Personal Blog 
| My Personal Blog by Valmore Barclay |
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 04:03:07Today is Sunday, a day of rest for all, the roads in Jamaica are empty of cars and trucks except for the cars that are going to Church. Sundays are respected in Jamaica unlike the UK, which has Shops and Super Stores open all day Sunday, and giving that special day of the week no respect whatsoever. Jamaicans make Sundays that special day from St. Thomas to Westmoreland you can see the women wearing some of the most beautiful dresses you can imagine and the men with well tailored suits, it is an example to many of the so-call western world the Jamaican way of living on a Sunday. A change takes place with the non-Churchgoers also, less swearing and a more peaceful atmosphere takes over with the dawn of the day, a childhood memory captures the soul of us all here in Jamaica. For some, Sunday is the only day of the week a visit to the seaside can be arranged and organized with the family. Jamaicans are hard workers, a statement not shared by many of our visitors, because of the ‘laid back’ attitude we have here, but imagine having to work outside, you have to pace yourself, have a drink of water and start again, if not you die in the heat, try it for a week, you will see the judgment that is made is incorrect, they work hard here and are very careful of the sun and the damage it can cause. Maybe we should put the government outside to work for a while, get them to sweat and feel the pain some of the Jamaican workers have to go through to make a living, maybe the government would consider building or help to build more Venues that Jamaicans can go to relax, with all the family. More MPs should look more serious at development plans for the workers and his family in the community, the Church can only do so much. 06:03:07I had a good run over the weekend and realized what I was doing, running, running along the beach to the bar, all the way to the beach bar in Duncans Bay. What is so strange about that run was the fact that in my mind I never new I would be able to do that again. It has been about 3 years now since I had Sciatica , which later turned to Osteoarthritis (degenerative arthritis, is a joint disease caused by the breakdown and loss of the cartilage of one or more joints.), caused by a Joint injury in my early teens, jumping around on my older brothers Motor Scooter.  For 8 months I was bed-ridden in Jamaica, unable to sleep or sometimes eat, when I could walk again it was only for a short distance, to the front gate, that lasted for another 8 months, at all times the pain was unbearable but I carried on, walking bent over unable to stand straight. I went to all kind of doctors and healers between Jamaica and the UK, it was no good, and absolutely nothing could be done. A friend of mine in the UK told me of her girlfriend who was suffering from the same illness, she was bed-ridden and gaining weight, what was I to do! 10:03:07Cricket fever has hit Jamaica, Jamaicans have gone mad over World Cup Cricket. The Opening Ceremony will be held on 11 March at the new Trelawny Stadium at Greenfields , just east of Falmouth and will host a few of the games being played. Falmouth town will be packed with people dancing the night away and enjoying it’s new found fame. Well, a few days ago I was listening to the radio while working (the little chance I get to do my computer work these days) and started to gain interest in the topic being discussed, World Cup Cricket. The callers came fast and furious discussing all the different ways the Cricket will affect Jamaica. Then suddenly the next caller was more concerned about the death of her friend’s newborn child that had just died. Her discussion was aimed at the World Cup Cricket, disgusted over the fact that so much money and time was spent on Cricket, yet her friend’s child had died. My first thought was ‘so’, what has that got to do with World Cup Cricket, relax my girl, you have rang the wrong show! I listened as the caller explained herself. Her friend’s child had died because when her premature baby entered this world, no this country, Jamaica, it found itself waiting in a queue, number 4 for 1 machine. What made this story so incredible was the fact that this happened in the CORNWALL REGIONAL HOSPITAL , one of the main Hospitals; some say ‘the main Hospital’ in Jamaica. I was shocked. As I listened more to her intense conversation I realized the caller’s upset towards World Cup Cricket, I felt ashamed of even thinking of going to Falmouth. When are the Jamaican public going to wake up to the cries of the real issues in this country, when are we going to tell the Government to ‘wake-up’ and take a look at the problems facing a country such as Jamaica. How can I dance, I know the truth that is behind World Cup Cricket in Jamaica, I too cry for that child. If there is one thing I have learned and now admire about the British is their unity when it counts, something I find lacking in Jamaica. The British makes it happens, that Hospital would have at least 4 machine, for f**k sake, in the UK you can take your new born child home in a portable incubator and if you say, ‘well Jamaica is a poor third world country with no money’, all I can say is f**k World Cup Cricket, a few of us are not going to play your game! 13:03:07Oh dear, another day in sunshine, what can I say, I was born in this glory so I am going to enjoy every minute of it! Having spent some 43 years in the UK I feel bless every day to be back in my homeland, the UK is too cold for me. That’s not to say there are not times I miss the seasons in England, you cannot beat the seasons in England, well, except the summer, it’s not that hot, literally, but the Spring in the English countryside takes on a different vibe, you can just bask yourself in it all, with wild flowers and the smell of fresh blossoms