The Black Blog

Since my last blog things have been even more hectic as it is now confirmed that I will have to go to Jamaica for the funeral of Aunt Lucy. I am still saddened but I have not been home in a while and I am sure a little sunshine and fresh Caribbean food won’t hurt :0). Amidst the tears and grief I will find the time to breathe fresh tropical air and hug every single person in my family cause I miss them so much!!! I will be in the beautiful town of Port Antonio for most of my stay but before I hop back to the UK I will also visit the tourist towns of Ocho Rios and Montego Bay. Strategically my visit to these places may hold secrets I can use to write further essays, coursework or even my dissertation. There’s also a conference in Cuba on Educational Tourism and its sustainability and I explored the thought of going to the 2 day event to get some information and professional exposure in this area, but not sure how that will pan out just yet.

My ticket was booked yesterday at a cool 400 quid; usually my ticket costs at least £1000 because I prefer to travel in premium economy where it’s quieter and the flight attendants aren’t grumpy and jetlagged. I once heard one of them hiss and raise her voice at a passenger and I was flabbergasted! I guess in light of all these industrial disputes some of these companies are going through, our expectations should be lowered. Good essay question for my Tourism Management course... maybe I should approach one of my lecturers with the hot topic. On another note, I have a 3000 word specimen due on the 25th and all I have so far is the title. With everything happening I guess I can’t focus and I hope my sad little trip to the island may bring back some sort of new perspective on life.

Listening to the radio on my fav reggae station just now, I heard that one of our musical greats has also passed. RIP Gregory Isaacs. He was very influential in reggae music, and one of the few to break into European scene on a large scale. The months of October and November seem to be the months of doom; they both have unusually high death rates in my observation over the years. My cousin’s boyfriend aged 26 passed in his sleep recently and so did the connections to about 5 other people I know.

Life is short and sometimes we have to accept that God has taken back that which is his, but it still hurts to the core. It will hurt even more when you see the cold body lying in state; you wait for their chest to rise or for their nose to twitch but it never does. Life, the spirit, has left the body. I don’t celebrate Halloween being quite unfamiliar to the tradition as it’s not something done in the Caribbean. I always thought it was comical to promote death and the other gory subjects of life because it’s so final and so hard to come to terms with. Some people love the costumes and the parties but if you think beyond the surface or if you’ve ever lost anyone there’s nothing to be happy about it.

So wish me a safe flight to my Port Antonio, will be sure to take loads of pics of my country, maybe I’ll bring you back a bottle of Jamaican rum (if you show me your ID first lol). See you soon folks!