I should start with a word about the - supposedly - tropical climate here in Kingston. As it seems, the predominant wind direction here is north-east, meaning that there is the Blue Mountains between the weather front and Kingston. So literally every day you can see the rain in the mountains and hardly a drop every reaches Kingston. I must say that this is the worst frustration of my time in Kingston so far. It is about as hot here as in Miami, although far not as humid which makes it feel less bad. But I do miss the rain (already!).

Now, that's for me, we are currently 10 volunteers in this project, and most of them are used to a little bit more luxury in their lives than I am. So their biggest frustrations are the lack of a fridge and furniture in our apartment and the fact that the floorball project moves somewhat more slowly than hoped for. This again teaches me that I am not normal in my expectations of life and that I can actually feel quite blessed to be satisfied so easily. Living in the field for many months and living in various countries certainly made me less dependent on luxuries and care less about things I can't change anyways (like different cultures). And the fact that there are birds and landscapes here, that I don't know and I can set out to discover at the moment holds quite enough possibilities for occupying myself in the absence of real work. Well, all my travel experiences must be good for something!

I also noticed lately that local men actually do talk to me and honk at me because I am a white girl. Mainly they want money of course and generally I ignore them, but really I hardly notice that any more, having gotten so used to being honked at in Miami and men asking if I would marry them in other countries. I know when I came back from South Africa I said to myself I never want to visit any of the rest of Africa because I would never get used to men wanting to marry me all the time. Seems like now I have gotten used to it and am ready to visit "real" Africa J

Talking about honking: Traffic here is only slightly less dangerous than in Miami. It is mainly so because drivers are actually used to pedestrians and also cyclists, so they do pay more attention to them. That said, I currently refrain from trying to bike on these roads, because, for one, I am never in a hurry these days, so no need to have a bike, but also I think it is somewhat more dangerous here. First, of course, you have to get used to biking on the wrong (left) side of the road, although cyclists also use the right side, possibly thinking it's safer, or else faster if they don't have to cross the big roads. The main problem for me though, is the fact that there are no bike-able sidewalks. They either have lots of holes in them or there are way too many people walking there (or both), so you actually have to bike on the street all the time, which I never used to do in Miami. The main problem thereby is that there are always drivers who seem to be particularly in a hurry and they regularly start a third lane on a two-lane road. The lanes are wide enough for that in most parts of the city, but only if there aren't also cyclists there. So currently I walk and take the bus and am driven around in a car when we visit schools. I must say, I feel safest when walking (which is very different from Miami, and very nice).

As far as walking alone in the dark is concerned, I have adopted a little different sleep rhythm now: I usually go to bed between 8 and 9 and get up at around 5 am. This is mainly because it is light 6 am to 6 pm, and while I do still walk (in certain areas) after dark until about 7 or 8, I don't think much later is quite safe, so I just go to bed then and get up early. Also for going bird watching or running the early morning is the best both because it's not as hot and there aren't as many cars on the street. So apart from it being a bit weird and the fact that I sleep in the living room, which means that the girls I live with can't be too noisy after 8pm (which they never are anyways), it's the perfect way to deal with everything.

As for the project, well, as I should have expected (even though I had been assured that it wouldn't be like that long ago, otherwise I wouldn't have come), things are only just starting to be organized and seeing that it's Jamaicans doing the organizing it'll still be some weeks before we can get started for real. So I will write about that, whenever I have something to write about. So far I can say: if you ever want to feel like a star, as a European, visit any school in Jamaica and tell the kids you will teach them German. They will adore you!