Jamaica - Day 9 - Montego Bay

Another morning for a breakfast at Burger King before checking out of our hotel.  The customers at the Burger King were particularly interesting this morning, some tourists, some natives.  There was a little boy with his mom who was wearing sunglasses and making beats on the table.  Then, when he would get up to walk around he had  a swagger to his step.  There was actually an older man that walked by him who imitated him...I think to point out how silly he looked...but the kid didn't get the picture and went back to what he was doing.

Then there was a pretty large family, both in number and in size, that were complaining about the heat. Mostly the kids...they were such whiners:  "It's too hot outside!"  "I don't want to do (this or that)!"  ...except for one.  He was sitting there quietly, listening to the rest of them complain with a look on his face that said "Well this isn't any fun."  At that point their Dad pointed him out to everybody and said something about how he wasn't a complainer and was really proud of him.  It brought a little smile to his face and mine that he was recognized.  

After breakfast we went back to the hotel, made sure that we had everything packed, and got our game plan ready to go...our game plan for the taxi driver that is.  Since we knew we were going to be over charged we worked out how we were going to pay the guy so that we wouldn't get ripped off.  Well, we gave him 300 Jamaican dollars as we walked up to the taxi and told him we needed to go to the airport.  As he walked around to the driver seat he counted the money and then go into the car and told us that his boss would fire him if he drove us for only 300.  He went on and on about how it's at least 1500 Jamaican dollars (5-7 minutes down the road!) and his boss would be so mad. So then David decided that he would give him another 100 in hopes that it would make him happy.  Well, as David pulled the money out of his wallet he didn't look at it so well.  Instead of handing him the 100, he gave him a 1000!  The driver jumped at the opportunity to take the money.  I hit David in the arm but he still didn't realize what had happened.  I thought that he was intentionally giving the guy the 1000 dollar bill.  Turns out David didn't realize what he had given the guy and was mad at me for not pointing it out to him.  It made for a very unpleasant first few minutes in the airport, but a very happy taxi driver.  ARGH!  They win again!

After we checked in we waited in a really long security checkpoint/passport control line.  While in the line we talked with two ladies who were headed home as well.  One of them was an aerobics instructor for resorts and she brought her friend with her.  We told them about why we were there too and enjoyed our conversation with them until it was our turn to talk to passport control.  I was nervous at this point too because David wasn't convinced that they were going to let me bring the conch shell out of the country.   I had it in my purse and wasn't planning on saying anything about it unless someone asked.  Well, the  passport person had absolutely no personality, I don't think she even looked at our faces, so she didn't ask any question and told us we could go through.  Then we had to take off our shoes and x-ray our bags and the rest is history!

Back to reality, oh wait, one more picture...

James & Gabrielle

March 26, 2010

Montego Bay, Jamaica

Jamaica - Day 8 - Montego Bay

We had Burger King for breakfast again this morning and afterwards decided to give ourselves a tour of downtown Montego Bay.  We also wanted to check out an old fort area where they currently have markets that was on the way.

As we walked out of the tourist area we noticed that there were no longer “street patrol” people around whenever you wanted to cross the street.  On the “hip strip” they were all over ready to stop traffic for you, but here it was just normal streets.  As we got closer to the market area we noticed ladies standing on both corners of the street.  Before we could even pass the one on our side of the street she came right up to us to start a conversation.  It went a little like this, all while we are still walking:

Lady:  “Hello there!  Are you looking to do some shopping today ma’am?”

Susan:  “No thank you, we’re just walking around.”

Lady:  “Oh ok, well maybe on your way back you’d like to stop by our market (pointing across the street up the hill) to buy some souvenirs.  What’s your name?”

Susan: “Susan.”

Lady:  “Susan! Oh that’s a Jamaican name you know.”

Susan:  “Oh is it…”

Lady:  “Yes! You have such beautiful hair, maybe you’d like to have some braids?  We could braid it for you.”

Susan:  “No thanks…(as she begins to get the point that we want to keep walking)…bye.”

Susan, a Jamaican name…you learn something new everyday! :o)  We kept walking and we then approached, from behind, by a guy.  At this point David is walking slightly in front of me, and the guy walks slightly in front of David.  He begins a conversation with David, also while we continue walking and he never looks at us in the face…the entire time he is walking slightly ahead of us, talking to us, but never looking at us:

Guy:  “Hey man, what’s up?” (holds out his fist to “bump knuckles” with David)

David:  “Not much, just walking around.”

Guy:  “What’s ya name man?”

