Last Night in Jamaica

Here I am, last night in Jamaica. It's amazing to see how fast a week passes by. Well, a fair amount has happened since I last wrote, so let's do a quick re-cap.

On Wednesday, Marvin (the main housekeeper) was asked to go to the store to pick up some items. Mike's brother-in-law and I decided to accompany him on the trip, and am I ever happy that I did. It was a really neat experience. We took our caddy to the store, up the mountain, over numerous bumpy roads (once again my appreciation for paved roads made an appearance. We were hitting potholes the size of SUVs), and through various neighborhoods to get there. Everyone was so smiley and friendly. Just about every person we passed waved and said hello to us. It was interesting to see the varying levels of poverty and how quickly the neighborhoods were changing from having big houses with gates to little shacks. There were also a fair amount of churches that had groups of people clumped together talking outside in their best clothes, getting ready to go in for services. My mind is still boggled as to how people here can wear long-sleeved shirts and jeans in this weather. They say you get used to it, but I know I'd be sweating up a storm.

Anyway, when we got to the store, we pulled up behind someone's house to park while we went inside. Grocery stores in Jamaica sort of remind me of pharmacies in Europe. Everything is behind bars and you ask the attendant for what you want and he goes and gets it. I'm sure they do this so that no one steals anything (as if the security guard walking around with a rifle wasn't off-putting enough.) But Marvin had a friend that worked there, so we got to go into the back and poke around. I love seeing the different ways foods are packaged in various countries, so to quote Mike's brother-in-law, I looked like "a little kid in a candy store." We got a lot of food and I managed to find another kind of Jamaican beer beside Red Stripe for Mike called Dragon Stout (which is bottled by Red Stripe - no surprise there.) Included in our purchase were banana chips (more like potato chips in the States because they don't add any sugar, which is better in my opinion), Jamaican spice buns (which I have yet to eat but I'm sure I will on the plane tomorrow), and lots of other yummy items. When we were done getting our groceries, we went into a room that was connected to the front waiting room and bought everyone Jamaican patties. They reminded everyone of empanadas and tacos. They were good, but I didn't much care for the processed Kraft-like cheese that they put on them. I had to wolf mine down, but I'll get to that in a minute. As we were leaving the store, our golf cart ran over an exposed PVC pipe to the house we parked behind that was carrying their water supply. But just based on appearances, that seemed to happen frequently because there were joints all over it. We paid the guy a little bit for parts, and then went on our way.

By the time we got back, we had about an hour to get ready for the wedding. I managed to get ready in a flash (I was impressed with myself), wolf down a patty or two, then head on down to the beach. The ceremony was behind one of the villas where some people were staying. It was low tide, so there were all these really pretty rocks showing through the water. Everyone looked beautiful, and the ceremony was as well. It took about 15 minutes, and then the photographer was taking lots and lots of pictures. Mike, his sister, his brother, and I got kind of bored, so we decided to go out climbing on the low rocks. His sister and I were having some problems because the rocks were sort of sharp and not so easy to walk on with bare feet. But we snapped some cute pictures, that was for sure. When the pictures were all done, we were loaded on to buses, driven up the hill, and were dropped at the reception which happened to be at the hotel two houses up from up. We had a blast at the reception, which had a killer view of the water from up on the mountain. Everyone seemed to have a good time and we were even making friends with the staff. I tell you, everyone here is so nice.

The next morning, we all dragged ourselves out of bed and back up to the hotel for brunch. Everyone who was invited to the wedding was asked to come. We ate your typical Jamaican fare (with a few screwdrivers thrown in) and just had a lazy morning. Afterwards we headed down to the beach. It was a nice, lazy day. The water was so nice and I floated around in it quite a bit. Mike's nephew also loved playing in the sand, so I did a lot of that with him. All the while, I managed to not get sunburned! Me - 1, Sun - 0.

Since last night was Mike sister's and her family's last night, the staff here prepared a candle light dinner out by our pool for all of us. We ate curried goat with rice and peas, ending with chocolate cake. It took them a little while to get everything ready because Chefie wasn't here, but it was very sweet of them to do and it was really good. So far, the curried goat has been my favorite thing to eat here.

