First full day on the Island

So I flew in yesterday and had a few cocktails with the usual suspects.
Tourism is down here... like flat to the floor down.
Ochi is having their Cruise Ships detoured for a reason I haven't been concerned enough to ask about and prices are up, way up.

I tried to get my phone situation sorted out last night via Skype on my mobile... right as we got things taken care of the line dropped, more or less I walked talked out of range during my usual pacing.

I got everything sorted out with C's arrival with her over the phone during a rum-infused babbling session about how hot it is and other anecdotal quips.

I woke at about 1:30am with rum remnants thumping my temples; my only thought was My God, it's Hot. After a few glasses of water later I listlessly fiddled with the television while I tried to think of a way to doze back off to for another couple of hours.

My alarm had been set for 4:45am to wake and ride with P&A for the hour and a half drive to the MoBay airport.

They were flying out early that morning to visit friends and I was in charge of taking their car safely back to Ocho Rios.

Left hand driving, for the most part, came to me naturally; the only hesitation I had initially was remembering that I needed to make short left turns and wide right turns. When I'd square up to an intersection or turn into a parking lot, it was a conscious process initially to STAY LEFT. Other than that it was business as usual. I took naturally to the Jamaican system of constructive hand gestures, headlight flashes and car horn taps. It was a very expressive and effective method of traffic management.

In any case, there I laid; on top of the bed sheets, thinking of a way to cool myself. I grabbed the standing fan that was across the room blowing on me and brought it up against the bed, which helped slightly. I took out my phone and found a few audio podcasts for CarTalk I had recorded. I dug out my headphones, and pushed play, hoping the Tap It Brothers could lull me into drifting off.

The next thing I knew the sound of my phone alert was loud and clear over the headphones and what felt like 5 minutes was over two more hours of sleep.

I showered, had some mango for breakfast and was ready to ride along to Montego Bay.

We ended up leaving a few minutes late and P fell into the roll of classic JUTA Jamacian Tourist Shuttle Driver. The experience, which I will leave up to your imagination, embodied the most classic recantings of Jamaican driving style that you've heard from anyone who's survived a Shuttle Bus to their hotel. Simply classic.

My return drive was much more laid back. I was geting hungry for a traditional Ackee and Saltfish breakfast but all of the breakfast bars I passed didn't seem to be open. It was still early, nearly 7am, and so I just kept casually driving with the light traffic while enjoying the sights and smells of the coastal highway.

When I got into Ochi at nearly 8am, I stopped into Soliders Cafe. It's interesting being a white (not-yet-tan) guy in Jamaica. A local dressed in a suit comes bursting into the cafe and says 'mi girl, gimme wan soup please.' Then he turned to me and in a very plain English voice he said, "Hello Sir, How are you doing this morning?" A quick 'Everything good.' back to him gets him smiling and back to his earlier jovial attitude.

Breakfast was good. Prices have gone up in Jamaica. What used to cost 250JMD is now 350 to 400JMD. The local working class has a permanent screw (english translation: frown / dismal outlook.)

I ate breakfast quietly enjoying the hustle and bustle of Main Street.

I spent the rest of the morning tied to my regular job making sure things are getting done and wrapping up a few projects.

I gave Arthur, my barber, a call and decided to head in around 1pm to get a good trim... but I'll pick up on that story in the next blog entry.