David:  “David, and you?”

Guy:  “I’m (I don’t remember…) and the lady there?”

David: “That’s my wife Susan.”

Guy: “Nice to meet you man.  So, where ya from David and Susan?”

David: “The United States.  Georgia.”

Guy: “Georgia, yeah, yeah, nice place.  So, you are going to see a little of the city huh?”

David: “Yep.”

Guy:  “Ya know, there is no racism in Jamaica.”

David: “Really?  That’s good.”

Guy: “Ya man, ya man, you don’t have to worry about none of that here. No racism at all.”

David: “Hadn’t even though about it actually.”

Guy: “Well, if you head that way (pointing) you’ll go downtown, and if you walk over there you can go to the farmer’s market…”

 (After realizing what was going on and what was going to be expected of us, I chimed in) Susan: “Are you expecting us to pay you for giving us a tour? …because we aren’t going to.”

(He begins heading away from us and across the street mumbling under his breath)

Guy: “mumbles…racists…mumbles”

Well, that was interesting.  David was glad that I caught on to his intentions, and I was kind of surprised how bold I was.  In the end I’m glad that we were up front with him, because I wouldn’t have wanted him to continue “showing us around” and then gotten mad when we didn’t give him anything for it.  So we got called racist instead. 

I’m sorry, but after walking around Montego Bay and getting asked by every taxi driver that we walked by if we want a ride (to go 5 minutes down the same street), or asked by the ladies who work in the shops if we are doing any shopping and want to check out their store, I decided to be as direct with them as they were being with us.  I was beginning to feel like just because we were visiting their country they assumed that we had a ton of money to just throw away on any and everything.  Maybe a lot of visitors they see do, but we sure don’t.  So if they were going to assume I’m made of money, I was going to assume that they were just trying to hassle me for it.  And in this case I was right…and it had nothing to do with race!  When are people going to realize this?

When we walked into the downtown area we felt a little like we were back in Kingston, because we stood out so much.  There were a couple guys who said hi to us, and welcomed us to Jamaica.  But no one else stuck around to give us a tour.  Then, when we walked through a central area of downtown, we walked by a mother and her two kids.  We smiled at them as we walked by and then heard the mother say in a normal voice: “Look, white people!”  So we turned around to look at them, and waved…because they were already waving at us!  It was hilarious.  I would never have expected that to happen.  I think this is a sign that more people need to go visit Jamaica.  More people from ALL over the world.  And go explore more than just tourist areas…it’s more fun!

On our way back to our hotel, and lunch at Chilito’s again (we love it!) we saw the lady that spoke to me across the street.  We were wearing our sunglasses, and had no intention of going shopping, so decided not to acknowledge her unless we absolutely had to, since she was so far away.  We heard her calling to us:  “Yoo hoo!  Hello!  Yooooo hooooo!”  I guess she couldn’t remember my common Jamaican name. :o)

We also stopped by Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, just to check it out as a possibility for dinner.  It looked fun.  David especially liked to idea of a water slide. We also asked if they could make us milkshakes (since we were craving them after last night’s dinner).  We were assured that our dining experience would be fabulous.

After eating at Chilito’s for lunch we spent some time talking with the girls that were working there, and their manager.  They were all about our age and very nice.  They asked what had brought us to Jamaica, so we told them about the translation project.  They were really interested to hear about it.  So, while David kept talking with them, I went to get our last book mark from the hotel room.  We gave it to them and they had fun trying to read it.  The two girls who worked behind the counter were really excited about it, but the manager was a little hesitant.  She was more educated than them and even told us that her parents spoke to her in English at home, so she considered English a native language just like Patois.  But she did speak Patois with all her friends.  She was very open minded about the whole idea in the end though.

Then we went to the beach again.  We did some more snorkeling and David found a whole conch shell!  “Way cool!” as my mom used said.  

Then we laid in the sun a little more and I noticed a bunch of scruffy looking people hanging out along the back of the beach.  They were selling marijuana!  Not just selling it either, smoking it too.  It stunk pretty bad.  I also saw a group of American guys, who came off a cruise ship, go and buy some from them.  Shame. 

Our plan at this point was to head to Margaritaville in time to see the sunset while we ate dinner.  So we got ready and headed that way.  When we got there the place was almost completely empty.  One other couple was there eating.  We walked over to the water slide and noticed it was CLOSED!  