Today, I napped (who's surprised?) and hung out at the pool in our back yard. Mike and I threw the frisbee around for awhile, and then thought it might be fun to try to jump into the pool and catch it at the same time. So we spent quite awhile doing that. Right now, I can smell our Chef cooking our jerked chicken dinner. I just went outside and saw that he is cooking it in an old propane tank. They really don't waste anything around here. I'm excited because he's making an extra spicy half for me and Mike. Yum.

We leave early tomorrow from our villa. Keep your fingers crossed for us because we have a very short lay over in Charlotte. Here's to hoping we get through it in time! Speaking of leaving, I should really do something about packing the pile of clothes on the floor in my room... Until next time!

Lazy Beach Days and Walks in the Jungle

I'm back for post number two during my week in tropical paradise. To be honest, I've been kinda lazy while here, so I don't think this post is going to be super long. So let's get started.

Our second day here, we just hung out on the beach. There is a private beach behind some of the villas where some people who are going to the wedding are staying. We took our caddy (translated to American: golf cart) down the hill that our villa is on to the beach. For all you Easton people, the second I saw the golf cart, all sorts of farm memories came flooding back to me. It's the exact same one that Pop Pop had, but this one has a gas engine. Oh the damage we could have done if we had one of those. But I digress. Back to the beach.

The sand out there is a beautiful white and you can see through the water straight down to the bottom. It was a pretty bumpy ride due to the lack of paved roads up here, but it took us maybe ten minutes to get down there. There was a little concrete building at the edge of the beach by the road that sold hot dogs, which were pink, hamburgers, fries, and most importantly, Red Stripe. It's only about $2.00 for a beer anywhere you go here. It's a nice and welcomed break from D.C. prices.

While we were down there, we saw a boy riding a horse on one of the adjoining beaches. He tried to cross ours, but a woman came over and yelled at him, saying that he couldn't cross our beach. So he did what any logical person would do. He took the horse out into the sea and they swam across. It was quite a funny site. The beach also had some people walking around, selling various kinck-kancks that they had made (necklaces, bracelets, etc.) I cannot imagine making a living like that. Once again, so much poverty in such a beautiful place.

Yesterday, we went to a cook out at the Cranbrook Gardens with everyone who is here for the wedding. While there, we went on a three mile hike up to see the waterfall where the river that runs through there originates. The plants that were there all had some sort of purpose in local Jamaican culture. For example, there were flowers you could eat (which I did and it tasted like a green apple), a tree that you use to make bug spray, and flowers that cure pink eye. Since it had been raining so much, the trail was pretty muddy and the river had a huge amount of water flowing it at a very fast pace. Our guide told us that usually you can see through the water, but the runoff made it look like coffee with creamer in it. When we reached the top of the mountain where the waterfall was, you had to cross the fast flowing waters to get across to the original pool. I was the second person that crossed, holding on to a rope and trying to feel where to put my foot next because I couldn't see anything under the water. Not many people crossed over, and in my opinion, they missed a really cool sight. The trees seemed to go up and up forever and there were little bits of mist spraying everywhere. It was one of the more beautiful hikes that I had ever been on.

When we got back down to the pavilion, we were starving so we ate some pumpkin and tuna fritters, which were so good. Our main course was barrel drum pork and chicken (like this guy ate), along with various other sides including bammy, festival, and fried plantains. For desert, there were two kinds of bread. One was pumpkin and sadly, I cannot remember the other type. After we ate, Mike and I decided to work on our holding a beer in one hand and catching/throwing a frisbee with the other skills (watch out Wildwood) in the beautiful yard. There were peacocks all over the place and Mike's 2-year old nephew had a blast watching them. It was a nice day.

When we got home, we had red pea soup and jerked chicken sandwiches for dinner. Funny language note: pea means bean here. So it was actually red bean (kidney) soup. I'm not a huge soup person, but this stuff was amazing! It had just the right amount of spice in it and was really filling. This morning for breakfast, we had johnny cakes, boiled bananas, and ackee and saltfish. I'm loving the fact that everyone in the villa is willing to try the local fare. And we are all loving it. I really had no idea that Jamaican food would be this good.

