Chapman

Jamaica Me Crazy

I (Trevor) will be chronicling the events of each day and Caci will comment on them. Caci’s comments will be italicized.

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Day Six:

• Left resort ~ 9:30
• Arrived airport ~ 12:30
• Flew out of Jamaica ~ 3:00

This was a really sad day because I was not ready to leave. I LOVED Jamaica. I was born in the wrong country. The only solace I had was knowing that I would get to see Jace. I missed him like CRAZY!!!! Oh!! That reminds me. On the first day we were there they gave us a lock for our safe and told us to lock up ALL valuables because the maids might steal them. We didn’t really think anything of it, so we just unpacked our stuff the first day and then went down to the beach. Well, when we came back 5 hours later we went to get some money so we went into the top of Trevor’s pack where all of our money and passports were and there was nothing there. It had all been taken. We searched frantically through everything else trying to find it but it wasn’t anywhere. We also found that my iPod was gone, our airport transfers, all our money, my jewelry, our movie camera, EVERYTHING of value was gone. We started freaking out but then we saw a note that said, “Call the front desk for your safe key.” So we called the front desk and they said we had come go there in person so we went down and one of the security guards came out and asked us what had happened so we explained it and told him that we thought that the maid had put all of our valuables in our safe box and he laughed and said that was ridiculous. We pressed our case telling him she had left a note and he was astounded and asked to see the note. We showed him and he was amazed. We then went up to our hotel room with him so he could unlock the safe but when we got there he said he couldn’t unlock the safe because there was no key since ours had been already used. We were really worried and the security guard was just sitting there complacently as we frantically tried to decide what to do and then he asked what was in there and I told him all of our money and he said, “Was there also an Ipod, passports, and airport transfers?” Astonished that he would know, we said yes and he said, “Have you learned your lesson?” And we were like, “What?” And he went over and unlocked the safe and all of our stuff was there. What had happened was the maid saw all of our valuables then called the security guard to lock it all up so it wouldn’t be stolen, so HE was the one who had locked it all up and written the note. He was just trying to teach us a lesson. He gave us a little speech about not trusting anyone and we gave him a huge thank you. That would have been SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO bad had it been a real burglary. Yikes! Anyway, it was so sad to leave Jamaica but it was so good to see Jace. We missed him SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much and he sprouted two top teeth while we were gone!!! A HUGE thank you to the Chapmans for taking care of him while we were gone! They were wonderful and took GREAT care of him. We stayed with the Chapmans for 2 days and then went to St. George for a day then up to Provo to start school. When we got here we continued searching for an apartment (we had looked two days before Jamaica but found nothing) but found NOTHING so we had to stay in a hotel. The next day there were two availabilities but one was just GHETTO and the other was super super nice but 3 miles south of campus so we had to stay in a hotel again. The third day there was another ghetto place and we decided that the super nice one was the best bet even though it was not in the BYU scene which we really wanted. But we were sick of staying in hotels so we signed the contract and moved in. We are now in our home and we LOVE it!!! It is SOOOOOO cute, HUGE (three bedrooms) and the ward is awesome. Trevor LOVES his classes and we think this is going to be a great year! Hooray for Jamaica, hooray for BYU!

Day Five:

