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Re: Trip #3 - Going to Negril
LOL, you gyals are too much.
Day 4 - Sunday
It is morning and we wake. Paul steps out on the balcony and says the car is gone, the mechanic picked it up early as he said he would. We get ready and leave to find some breakfast. We end up eating at the little restaurant beside the barbershop on James St. that we ate at so many times the previous trip. I order Ackee and Saltfish (again). I make sure to order tea with sweet milk, this is the place where I first tried it. Usually I would just poor it in from the little silver server but I see Paul pour it into the spoon and then stir it in. I look around and everyone else is doing the same. I follow and pour it in the spoon first, I might as well do this right.
We leave and head back to the room and kick back to watch some TV until the car is ready. 12:30 rolls around and the car has still not been returned so Paul goes to the lobby to try and contact the mechanic. I take this time to get some solace out on the balcony. It’s cool and cloudy, a calming day. I can tell that it rained during the night because of the various puddles around the parking lot. I remember the first time I met Paul and we went for a walk, how I was terrified to go more than so many yards from my safe all-inclusive resort. Now here I am 7 months later traipsing half way around the island with him. I’m so glad that foolish side of me took a chance.
Paul returns and is frustrated because he cannot get a hold of the mechanic and it is now after 1:00 which is the checkout time. As he is complaining to me on the balcony, the white station wagon pulls up. We grab our stuff and head to the car. We both check out the bodywork and it is perfect! The dent is nonexistent and the black scrapes are all gone. I am feeling a whole lot better.
The mechanic drives us back to his place where we drop him off, and we head up a little further again to Paul’s place. I wander off to his Aunt’s house and see who’s inside. Sitting at the kitchen table is Paul’s niece Tonya, the 17 year old Vanessa Williams lookalike and Kia his cousin who looks to be around my age. Tara smiles at me, I remember her from my previous visit. This is the first time I’ve seen Kia. Kia gets a big grin on her face and tells me to sit down with them so I do. She tells me she lives in Montego Bay and comes down every 4 weeks or so to spend time with the family. She also tells me about what she does for a living, she’s a promoter of reggae shows as well as fashion shows. I ask her if she can give me a job so I can move here. She talks excitedly about what she does and pulls out some advertisements with pictures of her models (I notice Tara in some of the ads) and she also brings out a whole closet full of beautiful formal dresses for her shows that she shares with me. Next she brings out the princess tiaras for the winners. I ask Tara if she ever won and she pouts NO. About this time Paul’s other cousin Nisha (the one laying on the bed with baby’s mom) comes up with a bowl of spicy chicken and rice and peas for me. “Paul said he made it and for you to eat it”. Nisha comes and joins the table with us. I feel really ridiculous being the only one of these four women with a bowl of food in front them so tell them to grab some forks and pick at it with me.
It’s been a couple of hours later now that I’ve been chatting with these girls. I stare out a little window in the kitchen. It looks like a frame encasing a picture of beautiful mountains and foliage, I comment on the pretty picture. I tell them I should head downstairs and see what’s been holding Paul up, I want to get going and make it back to Negril before dark. I put on my shoes and struggle with the buckle because of my useless false nails, Kia squats down and buckles it for me. I see a real kind hearted spirit in her. She walks with me down to the yard and I see Paul putting clothes up on the line. “Are you almost ready”? I ask him “Yeah, I was just washing up some clothes”. I sit and chat with Kia a bit more and Paul’s 5 year old niece approaches me “Hi again”. She says “Hello”! I say back to her. Kia says “That little girl knows how to dance”. I ask the girl if she can show me how she dances, she gets a sparkle in her eyes and starts dancing. I am shocked, she’s a dancehall queen in the making. I pull out the camcorder and start taking videos of her, that just gets her going even more. She must have asked me to rewind it at least 10 times so she could watch herself.
Paul announces he’s ready and hands me the keys - guess I’m driving. I back out of the carport in his yard and onto the road “Baby, you almost scratched the side, you’re going to mash up the car”. Oh no he didn’t just say that to me after his accident yesterday.
I make my way down the bumpy road, being careful to go around the potholes until I get to the main road.
I have a sudden lapse of memory, is it right or left side of the road I’m supposed to go on? I find my mind playing split second tricks on me like that. When I came home it was the same thing for the first week or two, I remember getting home and driving in the left hand side only to see cars coming towards me.