David’s evening was ruined.  He wore his flowery bathing suit for nothing, oh well.  Then when we ordered, we were sure to order our milkshakes…and they told us they didn’t have milkshakes!  Someone lied to us pretty bad.  But, our waiter said he thought he could whip something up for us.  They turned out to be delicious and he only charged us for one.

We were able to see as much of the sunset as possible from Montego Bay.  I guess going to Negril really is the thing to do to see the sunset in Jamaica.  We’ll have to do that on our next trip :o)

We did get to see the cruise ship leaving the bay, and a police boat that was speeding around.  We also saw a night snorkeler.  I’m sure it would be a lot of fun to do something like that, as long as the police boat doesn’t get too close to you.  Seriously, he could have died.

After an extremely filling burger dinner we went back to the hotel and went to bed.  Our last night in Jamaica.

Jamaica - Day 7 - Montego Bay

David is cured!  We woke up early and went for a walk along the “hip strip” where our hotel was located.  Most of the little shops weren’t even open yet, but that was ok because our goal was for breakfast at Burger King.  Apparently, McDonlad’s didn’t try to claim Jamaica because Burger Kings were all we saw on the island.  I hadn’t been to a Burger King in a long time, but their breakfast menu, although limited, was just what we were looking for.  We ordered to go and decided to keep walking, this time hoping to find a store that sold waterproof sun block.  When we first arrived in Kingston we bought the only sun block they had at the grocery store and I didn’t realize that it wasn’t waterproof – that’s not going to work for a redhead on the beach!

We walked the span of the hip strip and finally found the sun block we wanted to buy.  It was priced at $15 and David casually said “that’s ridiculous” and the guy sold it to us for $10.  We also say the Bobsled Café.  Just in case you ever need to watch Cool Runnings while you’re in Jamaica, the Bobsled Café plays it on a loop for all of its customers. Then we grabbed our bathing suits and headed to the beach. 

There isn’t as much beach space (sandy shores) as most people who have ever been to Florida would expect from the beaches in Jamaica.  Plus, you have to pay to go to them.  We were staying at Doctor’s Cave Beach Hotel, so we thought we would get to go to the beach for free, but apparently they are two separate entities.  So we went to Doctor’s Cave beach anyway – the nicest beach in Montego Bay – and really enjoyed it.

It was a really nice beach too.  The sand was really clean and the water was beautiful.

We spent a good amount of time snorkeling, just enough time, in fact, to allow my sun block to slowly fade away in the water.  Anyway, the snorkeling was a lot better than I was expecting.  There were a bunch of reefy areas that had a bunch of fish!  We saw all kinds of different colored and shaped fish, as well as some rays (don’t know what kind), and little crabs, and coral, conch shells that were moving and the paths they left behind, a huge school of little tiny fish, and a fish that was very defensive of its home!  It tried to bite my mask.  Seriously, it swam right up to my face as if to say “Hey!  This is my home big thing with legs that is trying to swim!  Go away!”  I’ll admit, I backed away from him!  Too bad I didn’t have an underwater camera.

After snorkeling we sat in the sun reading until we got too hot that we couldn’t stand it anymore.  Then we had to get in the water again.  I realized how red I was getting so once we got out of the water again I moved my towel under a tree and sat there instead.  

Then we got hungry for lunch and went to the Chilito’s again so David could try it.  After lunch we decided to spend some time out of the sun.  Then we went back to the beach and walked down one pier that had some crabs walking around on it.  Apparently crabs aren’t really held back by gravity because they walked underneath the pier, upside down because they were afraid of us. 

Our intention was to stay at the beach until sunset, but it was cloudy and we wouldn’t have been able to see it anyway.  Instead, we went to dinner.  We went to a place recommended to us by Charlie called The Pelican.  It was good, we had Conch Soup (similar to clam chowder), Sweet & Sour Chicken (David), and Steamed Fish (Susan) that I was hoping would be as good as Lloyd’s from the other day, but it wasn’t. :o(  We also had a milkshake! Yum.

Jamaica - Day 6 - Montego Bay

David woke up this morning feeling better.  So we ate and got ready to go on a canopy tour via zip line. 

On our bus ride to the tour we met a couple, James and Gabrielle, who would be getting married the next day!  They’re eloping in Jamaica – how exciting! 

It turns out that it was really great to meet them because by the time we got to the site for our tour David wasn’t feeling well again.  He ended up making the decision to stay behind to spare everyone else from having to witness any sickness that might occur.

 

(David, suited up, but just about to decide to stay behind.)

So, I went without him and brought the camera so he could see what he was missing.  He laid on a picnic table bench the entire time we were gone…besides his side trips to the restroom.

