ok but in English..
Hey, An hour ago, I typed a whole lot in Hebrew and there's no way I'm pecking again at it.. So here goes in English.. אחרי הצבא כתבתי מדריך טיולים לירדן שאולי יש לכמה מכם, אבל מישהו אחר הקליד לי אותו! After over 6 months in South America, who wants to return to Eilat - home - in the summer? So we flew to Jamaica. I cut a deal for a place in Treasure Beach for $600 a month. Long time? Yes, but better there than at home! The big room had a bathroom, small kitchen and a stunning view of the beach. Treasure Beach is full of Rasta's. Every day was simple - visiting small beaches and listening to stories. Then one day things changed. The radio announced that a hurricane - Dean - was approaching. We bought food and got ready. The quiet before the storm - not just a metaphor. Then it hit! We all gathered in a big room. Safe as can be. Loud noise but nothing to fear. The men smoked big fat "things" the whole time. None of our stuff was damaged - who wants to lose everything you bought in South America?! But no running water for 8 days and no electricity for 15. When you have an unlimited supply of smoke, it makes it easier.
Showering from a bucket was funny. Then we took a shared taxi to Negril. Stayed in a place that cost $20 a night, shared bathrooms and cool people - Germans, Israelis and others. Prettiest beaches I'd ever seen and it was my 3rd time to the Caribbean.. Stayed there over a week and onto Montego Bay. Montego Bay was intense. I didn't find any "One Love" there. People were more nervous than anywhere on the trip. You walk to a basta to shop and when you don't buy, you get dirty looks. Not smart sales tactics..
Onto a few other small places and then to Oracabessa. This is the village where Ian Fleming dreamed of and wrote the James Bond series. Cool house we stayed at - Italian-American woman who runs a kindergarten. Her husbands runs a small video game place across the street. Great cheap restaurants there - best food we ate in Jamaica.. First thing the woman says when you get there, "It costs $25 a night, but pay what you can." Next cool place was Long Bay. A room for $10 or $15 a night and a great view. Then to Morant Bay. Nice city - as its less touristy, it was easier to go shopping and walk around. We bought lots of bandanas and jerk sauce. Some nice things you didn't know... The food is great. Patties and jerk chicken. Even the tiniest village has a really good library. They even let tourists check out books for free! A small deposit which we got back. Jamaica is like the 60's -- if you can remember the books you read, you weren't there! The daily newspapers were fun to read. International news is in the back of the food section.
I liked how the radio and media and people were talking about the issues of the day there. A lively culture.. The hurricane sounds worse than it was. Cool experience. I grew up in Miami and never got hit till this one! We spent $7-$25 a night, and another $10 a day on food and $10 was usually enough for the two of us for shared taxis.. Sometimes we paid for an extra seat for our backpacks - no big deal.. The women of Jamaica dress nice and have careers. The men, on the other hand, are total ^#$@^&-ups! Billboards on the streets encourage men to take their lives seriously and go to school and get jobs. The women do all the work in Jamaica.. One thing we didn't like - they overdid Bob Marley. He's the ONLY one they sell stuff of. As if Jamaica has no other musicians.. And I'm a music collector, I'd have loved to buy cd's there, but $5 for a pirated cd is nuts and $30 for a cd that costs me $10 at Disc Club ain't gonna happen! They love Israel and Judaism there. Magen David can be seen on every Rasta house.. They called us Israelites -- like the song.. Funny people, funnier language. Learn some Patois - it makes Yiddish sound serious!
I love the Caribbean and its culture. Strongly recommend a visit. Do it on your own. Budget? $30 a day most days. $50 including the shopping we did. We did a full circle around the island - I'm proud of that.. Cool times, and good to be home..
