Loving your report...thanks for sharing!
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Loving your report...thanks for sharing!
Saturday- I tell Glen that each and every day, we have to do something interesting. He just looks at me. Ok, so, I explain, I don’t want to wake up Friday morning, the day before we leave and realize we have done nothing but succumb to sand gravity and pina colada’s. He is a bit troubled by this, so I explain at breakfast, I have tried 2 new fruits…..star apple and jack fruit……and I qualify that as interesting. He seems to think he can do this, if it is that simple.
We head down to the beach, stake our claim on 2 chairs in the shade and proceed to hang out.
Glen’s niece and hubby stopped by later in the afternoon and we follow them to Club RIU Negril. A group of the people with the niece had arranged a guys fishing trip, so hubby went out with them.
Sara (my niece) and I hung out on the very end of Club Negrils beach. It was very quiet and calm and I really enjoyed it there. Sara borrowed my swim goggles and caught a sea urchin. Man are those things creepy!!
Only one of the 5 guys that went fishing caught more than a buzz. Brent caught a tuna and handed it over to the ships captain.
Glen and I head back to the RIU Tropical Bay and freshen up and take in dinner for the evening. As always, dinner was fantastic, service was great and the red wine was flowing.
We make it back to the room and crash, knowing we had accomplished a couple of interesting things………fishing and eating new fruits.
Sunday
HUNGOVER. I am able to shower, put on my suit and sunglasses and make it to the beach. Hoping downing lots of water and a swim in the healing waters will cure me. It makes me feel much better, but Glen not so much. We literally have no ambition mentally or physically and retire for naps to the room around 3 pm.
Here is where we discover the clock in our room is not keeping accurate time. I ask Glen what time it is when we wake up. He stretches and tells me 4 pm. At this point, I know the sun has set and it is DARK out. I check my computer and tell him it is now 8 pm in Wisconsin. What time does it make it here? We have a brief argument about 1 hour later or 1 hour earlier and then I tell him lets figure it out later and get room service.
We order nachos and fixings, ceasar salad with grilled chicken, raspberry cheese cake and a fruit plate. Everything comes except the fruit plate. No big deal. The food is good and fresh and we really enjoyed it in our jammies.
Nothing interesting except this bird that would not let me eat my lunch alone.
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Monday
I get up and go for my 1st run in Negril. I run about 2 miles and then jump in the ocean with my running clothing on. All winter, I have been running on either a treadmill inside or outside with lots of gear on- long underwear, ski mask, etc. So, this run in just my sports bra and shorts feels fantastic.
We shower and go for breakfast. I decide today that I am going back to eating clean like I do at home. I have a self diagnosed gluten sensitivity and pretty much eat no wheat at home. Here…..beer, pancakes, festival, cocoa bread, bammy, pasta, patties, battered and deep fried stuff…oh boy. I sure like that stuff but it really doesn’t like me. Glen and I make the agreement that I will keep him in sunscreen and he will keep the bread off my plate.
Breakfast is yogurt and fruit for me. Feeling good…….eating right and even got some exercise in.
After breakfast, we rent a cell phone from one of the tour guides and call home. I leave a message for my daughter and speak with my Mom and all is well at home. I give Mom our cell phone number while in Jamaica to call if there is an emergency. She wants to know how much it will cost her to call the number. I tell her that I don’t know, but if it is an emergency, I will reimburse her whatever the cost is. She is so funny!!
We then decide to take a taxi up the road to the long beach. Bloody Bay is very nice and our resort is very nice, but we are really missing the long beach. We both agree that we will not be back to stay at Bloody Bay. We like the vibe of the long bay much better. Anyhow, to save a few bucks, we walk out of the resort and walk up the road about ½ mile, cross over and wave down a red plate. We ask the driver how much for a ride to Bar B Barn? He says $8 US. We agreed to same. I know, could have gotten it much cheaper, but we were already saving like $20 over what the resort taxi was going to charge us.
We go down the road a little ways and the driver pulls over and asks if he can take on 1 more passenger. She is a young, pretty Jamaican girl and we tell him that is fine. This girl was really friendly. She tells us she works at Couples Negril and she loves it. She loves her job and employer and what she does. She was such a breath of fresh air.
We get dropped off at Bar B Barn, give the driver $10 US and tell him to keep the change. He gives us a “Jah Bless” and into Bar B Barn we go. We were hoping to see the security guard from last year….I think his name was Michael. We don’t see him, so we head up to the beach.
The spring break crowd is in full force on this end of the beach. Loud music and parties and beach games going on at most hotels.
We get by Legends and Glen reminds me the author of the book I bought him (Walk Good) stayed there. I almost gasp…..my husband does not read but apparently Walk Good has him entranced.
