Rochelle. 19. London, UK.
♫ Music is my escape
I love anime...and chocolate...and Hello Kitty
I'm not weird, I'm limited edition. Booyah_
An idealist at heart. Realist in training.
My other amazing cousin, Zaviar, who I became close with in a short time. It was at the street party for my Grandad’s birthday and it was getting dark. I saw him drinking earlier so I thought he was drunk. He came up to me, said “hi” and then walked off. When I went to see where he had gone, he was behind the place where I was sitting, near the shop and he was laughing to himself. o__O I started laughing and he saw/heard me and he came over and we talked about football and making jokes and stuff. Then we went over to the house and had ice cream. Yum! My cousins are hilarious when they’re drunk. They were balancing cups on their heads! xD And then Zaviar went away for a bit and came back with his knee bleeding. He was like “What! Oh yeah…I fell over” LOL.
After that, I was dancing with the kids and he was watching me and smiling. So was my mum, and when I was near her she was like “He likes you”. I was like “What! Are you mad? He’s my COUSIN” She said ” I know I just think he likes you.” I was thinking she’s mad. Then I turn around and see him looking at me and HE HEARD HER! *awkward moment* But he was still making me laugh and stuff after that so it was all good :D Unfortunately, we had to say goodnight xD
The next night, it was one of his friend’s birthday and they celebrated with…more alcohol! Pummy was telling me about his girlfriend and I was like aww! Then I asked Zaviar if he had a girlfriend and he said he had four! I was waiting for the moment where he would laugh and say he was joking, but it didn’t come. I laughed and was shocked at the same time. I was so curious but I didn’t get the chance to ask him questions coz so many people were there.
The next day, I saw him out on the road by himself, bunking off school. So I went up to him, said hi and there was such an awkward silence between us. We were both leaning against the wall and we just looked around. I was thinking, “Oh gosh he heard what my mum said, what do I say?” I started questioning him about his girlfriends and it was funny because he tried justifying it! he said “If one of them leaves me, at least I still have the other three” I just looked at him incredulously! Then some of the little kids came running out of nowhere and tried chasing me. LOL.
He was so cool though. I would go watch him play football, and he would always make sure I got back safe if we stayed out late. And he would always make sure I’m okay. Mum would always be like “So how’s Zaviar?” Like what?
Nearer to the last few days, we started wrestling. He’s so strong I was like omg >.< even when I got tired I didn’t give up though! It was funny, I was trying to get his ears and he was trying to get my nose xD hahahaha. He hurt my wrists coz they are so skinny, and he kept pushing me down on the sofa and I slipped and he picked me up with one hand! LOL!
Then on the morning, when we was saying our goodbyes, I hugged him last. And when I did, he hugged me soo tight I just stood there with my arms around him, trying not to cry.
And even now… mum is still asking, “So how’s Zaviar?” whenever I call my cousins. LIKE WHAT?
I think it’s funny. In western and first world countries, we have everything. Nice houses, cars and decent jobs and we are so miserable. In third world countries, like Jamaica, they have next to nothing. But they are so willing to give anything and are so happy.
I remember one night me and my cousin were walking back from a football match in the town, and a woman came up to us asking for money. She knew my cousin, which meant that she also knew he never has money but she asked him anyway. I didn’t have any money, but my cousin reached into his pocket and took out 20 dollars (less than 20p) and gave it to her. I was so surprised, and when I asked why, he said “If you give to the less fortunate, you will be rewarded later.” I was thinking wow…my cousin is soo generous and wise T^T
Another situation, was on the last night, when my other cousin drove me to her house. She asked me if I had done enough souvenir shopping, I said not really, but it’s okay. Then she was looking around her house for stuff that said Jamaica on it. Then she found a glass ashtray on the table, and a calendar with Usain Bolt on it. I felt really bad for taking it, and when I tried to explain that, she couldn’t understand. Then my cousin was like, “It’s okay, she’s happy to give it to you.” I felt like crying there and then. I just hugged her and the next day I left some of my clothes for her.
I always tried to help. Throughout my stay, I would pay for my cousin’s meals and travel and stuff that he wanted. Because they had nothing. One time, he got mad at me, because I paid for his tab at the shop next to the house, he said he didn’t like depending on people. Then he told me I was brilliant. LOL.
The ashtray, is sitting on a shelf in my room, with two cross pendants on chains my cousin gave me, an expired $20 note, some mintballs and a couple of pictures. Just wow.
Day 11: The person you miss the most
My cousin, Pummy. That’s just a nickname, but the story behind it is so funny, and from time time I couldn’t help but slide in the full fat of it. From chilling outside on the bench till late or heading out on the road, there was never a dull moment with this guy around.
This picture was the second time we went to the beach. We sat in the boat after the little cousin didn’t want to play in the sea anymore, and we was just talking. Then he said he’d never been out in one before, and neither had I! So I didn’t have money on me (duh) so we was like MUUUM WE NEED MONEY! My aunt gave us the money and we was like YAAAAY! Then I had to put a lifejacket on (me not being able to swim) LOL. And it was so fun! There’s this island that we went out to and rode around it and came back. It was so nice and the deeper water looked so pretty. Pummy was splashing me from the side and coz my arms were shorter I couldn’t reach the water and I was like “Heyyy that’s not fair!” D:
It was a good first experience for both of us :D Unforgettable times :)
The second time we went to the beach, with my little cousin, who was half scared to go into the water. x) Then she followed us in after me and Pummy were splashing eachother.