• Dunn’s River Falls
• Canopy Tour
• Fabian
• Reggae Night

This was our major adventure day! We woke up bright and early and went to Dunn’s River Falls; the waterfalls were absolutely amazing. I couldn’t even believe how gorgeous they were. They are HUMUNGOUS and you get to climb from the base to the top; they would NEVER allow it in America. So, all the tourists had to hold hands as these powerful falls beat down around them. It was very important to hold the hands of the people next to you or else you would slip down the falls and could get seriously injured. We saw 5 or 6 people fall but someone would always catch them as they slid by. Trevor did not want to do the tourist thing, so while everyone else was slowly making their way up holding desperately onto the hands of their neighbors, he took us right up the middle of the falls with everyone watching in disbelief. It was AWESOME to climb up the falls unaided with the water just rushing over us. I kept slipping but Trevor was as solid as a rock and didn’t slip once and caught me every time. It was funny because this big Samoan girl was right in front of me at one point and she had fallen and could NOT get back up. She was stuck for like 5 minute just trying to get up and slipping over and over.After we got to the top of the falls we had about half an hour because the rest of our tour group was still holding hands near the bottom so we began taking pictures and lost track of time. When we finally asked someone what time it was, we found it was 10 minutes past when we were supposed to meet back at the bus so we ran for all we were worth and missed it. So, we got a taxi and went into town to pick up the cane we had commissioned John John to make. I waited in the Taxi while Trevor ran into the market to get it. He came back without it because John John still had to paint it (he had left it unfinished so Trevor could decide how he wanted it stained). So we went back to the hotel and got ready for our canopy tour.The canopy tour was sooooo cool. We arrived at Chukka tours and were suited up with our harnesses, helmets, and gear and then boarded the bus. They drove us up this really steep mountain past all these little Jamaican houses and there were Jamaicans walking on the road and it was so fun to wave to them because they were all so excited to see us. Finally we got to the top and then we were roped in to these zip lines and we went on this huge zip line tour of the canopy. We were soaring like 200 feet above the jungle floor along canopy level. It was SOOOOO cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of the zip lines went straight down and I thought I would pass out from fear. It was so awesome!!!! The jungle was so cool with little lizards and banana trees, coconut trees, exotic flowers and just dense, thick, vegetation. At the end there was this huge rapid river. The whole tour was just awesome.We went back to the hotel and then got a taxi to take us into town to pick up our cane. It was SOOOOO cool!!! I loved it!!! John John did a fantastic job. Everyone who saw it was just amazed at the workmanship and beauty of it. We had agreed to pay $20 for it, but we gave him a tip of $10 and he was sooooo grateful and went into a speech about how awesome it was and what it meant to him. That was cool. On the way back we had the taxi drop us off at Fabian’s waterfalls so we could say goodbye to him. That made Fabian SOOOOO happy. We stayed and talked with him for awhile and then got a taxi back to the hotel. That night was Reggae night and it was sooooo awesome!!! I used to HATE reggae and whenever a reggae song would come on I would make Trevor change the station but after that night I now LOVE it!!!!

Day Four:

• Day was spent snorkeling and enjoying the beach

I LOVED this day!! Snorkeling was AWESOME!!!!! It is really hard to get a snorkel set because it is first come first serve, so we kept running back to the watersports stand trying to get them. So in between we just would swim in the pool, drink pina coladas, and eat Jerk Chicken from the beachside stand, and then run back. Finally there were some available so we got them then swam out to the reefs. IT WAS AWESOME!!! Everything was absolutely clear and beautiful and you could see the bottom wherever you were. The fish were magnificent and it was just AMAZING. We snorkeled for about 2 hours and just had the time of our lives. I LOVE snorkeling and really really want to get dive certified so I can experience the ocean even more.That night we got a reservation at one of the gourmet restaurants called Sir Richard so we got to dress up really fancy and put on the dog. It was way fun! I got to wear this really pretty dress that Trevor bought me while I was pregnant with Jace and never had a chance to wear (because it was a size 2 and I was 9 months pregnant when he bought it for me). We went down into the main place where all the guests were and everyone was staring at us because they thought we were celebrities or something; it was so cool! We went into our restaurant which was absolutely breathtaking and were trying to look like we blended in. There were only about 10 tables (it was very exclusive) and the waiter came and asked what we wanted and we told him as if we knew what was going on (everything had fancy names and I know we were butchering the pronunciation). The waiter could tell that this was our first time in a five star exclusive restaurant so he tested us and playfully asked what was missing from our table and then left. We kept looking at our table trying to figure it out and could not think of anything. He came back and we had no answer. He then set out one more spoon. Apparently the five spoons we had before us were not adequate and we were missing the custard spoon or something like that. It was crazy! Anyway, our first course came and we didn’t know which fork to use, so we decided to start at the top and work our way down, so we grabbed the first fork above our plate and used it thinking we were so awesome because we knew which fork to use. The waiter then came back to take our plates, and discreetly grabbed the correct (and unused) forks off the table and put them on the plates and tried not to embarrass us. It was quite funny. Apparently we had used the crab forks for our first course; all that fancy shmancy cutlery is so confusing!!! The food was SOOOO gorgeous; each plate was a masterpiece and none of the waiters ever held any of the plates or glasses. They balanced everything on top of their fingers which was absolutely incredible.That night the hotel put on a Steel Drum show but we didn’t get to see that much of it because our dinner reservations where right during that time but what we did see was way cool!

