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There is a you tube video... Makos kitchen? ... I will have to check on the name. Anyway, it is a series of videos some guys took of this Jamaican fellow cooking multiple meals. One of them, he is cooking eggs, and going on about how "Jamaicans" (his words, not mine) prefer eggs from the market, because they are better. Kind of made me laugh, as I try and buy farm eggs when and where I can in the US, avoiding the market eggs.
Ty K3, great visuals. Post when you can
It rained again late yesterday afternoon; a heavy downpour lasting about forty minutes. Then it cleared up and the stars came out. There are puddles all over the place and the ground is soaked. The tropical sun heats the earth and the humidity soars. Bea loves it – says it’s good for her skin. Great for the plants too, they’e flourishing. I find it kind of hot.
Walking to the gym this morning, about half way there, I felt a gentle brush on my skin just below my calf. I looked down; we’d picked up another ‘dog friend’. She followed us all the way there and waited outside the door until we were done. She’s a smallish, regular looking kind of beach dog. Pretty well fed, actually. I gave her some fresh pipe water in a bowl from the gym. She sniffed it but didn’t drink. I named her Tessanne.
We walked back towards center town. Tessanne must have been thirsty because she drank from the first mud puddle she came across. Bea popped into Zhang’s Wang and bought a small can of cocktail wieners, for Tessanne. She opened the can and offered the dog a wiener. Tessanne sniffed at it but she didn’t eat it. I don’t blame her, I wouldn’t eat one of those things either.
Center Town was very busy, even busier than it was Christmas Eve. Everybody seems happy too. All pumped up for New Year’s it seems.
We stopped in at Hammond’s for coco bread. The place was jammed, patties and baked goods literally flying out of there. The young lady behind the counter had her hair up in curlers, the foam-covered, bendy kind. We saw many women walking around with their hair in curlers. One woman had her hair covered in a shower cap kind of thingy. I love the way Jamaican women dress up and do their hair and makeup; they look soo goood.
Ladies, maybe you have experienced this: Some Jamaican men will rudely butt in front of you when you are in a queue? They hold their money out and order in a loud voice. It happens to Bea frequently. But today she stood her ground. She wouldn’t let the guy butt in and she held her money out and ordered loudly, right there in the Hammond Bakery – you go girl!
Then we went and picked up some more stuff – seems we shop for a little bit of food almost every day. Unlike back at home where we go to Costco once a week and come out with two hundred pounds of stuff. We stopped in at several places, here’s what we picked up: ackee, tomatoes, water crackers, papayas, diet coke for rum mix, callaloo, onions, plantain chips and six packs of jackass corn. What’s jackass corn, you might ask? Little snack biscuits, see the photo below. I love ‘em, but not as much as gizzadas.
Tessanne stuck with us the whole way. I introduced her to a group of six Jehovah’s Witness ladies who were standing on the sidewalk at the traffic circle. When they heard that I’d named the dog Tessanne, two laughed out loud and one said, “Oh no, not Tessanne!” Then she asked, “Does she sing for you?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“I guess it’s OK then,” she said. Then she offered me a Watchtower.
We also scored six eggs at the Quality Traders! We had to ask at the cash, because the egg racks were empty. They had a limited supply of eggs hidden in a cabinet near the cash. I felt like we were buying contraband. In fact the whole store looked like it had been ransacked by a voracious mob. There are lots of new arrivals in town who are stocking up.
So we are ready for New Year’s Eve; we’re having some guests over tonight before we strike out for the beach.
Right now I hear loud music coming up from town, which is not unusual, but today it’s earlier and louder than normal. Celine Dion (arrrrgghhh!) and Kenny Rogers feature prominently. They must be ‘testing’ their speakers.
We’re looking forward to this evening. Tonight we’re gonna party like it’s 1989 – because back then, I could really party.
Happy New Year Y’all!!!!
Likkle more . . . . . .
Oranges that are green.
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Another view of a Cottonwood tree, this one out front at Charela's
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Jackass Corn - but no corn listed in the ingredients?
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I get cut in line alot too. I guess they think I'm standing there for decoration or something?? Lol!
those "green oranges" look like tangerines..
