Long Time No Blog

It feels like it has been forever since i have sat down and blogged and I guess it has been quite awhile. I seem to be cooped up inside this weekend so far due to the heavy rain that we are getting which is definitely a blessing for the country but makes for a quiet weekend for me. Perhaps I should be studying? Instead I have been laying in bed watching netflix =P

So my last post was vaguely about an unfortunate event that has happened to me on my trip. I have moved on from it so there isn't much to say but basically I was robbed. The experience was awful but all I can say is I am thankful it wasn't worse and feel very blessed about that. Unfortunately I lost my cell phone, my camera and some cash.. I had also lost my wallet with my ID and debit/credit cards but some kind hearted soul found them and returned them to me. & so since I last wrote, nothing else as significant or exciting has been happening but my friend Vinh did come to visit me from Seattle which was fun .. we got to go out a bit around Kingston which I think solidified some of my favorite spots... *the chillest vibe is definitely Dub Club which is up in the hills on SKYLINE DRIVE (some of the specials in my life may know the significance of this for me) The spot is amaazing with a view of all of Kingston and the easy listening to sick Dub all night..its perfect. & then we spent a few days in Treasure Beach. This is definitely the 'it' spot for relaxation and beauty without all of the touristy -ness. + getting to see my spirit animal.. dolphins <3  = a major highlight of my entire trip (probably even my life!) All in All we had Good Times =)

Anyways, other than these recent events I am sharing via images.. I have pretty much just been soaking Jamaica into my soul and trying to embrace the rest of my time here.. I can feel it quickly running out. Bittersweetness.

Vinh & I did some baking.. s'more cups! MMM

& we had a pizza night

Out on boat

DOLPHINS <3

Crystal Clear water provides so much Clarity

Red Stripe @ PelicanBar.. Easy livin'

Vinh & I @ Pelican Bar

Eggy's! A cute little bar we stumbled upon
during our time in Treasure Beach

The Ocean's goodies

Rock Climbin

Mother Earth's fingerprints

Sun settin'

Paradise

<3

Lunar Energy

DR. SPICE

AlBEARto gettin' some new INK.

 Montego Bay

The calm after the storm this weekend

Something I will miss most about Jamaica;
All of the free live shows with great artists
(Kelissa, Chronixx, Protoje)

Yaadcore @ Kingston Dub Club yalll..
The Best vibrations up on SkylineDrive

Skyline Drive

What's going on

It has been a little while since I actually wrote a post of what I have been up to... that is mainly due to me being extremely busy with homework. Thank goodness for the weekend :)

Earth Hour !

On Friday I went to volunteer and I had so much fun.. I love working with kids because I truly believe in them as our future and even better you can see so much of a culture through its kids. So yeah I really enjoyed myself at the reading centre and my time spent there hanging out with the kiddies....taking turns reading stories and playing games. They were definitely the highlight of my weekend <3 Yesterday I went to a concert at Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre. It was being held in honor of Earth Hour and was supposed to be acoustic.. some groups followed the whole acoustic tip while others paid no attention to it =S haha.  Also I have to mention that they decided to released sky lanterns, although they looked pretty they were a serious hazard due to the fact there is a drought right now!? Not to mention for starting off 'Earth' Hour these things are horrible for the environment! I don't know who's idea that was lol... but either way the event was good and there was awesome music..Jesse Royal, Rootz Underground, Jah9, Protoje... awesome :)

Nicky, Laura & I

After this was done we went to a place called Tony's Bar for a bit and chilled there before heading to a club called Fiction ... It was the first time I had been to an actual "club" in Jamaica and I didn't even think about dealing with the A/C blasting indoors. I am so used to outside dance areas/ club type venues but it was alright. At the end of the night Usain Bolt was there but I tried to talk to him a couple times but I was brushed off =( Not that I would really have had anything to say anyways haha and I have always gotten the impression he is very cocky/arrogant.. last night fuelled this assumption. But hey  I guess he has the right to be! As usual when I go out here I didn't get home till after the sun had already came up so I can foresee today being a very laid back type of day...in fact I may go back to sleep for a bit =P
All for now!
xo

Good Morning Mr. Sun ;)

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.