Day 2 - Jamaica August 5, 2005

Activities Enough for 3 Weeks

7:30 AM - Off to Breakfast
It's kind of nice to get up, walk outside, and have an entire breakfast buffet begging to be eaten. Something that I really liked...and ate everyday...was corned beef hash. Not really good stuff, but the delicious greasy goodness of canned hash. There was an omelet station, fruit, pancakes, excellent yogurt, pastries, cereal, oatmeal...I love breakfast foods. We met up with a couple that are good friends of the bride and groom and chatted with them for a while (D and J). D had just spilled syrup all over his shorts and was in the midst of a minor panic attack. He admitted that he calmed down after realizing he could change his shorts...and if that's the worst thing that happened to him that day...he's doing alright.
9:30 AM - Bike Tour
L and I showed up for everything on time. Ok, so we're 10 minutes early type of girls. We're waiting patiently for our guide at 9:20 AM. The desk clerk assures us, "No problem, mon, they come here soon". J shows up, at our suggestion, around 9:25, "Am I late? Where's the guide?". We look at her and tell her, "No problem, mon, we on Jamaican time...relax". The guide comes at 20 until 10 (after the manager called to make sure he was still taking the group out). He's a thin man named Omercye and his friendlyness and enthusiasm got us excited for our ride. It's hot, I mean REAL hot. We ride through some neighborhoods and we're all drenched in sweat. Got some great photos.
10:30 AM - Trapeze class
L and I both do crazy stuff with fire (spinning and fans), so we decided we should add some tricks to our bag. The trapeze guys were pretty mean actually. One had flirted with me the previous day, I didn't reciprocate, so he was a tad bit past appropriate sarcasm. What we kept in mind was that these men are artists. They're performers, but to be valued as an artist in their country, they must also instruct priveleged tourists in their art...and we butchered their art. L and I did fine...but the bride, M, was phenominal! Right away the manager saw something in her abilities and taught her how to let go, and he caught her arms, swinging her from his. I was pretty impressed.
12:30 PM - Lunch
More buffet. Not as good as before...I ended up getting a cheeseburger and fries from the grill. Keep in mind, this whole time we're knockin' back our virgin pina coladas (I probably took in more calories from that than anything else).
1:00 PM - Attack Shacks
Down the beach, with a warning sign pertaining to our safety, are the shantis where the local residents try to earn a living making jewelry, carvings, selling drugs...whatever they can find. It was sad, frustrating, but also interesting to meet some cool people. I commissioned a leather bracelet for the boyfriend, and bought a little elephant for my printers drawer. That's all I bought, I've kind of outgrown buying a bunch of crap on vacation. There was one dude that had over $200.00 in commissions from some of the guys in our group.
4:00 PM - Hobie Cat, The Second Run
M went with L and me this time. We went farther, but it wasn't as choppy...which I like.
6:00 PM - Reading by the Beach (there were actually many times I snuck off to read for a bit)
7:30 PM - Special Dinner by the Pool
This food was fabulous! They had a live band and ice sculptures. The dessert table was overwhelming...so I tried four different ones!
9:30 - Back in Our Room
The next day was the wedding, so we did our French pedicures on our feet and took showers (we had to be up pretty early to help the bride get ready). We decided to take a break before heading back out with everyone, so we began reading our books. An hour later I woke up...all the lights were on, we had books in our hands...and were fast asleep.