December 1, 2024 - Week 45

At the stroke of midnight, my neighbour decided to disturb my sleep to put up Christmas Decorations. They were very serious about their decorations so it took a while before the shuffling and hammering died down.

This week leading up to the Christmas Cantata has been busy - Mary (the other half of Joseph) fell ill and was taken to hospital so I had to find another Mary. I have also been advised the parents (including the CEO of the largest Telco in the country) of one boy are coming to watch the play but unfortunately, he does not have a part in the play so I had to create a part for him.

On a lighter side, the students showed solidarity in advising each other in acting. Particular attention was shown to teaching Mary how to 'give birth' to and hold baby Jesus (without 'suffocating' said baby) - we must have practised that scene over 10 times as one student (who took it upon herself to take over the director role from me) was still not satisfied! All in all, I'm happy the students are finding self confidence and joy in this musical.

Given there was heavy rain and flooding this week, the Ministry of Education issued bulletins to end school early. Lucky for me, that freed up time for the Cosmetology teacher to do my braids. It took 4 hours but the whole process from braiding in the Kanekalon hair to pouring hot water over them was fascinating. Until my braids are removed in around 2 weeks, I need to wear a bonnet to sleep and not get it wet. Who knew there would be so much aftercare related to braids, don't even get me started on 'patting' your head instead of scratching it! I did enjoy the look on the students and teachers when my braids were revealed and they commented "Kiki has become a Jamaica gyal!" or "Kiki, you need to fix your edges, no edges no hair!"

On Sunday, I went to a new church recommended by my Uber Driver. This happened because one day I, routinely, punched my location into the Uber app to go to School, however, the Uber driver kept going in another direction, and then we realized it was because I had put in the location for my normal church instead of going to School! Jokingly we said, "God is reminding me to go to church". As a result, I went to his church and I must say this church very much resonates with me. Hallelujah!