Day Three:

This was the day that my jungle nature took over as I started feeling this “urge” earlier the previous day. I enjoyed spending time at the resort on the beautiful beach with all the food we wanted from eight different restaurants–but for crying out loud…we were in Jamaica! I wanted to get out and experience Jamaica, not the Riu (our resort). We loaded all our essentials into a pack and walked the mile from the resort to the main road.

• Got a ride into “town.”
• Went to local market and purchased memorabilia
• Bought supplies at convenience store
• Hitched a ride out to Dunn’s River Falls which were unfortunately closed. I decided we’d walk down to the beach where the fresh water river mixes with the salt water. From there we’d hike up the river to the falls ourselves. On the way we met “Fabian,” our loyal Jamaican friend.
• Fabian took us to the falls which he is “response” for.
• Rest of the day was spent with Fabian
• Arrived back at resort ~ 10:30 PM

As much as two people start becoming the same person once they get married and start finishing each others sentences, thinking each others thoughts, liking the same things, and even starting to look like each other, Trevor and I will forever be on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to one thing. If I am at a five star resort with everything paid, getting VIP treatment, and having everyone treat me like a princess, I want to stay at that resort! Trevor, however, doesn’t like being waited on hand and foot and wanted to get out and see the real Jamaica, not just the resort. So, we packed food from breakfast, filled up my camel pack, and started the journey into town. On the way out, one of the hotel taxi people picked us up and dropped us off in the market. As soon as the taxi pulled away, the local merchants swarmed us and tried to push us into the shops.The first shop we went into was filled with carvings so we bought a pair of Jamaican marlin masks. Another guy, Crazy Boy, waited at the entrance until we had finished with that guy, and then pushed us into his shop which was filled with his paintings. We were really impressed with his work, and he kept saying over and over again that he was the artist and how hard he worked on his paintings and everything so we were looking at them and Trevor picked out this one of a beach scene and asked if he could paint him and I onto the picture holding hands beneath the palm tree. Crazy Boy got a little nervous and concluded that the painting was too small for that, but he could put us in without any details. I decided to just choose another painting so I chose a beautiful abstract one of Jamaican women. We didn’t want to carry it around with us as we shopped, so we gave him $5.00 to hold it and we would be back later to pick it up. Oh yeah, as we were looking at the paintings with Crazy Boy, these two women kept badgering me to let them braid my hair, but I kept telling them no because I would look ugly but they kept persisting and I kept saying no, so finally, they grabbed me, sat me down, and started braiding like crazy so I couldn’t get up. I was very bugged but I couldn’t do anything so I just sat there. Trevor came over and said, “Only do 10 and we are only going to pay $1.00 for each braid.” The women were like “No $3.00 per braid!” And it was this huge fiasco and finally we gave them $1.50 per braid and left. It was so annoying. Anyway, Trevor was getting really really sick of people pushing us around and taking advantage of us so he took us out of the tourist market and into the Jamaicans market. The one thing I really wanted to get while in Jamaica was Jamaican Jerk Seasoning and in the tourist marketplace they were trying to sell it for $8.00 per bottle so we went into the Jamaican market and there it was being sold for less than a dollar. Trevor was sooooo bugged. We walked around in real Jamaica for awhile, got our fill, and then headed back to pick up our painting. As we entered the tourist marketplace, everyone started badgering us again, ane Trevor had HAD it, so he went to Crazy boy for the painting and said, “Give it to me for $10.00”. Crazy boy knew he was in no mood for negotiations so he quickly took the $10.00 and tried to be really nice and get back on Trevor’s good side. Oh, Trevor was mad about the painting because after we left crazy boy’s shop, we saw all the paintings Crazy Boy had painted “himself” in all the other shops. He had lied right to our faces and that was why Trevor was made and Crazy Boy knew his lie was known and that is why