Hello from Negril; this is Margaret guest-blogging while staying at Samsara Cliffs Resort in Negril. Today’s agenda was to relax. As it turns out, I am not very good at relaxing! I managed to keep my butt parked on a lounge chair on the cliffs for about four hours during the time between breakfast and lunch. I read a book, took photos of a scuba-diving class, did some deep breathing and willed myself to relax. The heat was helpful in that regard, but by lunchtime we were all bored silly with relaxing.
During our lunch of fried breadfruit, ackee and saltfish — which was prepared specially for us by Chef Donna at Ciao Jamaica (we are getting so spoiled!) — we decided to get a taxi into town, visit the ATM and do a little shopping. Initially the girls wanted to shop at the Time Square Duty-Free mall across from Legends, but they found the merchants there would not negotiate on their prices. Not only are the prices high there, it’s all tourist junk with virtually every store having the exact same thing. We decided to walk into town to the craft market by the river.
The river is a fascinating place. A beautiful flowering tree grows tall by the bridge on one side, and a ton of beautiful white birds make their home in the trees on the opposite side. We saw plantain trees growing right beside the path too.
At the craft market, we saw so many beautiful carvings and paintings and beadwork. The people sell their wares aggressively — somewhat like at the beach — but we were prepared for it this time. After browsing through many of the stalls, the girls bought dresses and handmade jewelry; then we headed up the stairs to go on into Negril to the bank as I was out of cash. One vendor accosted us and said we could not leave without seeing his stall, and claimed that we had promised we would have a look at it when we arrived. He was so aggrieved at the “disrespect” that I told him we had promised no such thing, but regardless, we were out of money and going to the bank.
“You will come back then, after the bank, ok?” he said, his eyes boring into mine, and I mentally kicked myself as I said yes I would.
After we got to the ATM and after I had taken some photos of the town centre, my husband wanted us to catch a taxi back to Legends which would enable us to avoid walking back past the craft market. I could not do that though…I had actually promised that man we would return, so we went. I know he was genuinely surprised to see us come back, but he shook my hand, looked me in the eyes and thanked me for the respec’ I gave him. In the end, I’m glad we went to his stall. He had some very unusual artwork, painted by his son and a few other artists. They were painted in oil on canvas, so it could be rolled up for taking home. Emilie bought a very striking monotone painting of a creature that was half guitar and half woman. I chanced on a painting of the Jamaican countryside exactly like we had seen it on our horseback ride the day before! It was a little stylized, the artist took some liberty to make it prettier than it was, but it felt like the real Jamaica to me. I was embarrassed to offer $20 for it, and I made it clear that I felt it was worth far more but that was all I could afford. The vendor accepted my offer without trying to negotiate, and thanked me for the respec’ I was giving him with my words.
In Jamaica you hear the word “respec’” often, but the tone of voice that is used with it is actually what conveys the meaning. It can be a greeting, a farewell, a guilt trip, a warning or a way of saying thank you. I feel like today I had an honest interaction with a Jamaican, where we managed to set aside our various masks for a moment. The art vendor dropped his mask of aggressive native salesman, and he was able to see that I’m not the rich American tourist that I appear to be. We parted on with a genuine mutual respect, but of us enriched by the experience.
This is the Jamaica I came to see and experience. It’s a daunting task though, to try to get to know and understand the people of another country and it can’t be done in the five days we have. But with a belly full of the local food and a tiny peek into the culture, I finally feel that Jamaica is starting to come alive for me, which is really all I wanted from this vacation. Oh…and some relaxation. Tomorrow, our last day here, I shall continue to pursue that elusive thing called “relaxing.” Wish me luck!
The beautiful flowering tree by the river.
The birds nesting in their trees by the river.
Beautiful blue flowering hedge in downtown Negril. I have no idea what flowers these are but they are gorgeous!