happen today, on the first morning of the school term, as traffic is nasty and requires an early start to get to work on time.

But at least work is mellow today, the boss is out of office! He'll be back tomorrow so we are all enjoying some space today and getting ready for the onslaught which will be begin tomorrow. Maybe he will have returned in a happy mood from his holidays, with belated Christmas presents for all his staff members...

Sorry, just got distracted. I thought I saw a cow flying past the window.

I love sunshine!

2006-01-06T10:52:00.000-05:00

There are some moments when I can't resist the temptation. A friend of mine sent me a photo of the view from her house at Christmas this year. I used to live close to her...

(photo by Dani!) It is a very pretty picture I admit.

But I couldn't resist it. I had to be mean. I sent her back one of me which was taken just after Christmas...

It's a hard life but someone has to do it!!!!

Office Nightmares

2006-01-05T15:47:00.000-05:00

My office was nice and quiet this morning until a group arrived for a meeting. They had to keep on passing through my office to get to where they needed to be. And it seemed like they kept on forgetting things as they had to come back and forward over and over again.

Which wouldn't be too bad - I like a bit of distraction! However, each time they came through, they forgot to shut the door. So my a/c had to go into super-loud overdrive to compensate. And then I'd realise and get up and shut the door. And then back they'd come again and leave it open. Grrr. After this had been going on for about an hour, I decided that the nice polite 'please shut the door behind you' wasn't working. So the next person who came through was given the message in a loud and angry tone.

But it made no differnce. The door was left open again. At which point I gave up. I decided to leave the door open, turn off the a/d and have some nice natural air.

At which point, they all suddenly got the message and started to shut the door behind them. So now it is getting very hot and stuffy in here.

I feel like I have become trapped in some office nightmare. I need to go and find chocolate... or maybe just go home for the rest of the day...

Various disjointed thoughts

2006-01-04T16:04:00.000-05:00

Christmas Parties
I've been to lots of parties this Christmas. Big ones and little ones. Loud ones and even louder ones. Ones with lots of drink and ones with lots to eat and drink! Several of these have been held at private homes, so my heels have sunk into lots of different grassy patches. But I managed not to fall over on any staircases!

Christmas parties amuse me because they are filled with people who are no longer living in Jamaica. And every year you have the same conversation. 'I'm planning on coming home this year' they say. And then next year, you see them again. Yup, still planning.

You can spot them as well. They look so pleased to see everyone! And they dress differently, can't put my finger on it - maybe something to do with pumps, but they look different. And their hair is different - they have long hair which they wear loose which is great in the winter but often doesn't look as good by the end of an evening in Jamaica!

These Christmas parties mark the start of the soca season in Jamaica. Everyone starts to jump and wine. And starts talking about going to Trini... and then i become like one of those Jamaicans abroad 'I'm planning on going this year' and next year, I'll still be planning!

School Reunions
I had a school reunion this holiday. 10 years since we left school. So we all gathered at the appointed time and place to inspect each other. and it was enjoyable. Most people look the same but some tried to confuse us. They brought outsiders to the event - fiancees and such people. One girl in particular I spent a long time looking at and trying to work out who she was before someone explained that she was a fiancee so I didn't have to pretend to know her!

But people are doing well. Doing things ranging from PhDs in neuroscience to tv presenting to futures trading on wall street. But the sad part was that I estimate that only about 1/3 of us are still living in Jamaica. These are people who have had one of the best high school educations available in Jamaica and are now contributing to another country.

The joke at the end of the evening was that I went to another party with my bf. This was an invitation party and we were at the gate when I suddenly heard people calling out to me and asking if I was on the list, and if so, could I get them in. I looked and it was some people I used to go to school with who'd also been at the reunion. I was on the list, but couldn't take anyone in so I had to leave them outside.

The amusing bit is that I was thinking how times have changed. In school days, these were the kids that were in on every party and would never need me to get them in anywhere. Instead, I'd have been the one who would have had an early curfew so wouldn't have attempted to go to the party!

New Years Eve
I started the new year right - I went to church with my bf! Haven't been on new years eve for ages so it was nice. Afterwards, I went home, put on a dress and heels and went out drinking and dancing. I'm one of those girls who likes to dress up from time to time. Not all the time, but I figure new years is one of those occassions.