he didn’t put up a fit for the $10.00.So, it had been super fun to shop and see all the crafts they were selling but being hassled so much was NOT fun but as we were leaving the market Trevor stopped into a shop and asked how much one of this guy’s canes would cost and Trevor kind of liked it (he was searching for a cane the whole time) but it wasn’t exactly what he wanted so he asked if this guy could make us one to our specifications. We were expecting another Crazy Boy instance of fraud but the guy, named John John, said absolutely and asked what we wanted. We told him we wanted an alligator and a lion because in Jamaica all the men are lions and alligators are indigenous to Jamaica so John John told us to come back the next day to pick it up.We got a taxi and had him take us to Dunns River falls which are these AMAZING waterfalls that people come to Jamaica just to see. So, we were let off, the Taxi drove off, and then we saw that it was closed because it was election day. So, we walked down to the base and tried to get to the falls a different way. As we were surveying a different way to the falls, a Jamaican asked if we wanted him to take a picture of us next to the falls. We said yes and started talking to him. He was so so sweet and he told us it was his responsibility to take pictures of people at the falls and keep the falls clean and beautiful. We asked if we could get in to see them and he said we couldn’t, but that he knew of some other falls that were even more beautiful and no tourists knew about them. We went down to the road and walked about a mile to his home which was this BEAUTIFUL area of land that looked fake because it was so beautiful. He was a true Rasta man and did not have a home (well, he did have a home but he rented it out and slept by these falls). He took us to his camp and went in to get me “slippers” to climb the falls in. He came back with flip flops that were four times as big as my feet. He was really sweet. He then grabbed my hand and led Trevor and I down to the breathtaking waterfalls. We all climbed it together and let the water just cascade down upon it. Fabian kept saying, “You need to let it beat yo back! It will make yo feel 16 again! The waterfalls are life!” He was so excited and kept pulling me under the falls. It was really funny.We became really good friends with Fabian there so much, in fact, that he invited us to dinner at his house that he rents out. He said he would serve us the Jamaican National dish which was Haka and swordfish. We asked what Haka was so he said, “come I will show you.” He then leapt into a tree and came back with these apple looking things but on the inside were these white fleshy fruit things with a big black seed at the top; very exotic looking. They were DELICIOUS and tasted like big walnuts. Anyway, his girlfriend came and picked us up, dropped us off at our hotel where we changed out of our wet clothes, and then hopped back in the car and they took us up to Steertown where they lived. It was very cool to see the true residential Jamaica. The houses are all these tiny little shacks that are made of either tin or cinderblock. They are all about 8 feet by 8 feet and just rickety rickety. They are built all over the mountainside wherever there is space. There were Jamaicans all over the place just socializing and talking; it was very friendly. We got up to Fabians house and met his tenants and the baby was SOOOOOOO cute and made me miss Jace SO much. We then sat in the backyard and Fabian told us all the uses for the things growing wild in the back yard and made us mint tea from the mint leaves growing wild there. He had all kinds of things like coconut trees, various roots, and lots of stuff that was all useful. He was really really sweet because he brought us the tea he had made for us then told us to wait right there and make ourselves at home. He then ran off and came back 20 minutes later with two pops. He had no money, but ran about a mile away to buy us those pops. He was so proud when he handed them to us; he was so sweet. We then just talked about various things in Jamaica, Fabian’s beliefs, Rastafarianism, etc. It was really interesting. Nicola (his girlfriend) then brought us the Jamaican National dish which she had cooked up for us and it was really really good except I didn’t eat any swordfish because fish is gross. There were also delicious Jamaican yams which I loved. It was so peaceful to be sitting there on the soft grass under the stars in the middle of this impoverished but happy society.

