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

[Clarity]

Trip Report Continued...

So there we were having an intense discussion on the side of the road..after an abrupt dramatic exit from The Jungle..

And let me tell you, Norman Manley boulevard at 2:45 AM is not the ideal location to have this kind of discussion.. Cars are whizzing by and honking every two seconds.. vendors are interrupting to offer you everything under the sun, the smoke from the Jerk Chicken barrels blurring your vision and the intoxicating smells tickling your nose... It's an absolutely insane cacaphony of sounds, smells, visuals all around you.

"Markus I didn't mean to..."

"Cigarettes?" a voice interrupted

"No thank you" I said trying to be polite, then I turned back to markus "I love you and..."

"Ganja?", the voice interrupted again

Do you see what I mean?

Eventually we gave up on trying to talk and just started to kiss. Who is going to interrupt a kissing couple? All the noises and craziness faded away..

That's when we felt a presence beside us..we both turned slowly. Someone was inches away from our faces, waiting expectantly.

"Come on in you two! Come on in and enjoy a drink! Best prices here!" Someone said gesturing with a smile. He was slim with a backwards baseball cap.

I looked around in confusion. "Where?", I asked

"Right here! Come on in! Best place in Negril", he said. Apparently we were making out in front of an establishment somewhere between the Jungle and the Grand pineapple.

I looked at Markus and he smiled. "Sure, Why not? lets go in and have a quick drink."

He led us past a bunch of picnic tables into a courtyard. A scantily clad woman was leaning against the front..talking to a man. Another two women wearing really short mini skirts and halter bikini tops were hanging out together. They stopped talking and stared at us as we approached.

That's when I looked up and saw the name of the bar we were about to enter... everything fell into place.

Triple XXX night club.


"whoah...Oh.. um, wait", I said laughing and I stopped in my tracks. I was trying to remember what I had read about XXX on the Negril.com...I knew about scrub a dub and the rooftop... but not a lot about this place. Although the name in itself gave me an idea what to expect inside.

The guy that was guiding us in, turned around and said "Oh don't worry, women are welcome here. It's very relaxed place. Nice place. No worries"

riiight.

Markus was holding my hand and he looked at me. "Wanna leave? We can find another place on the strip to grab a drink"

My curiosity was now way stronger than my desire to leave. Plus the other girls were watching me. I didn't want to look like some stuck up prude. I'm standing right in front of the entrance and I'm going to run away? Besides, How bad could it be?

"No, it's fine." I said "lets grab a drink here."

So we entered XXX - It was dark inside and nearly empty. In the corner a lone woman was dancing on a pole. It wasn't really dancing in the traditional sense, it was more of a tired hip shake every few seconds. She was wearing next to nothing.... just a lot of string.

There were three men watching. One of the men was incredibly drunk.. He was staggering inches from the stage with his arm outstretched. There was a five dollar bill in his hand.. he was trying to hook it into her g-string... but he couldn't do it. He was just kind of teetering back and forth.. trying to maintain his balance.. his eyes glazed over and nose bright red.

This wasn't what I imagined inside a strip club...I thought there would be strobe lights, woman gyrating wildly, men cheering.. lots of money being thrown around and craziness at every corner. I was kind of disappointed.

We went up to the bar. I ordered a JB and Ting. he ran into a backroom to get the drinks and emerged from another door.

"Is it usually this empty on a thursday night?", I asked the bartender.

"No it's going to fill up in about an hour when The Jungle closes...that's when the party really starts" He explained.

I couldn't watch that guy trying to get that dollar into the dancers g-string any longer, so we went outside with our drinks. There are picnic tables in the courtyard to the right when you step out..We sat down there with our drinks. The night was warm, the stars were bright.. it was actually the perfect location to observe the craziness on Norman Manley Boulevard.

Someone greeted us, His name was Greg. he owned the restaurant to the left of Triple XXX night club. We started talking... eventually more people joined in the conversation. It didn't take long before the picnic table was filled with people.

The dancers stood around on the sides, observing the conversation... eventually joining in to the discussion themselves. The topics were really fascinating.. living in Jamaica, growing up in jamaica.. places to go, things to see...history of Negril

Greg showed us some older Jamaican Dollar bills



I ended up talking with some of the dancers about childhood shows I watched in the states, They talked about shows they used to watch in Jamaica.. we laughed at some of the similarities.. and the differences...I had been so intimidated by these dancers when I first entered and now we were all sitting together in a group, talking about our childhoods. Everyone was in good spirits, I didn't expect to have so much fun at XXX

Markus with Greg and one of the dancers..



More and more people started streaming in.. The dancers had to leave to leave our picnic table to accomodate the men that were arriving.. I watched as they did their thing, but with different eyes this time... I had this feeling of respect, compassion and understanding for the women I met that night. Their lives are hard, but they have a drive to overcome their circumstances. Some of them are going to school, some of them are supporting large families..they all had goals that were bigger than dancing at XXX. I still think about them now and wonder how they're doing.. Some conversations in Jamaica can be intense and eye opening. They stay with you long after you've left.

The JB & Ting had hit me pretty hard and It was really late.. (or really early..however you want to look at it) and the Jungle crowd was arriving. It was getting rowdy and wild. The last thing I wanted was another run in with "the dance instructor". It was time to head back to the Grand Pineapple..

We all said our goodbye's, Greg told us to come back some morning and he'd whip us up a delicious plate of Ackee and Saltfish.

We stumbled back to the GP. It had been a looong first full day in Negril. The sun would soon be rising. We eventually collapsed smiling and utterly exhausted into bed.