Tuesday, April 14, 2009, 8:31 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Home (Red Hills)

So here I am! I arrived safely to Kingston yesterday afternoon. Since it was a holiday, the roads on the way home were the emptiest I’ve ever seen them. There is always so much excitement and noise in the streets of Kingston, but only a silent wind traversed the lightly traveled roads today.

I reached home safely and had Grandpa buy me Digicel credit for my new phone. Yup, I FINALLY got a BlackBerry for out here. I still use my iPhone back home, and still think that it’s the coolest phone on earth, but once my data plan was set up on my BBerry and after I changed the theme and gave it a few ringtones, I must admit that I am in love with it. The BB Messenger, by the way, is the most addictive substance in my universe. Between that, MSN, Google Chat, and regular texting, I haven’t been able to put the phone down for more than a few minutes at a time. The BB Messenger definitely gives the BBerry an advantage over the iPhone. Plus, the other apps (applications) automatically push new messages to the phone, whereas only email messages are pushed to the iPhone which means I have to check each app on it for new messages which can get annoying. I’m satisfied so far and am glad I got it.

Last night, a few of us hung out at Tracy’s place and watched a movie. That’s pretty much the highlight of my trip so far. The internet was out all day and is finally fixed so I’ll be able to start my work schedule bright and early tomorrow. I think I’ll write a poem or two in the meantime…feeling a bit creative tonight since there’s nothing else to do right now.

Thursday, April 16, 2009, 7:11 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Home (Red Hills)

Hiiiiii! I am here at Grandma’s house relaxing. I’ve been doing a bit of work but am trying to rest because on Monday, the heavier assignments will start. I stayed by Tracy’s place last night. We and a few other friends went to TGIF for some drinks. I ran into Jason, one of the Pentagon boys, and we caught up for a little bit. Tracy and I then headed to Quad with another friend. I came back to Red Hills today and relaxed and am going to pack soon to head back to Tracy’s where I’ll be staying for the weekend. My grandparents are going to the country so I’ll be off the hill until Monday. Lots of parties going on this weekend to celebrate carnival, so there will be plenty to do! My friend Tiffany from Florida is coming down tomorrow to participate in the festivities too.

So I realized that my BlackBerry is more addictive than I thought. I can’t stop myself from sending a text, reading a message, checking an email or updating my status for more than a few minutes at a time! Any time the red LED light flashes at me I have this uncontrollable impulse to check who is messaging me. It’s like a drug. AAAAH! No wonder so many people walk around with this tiny device in their palms, typing, scrolling and clicking their way through life. lol. I’ve unfortunately fallen victim to the disease. CrackBerry addicts everywhere: WE SHALL OVERCOME! lol! (Don’t trip… I’m STILL a die hard iPhone fan. hehe)

I’ll hopefully have internet over the weekend on my laptop so I’ll be baaaack.

Friday, April 17, 2009, 6:53 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Tracy’s Place (Beverly Hills)

I got to Tracy’s place last night. I worked allll day today, since it was the first time I actually turned on my laptop for more than an hour the whole week. Got a LOT of work done. Still have more to do before we head to a Jouvert paint party tonight. Yay!!! I’ve never been to a paint party before, or a foam party, water party, chocolate party, and whatever other kind of messy attraction that you can think of. But I hear it’s looots of fun. We’ll have to wear little clothing, and ordinary clothing too that we don’t mind getting messed up. I won’t be doing my hair either since it will be covered in paint come morning!

I also had someone pick up my Cleopatra carnival costume today, and can’t wait to see it! The road march is Sunday, and there are plenty of carnival related events going on this weekend. K, enough break time for me. Back to work, and then party time…

Saturday, April 18, 2009, 6:28 am: Kingston, Jamaica: Tracy’s Place (Beverly Hills)

Okay, so I’m back from Jouvert! We got in about 45 minutes ago, and I’m finally here after a long shower to remove the blue paint i was COVERED in! Tracy and I got on the road just after midnight and stopped by Jarell’s weekly Friday night event (Bruck Pocket Fridays: a guaranteed good time) for a few minutes so I could say hi to the boys. I haven’t seen them in weeks, some of them not since my January trip. Plus, Andre’s birthday just passed and since he didn’t want to go to Jouvert (I promised him I’d take him out to celebrate), I wanted to at least say hi. We stayed only a few minutes and then rushed to Mas Camp for Bacchanal’s version of Jouvert. Destra and another artist performed and there was about 90% Soca in my ears all night, but it wasn’t so bad. I actually had a GREAT time. Around 3 am, blue paint started showing up in cups and buckets across the entire venue: in hair, on clothes, and all over faces until everyone looked like tipsy Jamaican/Trinidadian smurfs. There were blue hand prints in unnecessary places! lol! It was SUCH fun, I must say! I barely got any paint in my hair (nothing that a rag couldn’t rub out) and was actually paint free on my face until I was bold (and stupid) enough to walk through the front crowd, towards the stage. A flamboyant young man dipped his hand into a cup of blue, and as if in slow motion, I saw his fingers lunge towards my head as he smeared the paint allllll over my face. “Yuh too pretty! Tek some paint!” he exclaimed as I stumbled past him in my shocked phase. Madness! I headed straight to the restroom to wash it off my face with the slew of other girls attempting to accomplish the same task. Fresh faced five minutes later, I headed back towards Tracy and the rest of the crew and we danced some more until it was ROAD MARCH TIME!

