Boas and Blue Monday
on George Hamilton (Jamaica), 18/Jan/2011 21:24, 34 days ago
Last week I nipped home for an unscheduled visit to be with our daughter for an important medical appointment and it turns out I enjoyed brunch with our son and his family on his birthday. The trip also gave me the opportunity to visit a nephew in hospital following emergency surgery earlier in the week. So it was an adventure that kept me busy rather than sitting around worrying and missing out on family get-to-gethers.My last minute flight to Toronto was touch and go for timing since my plan was to accompany our daughter Dianne on a road trip from Toronto to Ottawa that evening. I was scheduled to land at 6:30 pm but beause of a snow storm earlier in the day and flight delays, I cleared Customs at 9:00 pm with a 5 hour road trip ahead of us. Dianne's appointment was for 9:15 in the morning so we had to get most of the way to Ottawa and finish up the drive in the morning. We made it, although our plans to stay overnight with friends in Ottawa were sadly aborted.While I was busy in Canada, George was having an interesting week in Jamaica - reading the newspaper, watching movies at the theatre across the street, and learning patois at work.In the Gleaner, George read an article that a real live snake was seen in Jamaica that would give any mongoose a run for its money. Assuming this is a recent photo we will in future stick to the main Ocho Rios - Montego Bay highway and not be tempted to go hiking in the mountains anywhere between Rio Bueno and Discovery Bay.The whole time we've been in Jamaica there has been a running debate about whether or not there are snakes here. Most people say no, they were all eliminated following the introduction of the mongoose many years ago. However, it seems there are snakes in Jamaica, and big dangerous ones at that!On a lighter note, George learned two fun patois expressions while at work. The first one is "nah look lick" and the second "jumping the broom". The second one really makes me smile but both require explanations.The first expression, nah look lick, came following a furniture re-arrangement in the volunteer section. Canadians might think that moving the furniture around was an efficient way to share the power outlet and Internet connections between the two volunteer work desks, and that the new bookshelf location prevents unsuspecting visitors from slipping sideways off the steps leading into the office, but on completion of rearranging the furniture, one of George's Jamaican colleagues said "nah look lick". Her explanation was that the old arrangement presented a nah look lick situation - you couldn't see if someone was coming up from behind and about to do something harmful to you but with the new arrangement, everyone could see who was coming and going, a much safer situation. In today's terminology, nah look lick is simply good decorating fung shui.Then at the Monday morning management meeting the DRF staff were all informed that Beverly, a past employee, had "jumped the broom". She was in good health when she left DRF a few months ago, so George suspected that poor Beverly had been hit by a car or shot by a gangster, but fortunately the CEO explained to the puzzled volunteers that Beverly had just got married. There were various slightly revised versions of this including "jumping the groom". The "jumping the broom" saying though picturesquely states what actually happened at 18th century African-American slave wedding ceremonies. They would often end with the romantic tradition of the bride and groom jumping over a broom together. This practice was revived after gaining popularity from the mini-series Roots. It all goes to show that if a guy nah look licks he could end up jumping the broom, but in the nicest way, of course.All in all, George had a more fun and restful week, but mine was very productive and definitely more adventurous. My return flight on Blue Monday (the most depressing day of the year) was even more delayed than my outbound flight because of another snowstorm coupled with the coldest temperatures in Toronto in two years (-20 degrees C) which resulted in my missing my bus connection from Montego Bay to Kingston by 5 minutes. I ended up staying in a funky hotel, where the temperature was +28 degrees C, called The Pork Pit (featured in 1000 Places to See Before You Die), but oddly enough I think my flight and extra hotel costs were still cheaper than the option of flying directly to Kingston that day.The final stage of de-icing is covering the wings with green gel.Above is the view from my $45 US hotel room in Montego Bay. It's good to be home again and see the many shades of Caribbean turquoise and blue. Life if good.