I make my way down the busy Ochi street and stop for some gas before we make our way back to Negril. Paul tells the gas attendant to put in 300JA. “Why don’t you just fill it up”? I ask. “Because we only need that much to get back to Negril”. We have another six days left with the car. Surely we’ll use a tank up in that amount of time I argue. He thinks I’m a waster and I think his reasoning makes no sense and we end up driving the next hour not saying two words to each other until we get to around Montego Bay. I realize men are from Mars and women are from Venus in no matter what country you’re in.
We get back to Negril in less than 3 hours with no problems, and it was still light out so I didn’t have to deal with driving in the dark. The ride from Ochi to Montego Bay is rougher, the road has occasional potholes that you have to constantly keep an eye out for. The trick for me was to follow behind other vehicles, when they jerked out of the way you knew to get ready because there was a pothole coming up. There was also a lot of construction work that I had to slow right down for. The road from Montego Bay to Negril was a breeze to drive on, beautiful newer road.
I am exhausted from driving by the time we get back to Fun Holiday. Unload the car and drop our stuff off in the room. Soon after we drag our selves to the Fun Holiday restaurant for dinner. The waitress asks what we want to drink, I order a fruit punch. Paul orders a Red Stripe. “Sorry, we have no Red Stripe”. “No Red Stripe”? I exclaim. “That’s like going to the grocery store and there’s no bread and milk”. He ends up having a fruit punch too. The sun is just about to set as we are served dinner. As it sets it turns from a golden globe to a fiery red one as it hits the water. The sky is a mix of pink and purple hues mixed in with a few white clouds. We have a good time eating and reminiscing about the previous night and I fill him in on my afternoon sitting with the girls in his Aunt’s kitchen. After dinner we head back up to the room and get some sleep before we go out.
I wake up and feel so drowsy and sleepy. I look over at Paul and he too looks half awake and half asleep. “What time is it”. I mumble. He looks at his watch “Midnight”. I really should get myself moving because I want to go out……….and I fall back asleep.
I awake some time later and he is watching TV at the foot of the bed. “Morning” he says “Morning” I say back as I sit up in bed. I feel a lot more awake now. “What time is it”? I ask again. He checks his watch “2:30”. 2:30?? I slept about 7 hours. It’s too late to go out so we sit out on the balcony and enjoy the night. He puts on the stereo and we listen to the radio. We’re both wide awake now, after 5 minutes of silence he asks “Do you wanna go out”? “OK”. I don’t know what there is to do at this time of night on a Sunday, but I’m full of energy after that power nap.
Start getting ready, brush teeth, change clothes do my hair and then we step out to leave at 3:00. We walk down the stairs and pass the room directly below us. I completely freeze as I hear a woman screaming from the room like someone is beating her. Paul and I both stop dead in our tracks and slowly turn around and look towards the room. We then look at each other and burst out laughing, she didn’t need our help after all.
We get in the car and Paul drives towards the west end. We stop at a bar that actually looked like a boat. I think it was called the Love Boat but I could be wrong. We go inside and there are quite a few people inside. A rasta singer is up on stage and Paul is loving him, he says he an old time reggae singer that was really popular in the seventies. We stay and dance until about 4:00, I throw down a couple of rum and cokes and then we leave to go check out somewhere else.
We drive further down the west end and see a little bar with a lot of cars parked outside and music blaring out of it. The place is called Miyard and we stop in to check it out. The place is tiny but people inside are having a great time sitting at the bar, talking and dancing and there was also a porch situated on the outside with tables and chairs. I order another rum and coke and we sit down at one of the tables on the porch. I’m having a good time minding my own business when this lady who has been wining up the edge of the wall (I don’t clearly understand why) asks me to join her. She reaches across Paul and grabs my hand and yanks on me to dance with the wall. I pull my hand back and tell her “No thanks, I think I’ll pass”. “Come on”. She slurs “Are you afraid”? Yes, lady you’re freaking me out actually, I think to myself. The look on Paul’s face is priceless, wish I had brought my camera.
He says “Are you ready for another drink”. I tell him sure and he goes and gets another. While he’s gone a girl comes over to chat with me. She says her friends all left the previous day and she is there on her own. It is her final night and she is trying not to go to sleep to make it last longer. Paul comes back with my drink, and she leaves soon after. “These girls are too friendly” he grumbles.
I finish that drink and we decide it’s time to leave, it’s now after 5:00. I get up and start walking towards the car with him. I see him laugh for no reason at all. “What”?! I finally say. “Are you drunk”? “No”. “You are”. “I am not”. I am. He laughs again and says “You can’t drink”. We get back to the hotel just in time to see the sun rising in the distance.