It was a lot of fun and I know David would have loved it!  

The dense trees of the forest were really beautiful especially when the sun shined through.  Our tour guides were nice too and took great care of me since they knew David stayed behind.

When we returned to the beginning of the tour I found David feeling sickly and waited for our driver to get there.  David said the bus ride back actually made him feel better.  After dropping off the other passengers and wishing James and Gabrielle all the best for their big day we had the driver help us relocate to our new hotel.

And we loved it!  Our room was pretty large and very colorful and much cleaner than the other one.  

And it was directly across the street from the beach – hooray for walking!  The hotel was laid out like a resort too.  We had a balcony and there were walkways that connected all the different branches of rooms.  Plus there were palm trees everywhere, and that’s always nice.  The only problem was that David felt terrible. 

We didn’t really eat lunch after the canopy tour so after a little nap I was starving for something to eat.  David didn't feel like going anywhere but didn't want me going out alone either so we went to a restaurant that we saw when we first got there that was just around the corner; Chilitos.  It is a Jamexican restaurant! :o) It was great!  But, poor David, didn’t get anything for fear he would just feel worse.  I ate some nachos and jerk shrimp tacos (and saved him one for the next day) and we went back to the hotel.

David was still feeling bad enough that he was concerned about the arrangement we made for our trip on Friday (to Mayfield Falls and Negril).  So, I called Charlie and told him we would have to cancel.  It was sad, and I felt bad that he would be losing our business.  Then David just wanted to lay in bed so I decided to find the hot tub.

I brought my book and my towel and spent the next few hours in the hot tub.  I don’t think you are supposed to stay in there that long, but it was great, and I got out every so often.  I read a few chapters and then spent the rest of the time watching the anoles that were all around me!  They were probably there the whole time and I hadn’t even realized it.  They were very entertaining though. 

I felt like I was a videographer for the Discovery channel…hiding in the hot tub watching the creatures in their natural habitat.  There were five of them in particular that I was watching.  It was like an anole soap opera…  Two males were trying to attract one female.  They were displaying the colorful skin below their jaws to try to lure her to them.  She wasn’t easy to impress!  At the same time there was another female who was noticing what was going on while a different male approached her.  Once she realized he was there she turned her attention toward him instead.  Eventually the first female picked her match and the other male ran off.  By then it was time for me to go back and check to see if David was still alive and go to bed.

Jamaica - Day 5 - Kingston/Montego Bay

We awoke at 5am to make sure we had packed everything and could meet our taxi driver by 5:30am.  Our Knutsford Express bus was scheduled to leave at 6am for Montego Bay.  

Something I have forgotten to mention about Kingston… Since the entire country is on a small island everything is a lot closer together than most of us are used to.  While in Kingston you can see the Caribbean as well as the Blue Mountains (to the east).  Plus, we aren’t used to seeing mountains all the time, so for us it was extra neat.  This early in the morning that mountains looked so beautiful from the city.

Everything went smoothly on our bus ride.  We got to see more of the city as we drove out of it and up through the edge of the mountains.  David read his second book of the three he brought, and I read some of the one that I brought and then fell asleep.  The roads were bumpier than we were used to and our entire ride the bus driver had music playing - often there was an accompanying music video.

Our driver was taking a path north toward the city of Ocho Rios, where we made a first stop, and then continued west to Montego Bay.

Map Key:

Green dot = Kingston

Dark Blue dot = Port Royal

Yellow dot = May Pen (where we went to church on Sunday)

Teal dot = Ocho Rios

Red dot = Montego Bay

We arrived in Montego Bay and were bombarded by taxi drivers who wanted to get our business.  I ignored them because I wanted to get our suitcases while David found one who could give us a ride to our hotel.  He charged us probably twice as much as he should have, but at the time we really didn’t know any better.  Then we got to our hotel, the Grandiosa.  On arriving both David and myself were a little disappointed.  The hotel was NOT close to a beach, which Expedia said it was, and after seeing a room found that it wasn’t the cleanest place either.  The doors didn’t have seals around them so the little ants could come right inside!  BUT, the staff at the hotel was excellent.  We told them our disappointment about distance from the beach and they helped us arrange new reservations at a hotel that was closer.  Although, we did keep our reservation there for the evening because that afternoon and the next morning we had two “adventure tours” scheduled to pick us up from that location.

