It's a good morning

Yesterday was a good day as I got an essay handed in and a presentation done .. I decided to go out and celebrate a little seeing as I felt good to have finished my first section of "work" I have had to do since I have been here + it was Josh's 21st birthday at midnight (February 27th) We ended up at a bar called Ambassador which is close to campus..right by the US Embassy. I hadn't planned to drink but that changed once I got there... not that I got wasted or anything but it was definitely a good time =) It always astounds me how I do things in other countries that I would never think to do at home... like hop in a van that was definitely an unregistered taxi (he even had his laundry basket in the seat next to me) and dance in the car to his sick jams all the way back to campus. At least we made it safe and sound....

focus

Trying to write an essay when the smell of ganja keeps wafting through the window...

Sunday morning.

I figure that I should just start writing as opposed to recapping everything that has been happening for the last month and a half since I have been in Jamaica. I worry that if I keep thinking about a post that will cover everything then I might put off writing until I have "time". Perhaps I will be able to do a summary of my trip so far at the end of February or at the two month point. For the mean time I will attach some pictures of my stay thus far :) Anyways, I feel like I can never complain when  I wake up every morning...it is Sunday morning and already looking like a beautiful day outside. When I am at home in Calgary I always feel a sense of joy during the summertime or when the weather is nice.. especially when I wake up in the morning and see blue skies and the sun. Well that seems to be how I feel everyday in Jamaica and I love love love it. As opposed to being at home right now during the cold month of February where I honestly struggle just to get out of bed in the morning because of the darkness and the bitter coldness. I really think I could get used to life without winter.
My weekend hasn't been very eventful...although on Friday a couple of friends and I went and checked out this yummy crepe place called "Tea Tree Creperie" on Hillcrest Ave. (pretty close to Liguanea, where I do all my shopping). It was definitely a journey trying to locate it but so worth it when we finally found it. The woman who runs the place is such a sweetheart and the food was incredible. I got the crepeMEX and my friend got the smoked marlin .. mmmm just thinking of them is making my mouth water. Oh and I can't forget the frozen mint lemonade.. sososososo GOOD! We will def be going back.
On Saturday morning I got up bright and early to head to the market. I was gonna try and head to the main one which is downtown (Coronation Market) but I had killer cramps so we headed to Papine instead which is much closer to campus. Everyone says that one isn't as good and is more expensive but damn it's still worth it for me, compared to what I get at home and how much I pay. I spent approx $15cad and got tomatoes, Jamaican apples, the best coconut I've had since I have been here (maybe ever), green peppers, bananas, grapefruit, star apple, and probably more that I have forgotten to mention. To give you an idea of how much I paid for each.. the grapefruit which are HUGE were 6 for $100JA.. equivalent to juust over a Canadian dollar. uhhhmmmm what?! It's unreal. Sidenote, the grapefruits are my new favorite.. they're more like some sort of citrus fruit here..so sweet and perfect. mmm I'm gonna go cut one up as soon as I finish this post.
After the market I went exploring in Half Way Tree with my friend from Martinique who wants to locks her hair. She wanted to get it done yesterday and I was eager to watch (I am tempted to get a couple locks myself but currently my hair is twisted and that has been enough for me to try and get used to in itself so I don't feel ready for dreads just yet...) It ended up being more of an informative trip to find out who or where she should go for it and then we just spent the rest of the time doing some shopping. I have been itching for some new shirts as for some reason when I packed I brough more than enough bottoms but lacked the number of tops I should've brought with me  -_- Either way I found quite a few nice ones but they were so expensive.. about what I would pay at home for the shirt or even more.. (around $20cad) so I held back and saved my money. I am sure I can find cheaper stuff.. maybe on my next venture downtown :) The rest of the day wasn't as exciting as I have a ton of homework to do for this upcoming week. It's funny because in the beginning of the semester I couldn't understand how I had so much free time and never had any work to do but I am getting it all now and it seems to just be piling up! It's good though as I am here to be a student and to refresh my desire to learn in the university system.. thats probably another post giving the background on that story. Anyways, I skipped out on a Free concert last night to work on homework and relax my feet. I have a killer blister on the bottom of my heel that may need medical attention soon because it looks like it could be getting infected and I can barely stand! So the idea of going to a concert was not as appealing to me as it normally would've been. It was a reggae artist named Protoje performing and apparently it was amaaaaze though. That is one thing that has really stood out to me here is there are always concerts going on.. so much amazing live music and the majority of the time they are free. I even got invited to another free reggae concert today in Hope Gardens. It's a beautiful thing. We will see how much progress I make on my homework and how the foot is feeling for if I decide to go...
Anyways, I think I have rambled enough and I am getting hungry for some breaky.. pancakes and some of my delicious grapefruits? yuuum.

Fresh

I have been wanting to start a blog where I consistently write and keep a memoir that I can look back on and reflect upon for as long as I can remember. I figured what better time to do it while on one of my adventures. (Living in Kingston, Jamaica & studying at the University of West Indies until June)
Here's to making this work :)