Random Stories from a Kingston Girl

I’m going to copy from Island Spice - I’m feeling blah. Something about ordinary time, nothing much exciting. Well, actually that’s not completely accurate. The problem is partly that too much is happening… just I don’t know what it is! You see, being a civil servant, a new government means lots of changes. And this time, for my department, a heck of a lot of changes! But the problem is we don’t know what they will be yet. We just know changes are coming. So in the meanwhile, we are sat here in limbo. Waiting for instructions. Waiting to be told what to stop doing, what to continue doing and what to do differently. And we are all wearing our Ministry shirts today as they will be outdated by next week!

Otherwise, also feeling blah as it is bird season. I don’t shoot. I don’t want to shoot. But the man does. And I think it is really bad planning to have bird season starting so close after elections. You know, we gave up our men in election season, allow them to go off and campaign and save the world etc. But we expected to be spoilt afterwards in return. And then they put bird season immediately afterwards. Grrrr!!!! And they don’t even shoot the birds near a nice hotel so I can go and relax while they shoot. They shoot them in backabush locations with no decent hotels nearby.

 I am not impressed.

It has been raining in Jamaica for a week now. At my house, everything is damp and cold. However, at least I live on high ground so we don’t get flooded.

Port Maria on the other hand is by the sea. And it has been raining there lots this week, resulting in major flooding in the town yesterday. Which is not funny. 

However the news report on this matter was did make me laugh. Apparently the police were unable to go and deal with people who were taking advantage of the floods to loot as they were trapped in the police station. In order to get out of the police station, the firemen had to come and rescue them.

I’m sure this isn’t how it really worked, but my mind was busy picturing all the police men standing at an upstairs window in the police station yelling help help like a damsel in distress in an old fairytale. Then the firemen arrive in a shiny red truck and rush to put up ladders so they can climb up and get them. Then the firemen had to put these police men (obviously dressed in their uniforms) over their shoulders to carry them down the ladders to safety so they could then go and catch the thieves.

I’m sure that the looters must have been laughing their heads off at the idea of the police being stuck and unable to come and catch them.

 Ah, only in Jamaica!

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.

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

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 houses.

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!

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.

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!

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 discovered 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!

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…