We took advantage of our time, swam, slept, played games like marbles! and traveled into Kingston a bunch of times for symphony rehearsals. The Jamaica Young People's Symphony was chosen for an event at the Pegasus Hotel. Many rehearsals were required, not only for the program sake but because the Governor General would be present! Big stuff.
The Jamaica Pegasus Hotel is a 4 star, lovely hotel located in the heart of Kingston's commercial district. We have never stayed there but many times when we have had immigration business to attend to, we have walked through the hotel and admired the beauty of it. One time I had my hair done there because it is one of the few places that has hair color like I am used to! We have also eaten breakfast in the restaurant overlooking the gorgeous pool. It is just a beautiful place, so when Renee's symphony was scheduled to perform there I was really excited!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Governor General of Jamaica
Governor General
Patrick Allen
The Governor-General of Jamaica represents the Jamaican monarch, and head of state, who holds the title of King or Queen of Jamaica (as of 1962, Queen Elizabeth II).
The Queen, on the advice of the Prime Minister, appoints a Governor-General to be her representative in Jamaica. Neither the Queen nor the Governor-General has any real authority in conducting the administration of the country (however, both possess reserve powers under the constitution which would allow them full control of the nation's governance whenever in their opinion a case of emergency requiring such action arises). Real legislative and executive responsibilities rest with the elected representatives of the people.
The Governor-General represents the Queen on ceremonial occasions such as the opening of Parliament, the presentation of honours and military parades. Under the Constitution, he is given authority to act in some matters, for example in appointing and disciplining officers of the civil service, in proroguing Parliament and so on, but only in a few cases is he empowered to act entirely on his own discretion.[1]
Sunday evening arrived and Renee looked beautiful as always! Ready to perform.
The concert was absolutely fabulous! I wanted to take photos of the entrance of Sir Patrick Allen and Lady Allen who was stunning, however, I didn't know if that was a cultural faux pas so I let discretion be of greater value and didn't do it! In the intermission the students were taken into a side room to meet the distinguished couple and photos were taken and he talked with them for awhile. Renee said it was pretty awesome! I just wanted to sneak in there and see!
Speaking of Renee and violin, another honor that was given to her was playing for her school's graduation at the end of June. She played Thais Meditation and it was so beautiful. God is so good to my little girl!
What beautiful photos, Debby,and what an interesting post! I knew Queen Elizabeth 2 was "Queen of Canada" and that she has a Governor General in a similar capacity in Canada, but I was not familiar with the governmental customs and protocol in Jamaica. Congratulations to Renee on her talents and achievements!
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