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

[Clarity]

Markus is still sick in Germany with Bronchitis (the infection spread to his lungs, he saw a doctor again last week week & he's on new antibiotics – He's getting better) I'm going to continue this trip report so he'd have something to read in bed tonight.

***I'm sorry, This isn't going to be as interesting as Tic toc, Sweetness, Sprat, and Patty Sather's awesome on-site updates. I've been enjoying their reports so much– with a measure of guilt, because I know I've been a slacker and haven't finished my own TR yet. So here goes.... ****

Jamar will be chiming in too later this week, right now he's going through some life changing transitions. After the trip to Jamaica, he realized he wants to do and see more of the world..... so he's leaving the states and moving to Thailand. Yes, Thailand...

I'll let Jamar tell you more about that.

So we left off with Jamar on the beach...

He had just been approached by his first beach vendor... then another and another...

I watched nervously from the sidelines. This is the overwhelming part of being a newbie in Negril. I had prepared him for this. I remembered Markus's first experience. “are you disrespecting me, mon??” and his nervousness after that encounter. If you read our first TR, you already know, It took us a few days to get the hang of things.

I also knew that this was all so new to Jamar too. I started to get up to join him, but suddenly he started walking away with the group of five Jamaicans down the beach. Where was he going?

“Jamar!” I called out.

He turned around and gave me a thumbs up sign.

Hmmm... Okay. I sat there and felt a little uneasy. I knew he would be fine but I just didn't want him to get in over his head .

Markus shrugged “He'll be fine. Relax Honey.. we're in Negril. No worries.. look ...The sun is beginning to set..”

It was beautiful. We sat there on the beach chairs holding hands and taking it all in. Our hair was wet and skin still tingling from the salt water. (I neglected to mention that one of the first things I did was jump into the ocean.)

Yes, We had arrived



Jamar finally returned, looking a bit frazzled .

“You're already getting into trouble, aren't you?” I asked him

He nodded.

It was pretty surreal to be there together, in Jamaica.. on this beautiful stretch of beach with the sun setting...After a red eye flight and an almost 14 hour commute including the flights, layovers and the drive from Montego bay, we were in this strange dazed state of exhaustion and total excitement.



We sat together listening to the sound of lapping waves and watched the sun disappear entirely below the horizon.







Our first sunset, and I already knew this was going to be a vacation we were never going to forget.

Suddenly we heard someone yelling at us from the beach. “Hey!”

I squinted, they were just silhouettes... a man with short dreads and another one next to him with a baseball cap on. It took us a second to make out the faces. They were smiling and waving for us to come over.

It was Captain Sparrow and Shamma lamma ding dong! On our first trip we had taken a boat ride with them out to the coral reefs and went snorkeling.

We ran over to greet them. I couldn't believe they recognized and remembered us! Even our names, how crazy! Granted, we remember THEIR names, but those aren't exactly easy to forget.

They laughed and did the fist bump with me and Markus. We introduced them to Jamar.



“Where's your boat?”, I asked.

“We moved further down just that way - towards the all inclusive “beaches”.. If you want to go for another boat ride, you know where to find us.”

It was good to see familiar faces. We saw the young man that had cut open a mango for me on the beach. He was on his way home, empty black plastic bag looped into his belt.. He waved at me.

Negril suddenly felt like home to me. I know Markus had this feeling earlier.. as soon as he stepped off the plane. But for me, that was my “coming home” moment.

That when I thought about Maureen...

On our first trip to Negril, we spent the last night with Maureen at “For Real” Bar – we sat there with her for hours and she kept the bar open much later than closing time because she knew it was our last night .. We were the only ones there. She opened up to us about her life and we talked to her about ours. She left such an impression on me. She was beautiful, intelligent, street smart, funny and possessing so much inner strength. I kind of look up to her and I wanted to see her again. She made our last night in Negril really special and I never got to thank her for that.

“Hey Shamma – Do you know where I can find Maureen? She used to work at “For Real” bar , I know she has a new bar “sunnyside”now ...but I can't remember which way I'm supposed to walk on the beach to get there”

Shamma lamma ding dong pointed into the distance. To the right of the Grand Pineapple. “It's right down there, mon..you can see it from here. Green and Yellow. See it? I think Maureen left for the day, but Robert is there now. They're good people”

So we bid our farewells and headed down the beach towards Sunnyside bar....