Wherever you go, there you are: UN Fun Day

Last Saturday was UN Fun Day. Okay, so technically it was UN Family Fun Day, but I just left the family part out since I don't happen to have any on island. By now it seemed quite normal a tropical storm with hurricane potential was a possible reason for the day to be canceled. I was pretty sure it actually had been canceled since I hadn't heard any updates in the preceding weeks. Turned out that was just because I wasn't on the e-mail list. So the day before the event I got all the information and an apology from the woman who had originally invited me a couple weeks ago (the day before the event was also when my boss thought to ask if I had been invited...so glad I had a bit more warning than that). One of the secretaries at the office, Charlene, was really kind and offered to meet me at the bus in the morning since everyone was giving me slightly different directions and landmarks. I had a good idea of where to be, but always grateful when someone is willing to look out for me.

After managing to convince myself I did actually want to wake up at 6:30am on a Saturday, I walked over to meet the bus. Charlene arrived shortly after with her daughter, Alisandra, and the bus filled up with various UN staff and their families. Our 7:30am departure was pushed back to 8am and would suffer further delays along the way - once at a the pick-up point in Spanish Town where one of my coworkers would be sprinting down the road to meet the waiting bus, and again at a pit stop that went just a little longer than planned. Eventually we arrived at Cling Cling Beach in Saint Ann, an area run by Chukka Cove Tours. They had tables set up under a big almond tree, bouncy castle and trampoline for the kids, food and snack tables, and even an open bar for the adults (I chose only to indulge on the free juice - because who doesn't love unlimited juice?). We were subject to intermittent showers which would send everyone into the roofed shelter that housed the MC/DJ. I for one do not know how every Jamaican isn't suffering from hearing damage given how loud they blast the speakers and how close people stand to them.

Group photo of UNESCO staff - if you can't find me, I'm in the black tank top.

Smiley, cutting up sugar cane. It was my first time giving it a chew - not a bad taste, but nothing I'm about to eat an entire branch.

Charlene and I caught a little off guard at the photo-op while we were having a snack.

The activities started with some team events. We'd been assigned colours, and I was with the Green Team. When they asked for 10 people from each colour, only 2 showed for Green - me and one other guy. It took some convincing, but eventually we got Alisandra and 7 others to join us. We did some races that reminded me of camp, like passing a ball down a line of people with only our elbows (which, FYI, Green Team kinda rocked at). Sadly in the end Green would come in second to Blue after some hard losses at a number game, and the mechanical bull (no, unfortunately, I did not get a chance to take a turn on the mechanical bull). The rest of the day was filled with some drummer/performers (who also did the limbo under fire) and karaoke - which I also did not partake in. Then we piled back on the buses for a long and twisty ride home, as the road always goes when we drive through the mountains.

One of the team activities - sadly the awesomeness of the Green Team is hidden on the far side. They gave the Red Team our ball after accusations a size difference was causing their repetitive losses.