(Note: I realized that I'm not an efficient/eloquent enough writer to produce well-thought out posts at regular intervals, so I'm switching to less structured frantic jottings that will hopefully help me remember this trip better. I may be posting backlogs of this type soon...)

No, I'm not a month late-I'm in Jamaica! Yesterday Jamaica celebrated its 45th year of independence, and we celebrated by going to the Knutsford Blvd. Independence Day Festival, a whole day long affair with performances, crafts, food, and-of course-a huge fricking stageshow that filled the busiest street in New Kingston with screaming, gyrating people.

The first thing we saw when we hit the festival at around 1 o'clock was a marching band or three. These were dressed in very bright colors, performed pretty good covers of current popular songs, and were accompanied by cheerleaders with 'nuff booty-shaking ability.

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