Returning Home
on George Hamilton (Jamaica), 26/May/2010 21:07, 34 days ago
The girls are now flying home to Canada although their plane left an hour and a half late. According to the CUSO-VSO driver, that's normal for Jamaica. Hopefully there's lots of shopping at the airport because our souvenir shopping was cut short with the last minute change in plans.For our last day and return trip to Kingston we had planned to travel to Ocho Rios to visit the craft market there. Nadine wanted to buy some local art and I knew she could get some wonderful oil paintings there for a good price. We also planned to stop at either Somerset or Dunn's River Falls and then take the lovely route home through Fern Gully. None of that happened because the Fern Gully road ends up in Spanish Town, a known hot spot. Instead we were guided by the CUSO-VSO driver who came to pick up the other 4 volunteers who were with us at Great Huts and had taken public transportation. We followed behind the driver in our rental car. George did well keeping up with an experienced Jamaican taxi driver, hugging the cliff edge on the left with his right hand wheel through the very windy but beautiful Jamaican roads. We did take one corner a bit tight and sounded like a Nascar driver making the turn.By the time we arrived in town it was getting late in the afternoon so we cancelled our visit to Devon House for last minute souvenirs as well. But we did stop at a supermarket so that we could stock up on groceries for the anticipated month long curfew. The girls were able to pick up some jerk sauce and Jamaican chocolate bars for souvenirs in the busy supermarket which was closing early because of the violence in town earlier in the day. A young boy had been shot in the mouth. Needless to say the supermarket was extremely busy as everyone had the same idea - all in typical Jamaican good humour. There were no signs of panic or anxiousness - just large crowds.Today the traffic on our street sounds normal for a weekday with the exception there is a definite decrease in truck traffic. Some of the shops are open, but not all. Since we live in a safe area and all the shops are literally outside our compound gate, we aren't feeling as locked in as others but we are listening to the radio for the latest news. Businesses seem to be closed and so too are all the schools so I'm missing the happy chatter from the nearby high school students. I've got a good book to read and my favourite bookstore has advised by email that they are open for business with shorter hours so I can replenish my supplies if I run out of reading material. George wandered over to pick up something new but unfortunately they closed a little early so he is out of luck for today. Since I came home with a bad cold, I'm only too happy lounging around our apartment taking it easy.Basically we're making the best of the situation. Besides not getting to the better souvenir shops, and a few tourist sights, the girls didn't get the opportunity to ride on a coaster bus. Next time...they have to come longer than a week.With the exception of the photo of the van driving, all the photos were taken by Nicky Bonnaventure.