Our big tour for Jamaica was called “Panoramic View of Ocho Rios”. It turned out to be a pretty good overview of scenery, vegetation, and even a little bit of “local color” (read here, “the guys on the side of the road selling Reggae brownies and cannabis gummies, and the teenager doing back handsprings down the hill in front of the bus”).
We drove through the Fern Gully Rain Forest. That’s where we learned that the word “Jamaica” means land of trees and water. We also heard that the only wild critter is the mongoose. We did see some goats roaming around here and there, though. Oh, and we saw the former vacation home of Diana Ross. Mick Jagger had one there as well.
The tour guide told us the official language of the island was English. Not what I was hearing when she talked to the bus driver. Even when she assumed focus and spoke to us on the mic, I was still confused by how some words were pronounced, especially if they began with the letter “H”. Sometimes they enunciate it. Other times it is silent. Here are some examples from the mouth of our illustrious tour guide:
High school - eye school
Hour - hower
Health - elth
Hundred - undred
Hurricane - urricane
See? Confusing.
We stopped at a shopping place. The guide described it in exactly the same way we describe Walmart. One stop shopping. Basically … tourist trap. They did give us half price on almost everything. And they accepted credit cards … if you were willing to pay the extra fee involved. We finished our souvenir shopping there.
Our final stop was a lunch place. We ordered a meal of jerk chicken and festivals (something like hush puppies) and a soda (Pepsi. No Coke). Had to at least try the local cuisine. It wasn’t nearly as spicy as I expected. But then, I didn’t add any of the sauce. She warned us that it was the kind that “comes out the same way it goes in - hot.” Nope. Not for me.
We spent a few hours in the afternoon back on the ship talking to our friends Joe and Cindy. It was great catching up with all their news and sharing what’s going on with us.
1 Samuel 2:2 says, There is no one holy like the Lord. There is no one besides You! And there is no rock like our God.
Father, thank you for yet another chance to experience a totally different culture. It was even fun listening to them talk to each other. Amen.
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