So I went out in my dress and ridiculous heels (hey, I'm short, I need help!) and danced away. And then, when I figured most people were to drunk to notice anything, I headed to my car and got out my comfie flip flops and went back and was able to smile the rest of the night. All the way through until the sun rose on 2006.

And it was a wicked party. The theme was 'come as what you perceive yourself as being.' Now, that's too complicated for most of us to think about. But some people went all out. I was amused by one lady who was dressed as a french maid, hmmm. There were also a couple of guys who came in their sports wear - unfortunately for their perception to become reality, they looked like they needed some more exercise!

I'm back!

2006-01-04T08:36:00.000-05:00

(Belated) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!

Ok, So I haven't posted in ages... well, Cable and Wutless have been being their usual selves.. so broadband was down loads over the season... haven't been in the office much (yeah!!!) ... so have been on holiday from the internet. And yes, I could have made an effort ... but there was too much other fun going on to be bothered!!! So anyway, am back now... but missed the great ja bloger meet up during my away period - sorry guys! Will try and join you next time round!!!

Anyway, am back in the office now, first day back this year ... so have to go and search for some coffee to get me going - will be back later - and there will be stories!!

Cruel things done in the name of Christmas

2005-12-16T10:32:00.000-05:00

Case 1 - the miserable santas
Some of the computers in our office are not working properly. So we have called our IT support company, who have sent along 2 of their young male employees to look after us. And both of these y9oung men have turned up wearing red fluffy santa hats. Apparently it is company policy that they have to wear them so as to 'spread Christmas cheer.' But they look so uncomfortable in them that I think they are speading misery.

Case 2 - the annoying elves
Whenever you go near the shopping plazas at the moment, you are accosted by elves. These elves are employed by one of the mobile phone companies to hand out brochures and to encourage you to walk into their stores and 'dance out.' Now all these elves do is get int he way (they hunt in packs), and harass people. Get rids of the elves I say!

Case 3 - dire music
Ok, I like Christmas music. I like carols, I like cheesy songs, I like fab 5's christmas music. But what I don;t get is why does everythign have to be on repeat? Just becuase some people might like 'all I want for Christmas is You', doesn't mean that I should have to listen to Myriah's warbling about 4 times an hour. You don't do that with normal music - why do we have to do it to Christmas music?

bah bumbug

But despite all of that, I'm still excited that it's nearly Christmas!!! The tree is up! Presents are nearly bought! Fun parties are happening! And the sorrel has started!

Nice, pretty, helpful computer, please post this for me?

2005-12-14T10:02:00.000-05:00

My computer has been throwing a temper tantrum. I'm not sure why - I don't think I did anything especially bad to make it hate me. When I came to work on Friday morning, it decided that it didn't like me. So I couldn't print, could access any communal documents and, worse of all, I couldn't access the internet. Various people came to look at it, bribery was offered and cleaning done. But all to no avail. and then suddenly, for no apparently reason, it came out of its sulk yesterday afternoon. So I am now back in contact with the world. Now I am being sure to be polite and always say please to my computer and to use CNTL+ALT+DEL as little as possible.

So, since I was last here, I have...

- attended a 3 year old's birthday party. Which was fun. And good for me - nice to see and play with the kids, and good to be reminded that however cute they are, I have no need for one right now! But also good to see the bf looking very sweet with small children... future potential??
- survived the first big Christmas party of the season. It was cold in the hills - but I partied until I had to take my shoes off at 6 in the morning. And more than one person told me that I looked slim - not sure how much they had been drinking but still pleased to hear it!
- been to see Pride and Prejudice - excellent film, hilarious audience (Sorry Guyana Gal for my typo - I've not been to see Bride and Prejudice yet!)
- discovered that my brother is reading this page... need to remember to watch what I say about him...
- not done my Christmas shopping!

The next exciting item on my agenda is to go and buy a christmas tree - hopefully that will be done this evening - if I can escape from my boss at a decent hour!!!

Welcome Home

2005-12-08T16:35:00.000-05:00

I went to the airport today to collect a family member who’d been away for a few weeks and was coming back on the Miami flight. The flight was full as it is now the start of the Jamaican diaspora visiting season. Those who are coming down for Christmas all ready tend to be those who are retired and are coming for a month. Some of these are people who have been abroad for many many years but still view Jamaica as their home and want to be here for Christmas. You can see them, emerging from the airport, blinking in the bright sunshine, looking anxiously around for relatives who they haven’t seen for years, hoping that they will be recognised.