Day Two:

• Woke ~ 8:00 AM
• Tried to find Church nearby to no avail
• Went down to beach (a twenty-pace length from our pool)
• Spent the day kayaking, swimming and eating
• At 3:00 we went out on a dive boat down the coast to a nice spot to snorkel. We paid the captain a few extra $ to take us to the beach and falls where James Bond was filmed. We played with Jamaicans on the beach there until we went back to our 5-star resort.

We woke up bright and early and went to an amazing breakfast buffet which served a wide variety of various countries’ breakfasts. I recognized some from Norway, Germany, America, and Italy from our honeymoon. It was cool. After that we went down to the beach and it was GORGOUS!! The aqua water against the white sand was breathtaking. We swam for awhile and were bombarded by the local Jamaican peddlers. The hotel owns the beach so it is gated off far into the ocean and about a mile inland. Hotel guests are the only ones allowed on it and people are not allowed to hassle the tourists. However, some very tenacious Jamaicans dug a hole under one of the docks that keep the locals out and would come onto the beach to try to make a few bucks. As long as they stayed along the water line the security guards couldn’t kick them out (some weird rule) so they just walked up and back in the water hocking their goods. They were mainly selling necklaces, but when you came near to look at their craft, they would show you their real merchandise which was marijuana. EVERYONE was trying to sell marijuana. Bob Marley is a God to them. Literally. So the national religion is Rastafarianism and the true believers do not cut their hair or beards “because God did not make da comb an he did no make da scissors” so they have dreadlocks, and they wear the colors of Jamaica which represent Rasta which are red, black, yellow, and green. I can’t remember exactly what it means, but they say the red because “we are all one blood. You cut me, I bleed red, I cut you, its red. It’s not purple or orange, we are all one blood.” And then black because it is the color of Jamaicans, yellow because the sun gives us energy and vitality, and green because that is life. Trevor will have to fix all that if I am wrong. Anyway, so they sell these necklaces with those colors of beads and hematite beads because the hematite gives you nutrients and life and you never have to take vitamins if you wear hematite. Trevor bought a necklace (as described) from a guy named Curly Locks. He was adorable and had a belly like Boe. Trevor said he would buy it only if Curly Locks would do his sales pitch again for the camera so we have it on film and it is really cute. After we bought that, all the other peddlers saw we were an easy target and hounded us for the duration of our stay.After that we just kept basking in the beauty of the ocean and swam and swam. Then we went up to our hotel’s pool and swam there for awhile. Ok, that pool was AMAZING. There were two huge pools with all kinds of levels, fountains, and features. In each were swim up bars that you could just swim up to, order whatever, then swim in the pool drinking it or lay on the submerged built-in loungers in the pool. It was great because at the bars they had all kinds of milkshakes, smoothies, and drinks all for free. NOTHING in the hotel we had to pay for; everything, as much as we wanted, was free. You could even get all the drinks nonalcoholic and I probably had literally 60 pina coladas while I was there. The bartenders were absolutely astonished each time we ordered a pina colada but asked for no Jamaican rum. Apparently people go to Jamaica just for their world renowned rum.After that we went back to the beach and went kayaking. While we were kayaking we saw this Jamaican snorkeling and he kept diving and surfacing over and over so we rowed over to him and asked what he was looking for (thinking he was looking for watches dropped by tourists) and he took off his mask and said, “Ya mon, Jamaica no problem!” And held up a spear gun in one hand and a line strung FULL of octopus and the most beautiful tropical fish I had ever seen. He was diving for dinner! It was awesome! We then went to our snorkeling appointment. We went out on a dive boat to a coral reef and snorkled around looking at the gorgeous tropical fish. It was AMAZING! I have NEVER seen anything like it! The fish were so colorful and vibrant and everywhere! We even saw a manta ray hiding on the bottom! We had made a deal with the boat captain before the trip and we gave him $20 to take us to the water falls after the snorkeling trip so he did and we got to play in these GORGEOUS waterfalls where all the locals play. They had a vine that they would swing from and land in the water so Trevor did that a could times and it was really cute to see the Jamaicans watch him. The falls were really cool because a lot of movies have been filmed at them like James Bond and others I had never heard of.We were exhausted by then so we went up to our room, took a nap, then got ready for the night’s festivities. Every night the hotel put on a big show and that night it was “Grease”. It was really funny because the entire cast were skinny Jamaicans but they lip-synced the whole play so it was in the voices of John Travolta and Olivia Newton John. Very humorous.

