Jamaica Report

Jamaica was nice. Principally because I got to see Catalina again, but it was wonderful to see all my friends. The resort was the same as last year, which meant it wasn’t the greatest place to stay, but it was a place where we could meet. The food was actually rather disappointing; mostly bland American food. I consistently asked for jerk chicken, but it never came. Well, it did on the second last night, but since I was late for dinner that night, it was all scarfed down before I had a chance to get my share. The solution was a friend who had rented a car; we drove 3.5km down the road to “Ultimate Jerk Centre” where we finally got some chicken that burned our tongue. We were even able to get some Jerk Rabbit; it tastes exactly the same as chicken except more expensive.
A routine quickly developed in this place. This was helped by very consistent weather. It was beautiful until about mid-afternoon, then there would be rain for an hour or two, and then nice weather again overnight.
My day went like this:
Morning Run: I got up before 6:00 in the morning. Not feeling motivated, except by obligation, I would leave the resort and start running. Sometimes to the west. Sometimes to the east. Sometimes towards the interior where I discovered that there are some nasty hills on this volcanic island. If I had been a bit more ambitious, I would have run a bit further to the west and I could have seen Discovery Bay and taken some nice pictures, but I did not have a good enough internet access to plan that kind of exploration.
The first run I did I forgot to zip up my running pouch and my phone took a tumble onto the road. The back cracked, which overall is very minor damage. It didn’t affect the camera, so I could still use it for everything. However, I think it became less watertight. I think this because a few days later, while I was dripping sweat everywhere, my phone acted like it was breaking down; it wouldn’t stop vibrating. I put in dried rice and it got better, but after that I used a waterproof envelope while running.
After the run: I would eat a breakfast that probably broke all of my dieting rules, but it was nice to guzzle juice when you’ve sweated so much. I also discovered cherry juice which is a pleasant change. I would then go back to bed and try to sleep the rest of the morning. Others in the group, including Catalina, would go to an eleven o’clock yoga session. It was very popular and a lot of people were encouraging me to try. I think I was better off catching up on sleep.
After lunch: At this point activities would start happening. Usually some contests put on by the organizer of the trip. Catalina and myself also took the opportunity to try the kayak and go swimming in the ocean. This is when the drinking would also start. The entire time I was in Jamaica, I think I had only three alcoholic drinks. Two of those were Dirty Bananas, and on the second one of those I was avoiding the rum at the bottom because I just wanted the milkshake part of it. If we bugged the right people we could also get coconuts from the trees and drink the water in them.
There was also the afternoon grill that was open. There you could get cheeseburgers and occasionally hot dogs. These were usually better than the actual dinner buffet. You can’t go wrong with a burger, and you know what to expect. There is only so long you can have the baked chicken at dinner.
From a friend I was able to try a mermaid fin; basically just a swimming fin that you stick both feet into, not the full tail thing you see in videos. They are really hard to use; it did not feel very efficient. Would not recommend.
Sunset: At sunset there was a lot of photography, it being the golden hour and all. Some beautiful pictures were taken by people more professional than me. People would disperse after that; too early for dinner, but no sun. But also a good time to have conversations with people by the bar.
Dinner: Bland food. Great company.
After dinner: We put on shows. There was a lip-sync performance and I got good compliments for my usual Proclaimers song. I also tried “Simply Irresistible” that went over well, but I think that had more to do with my backup dancer. The organizer also decided to bring in some strippers. I can’t say I’m a fan of that, but it was nice to see them trying something different than the usual. It would have been better if they had actually, I don’t know, stripped. And speculation was rampant that one wasn’t actually a woman. Good times!
On the final night, there was even a wedding ceremony. That made me a little depressed; Catalina had left a day early. The early departure let her get a direct flight, and popular opinion agreed that no one is worth an extra six hours of travel time.
All in all, I had a good trip. But it is good to be home.