shucks thanks guys and galsGuess what I have internet finally .How excited am I ?only VERY
shucks thanks guys and gals
Like this one?
Trip #59 most of February
Our nieces partner had a printing machine and he made some t-shirt art for my kids which they were really happy about and I gathered all of the little kids at the house together and we (I ) lol decided to create a little show to show to the adults.My neice and her partner had to work most of the weekend but we was welcome at the shop or to make ourselves comfortable at the home but all the little kiddies were there so we decided to do a little singing show.
We got two soda bottles and filled them with stones and water half full and used them as shakers and we found a twig on the floor which we ran to the shop with and asked my neice to run up a small square piece of scrap material on her machine so we could turn it into a flag.One of the elder girls aged 9 is a fantastic gospel singer so she was going to be star of the show, she showered and put on a dress and I gave her one of my necklaces that she liked so she wore that and loved it and kept stroking it and was delighted when I said its yours you are the star of the show!All leading ladies get to keep their props, and we began to practise our little show.The sun was hot but we had fun setting up little stools for our guests and then delivering our little show it was fun.On the Sunday I used my new found dj talent to spin and mix gospel tunes especially for her, the sounds were carried down the mountain gently through the speakers.She was singing along brilliant voice superstar in the making.Why does music sound so fantastic in Jamaica?Maybe because we can play it so loud here.We could never get away with that backhome.We would be thrown out of the neighbourhood as nuisance neighbours!
This home was pretty much alone in a mountain though so it was great just playing the music and looking out at the brilliant views.At one point when it rained a man came walking down the hill,
Barefoot , no shirt , looked like he had been training for a muscle program.It was like a scene from a movie combat trousers on, no top, no shoes clambering down this mountainside in the rain!
And he was just casually trekking through the jungle like interior!
You see things you think am I seeing things? Like a van with 9 men hanging off its outside swinging around those high Cliffside no railings bends, 3 on each side and 3 on the back with dancehall blasting out LOL Jamaicans make me laugh, they are so happy not a care in the world,Even when the going is tough play some music and they will still try to have fun with it.
The kids were yanking my hair, braiding my hair, swinging around my neck, stroking my now stubbly needing a shave knee LOL kids are my thing my life I have been immersed and surrounded by kids for the last 16 years, this little boy had my knee as his comforter I think and just kept stroking it for ages one stubbly patch LOL ahh at least my cranky krinkly old stubbly knee is lurved somewhere.
They were doing tippleovers, singing, dancing,It was quite manic and a handful to say the least but lots of fun. They said I should do modelling with them so we did a pose and made a runway between the beds we were laughing our heads off and then they tried to show me how to dance which was even more hilarious as I cannot dance.The 9 year old was dancing in front of the mirror and we was laughing when I struck a pose attempting to mimic her and even the little ones had a new dancehall move down to perfection and there was little old me in my fluffy socks with my pj's tucked into them , hair all over the place from humidity,nighty on that said crazy moo and a big fluffy dressing gown trying to bust a move in front of the mirror up a mountain top in the middle of Jamaica with a room full of children in hysterical laughter at me.I was getting real hungry I did say we should have put the goat on the night before so we could eat it in the morning but no-one was listening to me and I did not know everyone was going off to work otherwise I would have DEFINATELY cooked it the night before do not like being left alone with strange gas cylinders and cooking etc in new places.So I was getting reallll hungry it was getting late hot and my stomach was rumbling there was some of the delicious rice and I do not know what else in the kitchen but my nephew was feeding all of the little children and I just said give it all to them.It was left for us but I did not want to take it, Thought let them have it because I was not sure what time dinner was going to be and as long as kids are fed and having fun they are happy so I thought we would wait..and wait and..wait LOL so we finally asked what time is dinner so nephew put some more rice on, eventually my niece come up the hill after a hards day work remember she is heavily pregnant and she said "the food cook?" "yuh finish cook food?" I looked around the place, oh dear only me there what to do what to say?