Day One:

We arrived in Jamaica late Saturday night. After a two hour commute to Ocho Rios where we were staying, we threw our gear in the room (which was amazingly nice) and ran down to the 80 degree ocean. I jumped in and finally coaxed Caci into the dark yet clear water. After swimming around we headed up to the buffet and gorged on the varieties of food offered. We retired to bed to wake up the next morning.

All right, first off I will tell about the hotel. OH MY GOODNESS IT WAS AMAZING!!! We knew we were staying in a really nice all inclusive resort, but we had no idea that we were staying in a five star absolutely luxurious amazing hotel. When our transportation let us off at the hotel we entered into this huge open air lobby that was entirely made of granite. As we stood in line, waiters came and gave us goblets of Jamaican punch, bellmen came to get our bags, all the staff gave us the VIP treatment and it was just amazing. We were in a Junior Suite so we were VIP guests and were allowed to go to the reservation only gourmet restaurants that only the Master Suite and Junior Suite guests were allowed to dine in (all the other people in that category were super rich snobby Americans who treated the Jamaicans like second class citizens). Anyway, we walked into our hotel room and it was AMAZING. It was on the highest floor and our balcony opened up to an ocean view. There was a Jacuzzi tub, everything was granite, and it was just huge and gorgeous. Also, we had a full liquor bar with about $200 in liquor that we were allowed to just have and they changed it every second day. It was a huge waste since we only drank the water and orange pop but oh well! Anyway, after we set our stuff down we went down to the ocean which was right outside the hotel. The sand was like flour: SOOOO soft and white. The water, even at 9:00 at night was bath water warm and crystal clear. We went for a swim and it was awesome because we were the only hotel guests out there. Trevor kept trying to get me to go into the deep water (over the coral) where the sharks were and it was so so so so scary.After that we went to one of the buffets. It was amazing. There are 8 restaurants, 4 of which are DELICIOUS buffets and the other 4 are specialty gourmet restaurants. Three of them only the VIP guests (us) could go to. Most restaurants were open until 8pm, one was open until midnight, and the sports bar was open 24/7 so whenever we wanted food, no matter what time of day, there was a FEAST awaiting us. I gained literally 8 lbs on this 6 day trip.

Saturday 3:33 AM

Caci and I are up getting everything packed. It sure will be sad to leave Jace in just 1/2 an hour. Our itinerary is as follows:Sep 01, 2007

• Depart: Las Vegas 06:25 AM
• Arrive: Miami 02:05 PM elapsed 4h 40 mn
• Depart: Miami 07:10 PM
• Arrive: Montego Bay, Jamaica 07:45 PM elapsed 1h 35mn
• Arrive: Beach, walk in warm ocean will elapse 24/7

We’ll be updating this real-time during our trip.Trevor

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