March 28, 2024 - Week 9.5

In case you're wondering, that's my attempt at a heart

For those who realized my weekly report is late, this post (with plenty of photos) will make up for my MIA. No, there will not be any fancy dashboards or Gantt chart marking my milestones, but I did achieve two milestones in the past week!

Milestone #1: my first visitor! A close friend visited for a week and I joined them in St Ann's at a resort on Runaway Bay. This was my first resort experience and coming straight from my strict budgeted routine it took a while to adjust. I could not help but look at the buffet food to identify every item that was expensive or otherwise unavailable - cue me eating a lot of broccoli, squash, yogurt, lamb...

Political correctness aside, my eyes took a while to get used to the amount of "white" people and listening to the American/Canadian/European accented English again. Nevertheless, I made 110% full use of the hot showers, unlimited Blue Mountain coffee (I even had coffee-based cocktails and iced coffee during dinner!), slept in AC and enjoyed a tennis lesson and bike tour. And of course the beach - even if the sand was not natural.

I enjoyed the stay and the freedom it gave me to not worry about food, but concurrently was reminded of Colonialism and foreign investment. I traveled on a Chinese-built highway (the North-South) to stay at a Spanish-owned resort and ate imported food. I recognize my privilege.

To my plebian surprise, this sand is raked daily

Milestone #2: I enjoyed mangoes and coconuts from my backyard! I have been eyeing the mangoes for a while; but little did I know some were already ready for picking. I was spoilt by the superintendent who knew I had never had mangoes/coconuts fresh from the trees and he proceeded to harvest some for me. It was a very enriching experience and I have a newfound appreciation for growing fruits in one's backyard!

Eating the coconut meat directly from the coconut is a must-try experience

MacGyver-styled contraption to pick mangoes

Finally, I had an unanticipated milestone. Heading off to a local beach with the rest of the volunteers. We squished four people into the back of a taxi, caught a fisherman's boat, and arrived on a surprisingly pristine local island "Lime Cay". There, we enjoyed the clear waters and were all sunburnt upon our return back to Kingston!

Our captain and Willie his first mate

Sand. Sun. Waves. Red Stripe.

PS - yes I did work this week and again my skills were tested as I became the photographer during the school's Football competition and Sports Day!