Jackass corn..is flour and the grated coconut with sugar and spices..no baking powder so it is tuff enuf to bruk out yu teet!
love the angle of the pic of the tree
Never heard of Jackass Corn... where de ginger bulla dem?
I think the green oranges are tangerines too. Snacked on a few in Dec.
The good people on this board often ask what they can bring down for some of the more needy people in and around Negril, and lots of people do that. Great. But there’s a serious shortage that has recently come to my attention; and it’s one that you are probably not aware of. This shortage is acute and it affects just one segment of the population here; young men.
But what is this shortage?
Belts.
Don’t laugh. The young men of Negril are having problems keeping their pants up. There are asses hanging out all over the place.
So if you have some spare belts in your closet, and who doesn’t? Bring them down, and pass them around. Size 28 thru 30 would be about right.
Nuf said.
Every time we walk through the Cambio/Value Master plaza there is a change guy that calls out, “HEY! . . Change, buddy?”
Same dude, every time, like clockwork. “HEY! . . Change, buddy?”
He’s probably asked me at least forty or fifty times by now. I always say, “No.” Or I just shake my head. Sometimes I just flat out ignore him. But I’ll tell yah what, it’s startin’ to wear on me.
Usually he’s sitting on a curb with a bunch of other change guys or taxi drivers, so he just shouts out. But today he was close enough that he approached me and stepped right up beside me.
“Change, Buddy? Good rate, one hundred five.”
“That is a good rate,” I said. “So I give you one hundred Canadian and you give me ten thousand five hundred Jamaican?”
“Oh . . . ninety-seven for Canadian.”
“Oh, so you assumed I was American?”
He just shrugged his shoulders, “Ninety-seven for Canadian,” he said again.
I never deal with the change guys, but a couple of years ago, for some odd reason, I succumbed to one of their solicitations and entered into a transaction with him. Of course, he tried to short-change me with the razzle-dazzle money shuffle, but I picked up on it and backed out of the deal at the last minute. I know there are some change guys that are legit, but I think most of the ones that approach you on the street are shysters and hustlers.
So, I wasn’t about to go for the ‘ninety-seven for Canadian’ that I’d just been offered. But I thought I’d have a go at stopping the change guy from shouting at me every time that I passed. So I said to him, “Listen, I never deal with change guys, nothing personal, I just don’t. So, I’m gonna save you some time. Take a good look at me,” I pointed to my face.
“Yeah,” he said.
“I am never, ever, going to change money with you. Never. So the next time you see my face, you can save yourself some time and just don’t bother asking.”
Sounds harsh, but I said it as nicely as I could.
“OK,” he said, and walked away.
Next time I passed him he looked me right in the face and said, “HEY! . . Change, buddy?”
This sign was posted on New Year's morning. Just in case you need an early break from reality.
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This is where Jango works, now that he's been unchained. Smith's barber shop.
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I love this notice - come and learn bar tending - at the Catholic Church.
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This is put up by a gym - workout - then get shyte-faced on jello shots. I'm thinking of going.
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Yeah those change guys can be annoying as heck sometimes.
We travel around Negril with our friend Doc most of the time so it weeds out some of the chatter that we would get normally on our own. I know they are just trying to make a living and I can respect that but I have been around and don't appreciate someone trying to hustle me.
I have even had to correct some of the workers in the Cambio a time or two with counting errors. It happens.
I don't know how much those guys actually make in a day but its gotta be worth it because they are out there rain or shine!
[QUOTE=Kahuna3;118352]
Next time I passed him he looked me right in the face and said, “HEY! . . Change, buddy?”
Yes suh! Nohing you can do to stop a man from trying..................
Is his name Eric? Persistent guy? I think I met him ( no I don't exchange $ with the "boys")
On the Coconuts International pic: Sadly, they had no brownies yesterday evening - I didn't ask about the mushrooms. Just a tease I guess... :(
heh heh on the 'change money?' guy; I've been here a few years and he still calls to me :rolleyes:
Wow, I miss my Negril! I haven't been home for 3 years, and haven't been on this forum for a long time.
Thanks for posting! Everything looks so different.
I have to get back soon!
Thanks again, and cheers.
