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

[Angel]

Thank you for continuing Clarity. Markus hope you get to feeling better before heading home.

[Seveen]

get well soon markus

clarity - you are doing fine on your own- write on

jamar- sweet pea - i'm so glad jamaica sent you to your destiny - please add to the report - 'cause i feel my runaway upcoming too

jamaica jamaica! yeah baybee

[Clarity]

Thanks, Northerncaligirl, Angel!

Seveen - Aww, thanks! Markus is the better writer....I wish I had his way with words.
but I'll continue on - see how much more ground I can cover before I fall asleep tonight.

[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.*

[Clarity]

Markus was already wide awake when I returned and we enjoyed our first cup of coffee in Jamaica together on the balcony.



“I can't believe we're here... this is beautiful...I still feel like I'm dreaming”, Markus said looking around. The sun was shining brightly, the weather was perfect. “What's the plan for today?”

“Eat, swim, eat, swim...Tonight is the Canoe Website, we're going to meet Rob, Lisa and Bella Bea... then ladies night at the jungle”, I said

“Oh..geez, That's right...”The Jungle””, Markus laughed and rolled his eyes “I can't wait..”. He wasn't as fond of the Jungle idea as I was. He thought he would have to fend off a bunch of men trying to dagger his wife. (thanks TicToc for giving him THAT idea – I should never have shown him that footage! lol)

.. and to be honest, well...he was kind of right. We probably should have remained upstairs. But more about that later. I'm getting ahead of myself.

Once we finished our coffee, we walked to the buffet for breakfast.



(Here's some video footage markus took of the view from the balcony while we were getting ready to head out to breakfast)

Ackee and Saltfish... so delicious. I ate each bite slowly, savoring the taste. Pure heaven!



Markus ordered an omelette and he loved it.

Jamar arrived after we finished breakfast.



“I'm going to get a full body massage in 10 minutes...”, Jamar said sheepishly “so I can only have a quick cup of coffee with you guys”

Jamar smiled. He looked happy. Happier than I've seen him in a long time. I knew he'd be even happier after that massage.

“Okay, we'll meet you on the beach then” I told him.

[Clarity]

We headed out to the beach, and jumped into the water. The water was the perfect temperature. I was in bliss.



We decided to put on our snorkel gear and float around in search for shells or fish. I loved floating in the ocean with Markus, holding hands and pulling random shells out from the sand. We would examine them together in the water..kiss, laugh... It's like being kids again.

In those moments, there are no worries or stress. You're just there together and enjoying life. This is one of the many gifts that we get from Jamaica...one of the reasons we come back. This is what I look forward to the most...

...These beautiful moments in the ocean with Markus.

After an hour, Jamar joined us in the water, he looked really chill and relaxed. The massage did him good.

I got out of the water to order a dirty banana from the bar and I was approached by a man on the beach.

“Jetski ride?”, He asked.

I gazed at the Jetski bobbing in the water. It did look a little appealing but I'd never been in a Jetski before. It wasn't really my thing.

“Thank you but no.. we're just snorkeling” I said.

“You can take the Jetski out to the middle of the ocean and see some REAL fish”

Now he had my attention.

“People do that?”

“Yeah, Mon... just ride out to those corals” he pointed to the distance “Jump off and explore the ocean. You can put your snorkel gear right here in the front compartment. Your camera too, cause it's waterproof.”

I contemplated this.

“$40 for 30 minutes... For you, I'll give you 45 minutes”

I bit my lip and continued to contemplate this. It sounded like an adventure. “I've never driven a Jetski, is it hard to drive?”

“No, Mon – real easy” He smiled. He had a beautiful smile, but underneath that smile I could tell that he'd been trying all morning to get someone to ride his jetski without any luck and I felt compassion. I know it's hard during low season and His eyes looked hopeful.

Why not?

I looked at Markus, snorkeling in the distance. He would LOVE this.

“Okay, you've got a deal” I said shaking his hand. “Can you fit three people on that thing?”

“Yeah, mon”

“One minute”

I dove back into the ocean and started swimming towards Markus and Jamar.

To be continued....

[sandy-girl]

Interesting story Clarity. Wow! Your connection to Jamaica is very deep. Thanks so much for sharing this story.

I hope Markus gets better soon. And Jamar is moving to Thailand? Interesting indeed. Keep it coming!

[marley9808]

WOW!
That's about all I can say at this point!

I thought I was excited, interested and waiting anxiously for more before......HA! Now I am REALLY hooked!
Can't wait to hear more about all of it! And I hope Jamar does log back on and tell us his story, I am really interested to hear that as well!
Thanks Clarity for sharing with us
Markus, get better soon, and have a safe and hopefully fast journey home to your "Ooman"

[irie luv]

Clarity, your trip report is so moving, I can just imagine what else is in store. Whatever it is it must be very moving for you. Everthing happens for a reason. Again you have great writing skills, I always feel like I am right there experiencing it too. (I sent Jamar a PM, let him know). Thanks!!

[Jamerican71]

I'm enjoying this report. Do you have any names of your family in Kingston? It's a small world and you just never know if any of us have a connection.