Kingston: an eventful first month

I’m into my second month as Deputy High Commissioner in Jamaica. It’s my third diplomatic posting and first time in the Caribbean, which offers a real contrast to my previous assignments in Beijing and Singapore.

Preparing for the posting, my husband and I attended many Jamaican events in London this summer and at a talk on constitutional reform experienced Jamaicans’ love of lively debate, which was less common in Singapore.

Kingston is not easy to explore but we had an early chance to discover its down town with a ‘Take Back the Night’ run/walk for charity. It enabled the High Commission to get out into the community in support of a good cause, and led to my first local TV appearance in a post-race interview, where I attempted to deflect attention from my leisurely finish time.

The biggest surprise of our first month was experiencing our first hurricane.  We knew we were arriving during hurricane season, but had not expected to be preparing for a direct hit so soon.  It was a new experience even for some colleagues who have been here for a while.

I can report that our hurricane contingency plans worked well.  We kept our operations going, albeit on an emergency basis for two days, as it was impossible for most staff to get to work.  But we were still able to check that British tourists here were safe.  It was also really important to us to be available to respond to any other British visitor needing help.

Although Jamaica could have been much worse hit, several colleagues experienced damage to their homes from Sandy.  It has been inspiring to see them return to work with minimal fuss.  As my second month of work begins, I look forward to continuing to discover this beautiful country and getting to grips with local issues, hopefully unimpeded by any more natural disasters for some time.