Portland

Of the parishes on the island, Portland is the one that is most often cited as the favourite, or the most beautiful.  It's not a tourist hot spot, and it's not a major urban sprawl.  It's natural, unspoiled Jamaica.  That's not to say it doesn't have its tourist attractions, but the ones that are there are less crowded and less noisy.  The cruise ships don't have a place to dock, and there are few all-inclusive resorts (I'm not sure if there are any actually). All in all, I think it makes for a really nice weekend getaway.  There are probably even more isolated and quiet areas of the island, but at the same time, I don't want to feel like I'm the only person around.

Last weekend, I went to visit the parish with some of the other volunteers.  We rented a car and drove up to Frenchman's Cove and hit Reach Falls.  We also stopped by to explore anything else that was interesting in between.  This time, I remembered to take my camera to snap a few shots.  Since they are few and far between these days, enjoy!

Crossing a random hand-made bridge

How did that get there?

Laundry day

007

007 knows how to live

Pastor Brown's house (has been in National Geographic, issue in 1985).  Seriously wacky.

Pastor Brown

View from Frenchman's Cove Resort Villas

Bottles of sauce... and ketchup! To go with the jerk pork and chicken

I feel bad, I didn't actually get any shots of Reach Falls, probably because I don't have a waterproof camera.  But in any case, it's one of my favourite spots and a really neat and fun activity to do in Jamaica.  You climb the falls, and in the process, a guide will take you through some small caves in the waterfall.  If you can swim, you can also dive off the waterfall and swim underneath the base of the falls.  Awesome!  Except I still can't swim.

Some days while I'm walking the streets of Kingston, I start thinking I really enjoy being here.  Walking to and from Crossroads everyday between the bus stop and the office, I'll pass by the usual taxi drivers and stall operators (I use the term stall pretty loosely here, some vendors have a physical stall, some have a trolley or a cart, and some just have a tarp, which they lay on the ground to display their merchandise, which could be as varied as DVD's or clothes).  I appreciate the fact that there are people who aren't outside only to get from point A to point B.  There are vendors selling, there are taxi drivers yelling, there are people just hanging out and striking up conversations.  There's something lively about it all and it's refreshing to see since it's quite the opposite from what I would experience getting to and from work in Canada, i.e. bumper to bumper traffic.

There's also the directness of Jamaicans whereby they won't usually hide what's on their minds.  In an interaction between Jamaicans, they could look aggressive like they're yelling at each other, but in the next moment, their tone could take a 180 degree turn and they'd be laughing like they were best friends.  Sometimes when I'm looking for my coaster to go home, the conductor or "'ducta" will try to physically put me into their coaster, but if you tell them where you're going and it's not where they're headed, they move on to trying to acquire their next customer like nothing happened.  It's odd, but there's no hard feelings - just business!  That same 'ducta may show a polite and considerate side by stopping the bus and clearing room for a lady to grab a seat.  One time, I wondered whether Jamaicans get high blood pressure since it seems like they release so much energy in their daily interactions.  I don't know if there is really any connection between the two, but it was just a thought.  In any case, the way everyone interacts makes the city an even more vibrant and lively place to be.

I'm not sure if it's just in my head, but it seems like after Christmas ended and the New Year began, there is less tension on the streets.  People are at ease - less guarded, and more open.  Felt like around the Christmas time, the vendors, bus drivers, and taxi drivers were all trying extra hard to earn your money.  Now, while still lively, they aren't as aggressive.  Whether it's in my head or in reality, I suppose it doesn't matter too much.  The bottom line is that now I can enjoy more of my time here and appreciate some of what I may have missed before!  But still, I learned my lessons from before and am not going to explore South of my office or walk any back alleys.  

Happy Chinese New Year Jamaica!

Apparently there was some event going on at the Chinese Benevolent Association (CBA) in Jamaica yesterday.  But I didn't know!  Instead, I ate some jerk pork at Scotchies.  Only when I went to the supermarket today to pick up some juice, did the cashier mention that the CBA usually holds some of events around this time of year.