"so you did cook food it ready now?" And I am thinking OMG she is pregnant working seven days a week struggling up a friggin mountain and what have I been doing all day? Playing dance queen and model in a mirror, being a dj and waving flags around with the kids as well as being a stubbly knee comforter so I was quite embarrassed and ashamed and I did not answer at first and she said let me go see if the rice done so I said to my husband omg she just asked was the food cooked, that means I think we should have cooked it first of all, secondly that may mean we have to wait another 4 hrs or so omg
So he said he did not know she wanted us to cook it then I was saying I told you we should have cooked this last night so we could just get it when we were hungry.So she put the food on and went for a shower and when she returned I said I am really sorry I did not put the food on I didn't realise you wanted me to cook I should have thought, because every single time we go she always cooks she is masterchef and I just learn and I just have not thought about cooking for her plus she used to live at my husbands parents house and they like theirs cooked a particular way so I just learned while she cooked so it just never crossed my mind to cook.I really wanted some nice ice cold soda too but the local shop only had grapefruit soda and an orangey soda but both were a bit sickly I really wanted some pepsi or lemonade but they did have small bottles of pepsi but I would have needed about 20 at least just for starters so did not bother with the pepsi and you feel rude just strolling in with one for yourself (well I would not know as I would not do that but I imagine it would feel even ruder than not cooking for your pregnant hardworking in the hot sun family all day!)So I was feeling ashamed and stupid and thoughtless and selfish and kicking myself for not cooking plus the fact I now had to wait for it to be cooked and my neice came out of the shower to my room and she said food soon come and I said I'm sorry I didn't cook it and have it ready and she bust out laughing and said a joke mi a mek (she was telling a joke) and she knew I had not cooked anything and did not expect me too she was just having a joke with me and burst out laughing lol well I am glad she found it funny I was so ashamed and so hungry so lesson learned.I knew to make myself comfortable there and I just should have done and got up and got my cooking hat on.The curry goat rice and peas and veg was best ever she is a very fantastic cook it just comes natural, when I say best I mean hellooo THEE BEST I have tasted yet in all the island better than the posh restaurants better than the cookshops better than the big hotels this is the real deal where you just want more and more
My son busied himself this week by being a local farmer,every morning after his milo he likes to take a little walk to see what he can pick to eat, he finds oranges and makes orange juice for mummy in the morning as I do not drink tea and it tasted really nice.Mixed with water and sugar ,He finds all sorts of things that I do not even know what they are but he know what to do with everything.I wonder who teaches him all these things,I know his granddad has shown his some things and his cousins tell him things but it all seems so natural to him.If he is hungry or thirsty he goes outside to see what is there.He is shunning my grocery shop!I have no pizza or anything for him though so he is not exactly happy with my grocery shop this week.There is not much he likes down this end apart from chicken nuggets, toast the odd hotdog or crackers crisps or biscuits so he is on a fruit and food finding mission which he is really enjoying!
There is some ackee here so we have bought saltfish which we will have for breakfast this morning,Not had any since I been here so I am looking forward to that.
Last edited by TiCtOc; 02-01-2012 at 03:10 PM.
LOL THATS A GOOD PHOTO PGW I am very critical though and I do have to say that was at the end of the month I had no eyelashes on some spots are coming through after being scared of the freezing cold showers and my grey hair is seeping through and look at my wrinkles omg i am too young for wrinkles lol well actually I am not get on high botox alert everyone oh when I get money I shall be a danger to society at that beauty parlour! I can't wait I want eyelashes stay on lipstick glittery one, all of my eyeshadow plans went out of the window I had all the packs with me too! I have no hair do LOL what the heck is that hair do haha I am so funny I got to laugh at myself because in my suitcase I brought rollers, hair straighteners, curling tongues hairspray mousse and gel and NEVER at home would I DARE step out without it being done but ever since I plugged my hairdryer in for the first time at seastar and it was whispering to me instead of blowing fast air i switched it off flung it in the suitcase and totally forgot about all my equipment! I wa struly having too much fun to actually give a flying figaroo if I had done my hair or make up I just did not care I have lots of photos I am looking back on thinking hahaha wash and goI have never been a wash and go frizz air dry kinda girl, mainly because the British weather does not allow to air dry it would icicle up probably but the weather here would frizz it up high but in Jamaica the humidity keeps it a flat kinda frizz that I just fling behind me and hope for the best and get on with the show..No time for faffing around with hair it was just full on fun and partay time,In reflection maybe I could have had it braided so it looked like I made an effort.Who cares?FRIZZ TO THE WORLD! AND GREY HAIR LOL
My internet is back up and running which apart from enabling me to frantically price check like a maniac) I can continue re-living my memories and I feel like singing the song in this video below me so are you ready?Press play crank up the volume , grab a hairbrush and sing with me
come on who played it twice? who danced at the same time as singing admit it lol
One thing I always notice about Jamaican people is that theyalways stick together and look out for one another. If one has no food anotherwill try to provide, if an elderly person has nowhere to live someone in the community will usually help and take them in and treat them like family.
I have seen it a lot in many shapes and forms everyone looking out for one another. It is just about love and not money.Sharing,caring,Things that just do not happen where I come from. Once your money runs out at home you are on your own usually nobody cares nobody would take you under their wing and let you move in that would very very rarely be seen happen but seems second nature in Jamaica, seems almost every family has an elderly Jamaican lady overseeing house activities and shes sometimes called aunty but sometimes infact most times they can't remember actually who aunty is related to! It is just a polite term and they look after aunty or Mz b/d/g regardless of wherever she came from.It's like who's that lady?oh we nah know lol but they take care of her anyway!
