Jamaica part 1

October 12, 1980, Jamaica was in the birthing pains of a revolution. It was my 25th birthday and I was there. Sitting in the arbor looking over the Caribbean Sea at the Villas Negril hotel veranda pergola sipping on an amazing cup of coffee with my beloved, newlywed. They say that timing is everything but wow how did we fall into the rhythm of the universe. (God’s plan) Selecting Negril Jamaica to be the place for our honeymoon at such a volatile time there. I certainly had no idea what I was getting us into selecting such a destination for one of the most amazing moments of our lives. I did no research. I only knew that I wanted us to go to a tropical island and have an adventure.

In 1980 the village of Negril, pulsed to the rhythm of reggae music that was played over the loudspeakers in the village center. We could hear it up on the hill, half a mile away, while we enjoy the luxury of a fine hotel, in a bedroom with a balcony. Enjoying our blissful youth, conceiving our firstborn, and experiencing the blind faith of our innocence. Sitting on the veranda at a white cloth table for two, we romanced over a simple meal. And the alfresco dining, surrounded and covered by an arbor of flowering, wandering, vines, tropical flowers that fill the air with the fragrance of beauty. Forgiveness is the fragrance of crushed flowers. We were surrounded by forgiveness. After a few days of what was like, Kahlil Gibran books that we would read to each other from time to time. We wandered down to the Village Square.

 The Jamaican people were very generous with their smiles and often ended their sentences with the word “respect”. “Respect, mon!” Though they lived in what we statesmen would call poverty, they were some of the happiest people we ever met. The simple live simple, and that’s the island way. It just made us wanna shift - slow it way down and melt into the groove of the culture.

We strolled about holding hands through the marketplace, talking to different merchants while enjoying their art for crafts. Making a small purchase on a very limited budget to take home a Momento. We had a real craving for lobster feeling like it was probably the best place we would find it. So we inquired about a restaurant on the water where we could go sit at a table by the sea and enjoy our lobster meal, we were given directions a few blocks away, an easy walk. When we got there and sat at the table, enjoying the view of the ocean, the water smells, the seagulls, and the reggae music that was pulsing through the village. It all seems so perfect. We ordered our lobster, and when it arrived at the table, the strong scent of ammonia permeated our space. It was as if I was smelling, smelling salts to be revived.

The food was really bad. It was old and had been in a freezer for a long time and they tried to sell it off to us, foolish young tourists. I barely negotiated my way out of not paying for that rotten food but I did, and we hurried our way along the coastal road that rolled and meandered. There were little huts along the way surrounded by tall, coconut trees, with the locals, trying to sell us their goods and crafts. The road was made of dirt and gravel, and there would be safari-like jeeps that would occasionally pass us as we walked. Back in the states, I had tended a bar upstairs in a restaurant, called the Soup Terrine. The owner Jim had often gone to Jamaica and would tell stories about his experiences there. He fondly talked of a place called Ricks café https://www.astoldbynella.com/blog/ricks-cafe-jamaica that had a small restaurant where people would dine and watch the locals dive off of 50-foot cliffs. This was one of our destinations.

As we walked along the road we got as far as a place called Peewees. It was a grass-roof open bar built in a circle, you could sit and have a drink and look over the Caribbean. A magical spot.

It wasn’t long before a Jamaican man came up to us and pulled out a spliff and lit it up and passed it to us. I sucked in a small hit off of the spliff. He took it right back from me and said “no, no man you have to smoke it like a dragon man” then he put it to his big, brown lips and began sucking. We watched it become glowing red, moving down the spliff creating long ash. The whites around his eyes became blood red as he held it in. Then he blew out two long streams of white smoke through his nostrils that literally made him look like a dragon.

We smoked and became very stoned.

It was all so beautiful! When I began to talk to him about diving off the local cliff next to the bar, his eyes opened up wide, and he invited me to do a dive with him. Back in the states, I would frequently visit an abandoned quarry that was filled with water beautiful blue water And I learn to dive a 30-foot cliff that was there into the water.So Lin and I strolled with him over to the cliff and he took a leap like he was flying, arms stretched wide feet together, and pointed and dove straight down into the water.

Passing By - Coast to Coast

unnamed-80

 I followed right behind him. Lin was apprehensive and didn’t wanna dive but she did jump. We all were enjoying the warm Caribbean water, and he said “follow me” and he began swimming. We swam into this area where there were cliffs on the edge that had caves beneath them. He wanted us to stay close behind him, not to get too close to the side rock because it was sharp. We swam into this cave of quickly moving water bouncing that would bash up against the sides of the rock to the point where it created a mist.

As we swam into the caves it had a small, sandy beach inside, looking out under the rim of the cave over the ocean water. It was an exciting exhilarating experience. He dug into his speedo bathing suit and pulled out a plastic bag that wrapped the rest of the spliff that we had started smoking at the bar and lit it up. At one point there was this huge sound of wings flapping and flying right over us from behind us. A large flock of bats that we had disturbed flew out of the cave. The Jamaican man started laughing. He looked at us and said “bad rats, mon. stupid, stupid animals Mon. They sleep upside down and shit on themselves“ and he started laughing and laughing, and we joined in with him. So we spent our honeymoon up to the week before the 1980 Jamaican general election.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Jamaican_general_election

General elections were held in Jamaica on 30 October 1980.[1] The balance of power in the 60-seat Jamaican House of Representatives was dramatically shifted. Prior to the vote, the People's National Party (PNP), led by Prime Minister Michael Manley, had a 47 to 13 majority over the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), led by Edward Seaga. With the loss by 38 PNP incumbents to their JLP challengers, Seaga's party captured a 51 to 9 majority and Seaga replaced Manley as Prime Minister of Jamaica. Voter turnout was 86.9%.[1]

The elections were marked by gun violence, exacerbated by economic pressure related to IMF austerity, lay-offs of public workers, and blackouts due to a national electric strike.[2] 153 elderly women died in the Eventide Home fire on 20 May, which was suspected, but not proven, to have been started by politically-motivated arsonists

“We thought we were going on a quiet peaceful vacation and ended up being on the 6 o’clock news.”

Sandals resort brochure 1979 the year before we were there.

http://jamaicahotelhistory.com/brochures/Coconut-Cove-late-70s.htm