everywhere, so many I could not even start to list here. I do miss that. Get up early and drive in the English countryside and see the mist and the fresh frost in the meadows, you will find it hard to match that anywhere in the world. I use to wonder why England makes so much money on Tourism, why come to this cold dark country to have your holiday, now I can see it, so when I do go to the UK I like to take a drive out, the last time was too short but when I visit again that is on the agenda. Mind you, driving was my ‘ting’, a ‘ZX’ man, lowered and kitted with suspensions for cornering at 140 mph, it was mad, got caught twice in over 30 years, needed to get away from the UK and slow down, so here I am in Jamaica. Having said that, in England from an early age I started on the road with my bicycle, at 12 I came second in the county of Kent for my road skills, among over 200 riders, by the time I was 15 I use to cycle to the coast (Brighton, Hastings etc. on the South Coast of England) at weekends, over 70 miles in one day, just for fun. My mother, bless her, use to make me lemonade for the journey and would tell me, go and ‘enjoy’ your self. At 16 I was the first guy to have a motorbike, well a ‘moped’, that’s all you could have on the road. I had a farming job at the weekends to run my bike so I was cool on my moped, the chicks loved it, even though it was made for one, I can say that now! Sorry Mr. Police man… At seventeen the Scooter, with mirrors and the coolest back seat so my passenger can lay back and me in her lap driving. On one of those occasion my wife; Suzanne was on the back as we left a club, unaware (forgotten) that her parents were waiting for her to give her a lift home we went for a ‘cruise’ around town, as you do at seventeen, only to realize that we were being chased by the parents, I had to do some explaining! At eighteen, the Motor Bike, a Triumph Bonneville with ‘T’ Bars and tail pipes running along the base and turning upwards, it was ‘loud’ and bad, to keep me at collage and my bike on the road I was doing a little modeling, good bread in those days, getting to assignment and getting to collage and sometimes the farm, you could not beat my ‘bonnie’. At 20 my dad ‘forced’ me to buy a car, an old Ford, smoking all the way from the garage, I was ‘done’. My dad being the man he was said ‘that is just what you need, just do it up and you will have a nice car’, thanks dad! 14:03:07“If I had your brain I would have died long ago, because I would lead a revolution “. These were the words spoken on live radio to Mr. Perkins here in Jamaica. You can hear Mr. Perkins on the Internet, go-jamaica.com, if you are not tuned into this man you should be. You may have to listen to him a few times to see where he is coming from. I say this because when I first started to tune in I found him irritating, yet I had to listen to the callers and the various questions. The more I heard the answers from Mr. Perkins the more I had to listen to this man, a very knowledgeable man about his country who has to deal with all aspect of life in Jamaica and giving a very informative answer where he can. A professional man, the people of Jamaica love him and are behind him all the way. He knows everywhere in Jamaica, he knows all the laws, he knows the people, he knows all the politicians and what they do, he his without any doubt one of the best loved men in Jamaica. When I first came to Jamaica I new I could never fit in with Jamaicans, I did not fool myself to think I was going to be accepted within the community. I had heard too many stories about bad-minded Jamaicans and when I came here 4 years ago it seems all the songs were about bad-minded people. Mr. Perkins to me is a true Jamaican man who has it appears has spent his life educating the people of Jamaica to life here and sharing in the grief and joys with his people, giving back what he can. Mr. Perkins, I thank you for your care and understanding of Jamaicans. Returnees should listen to your show, Jamaicans are caring people who are very passionate about the country they live in, but many Jamaicans do not have an understanding in the system here. They still hold onto the old values of life but find it hard to live up to, they use the Church as a way out, the scapegoat, money is the God here, it rules, love find it hard, trust is something of the past. My mother lives in the UK, having saved her money to come back to Jamaica and live in her dream home, she and my father toured the island and found the changes too hard to stay here, that was over 20 years ago. She loves Jamaica, she loves the way the country is still so natural, mum loves the fact that she can be in the sunshine and fall asleep with the breeze from the ocean. Yet, like so many Jamaicans who would love to be here in Jamaica, my mother is kept away. You see, like Mr. Perkins, my mother is a true Jamaican who traveled to Jamaica every year to give love and joy to her mother and her people here. They use to call her ‘Mom’, she had love for everyone and gave what she had, and anyone who knew my mother has shown me kindness from the heart, when Jamaicans love, we love. Unlike Mr. Perkins, my mother was not here in Jamaica to see the changes over 20 years ago. Jamaicans I believe have changed to the people we see today, money has come to Jamaica in a big way, we build multimillion dollar Cricket Stadium just for an opening ceremony and a few warm-up games. No one knows what is to be done with the Stadium, not even Mr. Perkins, can you imagine that, that is how taxpayers money is spent here. In the UK we would see a ‘Demo’, something had to be said, even if you do not win, everyone must know, it is not about money, it’s about democracy, freedom to do, yet Mr. Perkins in his subtle little way is saying that every day, you have the choice to choose, the 80s are still with Jamaica, the guns and bad-minded