Didn't ask him his name. Persistent?!! Yes, as persistent as a mosquito in your ear in the middle of the night.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lady Jane
Another beautiful day here in Negril. It hasn’t rained for a few days now, so the humidity is down and it feels cooler. Cooler in relative terms, of course. Back home it’s -27C with a -39C wind chill. When it’s that cold, the snow crunches when you walk on it.
If I was back home I would be in hibernation mode – sometimes, when the weather is real bad, I don’t leave the house for three or four days. So I’m happy to be here in Jamaica! The windows are all open, the birds are singing and I can hear children playing in the yard next door. And we have another two months here :)
We’ve noticed that things have quieted down quite a bit since the big, frenetic lead-up to Christmas and New Year’s. No more loud music coming up from town and the frequency of the ‘advertising cars’ driving through the neighbourhood – the cars with loudspeakers on the roof – has dropped right off. Even the dogs have chilled out. Quieter is better.
This morning we were walking up Hermitage Road, returning with our daily haul of groceries. I was feeling like a packhorse; sweat on my brow, trudging up an incline, my backpack loaded down and carrying heavy black grocery bags in each hand. We rounded a curve and someone called out, “Hello, Bea!”
It was a male voice. I glanced in the direction from which it had come. I didn’t see anyone, but we were walking past a small raised clapboard house. It was perched precariously on pinnacles of mortared stones. The windows were slatted, half open. I assumed the man had called from within.
“Hi!” Bea called, and waved toward the house.
“All right,” the voice answered.
“Who’s that?” I asked
“Mikey,” she replied.
“Mikey?”
“Yup, Mikey.”
“Who’s Mikey?”
“Oh, he saw me walking alone the other day and he walked with me a bit and asked me if I had a Jamaican boyfriend.”
“. . . and?” I asked.
“I told him I was all set.”
A white woman walking alone in Negril is likely to be approached by a Jamaican man (or a steady stream of them!) and propositioned. They are constantly on the lookout to recruit a ‘sugar momma’ from foreign who will provide them with money and trinkets for their ‘company’. The ideal situation for the man would be to have a virtual harem of several sugar mommas who wire him money throughout the year and bring presents down when they come to visit.
We have a new friend, Toya. A young Jamaican woman. We’ve had some interesting conversations with her. More later.
Likkle more . . . .
This is a new store on the Sav road across from the bus park. They mashed down a big block house that was there before. Check out the parking. The owner is related to the Chiny Man store owner in town.
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Perfect palm, perfect sky, perfect day - Negril
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Sometimes I wish I had a better camera for opportunities like this.
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“Hi!” Bea called, and waved toward the house.
“All right,” the voice answered.
“Who’s that?” I asked
“Mikey,” she replied.
“Mikey?”
“Yup, Mikey.”
“Who’s Mikey?”
“Oh, he saw me walking alone the other day and he walked with me a bit and asked me if I had a Jamaican boyfriend.”
“. . . and?” I asked.
“I told him I was all set.”
Too funny!
"Sometimes I wish I had a better camera for opportunities like this."
Everytime you post pictures I wish I was the guy behind the camera taking them, even with your camera :-)
And the next three post are quotes.....
"A white woman walking alone in Negril is likely to be approached by a Jamaican man (or a steady stream of them!) and propositioned. They are constantly on the lookout to recruit a ‘sugar momma’ from foreign who will provide them with money and trinkets for their ‘company’. The ideal situation for the man would be to have a virtual harem of several sugar mommas who wire him money throughout the year and bring presents down when they come to visit."
really???????
i hadn't noticed this before. Is this why the line is so long at Western Union? Is this why beach boys get territorial when speaking to a white chick?
Seriously though, I cannot even imagine how some of these dudes do it. Vick's Vapor Rub?
Quote:
Originally Posted by booger
I know, for people who have visited Negril I'm stating the obvious. But when I'm writing I have a particular reader in mind, and that person knows very little about Negril.
By the way Booger, your comment in another thread about a 62 year old person in the context of a senior citizen hurt me, bro. Cut me right to the quick :)
Vick's Vapor Rub!? I'm speechless!
Lol
Jamadian - Your time will soon come.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jamadian
I just had a Jamaica moment; I was out in the yard looking around and checking the weather (it’s cloudy) when I observed six little green parrots gathered in an ackee tree. They squawked at each other for a few minutes, hopped from branch to branch, and then flew off in a loose gaggle to who knows where. It’s the first time I’ve seen these parrots in the wild. They’re called the yellow-billed amazon and are endemic to the island. It was so cool to see them!