We stop in and see Toni the Carver. Of course he remembers us………well he remembers the face but cannot remember the name. We hear that one an awful lot!!
We decide to stop at Alfred’s for a Stripe and it starts to rain and boy did it rain. We hang out at Alfred’s for 2 or 3 beers. There is this 50-60 year old Caucasion woman with dreads sitting right in front of us. I tell Glen that I think it is Christine from Dumplins. He disagrees. Finally, she stands up to leave and I ask her if she is Christine. The lady with her starts laughing and says her 2 best friends on the island…..Christine and Miriam look alike but have never met. Apparently we have just met Miriam.
The rain starts to let up and we head further up the beach. We stop at Whistling Bird and spend a good deal of time with Lilly. We leave there with a big fat buzz and some jewelry. We both decide we really like Whistling Bird and just might have to try it there next time around. Seriously, cold beer, Lilly is a hoot and if you want to shop for jewelry, she will bring out her huge bag of goods and dump it on the bar for you to pick thru. Once you find something you like, start the negotiating, but be prepared to lose cuz she is tough.
We decide it is time for us to get much closer to home. It is starting to get dark and we still have to get a cab home. Last stop of the day……..Cosmo’s for dirty bananas and conch bits.
We make it home and get showered and head down for dinner. We head down to the buffet and end up sitting right in between 2 couples who are both from Germany. The one couple speaks very good English, the other couple marginal. Now keep in mind, these 2 “Kraut Couples” (as we call them) are traveling together and they have these conversations in German right over the top of us. Now, we, after an entire day on the beach are pretty loaded and can’t quit giggling at how funny they sound.
Glen decides because he is German, well his Grandparents were, he must have something in common with them. They ask him where his Grandparents were from and he looks at me……I am a bit of a genealogist…I tell him I have to pull up Ancestry.com before I could be sure. The one Kraut Couple seem to think he must be of Bavarian heritage since that is how he looks.
After dinner, we decide it would be best if we have an early night……..Captain Moses is picking us up for snorkeling at 8 am tomorrow morning. YEP we found him today…..forgot to tell you about that!!
We had back to the room. As we are walking back, we notice a white guy and a staff member running past us. When we came across the 80 year old woman with her forehead split open, we quickly understood why they were running. What we find is this lady on a sofa with her head hanging over the side dripping blood (and A LOT of it) on the sidewalk. He husband is just standing there looking lost. Now, I am not a nurse or a doctor. My medical back ground consists of a CPR class in 1985 and raising 2 children and I handle injuries for an insurance company, so I have read a lot of stuff on head injuries. But, that is it.
I jumped in. Told her husband that we needed to get her feet elevated and asked him to find a towel and some ice…….and did anyone call for a medic? Apparently the 2 runners were going to get the doctor who is on staff.
I begin talking to this sweet lady. She is extremely coherent. Oh my gosh, there is a lot of blood. Lets keep pressure on it. Does your neck hurt? Do you taste blood (trying to figure out if her nose is broken)? Her neck is fine. She can breathe fine. She is just so sorry to have put us all thru this. I find myself checking her pulse….it is strong. Do you know what day it is? Monday (I didn’t even know that). She can answer all questions, so feeling pretty good that perhaps this might just be a flesh wound. The doctor and a few staff show up with a wheel chair, a bunch of gauze and whisk her away.
At this point, I realize a few other guests have congregated. They all indicate that we really should call an ambulance and get this poor woman to a hospital. All I can do is shake my head. Have they read nothing? Ambulance? Hospital? We are not in Canada or the US. We are in a 3rd world country. Nearest hospital….likely Sav… I wouldn’t want to go there. I begin praying that my new friend will not have to go to a hospital and that the house doctor can bandage her up. I tell Glen that I think we should go with her and her husband. Glen tells me I have done enough.
We get back to the room and I realize my hands are covered in blood. I am not even creeped out. I wash my hands several times with good hot water and lots of soap.
We both fall into bed and lights are out by 9 pm.
Nice report.
I hope the lady got fixed up by the doctor.
Really Enjoying your trip report so far and the pictures!
Wow, I hope that woman is okay, It sounds like it was a really bad head wound based on your description and all the blood. Yikes!!:eek:
That was really nice that you were there to take the reins for a minute. Sounds like you know exactly what to do, and are very caring of others. Bet your husband was so proud of you. Loving the trip report please continue!
.....Ok you wet up my eyes......YES!Quote:
Originally Posted by Jamaica Joleen
Great report Joleen. Glad you are having a good time, that smile cannot lie. The emergency story is particularly vivid. Nice work there, your actions and your writing.