Monday January 23

Hanging out in Drapers all day. Chaos reigns.

It rained most of the day. We stayed at the house most of the day. Dave stopped by early to bring Matt a calabash gourd. Matt carves a gourd every trip, something he started doing a few years ago. Dave had a bag of 5. 3 of them were too big and mooshy, no good for carving. He said the man he went to first wanted $4000j for 3. He told us that these were not those gourds, he had told the guy that was too much and found someone else to get them from. Matt picked out 1 gourd and $500 was agreed as a good price for it.

A fisherman stopped by the gate and I bought some lion fish. 4.5lbs for $500j. The fisherman took the fish to Pakka's cook shop and we would have them for lunch. Kris and I went up to the store across the street and bought some more supplies for lunch. $400 for a head of cabbage, 2 yellow yams and a bag of flour and 2 newspapers. All the food stuff went to Pakka's place and we'd go there later to eat.

We got back to the house and decided we wanted some Red Stripes to drink while watching the rain fall. The General was outside the veranda under the awning talking to Matt and Louie. Kris and I walked to the bar across the street to get the beer. The General followed us "to make sure we were ok". When we went in he asked us to buy him an overproof rum. The bartender told us not to buy him one, as he was already well on his way. We told him sorry but we'd buy him something else to drink. He got angry. Not at us, at the bartender. He yelled at her things I have never heard before. 'F' this and that, "suck ya mudda out", calling her "just a bartender and not good for anything else", Kris and I booked it outa there with The General following behind. We walked fast but he kept up. He was yelling at the few men sitting on the stoop. Telling them to stop looking at us girls. The guys were telling him to stop following us. It was embarrassing.
*Just a note: You can see the bar/store from the house. Our guys watched us walk there and back. This was also in the daylight, around 11. Us girls never walked anywhere by ourselves out of sight and never anywhere, just us 2, after dark.

-After this incident with The General, someone must have had a chat with him because from this point on out, he was very respectful towards us. Even calling us "his guests" and keeping some sketchy people away from us.

We went to Pakka's to eat lunch. It was delicious. $700 for him to cook up our lunch, that was the total for 4 of us. Pakka is a really nice guy, several times he would walk to wherever we were going. Or if he saw us somewhere he'd pop in to check on us. Looking back now, knowing what I know now, I think he did it to make sure we would stay safe. ok...back to lunch...we were sitting on the bench when a few guys came in and wanted to make sure that The General didn't offend us girls earlier when he was cussing out the bartender. I'm not easily offended but I felt bad for her that he spoke to her so badly. I just said that we were ok, I didn't want to make a big deal out of it.

We got back to the house and Dave had brought me 5 Jamaican apples from the market in town. $200j and I handed him a little extra for the trouble. We most of them that night. I even shared them with the other guests at the house. They are my most favorite fruit ever!

Back at 'home' we stayed on the veranda, reading The Gleaner and The Star, Matt was carving his calabash when a man, the fisherman I had earlier bought fish from, appeared at the gate. He yelled for the host of the house, he came out and he started yelling thick patwa. I couldn't understand a lot of it. This is where I wish I could understand the language fully and not just a few words here and there. It takes me a while to piece it all together, sometimes the next day. The only thing I caught was "white people" and "theif dem". I asked what was going on when the hosts of the house and the man walked to the end of the lane. The last thing I want to be accused of is being a thief and especially in Jamaica. There were several people arguing for about 10 minutes. The hosts came back and walked inside. I called them back out and asked what was going on. They told me "nothing, that the Jamaican's can act like children sometime and we shouldn't worry about it."
But I was worried. I knew it was about us and I wanted to know what it was!

Dave came back to the house and invited us to go out later that evening. We left about 4 and went to a local bar. The vibe was good. We met some nice people. Pakka was there and we talked to him a lot of the time we were there. I pulled Dave aside and asked him what the argument earlier was about. He told me that there had been talk amongst some of the local guys, that they were going to rob us. Someone who overheard told a few of the older people in the area, which is why the fisherman came back to the house to tell our hosts. Dave told us that as long as we were with someone from the area we would be ok and not to worry about it. The would be theives cover had been blown and if something happened to us, people would know who it was.

After we left we passed a church. There was a revival going on so we stopped and listened to the sermon. Pakka told me I could go up and watch. I resisted but he led the way, urging me to follow. We walked up the steps and stood outside the doors. It was powerful. That preacher was full of fire. It made me want to actually go to church.

We were back at the house around 8pm. Pakka, Dave and Bernie (Dave's friend) walked us back to the house. We were in for the night drinking rum and pepsi, locked in the veranda. After this night, we were in fairly early for the rest of the week. If it wasn't at sunset, it was soon after. It got boring after a few days...not being able to go out when we wanted. We knew though, that if we wanted to stay safe, we had to do it. There was only 1 time that Matt and I had to walk home after dark by ourselves but it was a short walk.

PICTURE TIME!!!

Matt carving his gourd

Fresh fish

Some of the lion fish I bought. There was another sting with 2 more on it.

Lion fish all cooked up

Jamaican Apples

This was the walk to the bathroom at the bar we went to. Kris and I always went in pairs and we had our husbands stand guard at the end of the walk to make sure no one came back there while we were in there.

View of a veggie stand from the bar.

This is our drink we had on the veranda at home. It's ok when watered down heavily with pepsi.

jeannie, i'm so glad you "see" and understand what local jamaica is about. a lot of white ppl tourists just miss all the warning signs . . . and, you were surrounded by some very good ppl . . . nothing like treasure beach for sure.

your hosts were d i c k s . . .

First of all, tell Matt that he is ONE excellent carver! Seriously professional!

Wow, that is a trip about how those guys were going to rob you! Sounds like Peyton Place there. You must've felt like you were in a Fellini film that week. Glad that you had some good folks taking care of you.

Jeannie- Slow down! I want this report to last longer---lovin' it. My packing list for if I ever stay in Drapers:

Big Stick

Knife

Bigger Knife

Gun

Freakin' Bazooka!!

Guess that about covers it! Just kiddin', I think????LOL

Ohhh, I know! Ya shoulda done the poopin' thing and they woulda said- "Him mad, nuh badda him"

I'm sorry about your dealings in Drapers..But your obviously wise and seems like you made the best of it..I too hope this doesn't "spoil" any notions of traveling in that area of Jam in future..I really enjoy you report and pictures are awesome...and YES, Matt it a very good carver....

You guys did a GREAT !!!! job. And yes Matt is a carver of talent.

Oh and WOW his carving looks like it is laser cut. That's some talent!

I'm loving this report! Spent some time walking that road many years ago - never at night though. Mini-buses used to run that route, guess they probably don't anymore. You handled yourselves like old pros.

Beautiful photos, too - they make me long to go back. Thanks, Jeannieb, looking forward to more!

all of you are cool in my book.....u are the kind that actually 'get it'...

and matt....u deserve a gold tooth for that missing one!! big-up!!