Jamaican Adventures #2, an illustrated version

Good evening, darlings. It has been a thoroughly exhausting couple of days. Finally, now, some much needed quiet time at the hotel. I'm taking the opportunity to blog while my poor sleepy sweetheart takes a catnap. Yesterday was a busy family day, and today we went to Blossom's funeral, and these two days alone are jam-packed with stories. I'm therefore going to do an illustrated version of the blog so as to not get boring. 

Yesterday:

 In the morning we went to Emancipation Park... I'm not sure why freedom, which is what the park celebrates, is expressed by a naked man and woman with giant breasts and rather noteworthy genitalia (you can't really see it in the photos, but wow.), but it is a very impressive statue, and a beautiful park. So beautiful, in fact, that there was a wedding going on when we passed by.

 Then we drove to Spanish Town (no, I did not see one single Spanish person), where we went to "the fish market." The fish market, like most other businesses I've encountered here, turned our to be someones home, this time with a huge pond in the back containing, as we were informed, 10,000 fish...

 We bought a bucket. You can't tell, but yes, they were still alive and flopping. We ate them later that night. Yum.

 We passed a rainbow on the way home from the fish market, although it was dissipating as I took this picture. I think its a good omen that both times I've been out of the country I've seen rainbows, don't you?

 Jamaica is ripe with sugar cane... although I didn't think it looked like this. We ate some later that night, bought from a man with a tricked out shopping cart selling pieces in little sandwich bags. As I discovered, you don't actually eat sugar cane, nor is it always sweet. You bite down on the tough stalk and juice, sweet juice if you're lucky, gushes into your mouth. It was definitely delicious (I got a sweet one)... be careful not to bite the wrong way, though, the fibers will get lodged in your teeth.

Jamaica's got some interesting advertisements. This is just one of the many, although I think it is by far the funniest. Nice up yuh pot with cock. Oh, yeah. 

 After the fish market, we went to Seaview Gardens, the... for lack of a better word, village, where Delton grew up, for the "set up," which is a night-before-the-funeral gathering they do in Jamaica. Now, Seaview is pretty poor... people see Delton and assume that because he has a white girlfriend he is rich, and come up to him asking for money, even if they've never met him before. But the thing I love about these people is that they are happy. Perhaps it''s because they've never eaten at a five star restaurant, owned an iPod, or seen a big screen TV... or a camera, for that matter. And because I was probably the first white person they'd ever seen, and I have child magnetism, the neighborhood children... adorably funny kids with, of course, Jamaican accents, started coming out of the woodwork to look at me and my camera.

Then I let them use my camera on their own, because I remember the magic that cameras held for me as a child, and they had an absolute blast taking pictures of each other....and me.

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 And the kids just kept on comin'... I took the camera back to take a group shot

 This little one told me her name, but with her accent I couldn't understand it. Regardless, she was the cutest thing... she later fell asleep on me.

 Both children and adults alike play dominoes in Jamaica, and when I say the play, I might be understating it... they take dominoes seriously. They set up 3 tables, one for the adults, where Juliet (Delton's mother) sat all night kickin' some serious ass, and two that rotated with the throngs of children running around the street. Oh, yes, did I mention this party took place in the street? All the family and neighbors came out to enjoy music, food, company, and of course, dominoes. Delton joined the kiddes in this game, increasing his cuteness factor by a factor of about a thousand.

 This is Blossom's house... small, but cozy, and so full of happiness, even on the eve of her burial, that I wish I'd known the house when she'd been alive. I'm sure it was an even warmer place, if that's possible.

 I told you they love their dominoes. I obviously didn't take this picture, as I am in it. One of my cute Jamaican kiddies named JT took this one.

 This is the Peanut Man. Yes, that is a literal nickname. He rides this bike with some kind of steaming contraption attached to it up and down the streets of Seaview selling freshly roasted warm peanuts that were the best peanuts I've ever had. You always can tell when the Peanut Man is coming because the roasting machine on his bike whistles as it blows out steam.

 Delton and Apple were on a team... even though her trying to grab his dominoes didn't really help him win. The little girl in the red stripes is Alicia... She sat on my lap most of the night, the calmest child I've ever met... She was so fascinated with me that she didn't want to move or talk to anyone else, and when I had to get up she sat in my seat waiting for me to come back. She stroked my hair and told me with wonder in her voice that it is "so soft." The man in blue, Alicia's father, kept coming up to me and telling me she was his daughter and thanking me for taking care of her. He also informed me that he was 60-something. I'm sure he was trying to impress me.

 The beautiful Jamaica moon.

And again, today in the daylight. That's the only picture I have because one tries not to take too many photographs at a funeral.

I hope you've enjoyed the illustrated Jamaican adventures! Now for a brief Q&A courtesy of my dear Jen Brummer:

Q: So the weather is 80 huh?
A: Yes, the weather is 80, which made me feel terrible for Delton who had to wear a suit to the funeral today. Despite the heat, though, there is usually a beautiful cool breeze blowing, so it's never uncomfortable. Unless, as I said, you're in a suit. He's a trooper, though, and my, did he look handsome.


 Q: How's the food, like what do they usually eat? 
A: To be honest, the food was the one thing I was worried about before I came here. Whenever Delton says "Let's get Jamaican food tonight," my nose scrunches up. I just can't eat meat served on the bone, and Jamaican meat is not only served on the bone, but you're supposed to eat the bone, too. Having said that, I can now say that Jamaican food is delicious, I told myself I was going to eat whatever I was offered on this trip... so far I've had:


-Curry chicken with rice and peas (a.k.a. red beans), which I've had many times before when Delton has made it for me, and I love it.


- Sprat- little fish about 4 inches long that they cook and serve whole, about 3 or 4 on a plate. Delton came up to me last night with a plate of them and as a knee-jerk reaction I said no. When he insisted, I tried them, and was pleasantly surprised, after I resolved not to look at the head.


-Sugar cane


-Banana chips- I've had these at home, but man, are they good!


-Fishtail soup- a little salty for my taste, but still good, with really yummy dumplings in it.


-Ackee and saltfish- A traditional Jamaican breakfast, I didn't expect to like this either. Just the name turned me off. I had no idea what ackee was (a fruit, but not sweet), and I thought saltfish was going to be just what it sounded like- very salty fish. Besides my hangups on the name, I don't like the idea of fish for breakfast. I tried it, though, and it was so good. If we order breakfast again tomorrow that's what I'm getting.


Q: Are you staying at Delton's dad's house?
A: Nope, we're at a really beautiful hotel overlooking the city, but we have frequented Dudley's house... too small for us, I think.




Ok, I've spent lots of time writing this, and now I have to go wake up Delton and hope he doesn't bite my head off... He fell asleep too early to sleep all night.


Love to all, my darlings! And thanks for the questions, Jen!