So today is the big day. The wedding is going to be this afternoon on the beach and the reception is about three minutes on foot from our villa. It looks like the weather is cooperating and hopefully will continue to stay this lovely. So I think I'm going to go outside and enjoy some of it by the pool.

First Impressions of Jamaica

Hello all! After a pretty full day of traveling yesterday, I've made it to Jamaica. It's a nice change from the cold, winter climate on the East Coast. The temperature is around 80, with a lot of humidity (think D.C. in July). It's been raining on and off, with periods of really intense downpours that last a maximum of ten minutes, then immediately stop. I'm thankful for the rain because it seems to cool everything down a little, which is nice when the sun started beating down on you.

Yesterday, we were picked up at the airport with a bunch of other people who came down for the wedding as well. Driving from the airport to our villa took about an hour. The drive was interesting in that it was full of juxtapositions. You would look on one side of the street, and you would see these beautiful hotels and villas that were clean and painted beautiful, tropical colors. Then you would turn to the other side of the street and there were shacks. I'm not exaggerating at all. They looked like sheets of metal that were propped up against pieces of wood. Doors were few and far between and forget about seeing electricity in them. Honestly, it reminded me of something that someone would make while camping. The poverty is so in your face. I see now why people like to stay in the all-inclusive resorts here. Out of sight, out of mind. The other interesting thing from the drive was that there were all sorts of unfinished houses. A floor would be built, and then they would just leave it. Some houses had people living in the bottom while others were completely deserted. They say it's because people run out of money so they just stop and let them sit there. Not surprising, especially given todays economy.

But I digress. On our way to our villa, we stopped at a restaurant on the side of the road for jerked chicken. There were jerked chicken places all over the place, but people were telling us that this was the place to go. Mike and I split half a jerk chicken and got two bottles of some local brew (Red Stripe) and it was so good, not to mention cheap! I was watching the chefs working in the back, and it was so different than watching a kitchen in the States. It was pretty Spartan in the back as far as utensils go, but there were rows and rows of chicken waiting to be cooked or chopped up. We were so hungry that we devoured our food in no time at all.

Then we made it to our villa, which has an amazing view. When you step out onto the back porch, you can see the sea. There is a pool and a huge yard (where we promptly went out to so we could throw a frisbee around. No surprise there). Everyone has their own bedroom suite with a bathroom, which is really nice. There is also a chef, two members of house staff, and three of the friendliest watch dogs I have ever met (don't worry - they are really good at doing their job when they aren't demanding attention from you). I'm having a hard time getting used having people waiting on us all the time. The staff here is super sweet though. Martin, the head of the staff, is just about as nice as he can be. He was teaching me some of the Jamaican language (Patois). It is based off of English and it's interesting to see how they have shorted words, given words different meaning, etc. Anyway, all of us ended up staying up late talking. I'm slowly getting used to having all these people wait on me. I feel like this is going to take awhile to adjust to. This morning, they cooked us a really good breakfast with jerk sausage. Hands down, new favorite breakfast food.

Anyway, I think today we are going to hit the beach. I guess I should go figure that out. I'll try to write again tomorrow, recapping today's adventures. Lots of love!

Dust off your reading glasses boys and girls. I'm back!

So as many of you know, I started this blog when I was in Russia so that I could keep everyone up to date with my life in the tundra. And as many of you also know, I did a horrible job at keeping it current. So here is my new resolution: I'm going to use this whenever I'm traveling abroad. This way, anyone who is curious about what I'm doing in a certain part of the world can click the link and find out for themselves. Sounds good, no?

Well, I'm off to Jamaica in a few days for a wedding and that's when I am going to start updating this thing again. I am going to be there for a week and I plan on doing as much as I can while I'm there. Numero uno on my list is to see the "glowing waters." Check out this website. The picture makes it look really cool, right?

Alright, now it's back to work (boo). I'm not on vacation yet! Less than five days to go (woohoo!!!)