If you go nearer to Christmas, then you see the younger people. Those young people who have gone abroad to study, or to get their first job, most of whom go up saying that they’ll come home soon. These are the ones who are travelling in their fashionable clothes with smart suitcases, wanting everyone to know that they are making it abroad, that they are someone. They want to come home to live, but they can’t get… they have to finish their next degree, they have to get legal status, they have to earn some more money, and eventually it turns out that they have found a new life abroad and are too tied into it to come back.

But no matter what is going on in their lives, Jamaicans all over the world want to come home for Christmas. I know – I was one of these people. I saved for ages, took flights through New York and slept on airport floors – anything just to be home for Christmas. To come home for your sorrel and ham, to see the poinsettias growing outside, to feel the Christmas breeze, to meet up with everyone you left behind and hear the firecrackers at night.

And it felt good today. Good to go to the airport and to be on the receiving side at this time of year. Good to know that I don’t have to fit everything into 2 precious week, that after Christmas, I will not be packing my bags with cake and rum and coffee and memories to last me through the winter. But rather that I’ll still be here in January.

Walking upside down

2005-12-07T16:28:00.000-05:00

I am feeling very proud of myself at the moment. I have just worked out how to stick a counter on my blog. For someone who knows nothing about coding or whatever, this is a good achievement.

The next thing that I shall attempt to do is get my phone set up so that I can finally email from it and download my photos... yes, I've needed to do this for ages but haven't had the energy to deal with customer services before. I have tried today - I've spoken to 5 people so far and all of them have talked to me as if I am stupid but none of them have solved the problem! Apparently I now need to go to a shop and get them to do it there for some reason...

Anyway, the motive for finally trying to get this sorted is that I passed a good sign on my way to work that I wanted to take a photo of and share with you. I hardly ever remember to walk with my digital camera so the phone is the only option usually. The sign said:

'Drivers do not parkon the side walk. It is for foot walkers only.'

My brain started to think, if this side is for foot walkers, maybe the other side is for hand walkers. I looked round, excited to see everyone walking on their hands on the other side of the road... but no such luck.

Broader than Broadway...

2005-12-05T16:21:00.000-05:00

I went to Heineken Startime on Saturday night. This was a big oldies concert at Mas Camp - an outdoor 'area' for shows. I went, knowing full well that I would be one of the youngest people in the crowd, but expecting a fun time. And it was fun, the old boys all came out and did their stuff - and I knew more of the tunes than I thought I would! For those oldies fans out there, the guys I saw on the show were Leroy Sibbles (good fun), Little Roy (who got flopped!), Ken Booth (wicked!!) and Barrington Levy (too short - could have been better).

But I was thinking about the difference between shows here and shows I've been to abroad. Here, songs are 'hailed' at the start, rather than at the end. So the second the crowd knows what song is about to be sung, they go mad. But at the end of the song, there is no huge applause or anything.

In some ways, shows here almost become karaoke - if you know the words, then make sure you sing along as loud as possible! Shows here are also not a good time to introduce new songs - if the audience doesn't know what you are singing, they won't be pelased. And the crowd shows you in no uncertain terms that they are not pleased!

You also need to ensure that you get your souvenir from the show. At Heineken sponsored events, they tend to do a bucket deal whereby you get 6 beers in a bucket with ice. Now, although I am a red stripe lite drinker, the fact that this really cuts down the time spent queueing at the bar, makes me a convert for the evening. So at the end of the show, we were all joking around about who was going to take home the buckets... and by the time we looked down to pick them up, they'd gone! Apparently they are now the bucket of choice for your stylish window cleaner at the stop lights....

Things to be pleased about...

2005-12-02T15:38:00.000-05:00

After my post the other day about what I wanted to have achieved before my high school reunion that I’ve not quite reached yet, I thought I’d be positive today. (After all, it’s Friday. And if you can’t be positive with a weekend ahead of you, when can you be positive?)

So, although these aren’t necessarily things that will all impress my old school mates from my slightly overachieving high school, here are 20 things that I’m impressed with about myself. And I'll remember them when I am surrounded by all the people with the perfect job, house, husband and figures!