Here’s another Jamaica moment:
“Did you know that the coconut is the only food that goes into the body and washes the heart?” the man asked me. He was selling jelly coconuts from the back of his truck which was loaded with coconuts and sugar cane.
“No, I wasn’t aware of that,” I replied.
“Yah, mon, it does,” he assured me, “it cleans aroun’ de heart.” He gestured with his hands, like he was washing a heart, I guess.
I was thirsty, so I said, “Well, in that case you’d better give me one. My heart could do with some cleaning.”
“Two hundred,” he said.
We call it ‘Dead Man’s Corner’. Others call it ‘Mandrix Corner’ for reasons unknown to me. Most people know it by ‘The Church Corner’. But all will agree; it’s a dangerous piece of road to walk on, no matter what you call it. It could rightly be called ‘Dead Woman’s Corner’, since a woman who was walking the road was run down by a truck there not long ago. Sadly, she died.
The corner is blind in both directions, it’s sharp and it’s on a hill. On one side there is a tall concrete wall which completely blocks the visibility of vehicles entering the corner. That is where the woman was run down. We often take the alternate route down into center-town, specifically to avoid Dead Man’s Corner.
The corner is tricky to negotiate while walking; there is no sidewalk. When walking westbound, up the hill, we stop just before the corner on a grassy verge and look back along the road. We wait until we see a big gap in the approaching traffic and then book it up the hill and around the corner. Most locals just walk blithely around the corner, leaving it to fate whether they will make it unscathed to the ‘safer’ part of the road.
For the most part, drivers approaching from either direction don’t slow down a bit, they just lean on the horn and take it on good faith that they won’t run someone down.
If and when the proposed West End sidewalk materializes, it will be a great day for people who walk this section of the road. Until then, we will be very careful, fully alert and cross our fingers when we walk Dead Man’s Corner.
Dead Man's Corner
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Yeah!! Chicken has arrived at the Corner Bar.
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23/7 - gone but not forgotten. I loved that place, and I miss it.
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Kahuna, Mandrix was the British version of Quaaludes. Back in the old days (before my time) they were supposedly easy to acquire, and contributed to many crashes on that corner...so the story goes :)
Yes that's true. That was then...this is nowQuote:
Originally Posted by Lorax2
In our group of Friends the Corner Bar is referred to as Charlies Bar. Mostly because our friend Charlie could have bought the place with the amount of Red Stripe he has drank there over the years.
I look forward to visiting it a few times while we are on this reach! :)
Mandrix Corner,,,,,hhhmmmmmmm. Not sure if I ever heard that term before.......you, K3?? Stay out of the way,.....otherwise, your **** gets run over! Have a Nice Day.
Yeah, that was the name back in the days of the wild, wild West (End). I think it is actually spelled Mandrax but by any name it has been a deadly area to walk. I haven't heard that term in years. The West End was very different back then, much more rustic. Does the name Rocky Dell's jog any old timers memories?
Could you share this info?Quote:
Originally Posted by Kahuna3
We usually try to walk fast while glued against the wall
Yes; we walk all over and would appreciate any advise.
I'll admit we practically cling to the Church side wall and pray a lot while walking this stretch aback to Seastar.
The Corner Bar is where?
Glued to the wall, that's what we do also.
OK, time for a good ole caption contest.
I spotted this little guy - a fine specimen of the Jamaican Cactus Erectus - in a vacant lot not far from our place. Standing proud and tall. Only in Jamaica.
We need a caption or a nick-name for this fellow. Any suggestions?
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How about "Spike" for the cactus
With a warped imagination like mine it looks like a fellow standing with his arms up and a big bamboo sticking out :-)
Oh My , the Penis guy!
Dick Hertz ?
"Don't shoot! It's not loaded!"
Hugh Jorgen ?
" Fishy", isn't that a Tuna Cactus?
I just wanted to Thank You for the gizzada tip, they were delicious!
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Looks Yummy, gotta find that place when we get there on Wednesday, these next two days are going to be unbearable. Thanks for the tip K3.
now that is too funny!Quote:
Originally Posted by Lorax2