Glad to hear no one is offended! I must admit that during my first week I was absolutely certain i would never return to Negril. Luckily that changed! And I am sure that my next visit will be completely different seeing as I now know some people and know the lay of the land.
I guess i kinda see tourism like a twosided story no matter where. It brings money on one hand, but on the other it also brings a whole lot of trouble, nastines and can be devasting for some locals.
One of the things I did find quite amusing was the fact that my norwegian ways apparently differs a lot from many US and Canadians. The swimming for one thing. I was amazed how many people who just stood in the water, thigh high. We don't do that in Norway, we get in the water and out to the deep end. And then we hang around there. And if we decide to just stand in the water, we stand neck high in it. I don't mean there's anything wrong with keeping your bikinis dry, it's just an cultural observation.
I did many of those! The cliff jumping as well! I've heard that many tourists get injured jumping form the high plateau at Rick's. I went there on a jetski and planned on doing some jumps from the lower one. I was asked all sorts of question on my swimming ability. That made me think, do people actually jump into water if they can't swim? That can't be right? Well, what I expected in terms of heights did not match what I saw! The high plateau was not at all high compared to norwegian standards. I've jumped from higher when I was 15. We jump from heights from when we learn to swim. Still, being it has been 3 years since i jumped any heights at all I opted for the lower one. I did a couple of jumps and it made me realise how much I love it! I will have to do some more jumping here in Norway this summer so I'm ready for the big one next year! A little off topic here, but here is a video from our annual contest in Oslo http://vimeo.com/28152824. It's not athletes, just regualar Joes with a passion for jumping.
And then there is the peeing in the bushes! So many people dropped their jaws when I asked what bush was considered the peeing bush. So many places I went to didn't have a toilet so I figured everyone did as we do in Norway when toilet isn't an option. Pee in a bush. I was right, they just weren't used to white girls doing it. I'm not saying I'm the only white girl in Negril that's not bothered by not having a toilet around, there must be more of us! I'm just wondering if it really is a norwegian thing or not?