Mind you, this was my first Jouvert experience. I never would’ve imagined having so much fun while jumping behind a music-filled truck with what looked like at least a thousand other patrons. It was SUCH fun. I’m still trying to figure out how three cupfuls of rum and coke didn’t make me even the slightest bit tipsy, especially considering that I’m not a rum girl at all. Vodka is usually my poison of choice. Nevertheless, I had a wonderful time and ran into a few friends along the way. I didn’t see Tiffany yet…and I’m still wondering how the girl came to JA and didn’t think to give me her JA cell # although I messaged her mine (which she apparently didn’t get or remember to store, lol). Hopefully I’ll run into her tomorrow or Sunday at carnival.

Overall, everyone was pretty nice. People were a bit paint happy, chasing strangers with dripping blue fingers, but it was all in fun. The only thing I had to look out for was my belongings; I was warned several times to keep my bag and phone close to me at all times; plenty of thieves were out and about waiting to prey on the first loose-armed girl to pass by. Luckily I made it back to Tracy’s place with all my belongings in tact. Jouvert is definitely lots of fun and I’d love to do it again. It does a very good job of keeping people together: united and happy under the same ear of music and madness. I love it!

So I’m mostly blue free, except for annoying blue stains underneath my fingernails, so I’ll have to take care of that later today. I’ll have to clean my flip flops, handbag and clothes as well. Hopefully they’ll survive the wash. Anywho…off to do some work (I’m extremely alert for some reason; might as well be productive) and then eventually fall asleep. Chat later.

Saturday, April 18, 2009, 1:27 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Tracy’s Place (Beverly Hills)

Just got back to Tracy’s place. We were on the road all day. I met up with my good friend Tremayne and then my other good friend Andre while Tracy got her hair done. We then headed to a track meet at UTech which was exciting. I hadn’t been to a meet in a loooong time. I ran into my cousin while there too. I called grandma today as well since it’s her birthday. I love you, grandma!

Anyway, I’m about to take a little nap before heading out to Quad. What a long day!

Sunday, April 19, 2009, 11:41 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Tracy’s Place (Beverly Hills)

CARNIVAL WAS GREAT TODAY! Okay, so I was supposed to get to Road March from 10 am, but since we went out Saturday night…for those of you who know me well, you know that I don’t typically surface before 10 am unless there is food or high motivation involved. Therefore, I didn’t get to Road March until 1 pm. lol! But good thing I did because by the time 5pm rolled around, I was tireeeed. It was my very first carnival! I finally met up with Tiffany there. The costume was GREAT by the way. The waistband was a bit small but I was able to extend it with a piece of cloth. The bikini itself was white and had blue and gold sequins and decoration on top. I had matching wristbands, necklace, and headpiece to go with the ensemble. There were probably 30 or 40 of us in similar costumes. It really was great to see the different costume themes that all the troupes had on the road. SO MANY PEOPLE came out! There were several trucks playing soca music and we walked for hours until we finally got back to Mas Camp for some food at 6pm. I saw lots of friends on the road too and in the crowd. Overall I had a great time and will definitely do it again!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 3:51 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Home (Red Hills)

I’m back at Grandma’s house. I did work with one of my client’s all day yesterday and came home last night. I’m supposed to play pool with my friend Richie tonight. Working/relaxing in the meantime. And guess who got paid yesterday?! I also got five more website jobs from my client…So LOTS of work to do! I may have to extend my stay…

Thursday, April 23, 2009, 2:09 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Home (Red Hills)

I had a great time last night. Richie and I went to Peppers for some drinks and played 3 games of pool (I lost all three, but I let him win…no, seriously! lol). Then we went to Fiction, a new night club in Marketplace. That was an unmentionable experience. But fun! lol! I’m back home now and have been working all day…nothing exciting…

Sunday, April 26, 2009, 2:09 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Tracy’s Place (Beverly Hills)

Tracy got me off the hill yesterday. We met up with Richie at Cuddyz for some food (stew peas…yummy) and went to his football match later in the evening. That night, we all went to an oldies party called Mello Vibez which was VERY good. I saw my friend Niko while there too. I’ve never seen Mas Camp so PACKED!

