Facing Your Fears

I would not say I am afraid of snakes, but they are not my best friends either. Nevertheless, I put on a brave face and big smile when I sat down with Snake Tamer Tammy Duperrouzel for our regular pet feature. Tammy’s pet boa constrictor and I got really ‘chummy’ on the set. I am just glad that the snake didn’t confuse me with a live white mouse, which is its meal of choice.

Having a snake slither up my arm on live TV is hard to top, but with impending gas riots, we were happy to hear from the Hon. Andrew Holness on what precautions the government was taking to protect life and property following the reading of the budget. Of course, Mr. Holness has his own set of problems – angry teachers demanding retroactive pay and angry tax payers demanding accountability.

Speaking of government initiatives, Executive Director of TPDCo Earl Patrick and Jamaica Pegasus Manager Nancy McLean glowingly elaborated on the first annual Tourism Service Excellence Awards. (By the way, Nancy is a nominee.) The JTB has billed the event as the tourism Oscars and is designed to recognize the persons, not the institutions that play a part in making Jamaica special. Good luck to all the nominees.

There is no denying that tourists love Jamaica for our food, we have some of the most creative culinary specialists in the world, including Nicholas Douglas. Pamela Powell delighted Neville with Tuna Run Down while giving the details of the upcoming Festival of Foods competitions island wide.

It would be good to get more kids involved with the culinary arts, especially adolescents. They are a tricky group that are often neglected by the medical fraternity; too old for a pediatrician but too young for a GP. This is exactly the concern that will be addressed at a conference hosted by the Pediatric Association of Jamaica under the theme: Growth, risks and tears: The Adolescent Years.

Kids tend to be internet savvy, so we moved online to explore two great Jamaica based opportunities in cyberspace. The first is referred to as Cyber Vendexing; RGD is training individuals to processing document applications online as a business. The second is Virtual Mall Jamaica; small business owners can secure a turnkey solution to selling their products on the internet.