Is it possible to travel too much? Somehow the more I travel the more similar all countries feel to me. Every country obviously has its pros and cons and nature and birds are different and every country has its own beauties, but when it comes down to everyday life, well really, there is not that much difference at all. People all over the world get up in the morning and go to work, they eat, sleep, do their shopping… Sometimes when I am half asleep or wandering around lost in thoughts I take a couple seconds to remember which country I am in. I keep mixing up languages or using the wrong language at times. I guess these are symptoms of severe brain damage - or of globalization of the mind. I even find that, while some years ago, in Mexico, I used to talk about 'Europe' when I told people where I was from or where I was going to, because I was afraid they did not know Austria. I know talk about Europe because even for me know it feels more like a big country than several small ones. Political borders have completely lost their significance in my mind.

That being said, obviously Jamaica is an island which makes its borders rather significant. It also happens to be a rather small island and it has just little more inhabitants than Vienna, half as many inhabitants as the metropolitan area of Miami. It is a very green island, which is even visible from Kingston, which has about as many inhabitants as Amsterdam, and is home to more than a third of the country's population.

As mentioned before I may have lost the view for the more obvious differences and found that basically all difference are just in appearance, so if I say now that Kingston feels a little bit like Johannesburg or Mexico City, keep that in mind. It is also much smaller than both these cities and the poor areas are not quite as poor. However, it is obvious even to the untrained eye that there are big differences in wealth between downtown (where the poor live) and uptown where the wealthier population lives. Beverly Hills is within walking distance from where I live and the houses there can easily compete with the houses in the wealthier areas of Miami (like Pinecrest, not the really rich areas). Also each of these houses obviously has security and dogs. I learned in South Africa that the security is necessary in order to get insurance and not so much there because people are so afraid. I am quite sure that the same is true here (at least to some degree), because I have not seen or heard anything that would indicate that there is any crime at all in the rich areas. Crime seems to be almost entirely confined to the poor communities where gang violence certainly exists. This makes Jamaica much safer than Mexico, Guatemala or South Africa which I had not actually expected but makes life easier for sure.

Something else that is different in Jamaica from what I have seen so far is that there is literally no racism whatsoever. There is also no sexism or any discrimination as far as I have witnessed (although poor people have problems speaking 'real' English, which will probably make it hard for them to get a job). People are extremely friendly and helpful, wherever you go. I have only gotten one marriage proposal so far and it was only after I met the guy the second time. I first thought I was getting old but now I think Jamaican men are just too respectful to do what is very common in South Africa, and - in a different way - in Mexico. From what I gathered apparently there is not even a culture to ask more money from tourists for things like taxi rides or in markets.

As far as food goes, expectedly it is quite hard as a vegetarian, but there is lots of fruit everywhere. Fruit and cold drinks are sold mainly on the street. Very little cooked food (and if so then only meat) is sold on the street, which also makes it feel richer than Mexico. There are more street vendors in poor areas of course but it doesn't seem to be very common to eat lunch on the street. There are a lot of local and international fast food restaurants instead.

Also surprisingly the birds here are quite different from Miami - although the North American migrants are arriving now, of course. I have seen several new species already even though I have only birded the Beverly Hills ridge. I still have to go to the Blue Mountains, which look gorgeous viewed from here, and I need to fin a beach where the shorebirds are hanging out.

As for the project I came here for, it is only starting very slowly now. We have joined a floorball training of one of the existing clubs on Saturday which was highly interesting and gave us an idea of what to expect: Jamaicans have not much technique but they are fast and enthusiastic which makes up for lack of skill. But they certainly have a lot to learn before they can compete at an international level. This morning we visited a primary school to introduce the project to them. The kids were really excited, both to see Europeans and to play floorball - and - most surprisingly - also to hear that they were given the chance to learn German. We will see how long their enthusiasm will last for but it was certainly nice to feel that welcome!

I uploaded a few pictures. More will follow once I move around some more.