I have decided that January definitely is not a month for me for a short holiday infact I may have been a little disappointed if I had only come for a week or two in January because the nights get quite chilly and themornings too and it is not very hot during the day, now that weather is perfectif you are building a house for instance and want to oversee the work. Januarycould be great for that but as a tourist for a holiday if you are seeking HOT HOT HOT January may not be the month . It has been comfortable as I am in the countryside but if I was on the beach maybe I would not be so happy with it. We had a great December here though very sunny and nice and calm because for the last 2 decembers there was a lot of breeze,wind and cold Jamaicans were wearing light jackets so we was very lucky with the nice December weather. I love the heat though and I think our next trip may be a july or august as that is the childrens school longest holiday and this was a total one off that they could take anytime out of school so I would have to fit it in around them if we were all coming together next time.
Today is our last full day here, tomorrow we leave ,I am absolutely devastated to have to leave, Thinking of some of my family back home but I know they are ok we have stayed in touch and I will be glad to see them but I just wish theywould all come here instead! They need to just Pack up and leave.
I really do not want to go home and if I had only myself to think about I would stay but I am also excited about my girls sitting their final exams they are both set to get very high results and one of them will have the highest number of passes in the area if it all works out.I will be very excited if she makes the press.
We worked hard towards this for many years so that will be at least one nice thing tolook forward to on my return. If only I could pay back this trip by July and return with them for an exam passing celebration LOL OOPS here I go already planning the next trip while I am still here I must try to stop that. Infact I think I totally let my hair down and already celebrated their upcoming success on this trip like a pre exam pass trip lol. I know I partied hard this trip and a lot of you maybe thought what is she doing? But some of you are aware but some are not that I have been a full time24/7 mum for almost 16 years my kids have always come first before anything oranyone and I have spent 11 years making sure my girls are ahead of their expected learning age at all times from the moment they started school at age 3-4
It was a big thing to me that meant a lot to be there 24/7for them dinner on the table straight after school someone in the house at all times and and to get them to love reading and writing and try my best to makesure they can clock up all those A grades.I realise I was fortunate even if broke to be able to do that as lots of mums do not get that opportunity,So now is the time where they will sit their very final exams and we will see the results of those many years of hard work which we all put in to makesure they have a better choice of options and hopefully will make better decisions and choices in their life than I did in my own. All of those 11 years of doing the schooling with them I rarely partied VERY rarely.So now I am at the final finish line I just feel like Iwent a bit crazy also grieving in a party way (is that allowed is that normal i don't know never grieved b4) partying on this holiday as it is a big changing point in all my families life. When they finish these exams in a couple of months they finish school and are half way through their plans and I am just thankful that we made it through, we got there in the end it was not always an easy road for me but they do not know that ,They think its all rosey and they got to travel the world and had everything they needed.Wanted to makesure my kids had a really good education so they would not end up old, stupid and no prospects. So yes I have gone a bit wild on the partying but I never hurt no-one and I probably will not be able to celebrate their success by returning to Jamaica with them this summer so I guess I just let my hair down early! And why not?We all worked hard for these final results.I have my hopes pinned high on them! Iam very proud of them and now its almost all coming to an end.
This trip planning saga is cleaning mine and everyone elses bank accounts out! I cannot help it,This love of Jamaica will last forever ,I am torn if I want to live here or not. I love it but I need heaps more money.
I said I would be happy in a wooden house which I would BUT long term how would that work out? what facilities would I have? could I cope? I could cope with a nice mansion with pool of course or a basic wooden hut but it is the inbetween that I cannot cope with, I am an all or nothing kinda gal, the electric and gas and water dramas that happen often. Things breaking down or needing repairing just things we take for granted back home, plus other issues like the hurricanes, I am scared of heavy rainfall so imagine me in a hurricane and then there are the roads The roads in the interior are just downright terrifying and I promised myself I will never put my family in danger again by riding those roads again unless in an emergency.I have been on those roads for years and years and it is an adrenaline rush for sure BUT the amounts of accidents and deaths I witnessed this trip in such a short space of time has definately made me re-evaluate things.At home I do read statistics of road accidents and robberies or deaths and such to keep up with what is going on but seeing it live in front of your face is totally something else and my family are worth more to me than a holiday, a car ride.If it is not essential and an emergency I will not take them those routes again, of course the violence part too,But I love it and sometimesyou have to go to what you love to be happy and content.
I am off to go eat my ackee and saltfish now , hope you have all had a delicious home grown breakfast and if not get yourselves down here and do not forget to invite me!
