Here in Jamaica

Here in Jamaica...there are lots of gates.  Every morning I leave our gated townhouse, take my husband to his gated hotel, take my kids to a different gated hotel where their gated school is located.  I spend my morning waving to Security Guards.  I am thinking that being a Security Guard must be one of the top vocations in this country...

Here in Jamaica...the answer to "Thank you" is not "You're welcome"; it is "Okay."

Here in Jamaica...it no longer disgusts me to see a homeless man naked by the ocean (along a busy street in town, thank you) washing himself with a rag.  These days I am thinking it is commendable that he is keeping himself clean!

Here in Jamaica...ink pens are expensive.  Brands like Bic, Papermate & Pilot are sold singly in Pharmacies & cost almost $3 a pen.  When buying a pen, it is traditional to stand at the register, opening each pen & scribbling on a paper provided by the cashier for just this purpose, to ensure the pen is working.   Waiting in line behind people doing this I was at first annoyed.  Now I scribble away with the rest of them - at $3 a pop, you can bet I want my pen to be working!  Or, if you prefer, you can buy a pack of 12 brandless pens from China at the Megamart, & if you are lucky the whole pack of pens might work for a day or two...

Here in Jamaica...you do not say "Hello".  You say either "Good Morning" or "Good Afternoon" as appropriate.

Here in Jamaica...when we need a mechanic, he comes to our house on Saturday, leaves his car (which is a much pricier car than ours!), takes ours away, fixes it & brings it back in the evening.  Now that's what I call service!

Here in Jamaica...the policemen don't chase cars - they wait for the cars to come to them.  The police cars drive around with their blue lights on at night for no reason.  I am thinking they either just like the pretty blue color, or they don't know where the "OFF" switch is.  My husband did notice tho, that at the scene of an accident the police turned their lights off.  Hmmm...

Here in Jamaica...there grows the best fruit in all the world - the Keith Mango.  It can get to be as big as a cantaloupe!  Also, the best coffee, the world famous Blue Mountain Coffee.

Here in Jamaica...the rasta man that sells me coconuts is barefoot, but he does wear a phone with a headset.

Here in Jamaica...there are no coupons.  Sometimes there may be a special in-store promotion on something & this is how it goes:
A woman employee walks around the store with a cart of batteries. She tells me I can buy a pack of batteries & get one free.  In order to do this I must go to the register & pay separately for the first pack of batteries.  The batteries can be the ONLY item on my receipt.  Then I must go back into the store with this receipt & show it to the battery lady.  Next, I must fill out something with my name, etc.  Then the battery lady fills out some other info.  Then she comes with me to the register where I show this paper & the other pack of batteries to the employee there.  Finally I am done.  Needless to say, I usually don't bother with in-store promotions - they are just too time consuming...

Here in Jamaica...it is okay to call a person white, black, dark brown, light brown, etc. when talking about them.

Here in Jamaica...power is very expensive.  In the summer time, when the A/C runs the most, our bill can run up to $750 a month for our 3 bedroom townhouse.

Here in Jamaica...I am not allowed to pump my own gas.

Here in Jamaica...it is hard to find a street sign.  To this day I have no idea what the names are of the two roads I drive on to get to my house after turning off the highway.  The only reason I know the name of the street we live on is because it shows up on the utility bill.  This makes it tricky when giving people driving directions.

Here in Jamaica...they run out of things.  Like there may or may not be ground beef this week, or coffee creamer or your favorite brand of whatever.  This often causes hoarding (at least at my house ;)).

Here in Jamaica...the country had it's 50th birthday this year...& so did I!