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!
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