jamaica

I leave for New York in less than a week. I think that means I officially need to get a summary of Jamaica up here before New York happens and I’m behind with two vacations. So. Jamaica went like this:

The food.
Oh my goodness, the food. Spicy stuff with jerk sauce on it. Fresh cut fruit, I love fruit! This yummy cheese that you eat with crackers that taste like communion crackers, which I love and always want more of at church. Which is possibly slightly sacrilegious to be thinking about the taste of the communion cracker when you’re supposed to be thinking about the symbolism that it’s Jesus’ body. Anyway, the food. Tomato Lentil Cappuccino soup, so good, really tomato-y with a coffee kick. The best scallops of my life. Desserts with decorative bits of white and milk chocolate sticking out of them, which I’m now so going to add to my cupcakes sometimes. Mini cheesecakes, incredible banana bread, snapper and fried dumplings. I even ate mussels. And discovered that I'm not really a fan. But the rest -- so, so good!

The resort.
It wasn't touristy, it was built into the cliffs on the side of the ocean and we were really in the naturalness of Jamaica. It was cool. They had spa rooms on top of the cliffs next to the ocean. NEXT TO THE OCEAN. There were also an incredible amount of stairs, which made me feel better about all the food.

The Adam.
- He prefers to sit in air conditioning for meals. I like being out on the deck where I can see the ocean, because being warm doesn't bother me, he doesn’t like hot.
- Remembering room numbers, or how to get back to the room, is not his strong suit.
- He got called my husband. A lot. Which was bound to happen at a couples resort. The first time an employee asked me where my husband was I made such a disgusted face the guy was like, ‘oh, I’m sorry. Your boyfriend.’. Then I just laughed. No thank you!
- I can spend four days with him and not want to kill him at all.

The activities.
Sunbathing. And reading books. Oh how I LOVE to read books. Snorkeling. Seeing crazy cool fish and getting super close to them. Not packing a sports bra, and going on the elliptical anyway. Getting off after twenty minutes to swim, a lower-impact workout. Walking around the resort taking oodles of pictures, and discovering all sorts of knooks and crannies for people to relax in.

The area.
Our ride from the airport was long and took us through a lot of Jamaica. Immediately out of the airport we saw slums, half built buildings, buildings that were worn down, all with extra pieces of wood or paneling to make people homes. Shacks, but homes. When I saw them I felt conflicted, because they were beautiful, such visually compelling spaces that my mind immediately started creating images including them. But a half beat later my heart fell -- hurting for the people who live there. And I felt that, but…those people are still blessed. They're full of joy, their value system is entirely different than ours, and it's a completely different life than what we live, but it's not a life full of sadness and despair. It's a harder life physically, but the things that we get caught up in and that distract us from the things that matter in life aren't things they deal with. I looked at their situation and felt incredibly blessed for the things that I have, but also thankful for how joy can be found everywhere.

The wedding.
Bride = pretty, happy woman.
Groom = quiet, but once he got over it, hilarious man.
Super crazy about each other.
The guests = bride’s mom, groom’s mom, and bride’s brother. That’s it. Super intimate wedding, lots and lots of time for pictures -- different, but beautiful. Not what I'd want, because I’d want my family there – but it was neat to be a part of.

Basically, I have the best job ever!