Adaptation

VISIBLE MINORITY.

Here, I experienced what it was to be an “outsider”. The majority of the population here is of course of African descent, you also can find a minority of East Indians and Chinese. Being a white woman brings you a lot of attention in Jamaica…and you don’t always want this kind of attention. Men approached me saying I “looked good in those jeans”…or asked me to marry them or tell me to “stay sexy”….haha waow…You really cannot feel unattractive like you felt in the mirror that morning but it is still annoying when you just want to do a little shopping. Usually they just stare because you are white or stare AND smile because they think you are a beautiful woman. It can sometimes make you feel uncomfortable. My solution to adapt? I ignore them completely or smile and leave. I also started to wear a fake ring in my left hand…haha. Some men are really kind too, but this is what girls like me experience and I wanted to talk about it.

GROCERIES.

The simple task of shopping for groceries required an adaptation for me. I realized that we are on an island…so almost everything comes imported by boat. One week you have the product you wanted at the grocery store, two weeks after you don’t. If you have planned this week’s menu, you may now have to improvise. Even local food can be missing from the stores. For example, since the Hurricane Sandy of October 2012 left the banana fields destroyed, there is still no production available to be sold in stores. Subsequently, most of the products are imported and the prices are higher. If you still want to keep eating like you did in Canada, it will cost you a LOT of money. I gave up asparagus …they are about US$20!! Mushrooms are sometimes US$10! Almost everything imported is double the price you would pay elsewhere. Try buying a car! It is really sad when I think of the cost of living versus all the poverty and the average salary here…We really can’t complain. Kingston has great grocery stores that really look the same as what we have in North America. 

We also have this great service with staff bringing your groceries to your car. They always deserve a small tip. I even have my usual guy, Troy, he always recognizes me and we do small talk. He is really nice and always smiling. For those reasons I appreciate doing the groceries even if I hate it when they don’t have the products I wanted.

DRIVING.

Driving here is really something. First, you need to adjust to the fact that you have to drive on the left side of the road. Then, with a car where almost everything inside is opposite of what you are used to…You will spend the first weeks activating your wipers instead of the blinker…haha. After just 3 days here, I was already driving on my own with my friend…GPS. I quickly managed to drive normally on the left side. But then I had to get used to the way they drive here. One word: crazy. It is amazing that I still did not get into a car accident. The road itself is a challenge; you sometimes have to CHOOSE which pothole to drive through. The other drivers communicate with their horn to say go ahead, thank you, watch out, I’m overtaking you, or to advertise that they are unofficial taxis, etc… Therefore, it is really hard to understand at first if you are doing something wrong. Official and unofficial taxi drivers stop ANYWHERE, ANYTIME so watch out… they will go super slow or super fast. Motorcyclists will drive between cars and freak you out when you don’t see them coming. Pedestrians are crossing the streets anywhere they want - in big traffic or not. You can see a lot of people trying to sell you things, trying to clean your windshield, or just begging for money. This breaks my heart every time. If you are hungry while in the car, some of those people are actually quite convenient, they sell hot peanuts so you can enjoy in the traffic!!

You can also see a lot of goats and dogs sharing the streets with you, sometimes even pigs, cows, chickens, and on some rare cases horses!! A real zoo out there, haha.

Oh and when it rains, it rains a lot. It`s a real mess, because their drainage system doesn`t work well at all. I challenge you to find potholes when everything is flooded!!! (Sometimes they help you with it and put big tires in the potholes…haha that tells you how big they are here)... and you have to drive in this water without spraying the pedestrians. Another thing to get used to is the fact that a green light means GO for everybody without any specific priority, the fastest goes first. A STOP sign here is synonym for confusion – you never know who will decide they have priority. When you are finally comfortable driving on the streets, try something new and drive in the mountains! Haha that is the ultimate challenge. Narrow and winding roads, turn after turn and if you follow a slow truck, good luck trying to pass it. In some places it is suggested to blow your horn when taking a curve, to warn and inform the drivers in the other direction that don’t see you to slow down and be cautious because the road is so tight. From Kingston, if we want to go to the north coast beaches, we usually have to go through the mountains. It`s always a demanding road-trip….mostly for Erik haha. I only drive when I have visitors and Erik is working….so only when I am obligated to. I call Erik the Super-Elite driver and to be honest, the people that manage to drive their big tractor-trailers through the mountains are pretty much Living Gods of Driving.

Having a 4x4 is really a good option. We drive a nice red Honda CR-V. I like driving it in the city but the motor really doesn`t handle the mountains too well.

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