Attended a function to witness my friend couple renew their vows. Their friends and family gathered at Shirley Retreat Hotel on Maven Avenue, an inconspicuous hotel on a small street off Hope Road that many Jamaican people don't even know. The hotel has a banquet hall that can hold 120 persons, and the function was held there. We sat around tables, and there were prayers, speeches, and singing as usual, plus All-Jamaican dinner of rice and peas, curry goat, BBQ chicken and potato salad. There were many children, and some of their parents looked so young that I wondered if they were in fact their brothers or sisters. Contrary to what I always hear and read about, which is that many of Jamaican parents don't know how to parent, the young parents at the function looked to give loving care and attention to their children. It made me wonder if parents were to be blamed so much for the present situation of social crisis.
News in paradise:
Related to the issues of children and parenting, Jamaica has lately seen consecutive incidents where children were victims of violent attacks, and the issue has been making the headlines of national dailies this week. For example, click here for the front page of today's Jamaican Gleaner.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20081005/lead/lead1.html
Glitches in paradise:
It was raining all day, which is not like Jamaica where normally, it rains cats and dogs but briefly, often in the afternoon and not all day long. Wondered if this had anything to do with climate change.
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