LOL, you gyals are too much.
Day 4 - Sunday
It is morning and we wake. Paul steps out on the balcony and says the car is gone, the mechanic picked it up early as he said he would. We get ready and leave to find some breakfast. We end up eating at the little restaurant beside the barbershop on James St. that we ate at so many times the previous trip. I order Ackee and Saltfish (again). I make sure to order tea with sweet milk, this is the place where I first tried it. Usually I would just poor it in from the little silver server but I see Paul pour it into the spoon and then stir it in. I look around and everyone else is doing the same. I follow and pour it in the spoon first, I might as well do this right.
We leave and head back to the room and kick back to watch some TV until the car is ready. 12:30 rolls around and the car has still not been returned so Paul goes to the lobby to try and contact the mechanic. I take this time to get some solace out on the balcony. It’s cool and cloudy, a calming day. I can tell that it rained during the night because of the various puddles around the parking lot. I remember the first time I met Paul and we went for a walk, how I was terrified to go more than so many yards from my safe all-inclusive resort. Now here I am 7 months later traipsing half way around the island with him. I’m so glad that foolish side of me took a chance.
Paul returns and is frustrated because he cannot get a hold of the mechanic and it is now after 1:00 which is the checkout time. As he is complaining to me on the balcony, the white station wagon pulls up. We grab our stuff and head to the car. We both check out the bodywork and it is perfect! The dent is nonexistent and the black scrapes are all gone. I am feeling a whole lot better.
The mechanic drives us back to his place where we drop him off, and we head up a little further again to Paul’s place. I wander off to his Aunt’s house and see who’s inside. Sitting at the kitchen table is Paul’s niece Tonya, the 17 year old Vanessa Williams lookalike and Kia his cousin who looks to be around my age. Tara smiles at me, I remember her from my previous visit. This is the first time I’ve seen Kia. Kia gets a big grin on her face and tells me to sit down with them so I do. She tells me she lives in Montego Bay and comes down every 4 weeks or so to spend time with the family. She also tells me about what she does for a living, she’s a promoter of reggae shows as well as fashion shows. I ask her if she can give me a job so I can move here. She talks excitedly about what she does and pulls out some advertisements with pictures of her models (I notice Tara in some of the ads) and she also brings out a whole closet full of beautiful formal dresses for her shows that she shares with me. Next she brings out the princess tiaras for the winners. I ask Tara if she ever won and she pouts NO. About this time Paul’s other cousin Nisha (the one laying on the bed with baby’s mom) comes up with a bowl of spicy chicken and rice and peas for me. “Paul said he made it and for you to eat it”. Nisha comes and joins the table with us. I feel really ridiculous being the only one of these four women with a bowl of food in front them so tell them to grab some forks and pick at it with me.
It’s been a couple of hours later now that I’ve been chatting with these girls. I stare out a little window in the kitchen. It looks like a frame encasing a picture of beautiful mountains and foliage, I comment on the pretty picture. I tell them I should head downstairs and see what’s been holding Paul up, I want to get going and make it back to Negril before dark. I put on my shoes and struggle with the buckle because of my useless false nails, Kia squats down and buckles it for me. I see a real kind hearted spirit in her. She walks with me down to the yard and I see Paul putting clothes up on the line. “Are you almost ready”? I ask him “Yeah, I was just washing up some clothes”. I sit and chat with Kia a bit more and Paul’s 5 year old niece approaches me “Hi again”. She says “Hello”! I say back to her. Kia says “That little girl knows how to dance”. I ask the girl if she can show me how she dances, she gets a sparkle in her eyes and starts dancing. I am shocked, she’s a dancehall queen in the making. I pull out the camcorder and start taking videos of her, that just gets her going even more. She must have asked me to rewind it at least 10 times so she could watch herself.
Paul announces he’s ready and hands me the keys - guess I’m driving. I back out of the carport in his yard and onto the road “Baby, you almost scratched the side, you’re going to mash up the car”. Oh no he didn’t just say that to me after his accident yesterday.
I make my way down the bumpy road, being careful to go around the potholes until I get to the main road.
I have a sudden lapse of memory, is it right or left side of the road I’m supposed to go on? I find my mind playing split second tricks on me like that. When I came home it was the same thing for the first week or two, I remember getting home and driving in the left hand side only to see cars coming towards me.
