Saturday morning market
on George Hamilton (Jamaica), 22/Jan/2011 18:28, 34 days ago
This morning I wanted to check out the new Coronation Market area which I read about before heading off for Christmas. That meant taking the bus but just as I was putting on my shoes, George told me about the headlines in today's paper. "Mayhem" it read. Apparently yesterday afternoon 3 gunmen boarded a city bus (the newspaper didn't say if it was a regular city bus with about 100 people on board or a coaster with about 30 or 40) in an attempt to rob all the passengers, and presumably the conductor with his day's earnings if it was a coaster. But, fortunately, or unfortunately, one of the passengers had a fully loaded gun and a shootout commenced, killing three innocent people including a school boy, plus two of the three gunmen. I was a bit shaken at first and didn't want to get on a bus of any kind then realized that was yesterday, what were the chances of it happening again today? So, cautiously we headed out to catch our bus for downtown.The first thing I noticed was the bus shelter was gone at the stop where we wait for the bus. George explained that this was the stop where an out of control driver hit and killed two blind people two weeks ago. The car also took out the shelter at the same time. Not a good start to my first trip on a bus on return from Canada.But of course nothing eventful happened. Our bus was quiet and the other passengers all peaceful and orderly as we usually experience. But when we arrived at The Parade where all the buses congregate, the area was very quiet because they've moved the coasters to a new terminal to eliminate the congestion. It was actually much easier to walk about, although way less interesting with less hustle and bustle, but we were able to notice that St. William Grant Park was now open to the public. This is a first. This park has been closed the entire time we've been here. So we took the opportunity to stroll cautiously through it instead of around it.On arrival at the market the first thing we noticed was there were far fewer vendors on the streets leading towards the market and the old vendors under the tarps at the main entrance were all the same as before. But I kept on walking because I knew what I was looking for...the new section with wider aisles and street names and computers for the vendors. And yes indeedy, we found it. It was lovely and of course all the vendors were as friendly as ever. The new section complete with stall numbers so you could find them again easily next week was very pleasant to walk through and combined with the old part under the blue tarps the market seemed bigger and better than ever. We bought lots of food...ginger, beets, green pepper, pak choy and eggs. Too bad we didn't need potatoes, onions or oranges because they all looked tempting - much better and cheaper than the supermarkets are selling right now.So, what started out nervously, ended calmly. We'll be back again soon. You can't put your life on hold for a few bad apples.