I managed to pick myself up and move abroad to university when I didn’t really know anything about what I was doing at the age of 17. And I survived!
In fact, I more than survived – I had a great time!
I have learnt how to accept a compliment gracefully – I no longer go bright red and stutter ‘oh no, not me.’
I had a great job which I paid well and that I loved in England, but I had the guts to hand in my notice and head back to an uncertain future in Jamaica – just because I thought it was time to come home.
And that it was time to be nearer my family – after arguing with my brother for 18 years, we now get on. So when he came back and left me alone in England, I knew it would be my turn soon. I get on with and like my family – I’m pleased about that.
Despite the fact that we hardly spoke for 7 years, I’ve managed to return to having a great friendship with my high school best friend now that we are in the same country – and she’s shared all her friends with me so I now have a great group of people here.
I have a very sweet bf. He’s not the richest man around, he may be too old for me, but he makes me pancakes on Saturday mornings. And he gives me butterflies in my tummy.
I have a cute car. It’s not big. It’s not bling. But I think it’s cute and I love it and that’s what matters to me.
I don’t have to wear suits to work everyday. Or stockings.
I managed to discover the joy of cheap flights and have many fab memories of lots of European cities. And I discovered that a nice hotel isn’t important – in fact, the worse your hotel is, the more time you spend away from it!
I’ve seen elephants in the wild. I went to Africa and fell in love with the place. Please can I go back tomorrow? Or if Africa is too far for tomorrow, Barcelona would do instead.
My job might not be glamorous, or incredibly well-paid, but it is MY job. I got it through my experience and education – not through who my parents know.
And it’s in the field I want to be in and I feel that I can make a difference through it. So I’m proud of it.
I got my masters degree when I was 21.
I wear contact lenses. So I am no longer the girl with braces and glasses that I was at 16…
I know how to salsa dance. And for a white girl, I think I can move my arse well!
I still keep in touch with several exs. Which is good – after having highs and lows with people, I’d hate to lose contact with them.
My English friends liked me soooo much that I’d not been back in Jamaica for a year before they came to see me. (I am sure that they canted to come and see me and not just to have a trip to Jamaica….)
I am willing to try any food at all. And I have developed a dislike for fussy eaters. If you won’t try food, then what else won’t you try?
And I am also willing to try all alcohol once. But I now know what I like and I don’t care what anyone thinks when I order it.

As it is a Friday, I am now off to enjoy my number 20!

A walk in the north Yorkshire moors

2005-12-01T09:18:00.000-05:00

Following cream and various other people, I am now going on a walk from my past... this walk was especially chosen for Guyana Girl so i hope she enjoys it! Next time I head to portland, will take lots of photos and do a photo walk from there.

I used to live in a small, very pretty town called Yarm in North Yorkshire. Everyday I drove down the dual highway to work about 20 miles away in a place called Northallerton. Soon after you left Yarm on the let you could see this strange shaped hill called Rosebury Topping. So one day, soon after I moved there, I took a friend and went exploring…

You turn off the main road, and drive through twisty country lanes, through small villages that look like they haven’t changed in hundreds of years, past trees all in their autumn colours, occasionally overtaking a horse and rider.

Once you’ve parked your car, you head up the path. It starts by going through a kind of open area, with grass on either side of you. Ensure that you shut the gates behind you – you don’t want any angry farmers! The path here is nice and gentle, the kind of place where you can enjoy the walk and look at the butterflies. Then you enter a forest and it gets harder – you start climbing up and up. But the view changes – all you can see around you now is gold and brown, and you hear the crunch of leaves that have fallen from the trees under your feet. The path goes left then right as it zigg-zaggs its way up.

Then suddenly you come to another gate. And once you climb over the style beside it, you emerge from the forest and realise that you have come a long way up. Suddenly the land below you has opened up and you are able to see for miles. But there is still further to go up, so you head on up, knowing that the view at the top will be even more spectacular.

You are now walking along a rocky track, with some small flowers clinging to the edge of the path. It starts to get windy and you pull your hat down further on your head to keep your eyes warm. Then you reach a bit where you have to scramble over some rocks. Well, you don’t have to – you could walk around but scrambling is always more fun.

