Some Kingston rooftops on a rainy day. The “Christmas breeze” is here, so it is “cold”. Enjoy your day.

Beyond the obvious beauty of the beaches and the mountains, there is so much pleasure for the eyes here in Jamaica. I am always wary of how the international media portrays this island (it is usually one-dimensional and focuses on the cliches and stereotypes of crime and gangsters and the poor and Rastas) but this photojournalist casts a respectful eye in this series of pictures. He is Francesco Giusti and this series is in the Washington Post. Check it out.

Entrepreneurship was celebrated in Jamaica last week, with the entire week dedicated it. I attended a panel discussion hosted by 18 Degrees North host and former Bloomberg journalist Zahra Burton. The panellists included EduFocal’s Gordon Swaby, Miss Yaneek Page, Melanie Subratie and a fellow from the Musson Group (I didn’t get his name). It was an enlightening and practical discussion about how to succeed as an entrepreneur, how to deal with the emotional highs and lows, how to seek and secure funding and how to attract and retain the right staff. This is a key challenge, apparently, and people must be vetted carefully. It also takes much passion and dedication, for there will be many more rejections than successes. It was one of the best panel discussions I have attended, and as a business journalist, this is saying a lot. It almost inspired me to start a business! Not quite, but it did confirm for me that being a freelance journalist is running your own business in itself, with the marketing and branding aspects, budgeting, pitching, delivering a quality product on deadline and maintaining relationships with clients. I enjoyed these quotes, which are mounted on the walls of JN’s Start-Up Jamaica space. Enjoy your Monday!

Here is the full episode, enjoy!

I saw this in downtown Kingston today. Someone is getting a couch at some point today.

My hands feel like useless claws in the mornings. So too do my feet as I stumble and hobble out of bed first thing. My left side feels seized up at times and my right shoulder has lost mobility. My flexibility and general fitness are slowly coming back but I’m fighting fatigue, although my joints seem to be getting worse. This is almost two months after contracting the Chikungunya virus, which has apparently hit close to one million people in the Caribbean now. Also, Britons are now being warned and it has spread to the mainland in North America (Mexico and Florida.)

I am doing some research on this virus and it is clear that there is little knowledge about its effects, let alone a cure. I keep hearing of ChikV-related deaths, but this is informally. We are hearing little from the government about the virus anymore- people seem to have moved on to Ebola- yet it is still spreading rapidly. Check out this column today in the Observer, it is worth a read. I am grateful that I am recovering and do not have any other major complications. But questions plague me: Why are we not hearing from the government? Are they tracking cases anymore? Are they tracking related deaths? (Which is rumoured to be at about 200 people!) What is the government’s responsibility in this anyway? I have more questions than answers.

Anthony Bourdain’s show featured Jamaica on CNN last night. Check it out! Enjoy your Monday!

A few weeks ago, I was craving coconut water. Within an hour, my very sweet boyfriend had purchased a dozen coconuts from someone selling them on the road, had his cousin chop them open to drain the liquid, and I was drinking it literally fresh from the fruit. We had collected a gallon of coconut water. It was so delicious.

Earlier this week, I was again craving coconut water and I was in the supermarket, so I picked up a couple of cans. It was only when I got home that I noticed that it was from Vietnam. I could have bought local coconut water manufactured by Grace, but picked up the GoodLife brand, assuming it too was locally sourced. Why is Jamaica importing coconut water? Not only are there local vendors who package and sell it, but you can get it on most street corners, straight from its original package.

This is a question for an economist, of course, and requires further research. Just thought I would point it out. I have also noticed that there are several brands of imported banana chips for sale in most stores. Why? I will ponder this today.

This man (I don’t know his name because men don’t seem to call each other by name here, they just use “General!” or “Don”) cooks jerk chicken every night in Yallahs, St. Thomas. The way these vendors work is that they somehow seem to establish seniority, which comes with the ability to maintain their spot on a main strip. The vendors don’t seem to change much over time and they seem to do a lot of business.

In this case, I can see why this guy has earned his spot. The jerk chicken might be the best I have tasted here. You can also get festival (sweet fried dough), but I cannot control myself around that so I take a bit and give it away. Enjoy your Thursday.