So I got a little lazy, and this is my update for the past two days. Let's see, on Wed (day 5) Em's and I had a hearty breakfast (first the hotel brought us breakfast in bed, but we scoff at just one breakfast. So we went down and ate another!), sat on the beach, chased the surf, and looked for seashells. I also met this man named Carlton, who said he was my friend. He was not. I bought a drum and a cup and even brought the guy lunch (against resort rules). He gave me a necklace "for free" but all of his "handmade" items I later found at the regular tourist trap shops for half the price. Sigh. I thought we had something Carlton... 5 or 6 cups of coffee (and one nap) later, we caught the bus to the catamaran. It was a little rainy, but rum punch has a way of making every stormy boat ride into the best one! Emily got a little sick, but I was too busy laughing at a) people falling over, b) people drunkenly puking, c) people falling over more, and (of course) d) people falling over. It was soooo much fun. I just kept on drinking and dancing. When we got to the harbor we jumped off the boat and swam around. One drunk lady kept trying to float upside down, but we wouldn't let her. Emily was super excited because we got to take quality underwater photos of ourselves and also unsuspecting tourist butts. Good times. We finally got back on board and went home. One thing that was cool was that the catamaran launched from the first hotel built in Jamaica. It was really old and a little dilapidated, but was supremely awesome. It made you just want to go around and explore. It really wasn't that old, but being 10 feet off the ocean and predominantly open to the elements tends to wear on a place. Then we napped. Then we ate. Dinner was at the final restaurant in the hotel and was not very impressive. The food here has been weird, either it's awesome or it sucks. There is not much in between. So a lot of times it is a gamble. But the nice part about it is you can just keep on ordering whatever you want.
addendum: After dinner we went to bed, but woke up at 2am hungry and thirsty. So we went downstairs to the cantina and had hamburgers and french fries and sweet delicious Ting. Mmmmm...
Day 6
We awoke to a belly busting breakfast. Then I groaned for about 20 minutes. Emily went and sat on the beach while I napped for a bit, then I joined her. The drinks they serve are a little heavy handed on the alcohol, so we had to pace ourselves. The seller on the beach didn't have that much great stuff (I'm not sure if I explained in an earlier post, but each day a different local vendor gets to bring some items and set them up on the beach for us to peruse at our leisure. It' s cool because it helps local economy, and it is an easy / lazy way to get people presents). Emily had gone off to have brunch (the meal between breakfast and lunch here) and this guy comes paddling up on a surfboard with a wooden box mounted in the front and a "seat" in the back. So it was like a little flat bottom kayak. In the box he had tons of shells laid out. I was not so interested (I have my own shell pursuits thank you) when he lifted one to his lips and blew it like a big ol horn. I had to have one. Mine doesn't sound so much like a majestic horn as a mortally wounded donkey, but I will keep practicing. While I was doing that Emily was eating. Just as I got back, triumphantly waving my shell, she was mopping up the last drop of katsup with her last french fry, and immediately began asking about dinner. But it was time for shopping!!! I wasn't very excited about it (I'm not really into "things") but I couldn't keep emily away. So we loaded up and headed out. The driver first stopped at a local market with "homemade" items before taking us out to the real shopping center. I immediately got screwed on a purchase. Apparently my beard/face says two things to Jamaicans:
1. This guy is retarded.
2. He REEALLLLY wants to buy your pot.
When in fact only number one is true, that still doesn't stop them from offering me pot constantly. But I am easily duped and feel bad for sellers. Emily says that offering more than the asking price is "bad bargaining" but I feel guilty sometimes. Once we got to the real shopping center we picked up some t shirts, and some delicious beer ice cream. I loved it. I also got some souvenirs for peeps, and a steel drum!!! It sounds pretty awesome and I played and danced around with a shop lady. I wanted a bag from Jamaica too, so I made Emily bargain one down for me. It is sweet, with multiple pockets, rasta colors, a little thing that says "star space" and other choice accoutrements! She got it for me for $24, down from the original asking price of $27. I offered $ 30, but Emily thought that was the wrong plan and took over. We arrived home spent and dirty. The sad news yesterday was that we had planned all week to do Dunn's River Falls on friday. Then we noticed the board that said "Dunn's River Falls Everyday!!!" in big bright letters, and underneath in much smaller letters "except Friday." We were both a little heartbroken, because we already missed the reggae dance class (during the wedding), but there are bigger things in life to think about. Plus they have bacon, so all is not lost. We ate a big dinner and were going to check out the band (who has almost 70 friends on myspace, despite the staffs assurances that they were "very famous in Jamaica") but instead we watched the waves crash from our balcony and went to bed. So that catches us up for now, and I will try to add one tonight as well.
Peace, love, etc.
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