We went to Igloo, a beach party at Sugarman’s Beach in Portmore earlier tonight. It was packed and we had a good time. Afterward we got fish and festival at Prendy’s. Yum. I also realized tonight how ANNOYING it can be when people can’t get their noses out their damn BlackBerrys. Fruuustrating. I mean, when in the presence of other people in a social setting, can’t you ignore your phone for 10 minutes?! Cho. The phone can make people seem so rude and antisocial sometimes.

Anyway. Back at Tracy’s place now. Going to bed early…feeling drained.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 3:57 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Home (Red Hills)

Back on the hill. I got a LOT of work done today. I was a bum yesterday so had to play catch up. Almost time to get paid, too. Woo hoo! I’ll most likely be relaxing today and tomorrow here on the hill. Back to work in the meantime…

Friday, May 1, 2009, 11:49 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Home (Red Hills)

Richie and I went to Tracy’s dance show tonight. It was great! Long, but good. I enjoyed a lot of the dances and am so proud of Trace and all the hard work she put in! So sleepy now. Bed time.

Tuesday, May 4, 2009, 3:08 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Home (Red Hills)

Saturday, I got off the hill and went to hang out with my cousin but we ended up not going out (although he ended up dropping me at Tracy’s and going out WITHOUT me…vex!!!). I did a video shoot for my friend Tafari on Sunday, which was actually fun. It was my first video but it wasn’t too bad! I was there from 6pm till 1 in the morning. We went to play pool on Monday and I’ve pretty much been in the house ever since. Sigh. I hope my last weekend here will be more eventful!

Monday, May 11, 2009, 12:41 am: Kingston, Jamaica: Home (Red Hills)

This was a quick weekend. I went to a party called May Daze on Friday with Tafari and some friends and then met up with Tracy at Pure afterwards. On Saturday, I went with Tracy and Richie to a bottle party on Leas Flat. It was a very interesting night to say the least lol but we had a good time. Today, we went to Igloo again. That was fun as usual. I’ve been relaxing and thinking ever since I got home. I’m leaving in a few days and have a lot on my mind. I haven’t quite found the peace of mind I was hoping to find this trip. Just a couple more projects to finish though and I’m good to go. Just gotta take care of the personal stuff.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009, 2:09 am: Kingston, Jamaica: Home (Red Hills)

Today was probably the most important day of my entire trip. It certainly is the day that I will remember the most. Out of the month I’ve spent here, a conversation I had with a certain someone made me realize what I really want, and the patience it will take to discover whether it’s possible to get it. I cried for the first time in a long time tonight. And I found a peace and new sense of hope that has been missing in my life for the entire year. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it, but I will start by focusing more on me and seeing what the months unfold. My mind hasn’t felt this relaxed in a long, long time.

I can rest easy. And a mosquito better not disturb me tonight.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009, 11:16 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Home (Red Hills)

I spent the day in New Kingston with my friend Sam (Happy Birthdaaaaay!) and met up with a few other friends during the day as well. Tonight, I also had a conversation with the same “certain someone” I talked about in my Tuesday post. I finally know what direction to take. Patience is a virtue. Time shall tell what awaits. In the meantime, I have begun my journey to self-healing and reinforcing what makes me the person I am. I leave tomorrow and finally feel as if I have everything in order. I waited for this feeling of progress for a VERY long time. I came to Jamaica in part to find it, and it came the day before I’m due to leave.

Life is strange. God is good. And to all, a good night.

Thursday, May 14, 2009, 11:32 pm: Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Home

Back in action in my hometown. Feels good to be back too, although I never like the feeling of leaving Jamaica.  Both are home to me. As much as I hate leaving one place is as much as I love arriving in the other. It’s the perfect balance. There’s no room for sadness in either direction. So I’ve got a lot of work to do. Some checks to collect too and some money to deposit in the bank because Lord knows I need to pay myself after finally taking care of a month’s worth of stacked bills while away.

I just watched the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy and am feeling very emotional and confused by the ending (…Izzy, or George!? Who shall die? MUST I wait till fall to find out the outcome! Such madness!).

Oh yeah! Yesterday, I bought Steve Harvey’s new book: “Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man.” First of all, let me say that within two hours, I’d read three quarters of the book and decided to leave at least a little bit for me to read on the plane today. Needless to say, I finished it in the air halfway to Fort Lauderdale. Can I just say… wow! The man knows his stuff. I learned more about men in the span of 3 hours than I ever learned in the span of almost 24 years. Sad, but true. Harvey makes it all so simple. Gosh. I feel ashamed for some of the things I’ve failed to understand about men and their *dumb* ways. lol. This is going to make an interesting summer! No man can fool me. I DARE one to try! hahaha.

I keep in mind as well something that Tracy told me the other day: “Make no man a priority when to him, you’re only an option.” DEEP, right?! This is why I love Tracy so.

Okay…I’m off to bed. I plan to maintain my “sexy time schedule”, and will be sleeping WELL tonight. I can feel it.

P.S…happy birthday to one of my favorite people in da whole world: Cliffie!!!!