I make my way down the busy Ochi street and stop for some gas before we make our way back to Negril. Paul tells the gas attendant to put in 300JA. “Why don’t you just fill it up”? I ask. “Because we only need that much to get back to Negril”. We have another six days left with the car. Surely we’ll use a tank up in that amount of time I argue. He thinks I’m a waster and I think his reasoning makes no sense and we end up driving the next hour not saying two words to each other until we get to around Montego Bay. I realize men are from Mars and women are from Venus in no matter what country you’re in.
We get back to Negril in less than 3 hours with no problems, and it was still light out so I didn’t have to deal with driving in the dark. The ride from Ochi to Montego Bay is rougher, the road has occasional potholes that you have to constantly keep an eye out for. The trick for me was to follow behind other vehicles, when they jerked out of the way you knew to get ready because there was a pothole coming up. There was also a lot of construction work that I had to slow right down for. The road from Montego Bay to Negril was a breeze to drive on, beautiful newer road.
I am exhausted from driving by the time we get back to Fun Holiday. Unload the car and drop our stuff off in the room. Soon after we drag our selves to the Fun Holiday restaurant for dinner. The waitress asks what we want to drink, I order a fruit punch. Paul orders a Red Stripe. “Sorry, we have no Red Stripe”. “No Red Stripe”? I exclaim. “That’s like going to the grocery store and there’s no bread and milk”. He ends up having a fruit punch too. The sun is just about to set as we are served dinner. As it sets it turns from a golden globe to a fiery red one as it hits the water. The sky is a mix of pink and purple hues mixed in with a few white clouds. We have a good time eating and reminiscing about the previous night and I fill him in on my afternoon sitting with the girls in his Aunt’s kitchen. After dinner we head back up to the room and get some sleep before we go out.
I wake up and feel so drowsy and sleepy. I look over at Paul and he too looks half awake and half asleep. “What time is it”. I mumble. He looks at his watch “Midnight”. I really should get myself moving because I want to go out……….and I fall back asleep.
I awake some time later and he is watching TV at the foot of the bed. “Morning” he says “Morning” I say back as I sit up in bed. I feel a lot more awake now. “What time is it”? I ask again. He checks his watch “2:30”. 2:30?? I slept about 7 hours. It’s too late to go out so we sit out on the balcony and enjoy the night. He puts on the stereo and we listen to the radio. We’re both wide awake now, after 5 minutes of silence he asks “Do you wanna go out”? “OK”. I don’t know what there is to do at this time of night on a Sunday, but I’m full of energy after that power nap.
Start getting ready, brush teeth, change clothes do my hair and then we step out to leave at 3:00. We walk down the stairs and pass the room directly below us. I completely freeze as I hear a woman screaming from the room like someone is beating her. Paul and I both stop dead in our tracks and slowly turn around and look towards the room. We then look at each other and burst out laughing, she didn’t need our help after all.
We get in the car and Paul drives towards the west end. We stop at a bar that actually looked like a boat. I think it was called the Love Boat but I could be wrong. We go inside and there are quite a few people inside. A rasta singer is up on stage and Paul is loving him, he says he an old time reggae singer that was really popular in the seventies. We stay and dance until about 4:00, I throw down a couple of rum and cokes and then we leave to go check out somewhere else.
We drive further down the west end and see a little bar with a lot of cars parked outside and music blaring out of it. The place is called Miyard and we stop in to check it out. The place is tiny but people inside are having a great time sitting at the bar, talking and dancing and there was also a porch situated on the outside with tables and chairs. I order another rum and coke and we sit down at one of the tables on the porch. I’m having a good time minding my own business when this lady who has been wining up the edge of the wall (I don’t clearly understand why) asks me to join her. She reaches across Paul and grabs my hand and yanks on me to dance with the wall. I pull my hand back and tell her “No thanks, I think I’ll pass”. “Come on”. She slurs “Are you afraid”? Yes, lady you’re freaking me out actually, I think to myself. The look on Paul’s face is priceless, wish I had brought my camera.
He says “Are you ready for another drink”. I tell him sure and he goes and gets another. While he’s gone a girl comes over to chat with me. She says her friends all left the previous day and she is there on her own. It is her final night and she is trying not to go to sleep to make it last longer. Paul comes back with my drink, and she leaves soon after. “These girls are too friendly” he grumbles.
I finish that drink and we decide it’s time to leave, it’s now after 5:00. I get up and start walking towards the car with him. I see him laugh for no reason at all. “What”?! I finally say. “Are you drunk”? “No”. “You are”. “I am not”. I am. He laughs again and says “You can’t drink”. We get back to the hotel just in time to see the sun rising in the distance.
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