Waiting...patiently?

More and more I am longing for the day when this blog will no longer be used for posting but as a way to look back and remember the times I had in Bim. I feel as though home with all the issues I will face is where I want to and need to be, and I am anxiously waiting for the day when that becomes a reality. December is fast approaching, and I am happy...I hope I can pass the time away without getting too frustrated.

October Lyme at Home

Yesterday was the annual October lyme. It was good to see everyone again...and hear them. I'm sure it was a weird lyme for most involved considering I joined in via webcam, but I am happy they still made the effort to accommodate me. (Thanks guys).

I think my biggest problem with the lyme is that I don't think I contributed much. I had so much moving around in my head, but nothing at the same time. I felt blank, almost like conversation was a new language I was learning. So I was more content yet uncomfortable listening in. Sigh.

Hopefully next year is bigger and better. And different.

Session at UN House

Today the YDS had a working session at the UN House. I was designated scribe. I only hope I took decent notes. The first half was not recorded cause the thing just neva record it. But the second half was taped (and I didn't have it so maybe that's why). 

Thought the session was productive and good. Hope things work out for them.

COG Concert

Today I went to church at Salters. Usual place. Service was ok Lesson was on Ps 121. Good passage. Sunday school lesson was from the same place. Got home about noon.

Ate lunch. Tried to sleep. Watched a movie. Tried to sleep. Got good news about Kitty. Tried to sleep. Eventually got up, got dressed, and went with Billie and new friend to the Church of God concert of which I forgot the name. It was decent. Could have done with a bit more tweeking, but hey! It's not everday the COG gets youth putting on productions such as this with the intention of selling it. 

Afterward, we chilled a bit. Passed by Chefette where new friend treated us girls to food (mine a kids' meal) before dropping us home. A pleasant evening afterall.

Weekend Happenings

On Thursday I decided I was going to finally buy a webcam. One that I will actually get since two previous purchases online proved futile. I called around and found out the prices. I looked at the sky, and decided I shouldn't. But then after a while I thought I'd make it an adventure. So I got dressed and took a bus to Oistins. It was about an hour on a bus, but it was the sight-seeing (if you wanna call it that) that took up my time. I found the place I wanted, went to another store and bought a cheap, no-good headphone which I am bitter about, then headed back home.

Friday I had lunch with a friend who's going back home to SVG. I ended up shopping- a dress and shoes. The shoes I needed and got at the duty free price since my friend bought it for me and I paid her back. The dress I perhaps could have done without but I liked it very much, and my friend thought it looked good too, so I took her word for it. I think I got a fair deal too. I came home and slept, then went to campus for "Second Chances", the play and concert put on by the J'can student asso. It started late as usual. But it was pretty decent. My headaches came back, so that was slightly distracting. Got home about 1 a.m.

This morning I was to go hiking. But having got so little sleep, the headache stayed with me. I opted to pass. I was kinda looking forward to going so that was a bummer.

Tomorrow I am going to church in the morning and then to a COG concert in the evening. Should be interesting.

JASAC week so far

So this week is JASAC week- Jamaica Association of Students at Cave Hill. It started decently with a church service on Sunday, which I attended. Monday (Heroes' Day) was a flag raising ceremony at 6 a.m. which I did not attend. Today was the culture and food day. Disaster is a word I would like to use to describe it.

On Sunday, I volunteered to help out at the cultural showcase. My shift was 2 - 3 p.m. I got there and started to hear all the "mishaps" happening with the food. I wasn't overly comfortable with the whole situation either, but hey. After my shift, I decided to try and get some food cause now mi ungry! I go into the place, seems rather disorganised and food didn't seem to be available or ready. Ok. Left for a bit and went back. Decided that since they had nothing I wanted (chicken), I was gonna get soup. So I paid for soup. As I was waiting to get said soup, a man, clearly J'can, started to cuss. Instead of serving me my soup since I was standing in front of him and trying to get his attention, another man (server clearly) decided to tek on di odda man. Needless to say it got rowdy. I just took my ticket, walked out, and went home. I ate food that I had here waiting for me, no drama involved. I count the $5 I paid but a loss. I didn't think it made any sense trying to get back my money if I couldn't get my food without waiting til they decided to calm down. Not inna dat.