And then you’ve made it – you are at the top. You stand there for a minute catching your breath and then you start to look around and all you can think is Wow. The view is stunning. If you look to the east, you can see out to sea. Supposedly this is where Captain Cook came as a boy and was inspired to go and sail the seas. Near the foot of the hill you can see the pretty village of Great Ayton. If you look up north, you can see the industrial markings of Middlesborough – but from here, the smoke that comes out just looks like pretty clouds. Then further away you can see the A19, the dual highway, looking like a wiggly line – you can’t hear it from up here. To the south of you, you can see more of the North Yorkshire moors – all different shades of green and brown. And as it is a lovely clear day, you can see some of the Yorkshire Dales over to the south-west.

And although the wind is cold, you just stand there.

And after a while, it gets too cold, so you have your bar of chocolate and head off again – you’ve seen an old stone building down below you so you have to head there and have a look at it…

Now, who wants to take us for a walk next?

Christmas soon come!

2005-11-29T14:12:00.000-05:00

I know it's way too early...

* But all the shops have up their decorations
* Christmas parties are being advertised
* The girls and I have been talking about what to wear to who's Christmas party
* The head office of the minsitry have up their christmas tree
* My sister in law has asked me what I want for christmas
* I've ordered the BF's Christmas present (he doesn't read this so I can safely say that the only reason for ordering it so early is that it is coming from Peru!)
* And the girl at the desk next to me has turned up the volume on her Christmas music...

so against all of my usual scroogist impulses which say that Christmas cannot start until about December 10, I am feeling christmasy and happy today!

But if Christmas really is coming soon, then I have a problem. We are having a high school reunion after Christmas. And I had always said that by my reunion, I wanted:

* a fabulous, exciting job (oh well, the ministry at least gives me funny stories)
* a gorgeous apartment (I had one, it's just that I moved back in with my parents last year when i came home!)
* a huge diamond ring on my all-important finger (again, the bf doesn't read here... maybe he should!!)
* and to have a perfect figure.

As it looks like most of those will not be achieved by then, time to start the diet!!

Graduation Music

2005-11-28T15:24:00.000-05:00

I went to the launch of a new university last week that I am doing some teaching at. As well as the launch, it was also a graduation ceremony for some of our students who've got their degrees.

You know that bit in the ceremony when the graduants' names are called one by one? And they have their special moment when they walk across the stage, shake hands and get their degree? And they usually play some music in the background?

Well, there was a nice pianist who played the music. And he started off with stuff like 'I believe the children are our future' and 'Did you ever know that you're my hero.' You know, the kind of supposedly meaningful music that is supposed to make you feel happy and proud and inspired? Anyway, I kinda tuned the music out. Until that is I heard some chords coming into my brain, and realised that he was playing the theme tune from 'Titanic.' Hmmm, graduants sinking in cold water, freezing to death. Nice.

And I thought that was bad, until he followed it with 'Candle in the Wind.' So now they are having their life blown out in a cruel manner too early.

I hope our graduants don't follow his advice too closely!!

Things to be happy about

2005-11-25T09:40:00.000-05:00

You know when you have a day that you just feel all happy? No major reason for it, but you are just in a good mood? Well, today is one of those days for me, I'm happy. And there are several minor reasons for it...

1. I got paid!!! I was very surprised to find that my pay had gone straight into my bank account yesterday. I'd been warned that the government would probably mess it up for the first few months, which would have meant I'd have had to spend today chasing them for the money and then queuing in a bank to sort it out later. But last night, there is was, in my account. Nice.

2. It's Friday!!! And as I got paid, I can go out with the girls after work!

3. The weather is nice and cool for a change. A bit of variety is good - and it's the perfect weather for this time of year - still warm and sunny enough for me to go and tan tomorrow, but cool enough to be able to enjoy curling up with someone in bed later...

4. And although it's cool, it's not cold! Thinking back to my years in Britain, I am enjoying going out to my car in the morning and not having to defrost it. And although I complain about drivers here, at least it's easier than driving on ice. And according to cream, there's snow where I used to live today!

5. Kingston traffic is improving! I can now leave home 25 minutes later and still be at work early - nice.

6. Brian Lara did well last night!!

7. The radio station that I listen to at work is plying some good music!

So add those together, and my world is a happy place today. Hope yours is as well!

How do they do it?

2005-11-23T08:35:00.000-05:00

There was a story on the news last night about a minibus.

This minibus was a 28 seater bus and was stopped by the police yesterday morning. When it was stopped, there were over 100 people on the bus. Many of these were school children.

