Vacation

Hi! Haven’t blogged for awhile simply because life gets in the way sometimes. Work, family, vacation, laziness and writer’s block and not specifically in that order.  Just came back from Jamaica and it was a wonderfully short vacation. Really went down for a funeral but that’s another story.

Went to my cool hometown of Mandeville and wasn’t disappointed at all. Vibrant town and sea of people, always moving, colorful and bright! New buildings and hopefully new jobs were provided.

Jamaicans are so funny I swear. Maybe it’s a defense mechanism for the hardship of our lives and I know it’s also a cultural thing. Just look at Oliver Samuels and others that have gone international as well as the amount of theatrical productions (Root plays) we have where we basically have a huge laugh at our life’s situations at our own expense. We definitely have a helluva sense of humor.

My cousin Donna and I (real roots girl, down to earth and feisty) were in town one day getting food. As we were passing, this hawker says to her “yow shorty a cash fi gole dat yuh a wear enno, weh yuh a sey, waan eat a food”. I was dying laughing. Donna gave him such a look that would wither the most beautiful flower!! For those of you who don’t understand the dialect this is what he meant- He was hawking for the “Cash for Gold’ business and so when he saw the earrings (two gold pairs) Donna was wearing he was basically asking her if she wanted to sell him and earn some extra money to spend and get herself some lunch (or whatever). The way he leaned against the wall all nonchalant as he spoke and what he said, I was cracking up! The attitudes and slang, just plain funny.

 Donna also has a way of saying “give me a break/ please let me through” concerning traffic. We were in rush hour traffic, both pedestrian and vehicular. School children in colorful uniforms everywhere, workers going home, taxis jockeying for their attention, buses, mini-vans and private vehicles all wanting to get somewhere without exercising any patience but very skilful drivers none the less. All organized chaos. To me it was a mad-house. She would put her head through the window while skillfully negotiating the car and said “beg yuh it nuh man, yuh nuh si mi a beg yuh papa” without fail, they would give her a bligh (would yield to her) so we could be on our way.  I said this before in another blog post and I’ll say it again; Mandeville has some of the most generous drivers in JA.

I had a lot of fun in spite of the rain that hurricane Igor pelted us with during the week. I had steamed and roasted fishes, steamed bammies (cassava bread), roasted and fried golden brown breadfruit, stewed pork, chicken, ackee, all the good local dishes. The curried goat was out of this world, so yummy! I swear I am gonna get shares in “Juici Beef Patties”. My absolute favourite patties, savoury, flaky, light and oh-so delicious!! Wish I had the good sense to take some home with me. I had all that planned and somehow that plan got lost in the entire shuffle.

Family and I went to “Bubbling Spring” in St. Bess, a new local mineral bath with cold water. Very colorful place with beautiful grounds. We tried to go to the beach but Igor had other plans, the drenching-flood-watch lightening and thunder kind. We went to “Little Ochie” and had too much food, had to take some home. The late evening skies were pink and orange. I sat (waiting for the food) and watched as the water washed ashore and kissed the powdery sand over and over again and it was beautiful. There were people walking about, drinking, dining and music in the background, good vibes all around. It was just an amazing moment.

I simply cannot wait to go back home. I laughed so much my jaw hurts compliments of my cousins Donna and Kaymarie. Life can be so hard at times and sure sometimes things fall apart but I learned again and again that laughter is the best medicine and I have my cousins to thank for that. Donna’s motto is “trust God and live” and I am adopting same.

Lata people!!