The play and concert is on Friday. They claim it should be good. It better be!

Pizza Baby!

Since I sent in my first draft, I've baked a chocolate cake and baked chicken breast strips. But today I added one more to the list- I did my very first pizza! I used some of the chicken i had baked, sweet peppers, cayenne pepper, tomatoes and my own pizza sauce plus the all-important cheese. I did the sauce from tomato paste and BBQ sauce supposedly hot and spicy and some Italian herbs. Couldn't taste a bit of the hot. But the pizza tasted good! I mean, it didn't look like a professionally done one, but who cares?!

I did some cleaning today as well...of course all before my pizza trial. So now my room feels nice and homey again...and CLEAN! Let's hope I can keep it this way til I am ready to leave.

Finalmente!

So having endured agony, frustration, heart-ache, and more, I have finally submitted my first draft! It's a relief. And feels almost unreal. But I am happy. I now wait with bated breath for the return of said draft, hoping it is not massacred.

Thank You Faddah!

Unexpected Events

On Sunday I went to a play at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination. I was taken by a friend (more an aunty figure) as a birthday treat. We were to have gone on Saturday, but the rain was mighty. The play was interesting. It was entitled "Sugarcane Blues" or something like that. It was talking about struggles with slavery and called it a parallel of sorts with the hotel industry. I'm not sure I agreed completely with the incinuations, but I appreciated the manner they presented the play. It was somewhat unique.

Yesterday I had a meeting with someone who was supposed to help me with my project. After that, a former co-worker of my dad who's here took me to dinner. It was nice.

What does the rest of the week have in store? We'll see. Just hope it's good. I think I need the good stuff to happen to balance a lot of the issues that have taken place in the last week.

My Head for $70

Yeah...you saw it right.

After spending a good time at the hotel, I was picked up by a friend. She wanted to go to Speightstown so we went there and walked around window-shopping. We happened to go into this one store and my friend happened to see a few things she liked. On top of that, they had some sale of sorts. There was a mix-up in the understanding of the prices and that resulted in a rude telling-off of my friend and another employee of the store by one rowdy employee who calls herself "Betty". I kindly told her (as well as another customer) that her attitude had much to be desired to which she proceeded to tell us off. It went as far as us being unwelcomed in Barbados and David Thompson (the Hon) should do something about it. On top of that, us being unwanted in this "her" country, she could do us the favour of having our heads for $70. She didn't say whether it was BB$ or US$...and she was also ambiguous about whether it was per head or both our heads. I kept my cool, and I told my friend (who was still proceeding with her browsing) that I'd wait outside. The crap was getting to me- there's only so much one's ears can take and it gets harder to clean out after too much.

Anyways, we went elsewhere and looked around. But I was disturbed. For a while I kept wondering how serious she was. But I didn't get too upset. On our way back home, I stopped off by the store and left a card for her. It was intended to let her know that God can give her peace because it appears that only He can help this ignorant woman. She wasn't there when I went in (somewhat nervous I might add), but I hope she didn't spit on it or take me and friend to her friends or whatever.

So having done so many things in Barbados, I guess I can now add to my list a death-threat. it'd be good if that could have been para-sailing or water-skiing, but alas! It can't all be good, right?! I need balance...after all, I am a proud Libra girl!

A Happy 25th

I wanted to make this year special. Couldn't do the cruise I wanted, couldn't travel as I wanted. So I opted instead to book myself into an all-inclusive hotel for a night. Hotel of choice was the Discovery Bay Hotel.

I called to check to see what is the earliest time I could check in. They told me anytime. So instead of going for 2 as I originally planned, I got there for 11.30am. Paid. Got my keys, and went to Room 74 (along the corridor in the pic).



