A few last thoughts:
I've been home for nine days -- nearly as long as I was in Negril this latest reach -- and I already miss it.
I enjoy a little MORE about Negril every time I visit .... First I was so satisfied just to chill in the ocean. Then I discovered off-resort little food stands and restaurants .... Then the locals themselves, then the boardies .... It's getting to be a more COMPLETE experience every time ....
This was the first time, ever, I did the whole trip on the Cliffs, none of the nights on the beach. I rather liked it that way. I love the ocean, and it's kind of nice not dealing with the sand. I visited the beach, a lot, but decided seven-mile is a nice place to visit but i wouldnt want to live there -- all within the context of a short vacation, of course.
I had zero problems with all the hagglers and beggars, but there are more of them than ever, and they're getting YOUNGER. I do not like the mentality of teaching the really young ones to beg. I know it's a different culture, I know it's not my place to say, but there is something about that rubs me the wrong way, and I wanted to put it out there. Ten-year-olds begging in front of their parents is uncool.
That said, I LOVE surprising locals with little gifts. Something I left out of the report: There was a young boy at Debars, kicking around a tin can, over and over and over again. The youngster was obviously a budding soccer player. Instead of giving the kid some money, or tracking down who his dad was -- I assume he is a relative or cousin or a nearby neighbor of Eddie -- I went to Sunshine Plaza one afternoon and bought him a little soccer ball. It was roughly the same price as a nice chicken lunch with a water plus tip, and the look on the kid's face when I gave him the soccer ball, it was worth it a hundred times over.
I love seeing the same locals over and over again. I like seeing Ann on the beach. I know she will be there, selling her wares, on the beach near Bar B Barn the next time I visit -- a month from now, a year from now, 10 years from now, i bet she will still be there. I like that a lot.
I miss saying ya mon. I miss riding my scooter down to the roundabout, pulling out 300 dollars from Scotia, and letting the wind take me. I miss stopping at two jerk stands in a row, taking the second batch to go. I miss sitting at a bar, smoking up with friends, and not feeling like a criminal. I miss floating in the ocean. I miss that a lot.
Soon come.
Originally Posted by rastagal
