Blogs from Jamaica, Central America Caribbean - page 28

Love is in the air in Jamaica (don’t worry Mom I’m not running off to Vegas;) haha). I can tell that it’s soon to be Valentine ’s Day here in Jamaica because there are an abundance of horribly ugly fake flowers lining the streets for loving buyers. Who ever thought fake flowers could be popular? I’m really looking forward to this Tuesday. I’m taking Meaghan out to eat. We are both really excited to be visiting our local Subway (yes, we have the sandwich shop in the city of Kingston). We haven’t been to Subway yet, so we are both very, very excited. I sing in the junior choir at St. Pius. The “Junior Choir” is quite deceiving. It is called the “Junior Choir” because at some point all of it’s members were all the ... read more

BLACK RIVER SAFARI ADVENTURE TOUR We started at about 9:00am from the "bus terminal" in downtown Kingston. It was just Nancy, Dr. Pedro, and I. And by "bus terminal", I should clarify that I mean a place where deformed, maltreated, and attention-starved shacks on wheels are parked so that men in drug-induced stupors can be paid by drivers to herd riders onto particular buses....sometimes despite their intended destination. Hence, we ended up on a bus bound to somewhere (Lord only knows where) other than our initial destination: Black River. Once on the bus, an argument erupted between one of the aforementioned men in a drug-induced stupor and a Rastafarian who was sitting on the bus next to Pedro. The man, who had previously been smoking ganja outside of the bus, climbed on and told the rasta ... read more

Sorry for the dreadful pun incorporated into the title of this section, but a trip to the Caribbean in January 2006 replaced the regular annual January ski fixture, and was yet another encounter with the American tourist, which was to be the last, for absolutely no reason other than ongoing commitments and diminished practicalities. I arrived on the island of Jamaica in poor shape due to a newly-broken collar bone, which I was told would still require some rest, and that a beach holiday shouldn't aggravate it. We stayed about halfway down Montego Bay's 'Hip Strip', which contained a few overpriced eateries, and a terrific fast-food style jerk speciality place called the 'Pork Pit'. Downtown Montego Bay is best avoided at all costs any time after 6 pm at night, for safety reasons alone, but it ... read more

I am currently sitting in Norman Manley Airport waiting for a flight back to the USA. Per customary Jamaica my flight has been delayed two hours and I have about at 1.5% chance of making my two other connections back to Wichita, KS. Some of you may be wondering why I am on back to Kansas… my Grandpa Clouse died on Friday, December 16, 2005. I am going home for the funeral and will be returning to Jamaica on Christmas Eve (flights were much too expensive on other days). I haven’t been able to sit down and write my blog in a couple weeks and quite a bit has happened. I will begin with the arrival of a volunteer dentist, Dr. Pedro Chimal, to St. Pius. Anyway, this is very good news for me because Dr. ... read more

“Bloody Hogwash!” Tuesday, 3:30 p.m. We’re in a car returning from Duckenfield when we get in our second car accident of the day. This one, we think, is not our fault. This one, we explain to the giant Rasta man and his two accomplices walking toward us, could not possibly be our fault. But let’s reverse a bit for some back story, shall we? Tuesday, 8:15 a.m. Jessica is right on time to pick us up. Jessica is the woman who Nancy and I go to the jail with on Fridays, but today she’s invited us to the school she has adopted in the country, where we will be throwing a “Christmas treat.” Our first stop is the Colin Powell Plaza - which is the new housing for all the American ambassadors to Jamaica - where ... read more