This is my first blog post after moving to Jamaica! My apologies for being absent for so long but internet is an issue here sometimes and I’ve been busy trying to remedy that plus getting settled in. Today is one week since I arrived and there have been some things I learned along the way, for example – when it comes to potholes you win some and you lose some – that’s just the way it is.
First thing I found out is my sad little life can indeed be packed into just two bags and a carry-on.  The most pathetic part about that is the bulk of the space in one of the bags was a coffee maker and toilet paper. Here was the final product of me departing Canada for long term. I’m pretty proud of myself for packing so light.
The next thing I learned is that the harder you shake an upside down salt shaker the more likely it is that the top will pop off and end up all over your arm and floor. This happens because in Jamaica they add rice grains to salt shakers to absorb moisture so the lid has been removed and put back again, causing incidents like this.
This next thing I learned is pretty cool….a 12 year old can spin HARD at a ghetto bar! I was shocked to see this little one and even more shocked to hear him play! This is up at Spotlight bar in Faukland, Ocho Rios and he’s played there a couple nights in the last week. So cute!
I learned I will never again have clean feet again as long as I live here and wear sandals. It’s disgusting and permanent LOL.
And last but not least I learned how cool one of my first visitors is….I was so proud of her handwashing her clothing when the washer/dryer option is fully available! I haven’t even handwashed my own clothes yet and this was the first thing she did when she got to my house.
Comments
10 responses to “A Few Things I’ve Learned”
The “rice-in-salt-shaker” thing doesn’t work.
Sounds like you’re learning a lot so far LOL I’ll take dirty feet to live there any day but I would have to have good Internet or I couldn’t make a living. How are you going to deal with Internet issues?
I cannot even imagine only packing that little. I guess I have a lot to work on but I do have plenty of time.
I can wash clothes cleaner washing by hand and not using a machine. My husband says I wash whites whiter than anyone elses! Its hard work but well worth the effort.
That is too funny and the feet, I understand your pain… Welcome to Jamrock !!!
LOL ya your doing GREAT!! I noticed that about the feet too when I was there. Thanks again for coming to get me at the airport even though you were busy getting settled in yourself. I really appreciated it, and so enjoyed meeting you and your friends. I wish we could have hung out more often. next time I return I will be getting my own Jamaican phone so we can communicate more often and plan something. take good care my new friend! xoox
Hi There,
‘m thoroughly enjoying your blog. It’s the most honest piece I’ve read about Jamaica. I fell in love with Jamaica 12 years ago and go often. I’ve stayed at AI ‘s,small locally owned motels and rented rooms of not quite finished houses in the hills(no running water,no kitchen..unless a board on top of two sawhorses and 1 single burner constitue a kitchen)…there’s something to be said for using a bucket to flush the toilet! It keeps one honest..lol . I met my fiance in Canada 11 years ago and recently became engaged. He’s asked me to live in Newell, St.Elizabeth. I’m moving in March 2012. Our house is almost complete. He 25 acres and is a farmer and lives comfortably.I’m coming in December for 2 weeks.The longest I’ve stayed at one time is 3 weeks. At first the locals and shopkeepers beg ya nuh but after awhile they call out hello and sit around the yard in the evening with some sweet reggae playing. Where in Canada are you from? I live 10 mins outside of Cambridge, Ontario. I can hardly wait to move. I’ve made 100 lists and rewrote them at lease that many times..lol. Seriously though I’m shipping a crate in October and I have a pretty acurate idea of what I’ll need to set up my house. I learned a hard lesson on one of my trips when I needed tampons.Ya right! I ended up using a feminine product about the size of a Pampers! I gurantee you there will be no less than 24 boxes of tampons in my crate..dwl Oh ya and 96 rolls of toilet paper(Shoppers Drug Mart had them for $3.99 for 24 rolls).The rum- don’t even get me started…. my god my first experience with the rum cream was my last! I was staying at Trelawney Starfish and there used to be a little bar directly accross fro the main gate.There was a really lively crowd one night and we kept drinking and dancing and drinking…i’ve never been so sick in my life.It took me four days to recover and I’ve never touched it since. I was staying at the house without running water and I vaguely remember filling the tub with bucket after bucket of water…I must have slept in there that night 🙂 Anyways I have many stories to share…this is just one of them
LOL Angie! Sounds like you’ve had many a good time on the island!
I’m from Calgary.
gwaan mi fren,lol!
Well my time coming up soon to move to Jamaica, still in the planning stages!!
That’s great Eggshop! I wish you luck! Planning is always the key to success!