Day 102
I am in meat shock.
Our itinerary changed this week due to Hurricane Paula. The first half of the week our course was normal, stopping in Grand Cayman yesterday.
So we are in Jamaica at Ocho Rios today, instead of in Honduras; two days at sea instead of Belize and Cozumel; then Nassau, Bahamas on Saturday.
Went exploring in Jamaica with friends. We hired a driver to take the 7 of us on a tour. Ya mon! The flora and foliage are superb. The spiders are terrifying. The grapefruits are sweeter than normal. Chawed on sugar cane. Bought earrings made from coconut shells.
$15 got us all we could eat at a Jamaican/Asian buffet and Red Stripe beer by a waterfall.
And the meat shock I mentioned above is because I binged on Jerk Chicken and Curried Chicken. I have been vegetarian for 6.5 years and it has been 4.5 years since I have eaten any meat.
I sampled the pork and my feeling was exactly as I had hoped – I was not desirous of it, and in fact, grossed out. But the chicken!
I hope it satisfied my sense of nostalgia and that I’ll continue to be able to stick to my values and not have to ward off meat cravings again.
I have a feeling of adrenaline and a slight headache.
I’m disappointed that all of the good looking t-shirts were at least $25.
One of the vendors was willing to sell me one for $18, and I bet I could have gotten this one I wanted for $15… but I haven’t had a debit card in over 2 months, so I’m struggling for cash. There are only so many opportunities to pay a bill for a meal with friends with my credit card and scoop up their cash. I already owe a nice sum to my roommate who has generously covered me in my inconvenience. I’ll forgo the cool t-shirt to avoid owing her more money.
Those earrings are my only tangible souvenir from Jamaica, and my last $5.
Jamaica is beautiful and I don’t have to work until 10:15pm. So great.
My sign off date is 9 January 2011.
Love and flesh,
Jamie
The card is on it's way!!!
ReplyDeleteSoon you will be able to buy over priced souvenirs to your heart's content!
Sometimes the body craves what it needs so it can be good to give into the craving.
Honeymooned in Ocho Rios and had a great time travelling the countryside. Turn de so! Glad you enjoyed it! We were told that the prices skyrocket for the days the ships are in. We bought $5 tee shirts on Thursday after the ship left. The Red Stripe is still my favorite foreign beer. Tastes like apples to me... something about that weather and that beer=mmmm...mmm...good! Love ya, Mom
Hey, did Judy tell you her parents and sister will be on your boat in November? Will get the exact dates so hopefully you can hunt them down and give Mirk a hug from me. Really enjoyed being included in the Passover dinner with them and loved the education and discussion it sparked. Hope you get a chance to meet them!
ReplyDeletehey mom,
ReplyDeleteshe did tell me that and gave me dates. haven't responded yet. guess i'll get to that now.
btw, mirk mirkin is an awesome name, let alone that they are mirk and marcia mirkin. you can't make that up!
one of the people who i have worked with on the ship is from ocho rios and i'm sure we now have excellent connections if you ever want to go back. you know how the jamaicans work - it's a whole network. if he doesn't have the hookup, he knows someone who does. AND he owns a car rental company, so that's set.
there were $5 t's. the hipper ones were the ones i had my eyeball on.
OMG, you had meat!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you signed up for a second tour and are able to enjoy more amazing experiences that you can share with us here. I know I promised an e-mail about me, but unfortunately I'm still the same way about those, it's nearly impossible to get myself to write one. I wouldn't even know where to begin in your case, but I'll get to it at one point... I hope...
I still very much enjoy reading your blog about your escapades, it's actually on my bookmarks bar :-)
hey attila, at least you drop a line once in awhile. glad to know you're still out there.
ReplyDeletea friend of mine taught me a phrase he learned in hungarian (which i promptly forgot) - when we were in the bar, he tried to get me to go say it to the guy who taught it to him. the translation was "kiss my black ass"
ha
hugs
jamie