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

[Clarity]

….Continued from previous page


I woke up with a start and sat up in excitement. Only one thought was running through my mind:

I'm in JAMAICA!

I blinked my eyes trying to adjust to the darkness in the room. I crawled over Markus's sleeping body.. feeling with my hand for the edge of the bed. I didn't calculate the distance correctly and stumbled over the side into the divide between our bed and other empty bed. I literally fell onto the open yet still unpacked suitcases. I managed to get my footing and pulled myself up by grabbing the sheets. The only thing I could see was the alarm clock blinking “12:00” - I stared at it until I realized that it wasn't going to change. There was probably an electrical outage at some point and the clock was never reset.

I had no idea what time it was.

I guessed about 6:00 AM, but I fumbled for my cellphone in my purse.

Battery was dead.

The excitement of being in Negril was so strong, I thought my chest would burst. I couldn't wait for breakfast, ackee and saltfish and followed by a long swim in the ocean,,...we had made it, we were here and I wanted to make the most of every minute!!

I stumbled over to the television and ran my hands along the bottom looking for the “on” switch. Once I found that, the television flickered on and I saw a colorful spinning 3D logo that read “RE TV”, that broke into a loud reggae music video. I quickly lowered the volume and changed the channel until I reached the Jamaican weather channel to find out what time it was

12:12 AM. (seriously???)

That was a disappointing discovery. I know Manda will understand what I'm talking about.

I was wide awake and it was only a bit after midnight? I didn't know what to do with myself. I eventually gave up trying to sleep and stepped outside to the balcony for some fresh air.

The night was warm, Tree frogs were chirping loudly all around me.. and reggae music was drifting over from Alfred's next door. The palm tree leaves rustled in the soft breeze and I could hear the waves crashing on the shore in the distance.. and a drunk couple was walking across Grand Pineapple giggling and stumbling over themselves to their beachside cottage. I watched the light in the GP bar shut off and the staff quietly disperse.

It was so peaceful, just sitting there alone on that balcony..

My thoughts drifted back to the car ride from Montego Bay to Negril. Markus, Jamar and Chicken's laughter.. the spicy taste of Bigga's chicken.. the rolling landscape...

I found myself wondering what it must have been like for my father when he first arrived in Jamaica back in the 1960's. He was only 11 years old. I could picture him sitting beside his 8 year old brother, Junior, with his face pressed up against the car window ...watching the foreign lush landscape pass by.. Coming from his home in New York City to Kingston, Jamaica. He had no clue what he had in store for him. It must have been such a culture shock for a young child.

There aren't many pictures from that time in his life. I've only seen one. He is standing in a Jamaican school boy uniform. He is inbetween a group of school boys. His paleness made him stick out like a sore thumb, his blond curly hair was so light in that old black and white picture that it blended in with his skin.. parted on the left side and slicked down. He was standing up rod-straight. His expression was so serious and he was squinting in the bright sunlight. There was a rickity fence behind him and palm trees


*****Okay, I'm going to open up about a bit of personal history that I haven't shared yet with anyone but Rob and Lisa....*****


After my first trip to Jamaica, I traveled home to New York and asked my father about his time there during his youth. I wanted to know how he ended up in Jamaica of all places. When you're a kid, you hear these stories and It just makes sense.. You don't even question it. But now I wanted to know.

“My father was working 3 jobs and my mother was sick in the hospital. We had no one around to care for us. My brother and I were going to be put in Foster care...The family in Jamaica didn't want that to happen and they took us in for 4 years” My Dad explained.

What family? I needed answers.

“It was my uncle that took us in”

I had to take a second to digest that. I know very little about my father's side of the family. Sadly, I didn't even know that my grandfather had a brother. I know my great grandfather was from Scotland.. how did some family end up in Jamaica?

“So wait, that means I have relatives right now living in Jamaica?”

“Yes, of course”

“Where are they now?”

“I don't know, last I heard they were in Kingston, Mandeville and Sav la Mar. I lost touch with them in 1974. Unfortunately, I don't have any contact information anymore ”

He told me that My grandfather would have had more information, but sadly we're estranged. The only one that had close contact with him was my brother. Jared couldn't stand discord and made a point of doing everything possible to bring people together.

I remembered my last conversation with my brother, Jared shortly after he visted my grandfather for the last time. This was a few months before he passed away...

“Sis, we need to go to Jamaica...”

Suddenly it all made sense! It was like a light bulb turning on!

I signed up for the free trial at ancestry.com, but didn't find any good leads I had a some names but I was lacking a lot of important information (Date of birth..for example). The only thing I found were some ship records. My Grand uncle was listed as one of the travelers on a ship from England to Kingston, Jamaica in the early 1950's. That's where it stopped.

I realized that the only thing I could do at this point is ask around and see if anyone in Negril could help me. I didn't have high hopes, but I was definitely going to give it a shot. Now I knew in my heart that I HAD to go to Jamaica again and this was a bit more than just a vacation for me. I didn't know if I would find my family members on the Island and If I did find them, How would they respond? would they even accept me? Would I see a strong resemblance? I started imagining all these scenarios in my mind of what that initial encounter would be like...

I sat on the balcony for two more hours, just listening to the sounds of nature and contemplating life...

Until I was finally feeling exhausted enough to retire to bed.


****


The next time I woke up, it was 9:20 AM. The sunlight was streaming in from the open window and illuminating the bright yellow room. I was still tired and could have easily slept another few hours, but I was way too excited to do that.

I sat up straight and shook Markus awake “Jamaica! Jamaica! We're in Jamaica!”

Markus smiled and rubbed his eyes. “mmmm”

I gave him a kiss and jumped out of bed, (avoiding this suitcases this time). “I'm going to grab us some coffee... be right back!”

I ran into the bathroom and pulled on my bathingsuit, threw a sundress over it and ran out the front door.



I sprinted excitedly across the lawn, waving at the staff as I passed them.

First stop was the beach.. I wanted to feel my feet in the sand and stand on the edge of the water.

I love how the beach looks in the early morning...crystal clear calm waters, hardly any waves at all, It was so peaceful. I was surprised that Gilbert wasn't there doing his daily rounds.





I filled up two cups with coffee at the bar and carried them carefully back to our beachside cottage.*