Jamaica: Ya Mon

So somehow we made it to Jamaica. We left Cleveland at 6 a.m. then on to Chicago and straight to Jamaica. I was so excited when we started to descend. I just wanted to see the clear blue water and the beautiful island. I was sorely disappointed though. I turned to Brody and said, "I think it is raining!!" In fact the entire island was covered in clouds and I was feeling a bit panicked. I hadn't see the sun at all for over a week (the weather had been miserable in PA) and I had come to the Caribbean for sunshine and warmth. I was panicking just a bit. All I could do while standing in the customs line is look miserably out to the cloudy depressing weather. I was sad, but had hope. It was the Caribbean, and in the high season, this must be a fluke. We were treated quite well when we got off the plane and were ushered to our hotel with ease. The resort even had a special welcome area in the airport with soft chairs and drinks while you waited for your shuttle. Our hotel was only 5 minutes away from the airport so we were soon to our destination.

Since it was cloudy and not super warm, we decided to take our time and have lunch. Since everything was included we didn't have to worry about expenses like food, which was so nice. We had a nice lunch and went up to our room when it was ready. I was hoping for sunshine, but it never appeared that first day. In stead of sitting in the sun we went and explored the two other hotels that we had access to. I was exhausted and after dinner I about passed out. We went to bed early and hoped for a good morning of sunshine.

We got up early because Brody wanted to sign me up for a scuba diving class. Sadly the ocean was too rough because of the bad weather so we couldn't really anything that day either. We took advantage of all the free food and drinks though and played pool and darts and all the other activities. The worst part about the first two days though were that they were cold! I wore a sweatshirt and sweatpants around Jamaica!! Who can believe that?! We did have a reservation at the resort's French restaurant. We had a full 6 course meal and I even tried escargo!

All dressed up in the hotel lobby

On the shuttle that we rode back and forth each day

Well thankfully the next day we awoke to sunny skis! I was delighted so I could finally work on my tan and Brody was super happy because he got to go scuba diving. So he had been insisting forever that I get certified while down there. I resisted a lot, but finally agreed just to make the boy happy. Well I HATED it! I panicked when I was learning in the pool and my poor Jamaican instructor who was so kind and kept calling me "miss lady" probably thought I was a total crackpot. Well I was because I just hate water. I thought I was ok when I left the pool (not prepared for any real world diving, but ok) but I soon learned once I was in the real ocean that it was a completely different story. They got me in the water and I was scared to death. The waves were crashing all around me and I was getting knocked back and forth. I got water in my regulator thing and I was freaking out! Then my kind instructor basically pushed my head under the water because he knew I needed extra encouragement and I started the descent. Well that was worse because my one ear would not pop and people had been telling me horror stories about sicknesses and sinus pressure and all this miserable sounding stuff about when they had ear problems under the water. I totally panicked and came up 2 separate times till I finally convinced my instructor to just let me go back to the boat!
So that was my failing scuba story...I didn't try it again. I did try many other things like snorkeling, which was fun, kayaking, hobie cat sailing and water tryking. I also spent a great deal of time laying by the gorgeous pools and the beach. I drank all the Diet Coke I could (though I didnt really like Jamaican diet coke) and lots of other virgin drinks.

This is a gross picture, but I had to include it. Jamaican ate sugar can all the time! They would chew on it and then spit it out. It actually was extremely good, it tasted like sugar. Us non Caribbeans joked that they were eating bamboo.

Brody and I are on the little island that our resort owned. I loved the blue skis!

Most nights we got dressed up and went to dinner. We went to a special hibachi place, a italian restaurant and buffets. The food wasn't incredible, but it was good and I tried fish and all types of things that I normally wouldn't. We even ordered room service a time or two!

Finally with a tan!
The public beach outside our hotel. 2 Jamaicans offers to sell Brody weed here, of course he did not accept!

Here is the beautiful beach that I spent the whole time laying by. I had never seen such blue water in my life!

I loved the sunshine, the warm ocean water and the super friendly Jamaicans! They even say "ya mon" after every sentence!!

I am going to continue the rest of our trip in another post!