I went today, and there was nothing except some people playing badminton.  Nah gwaaan!  I asked my taxi driver if anything else would be happening and he didn't know.  If a taxi driver doesn't know then chances are, it doesn't exist.  So since nothing real exciting happened, in honour of CNY, I took a picture of the most Chinese thing I have in my apartment now - my calendar which the supermarket gave to me a while ago.  It's from Oriental Foods which coincidentally is in Toronto, Canada.  Yes, they imported Chinese calendars from Canada.  I should have just brought some with me!

Moment of silence

Will make some updates soon.

What's in the bag?!

As I communicate and interact with more people, particularly as part of my job, I seek out and absorb a lot of information.  At the moment, I'm in a situation where I have to reach out to collect information, but at the same time, am faced with a reluctance on the other side to provide it.  This is a situation sometimes found at clients, but is a bit of a different scenario here.

To explain the scenario, the person I was talking to at the time mentioned a Jamaican phrase that goes something like "don't buy a pus in a bag".  Meaning, if someone tries to sell you a bag saying there's a cat, you don't just buy the bag trusting that there's a cat inside.  So you don't think I'm making it up, I present: http://wisejamaican.financiallysmartonline.com/2009/03/nuh-buy-puss-eena-bag/

His premise was that Jamaicans who go by this phrase are skeptical.  Therefore, if someone's going to be asking for something, he should be able to demonstrate why he's asking for it, and what the impact or result will be.  This sort of concept is fairly standard in my typical line of work, but it's something people might forget as we selfishly run through our duties to try and get our own work done.

Being a CUSO-VSO volunteer, there's advantages and disadvantages.  For one, we get an objective view point and can be perceived as unbiased.  This can be great, especially if we have to deal with two sides that don't meet eye-to-eye.  On the other hand, we are interacting with people with whom we have no prior experiences with.  This in itself also has its advantages and disadvantages.  However, in this case that I'm mentioning, it highlights the importance of building up the trust, credibility, and relationship.  Of course, adding cultural differences, and age differences (this one's for me specifically, as I'm the youngest one by far of the volunteers), serves to compound the importance of and effort required for developing said relationships.  Once you build that trust, credibility and proper working relationship, it makes progress and interaction that much easier.

I have a tendency to think of the most efficient way to complete a task.  The quickest path from point A to B.  I suppose all in all, more than anything else, this is a bit of a reminder for myself:  before taking on any project or work, get to know who you're dealing with.

Half-way there

This week is nearing the half-way mark of my placement (half-way point will be January 15, 2011).  It's hard to believe, but pretty soon, I'll be wrapping up.  Work has gotten into full swing with renewed energy in the new year.  We are going to try and promote the use of a network intranet, which will be challenging yet exciting.  As for the city life in Kingston, I'm feeling settled in.  All the hustle and bustle of the city - people in your face to take their bus, buy their stuff - it's become like ambient noise.

For the new year, I've also gotten some personal renewed energy.  I feel like I should be more productive, and mentally engaged with the world around me.  Starting in late 2010, I've been reading more about news, both locally and internationally, as well as getting into some of the books that I've brought here.  Although I don't have resolutions per se, this 'productivity' I suppose translates into being more focused, as I try to be each year.  Perhaps as close as I will get to making a resolution, is that I'd like to learn to swim while here in Jamaica.  I'm here on an island anyways!  Blue lagoon here I come.

Annnnd I haven't posted pictures in a while, so for the interesting technique in how I made my rice with no rice cooker, here it is!  Bowl, in a pot (I cover it to steam, but for picture purposes, the lid has been taken off).  This time in particular, I was lazy so I threw in some leftovers to be heated up as well.

and a Happy New Year

After a week 'vacation' in the cold stretches of Canada, I'm back in Jamaica.  To me, it was an irreplaceable holiday, despite being on the plane and on the road for both Christmas Day and New Years'.  Although a part of me wonders what the rest of the Christmas break would have been like if I stayed in Jamaica, if I had the choice, I would still do it again.  Except maybe I'll consider flying out of Kingston instead of Montego Bay - the 4 hour drive each way almost doubles the travel time.

Today was the first day back at work; it was a slow start as expected, but all cylinders will be firing soon enough for the next few months because that's all the time I have left here, and I plan to make the most of it!

But first, I think I need a bit of rest, no need to rush.