Last edited by TiCtOc; 02-05-2012 at 08:10 AM.
Good to see you back, tictoc! Enjoying it very muchI've a question...you're girls are 16 and then they will be done with high school? Here in the states they go until they are 17-18. Just wondering
Hey Schuttzie, yes children finish high school here when they are 16, They keep saying they will change the law and make it 18 but I do not think it has happened yet.Here when children reach 16 these are the options:
Leave high school enter straight into work, low pay and will only get minimum wage at a basic entry level position eg: working on a till at a shop or in a cafe, you still have the opportunity to work your way up within a company that way but if the company closes all you have is experience and no qualifications and both are very important these days.
The other option which has become a massive awful trend here is to drop out or just leave school , have no job bum around do nothing have a few kids , the other option is to further your education and go to college where you can do one or two year courses depending on your ability and what you want to achieve.You enter college by choice it is not compulsary.
After college 1 or 2 years you will leave with certificates or diplomas these are enough to at least get you a good interview for a job but possibly would still be a basic entry level position on a lower wage .But better than nothing,
After college if you pass you can go to higher education at a university,You can go to a real brick built university , fees are around £9000 per year plus excursions, trips extras and living expenses rent and such or you can attend online university where fees are lower,There are bursaries,scholarships,grants and loans for those who wish to apply on a low income or facing hardships.
University usually takes 3 or 4 years if you attend a real brick university full time, online part time may take longer.
After that time you can proceed to postgraduate status to get an MBA (masters) and then you can get doctors in your subject.
It is a long thing and takes a lot of focus and dedication and hard work and most students are struggling in England for money as If they are studying full time there is not a lot of time left for working to keep their heads above water but there are people from all over the world who come here to study it is supposed to be one of the best areas for education.How true that is I do not know, I just know there are an extremely large amount of students and student residencies and universities all over town.People from all over the world are here studying.So that is your options in England,Do not think it is too much different from other places except we finish earlier than some countries and are allowed to work.I think working age in Jamaica is 15 I read in a law book somewhere.
My girls have already got in their chosen college , they start this September,One will do 2 years and then on to university as she is studying to become a primary school teacher.The other will complete 2 years in travel and tourism which she gets a lot of useful certificates from and they will get her a job in travel at the end of it as she is going travelling the world for a year.In that year she will decide if working her way up or continuing the work she has is what she wants or if she wants to use those certificates to come home and start university.
Going to university gives you a massively better chance at obtaining jobs with higher pay at a higher level.And with fierce competition and a lot of companies closing down here, the recession that we are told we are out of which I do not believe, change in government here and mass immigration and political issues they can't seem to cope with here , basically if you do not have every letter you can get after your name you are going to have a hard life and struggle for money just to keep your head above water unless of course you were born in to money or have inherited.So education and study I feel is essential for the average person.Without it unless you are a lucky person you will be on minimum wage in a booooooring job for what may become forever booooooring!
So me and my girls are just raking in all the certificates we can get right now.
Last edited by TiCtOc; 02-05-2012 at 10:14 AM.
yep too many folks just fill out that UB40
i am happy for your young ladies!
Cheers Seveen ,
I am very proud of them I am glad they got away from all the hustle and bustle here over christmas and new year and had time to totally chill and revise in time for their exams in Jamaica,I don't care what anyone says I know my own kids and I see the effort that goes in to schoolwork and revising and I know for a fact they were in a better place emotionally in Jamaica and they had that chance to unwind relax and take all of the words in that they were reading in preperation for their exams rather than their schoolkids in the area trying to tempt them to sneak out all over christmas getting up to seriously no good.They got much more done , it was perfect timing in a sense.
I am immensely proud of them and all our hard work as a mother naturally would be but I will also enjoy getting the results and feeling a little bit smug with myself knowing that all the haters from way back when,
when they saw a very young mother with 2 babies looked down their nose and threw us all on the scrapheap without a second glance..its THEIR kids and grandkids that have become drop outs or have a failed education it's THEIR kids out on the streets misbehaving.It will be MY kids names going forward for the achievement awards or names in the paper and doing something good.It's funny how life has a way of catching up with you when you are hater! they gonna alll have to eat their words very soon.But I always knew my kids would do the best,They just didn't believe me - like I cared!I just plodded on doing my thing with my kids.
There is a saying haters only make you stronger.The trip to jamaica was great for them to clear their minds revise get stuck in and prepare for the that last hurdle.
It has been a long single narrow road full of obstacles but now we are finally at a crossroads with many avenues to choose from.Life has a funny way of changing and you will get out what you put in no matter how hard it feels at the time.It is all about knowing where you want to be and getting a plan to get there
3 guesses where I want to be?
Million dollar question is what is my plan to get there!?
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