Registered to vote?

One day last week I went to the post room to collect mail, when to my surprise I received a polling card! You see it appears that it is the season for municipal elections in this city. I did see people having signs up on their lawns and windows indicating their choice of party. (You know that would never happen in Jamaica!) In these parts it, is either the Green Party or the Labour Party. Yours truly knows nothing of them and indeed, did not know that it had anything to do with me at all....until I got mail. I am not interested in getting involved. Besides, I do not know the issues surrounding the elections, but what a thing though...as a visiting student, I am registered to vote! Maybe it is because we do have to pay council tax and television licence. So I wonder... maybe I should really go and cast my ballot. Election day is Thursday May 1, 2008. What do you think?My Polling Card!

CRUNCH TIME!!!

No doubt about it, I am now down to crunch time with this course. I now have three pieces of coursework due within the next 4 weeks. The disseration proposal is now agreed with my supervisor so that is one less thing to worry about. I will be looking at enforcing employment rights and doing a comparative analysis of the employment dispute resolution mechanisms of the UK and Jamaica. I also have two practical exercises in the month of May. I have become even more attached to my computer and the library. Labour law for me has now become a "labour of love!" Your continued support, encouragement and prayers are appreciated.

Looking out from the library...
This book is a core text which was graciously given to me by a tutor. It is so good to have my own copy since at times there is none available in the library. God continues to bless me on this journey.

Tribute to Mom

Today marks 3 years since my Mom passed away. Cynthia Patricia Ramsay Harris was a woman of class and integrity. She extolled the virtues of education and my being here is a tribute to her positive upbringing. Her life as a teacher has touched the life of countless children who no doubt been positively influenced to reach for their goals. I recall the many times she prayed for me, encouraged me and downright pushed me to greater things. She loved beautiful things and always thought that doing the will of God was the most important thing in life. Mommy loved helping others and I think that is something I got from her. I think that my children would have loved to interact with her as they were the loves of her life. For her family was everything. I cannot question God's timing but what I can say is that the pain does lessen with time. The more I think about it, the more I realise how much of her traits I have inherited. She was no saint; she had her share of annoying habits but in total she was just my mom. I miss her a lot. Rest well Mom.... rest well. Mommy posing at Timmy's 1st Birthday Bash at Ewarton... she was so happy that day. In this shot I really look like my mom...This is her skirt too.

Life at the University of East Anglia (UEA)

I was told the other day by a friend that I had not fully shared about life on campus on the blog. So here goes. The UEA is a beautiful campus which is reminiscent of UWI Mona and Cave Hill campuses. It is closer in size to Mona with many green spaces and 'The Broad' a lake at the southern end. This is one of the reasons that I choose to attend school here , as I just could not see myself studying in the heart of the bustling city; my brain needs room to breathe! The centre of the campus is always busy as this where everybody meets up, where the cafeterias are and most of the student services. There is a medical and dental centre and also a nursery catering for students and their families. There are many student accomodations with some brand new facilities and also some older structures which have gained architectural awards. 'The Street' boasts a range of shops and banks catering to students needs... and of course what would an English University be without a pub or 3! They are run by the Student Union which is a very active in student life. There is a state of the art Sportspark with indoor swimming pool, various indoor courts for games, track, outdoor courts and a well equipped gym... the best in the East of England. The Library is also another hub of activity where almost everything is self service from borrowing and returning books to printing and photocopying. It also hosts an IT area that is open 24 hrs a day for the workaholics among us. There is also an excellent computer network that connects you to everywhere on campus. I have spoken about my school of study (Norwich Law School) in an earlier post. About 15 minutes walk away is a Tescomart....(for the Cave Hill grads remember the ESSOmart?) where you can also go to get essential supplies. I hope that captures it ... here are the pics! So yes, I would recommend it to anyone. It is very multicultural setting with students from all over the globe and this interaction gives a unique experience. The 'Uni' has an execellent reputation in develpoment studies, environmental sciences and of course... Employment Law! It is also rated top ten in UK student satisfaction surveys. You can find out more and do a virtual tour by visiting http://www.uea.ac.uk/

The Broad

The Sportspark
The Library'The Square'...Campus Central!Union House and PubThe Tesco mart

New student Accoms.

Ziggarats...older Student Accoms.

My Double Life

In my last post, I incorrectly assumed that Spring was here. It is more apt to say that Spring is on the way.The mirage evaporated as it snowed twice since then and it is April! But that is not the focus of this rant. When I undertook this course of study I expected some challenges, being away from home and all. In fact the question of how I planned to deal with my family obligations whilst away was posed to me at the scholarship interview. But somehow I never expected it would be this hard. I feel so torn between being here and not being able to help at home. I missed Timothy's 6th Birthday party, but assisted in the planning if only to coordinate the guest list. However it still not the same as being there. Now Timmy is negotiating and wants to 'make a deal with me' about coming home NOW. Nathan, never the talker before, still sometimes simply refuses to utter a word to me and Paul, my hero, I think is just quietly enduring until such time. I feel like I am living two lives in one, being a student on the one hand and being a wife and mother on the other... and right now these roles are in complete divergence.
I am 6 years old he says!

Alas! such are the times.... though I am closer to the end than I was at the start, it's just like my Mom used to say " the darkest hour is just before dawn'. Man, I am really looking forward to the sunrise!! Paul, Timmy and Nathan, I love you; be patient with me for just a while longer. Nothing in life worth having comes without some sacrifice.

Spring has sprung?

Well, Sunday March 30, 2008 marked the official start of British summer time.The clocks went forward an hour. I must say my own body clock is not adjusting to this new state of affairs. I am still awake until 2 am with the inevitable consequence being me waking up when the sun is high in the sky and half the day has gone. I vaguely remember Jamaica having daylight saving time but that was in my childhood! On March 31st, 2008 the weather cooperated in the illusion of spring ... the sun shone all day! It was warm; not just with the sun in the sky but still having cold, cold wind... I mean really warm. It was hard to believe that just the week before there was snow at Easter. People came out sunbathing no less! I now understand why people from these parts of the world enjoy their vacations so much when they come to Jamaica.A park on campus that I never saw before.

They sunbathed!!!

There have been some wonderful sights... the trees beginning to flower, the wonderful sounds of birds singing and beautiful flowers which I have been enjoying. However this marks the halfway point of the course. I am now flooded with courseworks and papers so despite these great sights it is back to work for me!