Clarity, Markus and Jamar in Negril – Nov 2011 Trip Report: Day 1-3

[jamariquoi]

So finally I get the chance to sit down and write about my experiences in Jamaica!

First off I want to apologize to everyone that’s been eagerly anticipating my response to such an interesting trip. To start things off, the night before our departure for Jamaica, I was feeling very nervous. So nervous that I couldn’t sleep I was putting more into this trip than I ever have a trip before. I’ve been to numerous places around the globe, from Paris all the way to Thailand,
but somehow I thought this trip was going to be just a little bit different because this was the first country for me that is predominately a Black Country…. Not to make this about race but I was thinking how this trip was going to affect me considering that the faces I’ll be staring at would be almost like looking at your own reflection in a mirror. How are these people going to perceive me?
Will they like me? Will they look at me with envy due to the fact that I’m coming from America (“Land of opportunity and immense wealth”- at least in their minds ) These were the thoughts that were running through my head even before I could set foot on the plane to begin my adventures. I was afraid by what I was going to see… you read often in the news or see on TV about the poverty in these countries, but I was going to be seeing this up close and personal...

Finally after a fairly short flight (I felt it was shorter than what I imagined, but maybe because of the anxiousness I felt) we land in Jamaica!!!

Upon arriving into Montego Bay, the one emotion that hit me the most was Insecurity! I felt this sense of insecurity come over me as many of the locals were staring at me! We’re they staring at me with disgust? We’re they staring at me because they were intrigued by me (Seeing as how I looked the quintessential foreigner)? That was the thoughts I was experiencing as I was trying to look and act excited when talking with my friends Markus and Daisy.

So we find our driver… His name is Chicken- it’s so funny because that’s his nickname! I noticed that everyone in Jamaica has nickname that they’re called. In my family it’s the same way (You never get called by your real name but by a nickname based on your personality or behavior from start of birth- Don’t laugh, but my family calls me “SCOOP”- not really sure why, I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’m greedy and eat all the time)

Anyway, digressed a little there, so when I met Chicken, I felt a little more at ease and he put me there, we had such a great conversation on the road to Negril, we talked about similarities in the Jamaican culture and the African American culture and based from talking with him, I could see that there were a lot more similarities than differences. We stopped along the way to have a quick beer and chatted some more…


Bar we stopped at.

Based from talking to Chicken, the first Jamaican I spoke to by the way, I was starting to feel a little at ease, but was I still feeling insecure?

Oh Hell YES!!!!!!!



So Chicken stopped us by Bigga’s for some Jerk Chicken, my first jerk chicken ever experienced…
Markus and Daisy told me about Bigga and his famous chicken so I was eagerly excited to try it…


Biggas.

So we ordered and Bigga sprinkles that Jerk Sauce on…. Let me tell you,
it was the hottest hot sauce I ever experienced… I’m sure many of you that are reading this are probably scoffing at this or laughing deep down inside… but for me, who hates anything really spicy or don’t have a knack for the flavor, this was HOT!!!!!! So I had to resort to mixing it with some Ketchup but all in all it was real good and enjoyed it very much!


Me, Markus and Chicken at Biggas

More coming soon