While making all of our reservation changes David was able to talk to some of the receptionists about the translation project.  She had asked him what brought us to Jamaica and then was really interested to hear about everything.  The translators had given us two bookmarks and brochures to take home as souvenirs but we felt like we should give them away if we could while were still in Jamaica.  So David gave one to the ladies at the hotel.

For lunch we ate some leftover jerk chicken and pork and then started getting ready for our first adventure tour.  Our bus driver’s name was Charlie and we made one other stop to pick up passengers before heading to the location of our Horse Ride & Swim tour.  We had been told that it might rain today, but we were convinced that it wouldn’t.  Then, when we got there it all began.  It rained A LOT, but the tour continued!  First, after a short briefing, they matched everyone up with a horse.  I got to ride Scrumby, and David had Red Man (the horse I thought I would get because our hair matched!).  Then we went on a trail ride up through some hills.  The terrain was pretty rough and because it was raining the horses would occasionally slide on the mud as they were walking.  I felt kind of bad for them!  Plus, while we were riding the horses were extremely close together.  They didn’t have any personal space.  I kept trying to slow Scrumby down so that he could have a view other that the horses backside in front of him, but he was used to being that close that he didn’t want to listen to me. 

We had a very friendly guide who would point out different plants for us and make sure that we stayed in line.  We were also riding with a couple who used to live in France (the husband was French, the wife was American).  Both of them lacked confidence while riding so as soon as we found out we had France in common with them David was able to talk to the wife enough to keep her from thinking about riding.

After our trail ride we dismounted and had a break before the swimming part of the tour.  They took off the saddle and left a cushion on the horses’ backs.  Then they rematched everyone up with a horse (typically a different one than the first time) for the swimming experience.  They took a smaller group of riders into the water.  The horses bodies (below the neck) were submerged in the water so we were getting wet almost all the way up to our waists.  It was really neat, but didn’t last nearly as long as I had expected, and the horses seemed to have to work so hard to move through the water.  I felt sorry for them again.  We didn’t bring our camera and we weren’t willing to buy any of the pictures that they took for us because they were too expensive, but it was really neat.  It stopped raining as we were finishing our trail ride too, so after the swim we were able to dry off and stay dry.

On our ride back to the hotel we decided we really like Charlie (our driver).  So we made arrangements to have him drive us all the way to Negril (far west coast) on Friday to see Mayfield Falls and a popular restaurant called Rick’s Café to watch the sunset.

Then we ate dinner at the hotel.  David had a delicious coconut pasta:

And I had a chicken breast stuffed with callaloo and ackee (the fruit of Jamaica):

We went to bed early because our second adventure tour was the next morning.  In the middle of the night David began to feel sick…

Jamaica - Day 4 - Kingston

We “slept in” this morning and had the continental breakfast at the hotel.  Jodi picked us up at 9:30am.  We headed to a park that is inside the city; Emancipation Park.  It is one of the only things to really “site see” in the city, other than the Bob Marley Museum and Port Royal.  Anyway, the plan for this morning was to continue doing what we did yesterday, go talk to some people about the translation project.  Again, we had some very interesting interactions. 

Right when we got out of the car we bumped into two men that Lloyd knew.  One was an old classmate and the other was the husband of one of Lloyd’s former teachers, who also is a principle and is very well educated.  He expressed a lot of doubt about written Patois because some people pronounce the same words in slightly different ways.

  

So, Lloyd and Jodi explained how the most common usage of the word would be the one chosen as the standard.  They also pointed that although it is pronounced a little different everyone still understands what is being said…similar to the many accents you hear in English.  He understood their points but still wasn’t completely sold on the idea.  We couldn’t talk with him long because he was showing some visiting family around.  Lloyd’s other friend couldn’t stick around either, but before he left we found out that he had been to many places in the US before including Atlanta where his sister is a nurse at Emory…”It’s a small world after all…”

We went into the park, saw a small camera crew filming a commercial, and looked for some people to talk to.  Lloyd spotted a group of students who were with their teacher and asked for her permission to talk with them.  When she found out what we wanted to talk about she absolutely refused to let them.

  

She called the translation project nonsense and a stupid idea.  We tried to reason with her and convince her that it would be beneficial for the country, but she refused to believe that Patois would be anything but bad and confusing for her students.  She said “they struggle with English enough as it is, it would just make their English worse!”  I even tried to make a comparison for her with me trying to learn French without have English to help me understand what I needed to learn and I think she got my point, but still refused to consider it a good idea.  The stigma of Patois was just too much of a barrier for her.

