Happy Canada Day from Jamaica
on George Hamilton (Jamaica), 01/Jul/2010 12:27, 34 days ago
Well, this certainly wasn't a normal Canada Day, especially after living in Ottawa for the last ten years. We had no fireworks, no Snowbirds flying over Parliament, and no performers entertaining us on the big stage. This year we even missed The Queen who was in Ottawa for her Canadian tour.Instead, Canada Day in Jamaica for us was just another work day. The volunteers all worked at their jobs, but I had the luxury to take the day off from any commitments and stayed home to finish my current book. It was like a spa day for me.Later in the afternoon, some of the volunteers met at Chez Maria to celebrate over supper. We had Canadian flags to decorate the table, maple leaf lapel pins to distribute in red or gold courtesy of the Canadian High Commission and Audrey led us in singing O Canada.Walking home from Chez Maria we passed a school celebrating graduation under the stars. And at home we've been serenaded all evening by the music from the Campion College graduation ceremony next door. So Canada Day in Jamaica is graduation day for many of the schools and we ended up with our concert after all.