Rumpolephoreskin's Existential Wanderings in and Around Negril

[Crusher]

That's awesome.

[Rum-polephoreskin]

I brought my field notes with me to work today.
I was going to outline the rest of my trip report - then type it up at my lightening pace.
I discovered the vacation must have blossomed on day three.
After half of day #3 I only have the most skelatal notes.

I'd be lost without my camera.
It downloaded each day into a separate folder.
So I'll structure my outline after my pictures.

I recall my worst night I literally bounced continually off Samsara's walls to maintain equilibrium.
That will be a delicate vignette to spin out (in order to protect the innocent).

[Rum-polephoreskin]

Day 3(from the skeletal notes)

As I said Mrs. Peel went to bed feeling much more spritely and woke up the same way.
Can't say what we did first but it was fun. A likkle coffee on the deck and I was putting the nooses on my ankles for a tow job.
No that's not something dirty. We had an inflatable raft and I towed Mrs. Peel around on it. This morning we headed North from Xtabi (toward the 7 mile beach).

The waves were rolling and swelling gently that day and I believe there was a mild north wind blowing. I'd gotten stung by a jelly fish the day before so I was keeping a watch out for them. Damn translucent fish (or whatever they technically are). I was wearing competitive swimming goggles and I have to say that they worked just as well as a mask and snorkel for under water viewing.

I prefer to swim the crawl stroke (sometimes erroneously called freestyle) when I can. In open water that can be tricky because it's easy to veer off course. Mrs. Peel had the reins so that wasn't a problem. I spotted a large school of good sized fish with an iridescent blue stripe. I also saw two lion fish on the way back. They were in deep water, posing no threat and I didn't know yet that they were an invasive species. I did know they were poisonous but so are jelly fish and they're a lot harder to see.

We swam to the ladder pod at Blue Castle. I don't know why I didn't pull out there for a rest, but the place gave me a strange, uncomfortable vibe. I didn't like the way people there were milling about on the land. They seemed very unsettled, unrelaxed. I pulled a 180 in the water and we headed back for Xtabi. It was a good swim, maybe an hour all told.

We dressed for the day and taxied to Jessie's. We'd heard (on here of course) that there was a good restaurant next door to the Eazyrock Internet Cafe (incredibly low prices and now for sale). The map indicated that it must be Jessie's but the map was wrong. It was a little place in between Jessie's and the Eazyrock. There was no name above the door. I found out later it's called Kevin's, or sometimes Paul's, or sometimes The Office.

Looking at my photos of the place I think I may have uncovered one of the reasons Jamaica (and/or Negril) appeals to all of us so strongly. It's like stepping into a Van Gogh painting. Seriously, check the colors. It screams Van Gogh.


Mrs. Peel impressed me here. You may think after the Jenny cake she'd be leery to try new things, not so. She saw the curried goat on the menu and ordered it up.

Her take: "They set the bar pretty high for the next time I have curried goat - it's delicious." I ordered the saltfish and rice.


They had a rousing game of dominoes going on in the back room. Bones were slammed. Spectators kept heading back there. Great place, we were the only tourists there.


Next we went to Eazyrock. Mrs. Peel had been provided with really good field notes and she typed our first report there. She does an easy 90wpm. Jodi (sp?) was sitting on her verandah out front and since I had nothing to do while Mrs. Peel typed I asked Jodi if I could pick her brain. Jodi does not live in Negril but comes down periodically to tend her business. She said living in the states did not lend itself to or enhance running a business in Negril. That's why she's selling the place. We gossiped about the board a little. Then Joe the cigar King came along. Joe is a year round ex-pat. His advice is if you want to live in JA rent don't buy. I think he said he lives in a gated community, his house has a garage and air conditioning - $500 a month. Contemplate.

Next we strolled down town to the Chinyman's (Dude, the preferred nomenclature is Chinese Jamaican) for beer, Ting and vodka. We called our daily driver (not Alfred) and asked if he could pick us up?

"I'm by the Chinyman's now", He said.

We saw his van. The doors were open so we unloaded our treasure and waited.

And waited.

And called him back.

Not even a soon come. Yes I know one has to be patient in JA but we were tipping him well and getting reamed on the fees besides. 600 JA to the Banmark(?) cambio (WE) from Xtabi??? We waited another ten minutes. Then grabbed a route taxi - 300 JA to Xtabi no higling involved. After that we either walked or did route taxis. Maybe our driver was having a bad week so I won't name him. In fact I'm not going to bad mouth or name anything that was subpar. How do I know the person involved wasn't having a bad day or maybe I came off wrong who knows - I don't, so there's no need to point fingers. I will mention the good places by name.

Back at Xtabi we watched the sunset from our deck,

followed by the catamaran/tour boat parade heading north from Rick's (I assume).



After the sunset spectacle we went to Seastar because Mrs. Peel wanted to check out that venue for watching the Packer game. The cooler had broken down and they were packing the beers in ice. There were two young men tending bar. They were extremely pleasant and helpful and it gave you a good feeling for the bar. I asked one about Brasi and he said (in a confidential tone) his real name is Alex.

Gerryg showed up. He pointed out that my subs were too skinny and gave me a pre-made sub of his. Then he proposed giving Mrs. Peel and I separate rides to Xtabi on his scooter. God bless you Gerryg, but we'd previously discussed scooters and had come to the conclusion that one good road rash could ruin our stay.

Fortunately Gerryg had ghosted off again before we had to say no thanks. It still points out what a great, big heart the hedonistic whirlwind is hauling around with him. NICE GUY!

We took the shuttle from Seastar back to Xtabi. Seastar's clocks were an hour off. Or so we thought. Somehow my watch had gotten knocked back to CST and we were an hour late for everything the first three days.

Back at Xtabi we tied into left over lobster thermidor and Bentley's crab cakes - exquisite even cold.

Hoho!
Life is good!

[Rum-polephoreskin]

I'm curious.
Does anyone else agree about the Van Gogh colors of Jamaica?
Has that ever crossed your mind?

[Guirigay]

Great report Rum! My only problem with it is there appears to be no way you will be done with it before I leave for Jamaica in 9, did I just say IT, yes, 9 DAYS!!

Irie Luv - I'm pretty sure Rum would not have gone into detail on the definition of existentialism if he was not only prepared but anticipating, nay, desiring a little philisophical meandering from the board. I myself would probably come down a bit more on the humanism model but all philisophical models offer something to the description and understanding of the human condition. My biggest problem with existentialism, which has much merit in my mind, is it is the doorway through which certain mindsets find validity in weak arguments such as objectivism

[Rum-polephoreskin]

Objectivism?
Can you define that (briefly).

Actually my intent for adding Existentialism to the title was to use it as a shield against the YNDIR (You're not doing it right) posters.

[Guirigay]

Objectivism is the philosophy developed by Ayn Rand - Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead - that states the world will be a better place if we all act selfishly and exclusively in only our own self-interest. It is filled with logical fallacies...

[NEGRILJAIL]

AND Atheism ..not universal ..but a very common existetialist dogma .. Kierkegaard excluded .. "days when I feel like I'm in a play by Sartre"

[Guirigay]

Considering what others will think can be helpful in a decision making process but should almost never be a deciding factor in a decision...

[Guirigay]

And we're sidetracked!! Bring the goods Rum Stories, we want stories