So, I made a friend.  Her name is Amy, she’s a Canadian (from Yukon) and we’ve been having a lot of fun and at times, getting into a little bit of trouble.  This has resulted in our joint nickname: “Thelma and Louise"

My days during the week usually go like this: I drop Dan off at work, go to the gym, pick up groceries or things for the house and/or clean up around the house, grab lunch and/or coffee with Amy, pick up her daughter Adiya from school and then I usually spend the afternoon working at home on an ongoing contract and writing or doing research for a couple of screenplays.  About once a week, Amy and I have been doing a day trip to a few different locations just outside of Kingston… some trips more successful than others.   

Serenity Park

Our first day trip was to Serenity Park, which is about 45 minutes outside of Kingston in a town called Old Harbour.  Amy’s 3-year-old daughter Adiya was really excited about visiting the park and Amy spent almost the entire drive telling me what a fun time we’d have.  We finally arrive at the park, after passing by some nasty dog-roadkill, to which I’m still not accustomed, and we see a sign, stating that the park is closed until November!  Amy and I were disappointed and Adiya wasn’t pleased either, to put it mildly.  To smooth things over, we ventured into Old Harbour to find Adiya a lollypop.  And let me tell you, two white girls walking around rural Jamaica looking for a lollypop is not the most comfortable experience.

Lime Cay

Our next excursion was to Lime Cay, a small island – with a great beach – just off the south coast near Kingston.  On the way there, Amy accidentally ran a red light and we were pulled over.  The cop proceeded to tell Amy that running a red light was a $J6000 fine (approx $133 CAD) and that she should be using a Jamaican license instead of her Canadian one, the latter offense being punishable by jail time and since it was a Friday, people who go in to jail on Friday don’t get out until Monday.  Amy, having gotten out of a ticket twice previously, blinked her eyes innocently and teasingly asked: “Are you going to send me to jail?” to which the cop replied very seriously: “Do you want me to?”  We were both pretty freaked out at this point and blurted out that you could turn right on a red light in Canada, so she got confused and turned right, despite the red.  This statement, although completely irrelevant because you drive on the right side of the road in Canada and on the left in Jamaica, seemed to smooth things over a bit.  Or maybe it’s because we were wearing  swim suits and beach wear (read: tank tops and short skirts).  The cop then asked us why we were in Jamaica and we told them that Amy’s husband and my boyfriend worked at Digicel, to which he replied: “I’m very disappointed to hear that you’re not single.  Do you know any single girls?”  At this point, we knew we were home free.  We finally arrived at Lime Cay and it promptly started raining.  Lucikly, the rain only lasted for about 15 minutes and we were able to enjoy the rest of our time at the beach.

Hellshire

We’d heard about another spot to swim near Kingston called Hellshire Beach.  On the way there, we stopped at Suzy’s, a cute local coffee shop. (Note about the local coffee: It is extremely strong and I can only handle about half a cup before I get the shakes!)  Suzy got very upset when we told her where we were going and tried to convince us not to go.  We said that we’d heard about a great beach there and we knew others who’d gone, so she let up but made us promise to call her when we got back.  It definitely wasn’t the greatest way to start a road trip.  We got a bit lost on the way there, due to a sign that directed us towards Hellshire but with a twisting, turning arrow that made absolutely no sense whatsoever (I will post a picture when I get it from Amy).  When we arrived in the town of Hellshire, of course, there were absolutely no signs telling us how to get to the beach so we had to drive around and explore a bit.  This is usually not a good idea and certainly didn’t prove to be a good idea that day.  We finally found a sign for “Hellshire Beach” and were very excited, until we drove past the sign and discovered that rather than a beach, we were in a deserted town.  We took a quick picture and booted it out of there, as we had no idea where we were. On the way back, we were thinking of getting some coconuts from the street vendors but passed by a bunch of soliders with very large machine guns and decided just to go home.

Despite our adventures, I find myself feeling a bit isolated and at times a bit bored from spending most afternoons on my own.  However, I’m quite happy with the writing I’m getting done and hopefully I'll be able to find myself a job soon enough.  Although I’m feeling anxious to start either working or volunteering somewhere, Amy and I are having a ton of fun and I will definitely be sorry to give up our time gallivanting around Kingston when I finally find a more structured way to spend my days.