Gosh the amount of rubbish pictures I deleted from my camera after this, because I trusted someone else with my camera. And people wonder why I don’t like them touching my camera.
Watching this now reminds me of a day that me and my cousin in Jamaica were just having an “indoor day”. Haha we didn’t do anything for the whole day except watch movies and one of them was this one. It was so funny, because everytime there was a kissing scene or a sex scene he would hide his head under a pillow and I would start laughing. And he’s older than me.
Then I asked him why he was doing it, and he says “I’m jealous” And I was like aww! Hahaha. At the time, him and his girlfriend wasn’t talking because he couldn’t go and see her and she got angry. I think it was partly because I was there. So they were having a little fight haha I thought it was too cute.
My cousin is a really sweet guy (unlike most of the Jamaican men I met) and the things he tells me about his relationship just makes me laugh and reminisce in a good way. Like one time I was telling him something that I was embarassed to say out loud and he told me to text it to him. Then he said,
“When I’m afraid to tell my girlfriend something I text it to her, y’know. Like sometimes I’m scared to tell her that she sweeps me off my feet”
I was just like awwww hahahaha too cute. I remembered that quote for that reason xD
We are so alike and for all that he’s been through, I’m glad that he’s found someone who loves him, and he loves equally (or maybe even more) It gives me hope x)
Cute things like that make me smile :)
“Football crazy” That’s exactly what my cousins were. The amount of football matches I went to and watched was crazy, though I think I had more fun going to watch them live, than watching them on TV.
There was one day, when after watching 3 or 4 matches on TV, my cousin and his friend took me to the town to watch two of my other cousins play against another town. It was so funny, we was running late, because I decided I wanted to eat dinner before going. So my cousin wanted to take a shortcut. It had been raining hard during the day and it was really wet and muddy by the time evening came. I was wearing sandals (stupidly) because my other shoes were washing xD
We were walking and we came to this field and I thought we had already reached. We walked through it, and I could feel my feet sinking into the mud and hearing squelching noises, I started giggling but my cousin was looking baffed. Then we came to this part where it had an abandoned train track and there was this huge deep puddle. So my cousin said to walk on the bar and coz I was wearing sandals they didn’t have any grip so I slipped and landed in the muddy puddle. I was like “Omg so embarrassing” my feet were wet and muddy it felt gross.
THEN there was this part where we had to jump over a puddle. By that time I was ready to jump on my cousin’s back and let him carry me. xD I landed bang in the middle of the puddle, splashing him and his friend in the process and then I almost slipped so I held on to my cousin and dragged him in with me xDD
When we finally reached, the mud had gone halfway up my legs (wearing shorts) so we went to the back of some house where there was a hose and my cousin rinsed off my feet. It was hilarious I was laughing coz I was ticklish and ran away so only parts of my feet were clean LOL.
We walked onto the stands and it looked like a real stadium outdoors and tried to find a dry spot. Halfway through the match we realised that both my cousins were on the bench and then it started to pour down with rain again. It was madness, everyone was rushing for shelter.
Then some white man came and said “Where can I get the train?” Everyone was laughing and someone said “you’re about 40 years too late for the train man” it just reminded me of the track I just hauled myself out of xD
It was a good match though, I was glad to walk back on the street I didn’t know why we didn’t go that way in the first place. ~_~
At a different part of the river, where my Grandad grew up. He found it strange that some parts had dried up, and that some places where different, buildings knocked down etc.
I remember in the car driving up, he met one of the local residents and he asked about people that had previously lived there. For one I was surprised at how many names the man knew, since he didn’t look as old as my grandad. But I was even more surprised when I heard about 9/10 of the people that were asked about were declared dead. When I interviewed him for my English coursework a few months back, he said that he’d outlived most of the friends that decided to stay in England after the restoration from WWII but many had returned. Then I thought, why would in be different in another country? I mean, most of them returned because they wanted to live out the rest of their days where they grew up.
Thing is, when you leave somewhere for a long period of time, things change. Time doesn’t stand still just because you’re gone. People adapt and move on whether you’re there or not.
In the first week, we all went down to the river that was near the house. It was so funny. First we passed two trees, and spread across them was a massive web with like 20 spiders occupying it, of all different shapes and sizes and colours. One of the cousins pointed it out (at that time I was still shy and just looking at the ground), and mum saw it and screamed! I started laughing and almost toppled down the hill xD
Then we got to the big dip in the side of the road where the path to the river was. It rained, so it was slippery and while we were climbing down the slope and over rocks, I slipped numerous times. I was laughing but I felt embarassed thinking, Oh gosh my cousins must think we are silly. Then one of them had to go in front of me and use his foot as a stopper.
Then I got scared to go in the water when one of them said there was stuff that bites you in there. I managed to dip my feet in. It was so pretty and peaceful, and they were fishing for little fish thingys. One of them picked one up and it was squirming and I screamed. Another embarassing moment.
And when we was going back up another cousin had to hold my back! Hahaha it was too funny, I was telling myself I wouldn’t go back down there again, but after a few days I was so eager to. LOL