Now I'm wondering:

1. How the hell do you fit that many people on a bus - that's 4 times as many as are supposed to be on there?
2. How can we expect our children to do well at school when they arrive there like that?

Convoluted language...

2005-11-22T14:28:00.000-05:00

I just received a memo that started...

'Pursuant to the above captioned matter received for review and consideration, the following notations were made in respect of the various components that were included therein.'

Does this mean 'Please find attached our comments on the above mentioned subject'?

If so, why won't people just say that? And is it no surprise that after this start, I feel very reluctant to read the rest of the memo?

A brighter future?

2005-11-21T15:42:00.000-05:00

I had a very quiet weekend. And it was very nice!

Finally, cable tv service has been restored to my house. It took a while... as does everything when you live outside of Kingston. But at least now we have a land line phone (all of the time!), broadband internet (for about 5 days on average before something else goes wrong which requires them to come and fix it, which usually takes them about 4 days), electricity (most of the time) and running water (sometimes).

So I celebrated on Friday night by staying in with the bf and watching cricket. And then ended up doing the same but at his house on Saturday. And was kinda encouraged - ok, we lost. Badly. But at least we looked like we wanted to be there. And like we wanted to try. Who knows, maybe one day we will be able to be proud to be windies supporters again!!

Hopefully, and yes, I am being very optimistic here, some of that pride will be restored by World Cup 2007. Because lots of my foreign friends are planning on coming down for it. And it would be too much to bear having them all gloating all the way through. Oh well, at least there is always the mound to drown our sorrows on!

Trips out of town

2005-11-18T13:34:00.000-05:00

I went to MoBay yesterday for the day for work. We left Kingston at 6am... and got back at 11:30 pm. And during that time, I was needed for about 10 minutes of the event in MoBay. Oh well...

But the drive down was interesting... the Bog Walk gorge, which is the main route between the north and south coast had only just reopened to traffic after flooding earlier in the week. It was a mess! And I was very glad not to be in my small car. It might have got lost in some of the potholes.

Can you tell that I am still tired today? Am having problems thinking and typing at the same time! Think I'll go and sleep instead... fortunately my corner of the office is fairly quiet today!

The Jamaican Police Force

2005-11-15T14:59:00.000-05:00

I have now been back in Jamaica for 1 year and 2 months. I have had a car for approximately 10 months of that time.

During that period, I have been stopped by the police 5 times.

Occasion 1 - driving out to the Kingston airport, they were doing a regular check. Everything in order and sent on my way.

Occasion 2 - Driving to Mandeville with a friend. I overtook on an unbroken white line (oops) and got pulled over. Got told off and sent on my way with no consequences - nice man!

Occasion 3 - Driving with a friend on the south coast. We'd been at the beach and were both wearing bikini tops. Hmmm. Got pulled over by police men who were doing checks for 'Dangerous Drugs, Stolen Motor Vehicles, Illegal Weapons and Single Ladies.' As there were none of those in the car, we were eventually allowed to go on our way. That is, after we turned down offers of an escort and opportunities to meet up later in the evening.

Occasion 4 - I was driving in a very busy area (Crossroads) and turned into a little road to get something and came back out again. And I was stopped - apparently it was a one-way road... despite the fact that there were no signs. So the police man asked me what I could do for him. and you know what that means. So I stayed calm and gave him my British drivers license - ha. He can't give me points on that. If was in the wrong fine, but he ain't getting money from me. So eventually he says he needs a phone number for me so that he can let me know about how to sort out my offense. I gave him my office number and got a call the next day asking when we could meet up.

Occasion 5 - I was stopped last night. The police man claimed I'd come through a red light. Then he changed his mind and said it was amber - it was green!!!! Anyway, once again, my papers were checked and my marital status was enquired about. When I politely turned down the marriage offer I was allowed to go on my way.

Things I have learnt from these events:
1. Police men always look very disappointed when you have your papers in order - less chance for them to get some money!
2. Police men are apparently desperate to get married.
3. Police men are scared to press for money when you look white / light brown - they are scared you have connections in high places!
4. Much as it hurts me, you have to be polite to them. After all, they have your drivers license and they have a gun.
5. Police men like bikinis.

I have also had my house broken into once and my car stolen once this year - and on neither occasion were the police anywhere to be seen.