ways, lets get rid of the attitude, clean up Jamaica, it is time to move on to better things, and if the government do not listen, let them know who put them where they are, democracy belongs to all and all who live here should share in the glory. Regarding my stolen Honda CRV, the insurance rang me and asked me to go to the local police station and they will give me a document to take to the tax office to renew my stolen documents. The Duncan’s Police Sergeant told me I was to go back to the insurance office and ask for a form, then bring it back to the station and they will do an investigation which will take 3 to 4 weeks, these were the words of Sergeant Grant in Duncan’s police station. Wrong, Sergeant Grant has no idea of the procedures. I went to Falmouth and had the whole thing taken care of the same day, so do not always listen to Jamaican policeman in charge is what I have learned here, they talk a load of bullshit. Oh, something totally different, just heard a new Stevie Wonder tune, ‘Tomorrow Robins will Sing’, the man is back! 16:03:07Just returned from Falmouth, it took 3 hours of traveling time, normally 35 minutes to do that journey. Why, because I am in Jamaica. For one and a half hours I waited while the drivers playing board games ignored waiting customers who like me are waited in vain for these guys. Without Robots (illegal taxis) Jamaica would come to a halt, yet these guys who cannot afford the fee to become legal taxis are hounded by police, waiting in plain cloths as though they are customers, waiting to arrest the driver if he collect the fares. I am not saying that I agree with the illegal taxis, yet because Jamaica is this laid back island taxi drivers can relax and chill out totally unaware that the very people they are carrying are often the backbone of the island, the very people that the taxi drivers ignore are the people that keeps the cog working so guys like them can play board games. Again I had to tell a driver that I will not travel with 3 in the front, I will put up with 4 in the back, usually 2 oversize people are included in the back plus 2 more adults in a car made for 3 in the back, 3 bottoms should I say. When I said oversize people I mean oversize bottoms, oversize then the normal, remember we are in Jamaica, we have bottoms here, and when its oversize fitting more than the allowed amount on the back seat is not fun, it’s a nightmare, especially going around corners, it’s madness. Cell phones are going at all times, corner someone will say and we all get squashed as we try to hold on, ‘watch the bend sometimes police are around the corner’ someone yells, the driver slows down and sees no police road block so he puts his foot on the gas. And he is going like a bullet. ‘Pot hole’ said the driver as he swings to the other side of the road as an oncoming car slows down to let us through. We stop to let another passenger onboard, happy to be in the front I laughed to myself all the way to Falmouth, this can only happen everyday in Jamaica. When I arrived at my destination I half expected the taxi driver to pay me to travel with him, but no, arm outstretched to collect his fare. Can’t wait to get my car back on the road, but I will say, without the car I have learned a lot about Jamaicans and it’s public transport and all I can say is if you can avoid the taxi… me, I am going to get a motor bike in the future because whatever you may say a motor bike is a much safer way to travel in Jamaica than using taxis and my bottom will be the only one on the seat. Had a call from an old neighbour today, Richard, a man that has achieved wonders in Jamaica with his ability as a deep-sea diver before meeting in a horrific motorcar accident, which left him in a coma for some time. Because of his fitness he was able to recover and walk, talk and drive again. Without a car getting from Duncans Bay to the town of Duncan was not an easy task for Richard. Unaware of is past problems but the aware he has no car at present I felt as a neighbour that if I was going to Duncan or Falmouth he or I would telephone each other, it was never a problem, today we are still friends and talk when we can as he has moved from the area. Yet the neighbours I presently have, you could die and no one cares, you will sit and wait for hours for a taxi to Duncans and these people will just drive past making it clear that you cannot use they car. Yet it was I that maintained and service that very car, yet the moment my car is not working these people find it a problem to help, why do we have such people in Jamaica, yet I know that if Richard was here with transport I would never have to wait for a taxi, I would never have to ask, a true Jamaican, God bless you Richard. One last thing that happened yesterday, while waiting one hour and fifteen minutes for a taxi from Duncans Bay to Duncan, seeing my neighbours driving pass, other people being picked up by drivers they knew, I stayed my ground, happy to observe and collect material for my Blog. Then out of the blue a young guy arrived offering to give me a ride to the town, I had no idea where he came from but who cares, I have ride. When we arrived in the town I offered to pay, he refused the money and drove away behind the newspaper shop, so I went in the shop to ask if it was her son, she said no, he his working and drives a different car. How could I ever see that guy with his vehicle broken down on the road side and not help him, how could he ever come to me for help and I turn away from him. When ever we give we always get back more, I am old enough and wise enough to know that and if Jamaicans and people living here in our Community can learn to share and give without rewards and expectation maybe Jamaicans will one day make me feel at home in my country, I still have faith. Just had a little rain, bless. XAYMACA
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