Brasi Trip Report: January 2012

[brasi]

Brasi Trip Report January 2012
The End

Well all the planning, anticipation and DOING is over. It’s time to look back on the trip, and see what I learned…first, a few obvious Top 5 lists:

Memorable Times
1. Chilling in Belmond and remembering “Sarah”...and Obeah. F that. Done with that stuff.
2. Getting back to Negril and seeing familiar faces (as weird as it sounds)
3. Relaxing at Country Country and later, meeting T
4. Scooter Day (last day)
5. Jam Can, Night 3

Craziest Sights:
1. The mighty Californian, a warhorse and a cab. ‘Nuff said.
2. Mighty Californian throwing many $1000J bills onto the bar at the Jungle to the delight of perhaps 20 hookers, watchers, and passersby
3. Mighty Californian...add girls, rinse and repeat.
4. Rambo’s eyes at Seastar when I crashed my scooter (no damage).
5. A man recruited to be best man OFF OF Seastar Lane 10 minutes before a wedding LOL

Best Meals:
This list is so difficult. Not one meal I had was bad. But I just named the five most memorable without thinking about it too much.

1. Stewed Fish, Shades Cottages, Beldmond ($600 J)
2. Chicken Fingers (w. Francine’s amazing jerk sauce), Seastar Inn, West End
3. Curried Shrimp, Sunset on the Cliffs, West End
4. Saturday Night Buffet, Seastar Inn, Westend
5. (tie) Crab Cakes/Curry Goat Bentley’s Crab House, West End (amazing)
5. (tie) Ox Tail at Sips n Bites, West End

I learned that I have a Jamaican soul deep within me somewhere. I say with all due respect that I feel like the island is in my DNA. I used to believe that this was because I could party and be carefree there. But that’s only part of it. Maybe a private Facebook message I sent to a FB friend that I made here on Negril.com can sum it up best:

#
XXXX,

I am so depressed being back. I know I am a white middle class guy from NY. But I feel so at home in Jamaica. People think I am crazy for going alone, for going to Red Ground, Belmont etc. I think they are crazy for staying inside the 'safe' walls of a resort. I can tell you without a doubt that my heart is much happier when I am in Jamaica vs anywhere else.

I guess I love Jamaica because I don't feel judged. I don't feel chubby. I don't feel like I need to explain myself or pretend that I like something I do not. I dress as I wish. I can stop in almost any new place and make a friend. So much here in NY is based on how I look, what I do, my past, my status as a guy in a band...etc.

After nine trips I know the pitfalls, too. I know that "friends" in Jamaica almost always means a beneficial relationship of some kind...but I also know there are true friendships to be found.

I am trying to plan another trip in XXXXX, to stay sane…on this trip I realized that visiting is never going to be enough. Someday I will be at least a part-time Jamaican resident. My BEST times this trip were away from the tourist stuff…

It's a pleasure talking to you! Thanks for the chance to vent. LOL
#

This trip, I realized that my best friends…truth be told…are ones I’ve made through the love of Jamaica…through this common thread, a knowledge and awareness of the depth that such a magical place can create in all of us...uniting people from all over the world. Lots of that is thanks to Negril.com…and the community we’re lucky to have here.

So, my friends…that’s a wrap. Thanks for reading!

It’s time to start planning my NEXT reach.

Brasi