More extremes in Kingston

2005-11-14T15:36:00.000-05:00

On Saturday night, I went with some girl friends to a fundraiser for the Jamaica Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (JSPCA). I have a lot of respect for the JSPCA, I think they do some excellent work and we're always tried to get rescue dogs and cats from there when we want animals to give them a home.

Their fundraiser was a wine and cheese party, with an animal fashion show. It was hilarious! and a bit odd... You see, in my opinion, dressing a cat in a frilly outfit with a big glittery collar is cruel - cats don't like that!!! And they are supposed to be preventing cruelty..

But it was an event and a half. Apparently lots of society people were there - I say apparently as I don't know the society people too well so I am taking my friend's word for it.

So there on the runway were all these skinny girls with their tiny, pure bred perfectly manicured fluffy dogs, who'd had their coats done in the air conditioned tent. All dressed in pretty things.

And I laughed to myself, thinking that my animals who I've got from the JSPCA would have caused a riot at the show! They would have refused to wear their outfits, they'd have run off the catwalk and towards the food.

And I did also think that it would be good if some of the people who were at the show thought about it later, and thought that next time they want a pet, maybe they could rescue one of the JSPCA animals and give the money they would have spent on the pure bred to them.

But I suppose that to them attending a wine and cheese party and having your picture appear in the social pages of the newspaper seems a much better way of giving support.

Gas station strike

2005-11-09T16:03:00.000-05:00

I had been out of my office for a few minutes and came back to find 2 missed calls, 1 voice mail message and a text message on my cell phone and 1 message on my office voice mail. All from my bf. So I checked them thinking oops, what's up. And something was up - all the gas stations in Jamaica are going on strike for at least 2 days.

So I followed his advice and rushed out of the office to fill my tank. I knew full well that if I waited and went after work, the queues would be lots worse and several places would have sold out.

So I arrived at the gas station and saw a queue. Well, actually 3 queues. So I picked one and sat. And waited. And waited. And then after 10 minutes I realised that another queue had started. And as there was a taxi man at the front of it, it was pushing into my queue successfully.

So I sat and waited. And then another queue started.

And then two queues merged, along with 2 dented bumpers.

And ten minutes later, the same thing happened again. With 2 more dented bumpers.

By the time I got through (which involved nearly crying at a man who was trying to push infront of me and shaming him into letting me go), there were at least 6 dented bumpers that I'd seen, 8 different queues and I'd wasted 40 minutes of my life.

And remember that this was at a quiet time of day! Next time, I'm taking a gas strike as an official public holiday.

Hambrelhas

2005-11-08T14:02:00.000-05:00

I was sitting in my office one day and the office cleaner came around. Someone had sent her down a barrel from foreign so she was selling some things to make a little money. I was busy so she left the bag with me, along with a piece of paper and the instructions - take what you want, write your name next to whatever you have take on the peice of paper and pass the bag onto the next person.

So I looked through the bag and saw an umbrella and I had just mislaid mine so I decided to take it. I looked on the peice of paper, skimmed it and couldn't see an umbrella written anywhere. So I looked again more carefully.

And there it was, right underneath the 'Man Spray' it was.

Hambrellha

(For the non-Jamaicans out there, it is common for people to add 'h' to words when they are trying to talk properly - and also to lose 'h' from some words!)

Sorry

2005-11-07T15:10:00.000-05:00

I've not been very communicative recently. I promise I haven't forgotten you all. But the new job has got kinda busy. Added to which, I have some nice new collegues, so tend to spend my free moments in the office chatting to them, rather than to the internet. And cable and worthless still hasn't fixed my phone at home... so no internet at nights.

Anyway, I will try harder - promise!!!

C and W

2005-10-31T14:11:00.000-05:00

I have moved back up a hill, to the house I used to live in. So now I am back living in a nice cool climate, with fresh air and fireflys.

Along with that comes the joys of increased traffic, all-night sessions at the rum bar and an increased lack of interest from public service companies.

We have adjusted to some of the issues - we have a water tank and pump to deal with the daily water lock-offs. We have candles everywhere.

However, the phones went off in Wilma. And they haven't come back yet. So no landline and no internet! And as we are up a hill, with not many people around, they are apparently in no rush to fix our phone.

Fortunately mobile phones exist. And fortunately, Digicel recently built a new tower in the area - so we now have proper reception! I wonder if there is some underhand stuff going on... a spy in Cable and Wireless told Digicel that landlines in the area would be not working, so they knew to build a new tower...