Monday 22 August 2011

Arrived!

So I have arrived safely and am writing this from my hotel room after a refreshing swim in the pool.  The weather feels surprisingly similar to Toronto, or at least to what it was before it started to get cool this week. I think I'm going to like it here...

I will be in Kingston all this week for in-country orientation with several other volunteers.  Today's project was to get a cell phone (expensive phone but surprisingly cheap minutes).  We've also been doing much mental math as the exchange rate is somewhere around $1 Cdn for $85 Jamaican Dollars (jays, as the locals say). This is not easy division and as you can imagine, the prices get really big, really fast.  Here's hoping I don't spend it all at once :) Other factoids I have discovered: I'm in the central time zone, not eastern, Jamaicans drive on the left side of the road, and, you can get a Red Strip beer for $1.50 USD in a restaurant here.

PS. I will try to take and post pictures tomorrow.
PPS.I will also send out my number via email once I figure out the country code.
PPPS. We got those news about Jack Layton this morning before we got on the plan. So sorry to hear that and I will be watching closely to see what happens next for the NDP.