A Day Off

I’m here and it’s very, very hot. It’s so hot that I don’t have much of an appetite, almost no thirst for beer, and I certainly don’t want to go to the gym. What does sound appealing during my off time is to sit in air conditioning and listen to music, read a book, or knit. And that was the original plan for my first two weeks. But at the last minute it was decided that we wouldn’t have to work today, and announced that it’s the weekend of Jamaican independence, which is a big deal on this side of the island that is home to 1,500 Jamaicans. So after a little arm-twisting I went out last night with a bunch of guys from work. It was way too hot and humid to have a good time but I wanted to do my part to contribute to the celebration so I drank a few Red Stripes and talked a little trash before I went to my air-conditioned room. I was asleep before 2 am.