It started to rain after I go settled in. So the next best thing was tv. Turned it on and was greeted by blue. First call to the front desk. Someone came quickly and dealt with it. But to my shock and surprise, the "cable" advertised was from stations 2 - 8. It seems they have a policy and they dictate what stations they show. I can't understand it but hey.

Sometime later the rain held up. So I went walking in Holetown, found me a bookstore, and bought two books- a novel and a puzzle book. Went back to the hotel had lunch- cheese burger, fries and blended fruit punch. Later I went to the seaside, grabbed a chair, and enjoyed the lovely breeze and the sound of the water crashing on the shore. It was so good. Wish I could have slept but at least I was relaxed. I wanted to go to the beach but it was too pebbly so opted for the pool instead. It was soo good. The water was nice and warm and swimming was relaxing and enjoyable. Spent a good deal of time in the pool. Took a short snack break and had me some sandwhiches and cake and blended fruit punch. But I didn't end up leaving the pool til it was dark.



After showering and washing my hair, I got dressed and went to dinner. It was rather tasty. I had broccoli and cheese soup (surprisingly decent) followed by pasta with cheese, grilled chicken, veggies and cheesecake. I thought I took enough but turns out I took too much. Small stomach...oh well. The band that was playing during dinner cool too.



After that I went by the bar and chilled with the bartender, Andrea. She was cool. I had some rumcream. Went back to my room after and chilled a bit watching "cable tv". I went back down about 11 and chilled with Andrea and David (staff) before heading back to my room.



The day was filled with calls and text messages from family and friends. And some were very creative in that they described me using words that begin with the letters in my first name. I don't know whose idea it was, but I felt special. Though I spent the day alone I was not really alone.

So in summary, I had a good day. Thanks to all who helped to make the day special. The cards, the calls, the emails, the texts, the singing. Thanks all!

PS: Some had a hard time grasping the fact that I opted to spend the day alone. But I have no regrets. And like I said, I wasn't really alone.

Frustrated

I am soooooo frustrated with this project. When I think I am close to finishing, some crap happens. I am just losing what drive I had but I am still pushing because that's the only way I will end this and keep my sanity.

Can't wait for it to be done! As to if I'll have that draft ready by Fri as I promised my supe...that looking sticky. But time will tell.

Mama Mia

I went to the movies to see Mama Mia. Was a decent movie. Had a few laughs and stuff. The company was good (thanks Billie). We chatted and took pics and lymed. A good 3rd day.

Good Start

Day 1: Pretty uneventful though productive. Most memorable part of the day was being able to feel like I was home, even if it was just for a few bites. A friend of mine went to J'ca and brought me back some good ole bun and cheese (the real, orange one in the tin). So that was my lunch, along with Ting (paid a crap-load of money for it...no where in J'ca would it cost what I paid which was US$2...at least nowhere I'd buy it). But it was good to be able to have that...

Day 2: Day started out less than fantastic with slight aches in the head area and less than the amount of work than I'd plan, but it was a good day none-the-less. I was alive and had a bed to rest the not-so-pain-free head and watch tv and try to sleep. In the evening I got a call from a friend about going to see Donnie McClurkin speak. Took me about 2 min to say yes and I was SO glad I did. I was blessed and I had a good time.

The message was aimed at getting people to realise that there is hope in God regardless of the crap of the past. The main text text was 2 Cor 5: 11-21, and he also pointed to the verse that turned his life around (ie, away from homosexuality, etc): verse 21. It was inspiring. Plus when he was singing at the end I got to wave a "rag" (aka scandal bag)...I mean, I had to improvise seeing he was singing a hype song and wanted the crowd to wave something. That was sooo much fun! I wished he'd heard me screaming when he asked if there were J'cans in the crowd. I seemed to be a lone, soft voice jumping and screaming like a maniac and waving my hands. Oh well! The hurting of the throat at the end of it all was worth it.







Tonight is a movie lyme with my friend from last night. Looking forward to that. After all, it's good to be treated like a VIP every now and then (don't mind that I'm paying for it).