Next we approached two women.  One, when finding out we wanted to talk about the Bible didn’t want to on that premise alone.  I think she mentioned something about “religion” not working for her and things never went her way, so we talked with the lady sitting next to her instead and she was still able to listen.  This other woman, as well, was skeptical at first, also because she was well educated and wanting to raise her five year old son to speak English (and that was her focus).  Once Lloyd convinced her of the benefits of raising her son to be bilingual she began to listen to Lloyd while looking at him rather than just looking around him.  You could see her interest growing.  

Then one of her friends came to sit next to her and joined the conversation.  She seemed to like the idea a lot.  We gave them the bookmarks and the tried to read the Lord’s Prayer and struggled because they were trying to pronounce Patois words with English pronunciation rules.  But, after we encouraged them to think about how they speak Patois while they read it they read much better.

Speaking of the Lord’s Prayer in Patois, would you like to see what it looks like?  Try to read it too:  (think about a Jamaican accent while you read…and if you need help with that go watch the movie “Cool Runnings” and come back and try again)

“Wi Faada we iina evn,

Mek piipl av nof respek fi yu an yu niem.

Mek di taim kom wen yu ruul iina evri wie.

Laad, mek we yu waahn apm pan ort,

Jos laik ou a way u waahn fi apm iina evn apm.

Evri die, gi wi di fuud we wi niid.

Paadn wi fi aal a di rang we wi du,

Siem laik ou wi paadn dem we du wi rang.

No mek we fies notn we wi kaaz wi fi sin,

An protek wi fram di Wikid Wan”

(Matyu 6: 9-13)

Anyway, back to the ladies we were talking about…

Before we went to talk to some other people Lloyd offered to pray with the first woman who said she wasn’t really interested in talking, and she was willing.

Our last conversation was with a girl who was sitting in the park studying.  From the very beginning of our conversation she was supportive and in favor of the Bible being translated to her native language.  She easily saw the benefits and even pointed some of them out on her own.  It was encouraging to end by talking with her.  She even allowed us to video tape her talking about why she thought the project was a great idea.  It was a little windy in the park though, so we’ll have to see if we can eliminate some of the noisy wind.

The rest of our day was spent being tourists…with great tour guides!  First we stopped to grab a snack.  A Jamaican treat called a patty.  

It looks a lot like a taco, but the inside is just meat (sometimes with cheese) and it is wrapped up in coco bread (which is just yummy delicioud doughy bread).  Then we drove out to Port Royal (the same one that is referred to in The Pirates of the Caribbean movie).  Did you know that a lot of Port Royal is now underwater because of an earthquake?  What was left was neat though.  There was a base that was designed to look like a ship if you were approaching by water in the distance.  This way, when an enemy ship was headed toward you, by the time they realized that you were really on land and had an entire army behind the walls it was too late to get away!  

Currently, there is a coast guard based there and the rest of the area has been preserved as it was.  The people who live there even live as though they were living in a different era than the rest of Jamaica.

After a tour and some looking around, we drove out to Portmore, where Lloyd lives and ate at a jerk restaurant; Sundayz by the Bay.  

We tried jerk chicken, jerk pork, and steamed fish that was cooked with okra and other veggies.  It was all very good, but Lloyd’s steamed fish was really really good.  There were also some puppies around the restaurant that were extremely cute and playful and were lucky to get some of our leftovers.

Then we went to Lloyd’s house, to drop him off.  We also used the time to film Jodi and Lloyd telling us a little about their experience getting involved with the translation project.  Then we said our goodbyes and Jodi took us to a place to shop for souvenirs.  We bought some postcards and then returned to our hotel.  After saying goodbye to Jodi we went to arrange our checkout for the next morning.

Then David went swimming, I started writing, and we watched LOST before bed.  That show is ridiculous…if you’ve never watched it, don’t start now!  …or else I will have to recommend a book to you called “Don’t Waste Your Life” by John Piper.  Well, I recommend the book either way!

Jamaica - Day 3 - Kingston

I wish I could just upload my thoughts directly to the page right now because today has been so awesome that I know my hand will hurt from writing when I’m done. (It’s a long one so get ready!)

Our first planned event for the day was to go to Meadowbrook High School to participate in their morning devotion time.  The Bible Society translation team was scheduled to come and speak to them about the translation project.  When we arrived they were beginning to sing some praise songs…songs that most of them probably knew from going to church, because most Jamaicans do go to church.  It is a huge part of their culture in general.  It’s very obvious when you drive around town, because there is a church every two buildings or so.

After songs, Jodi, Lloyd, and Bertram were invited on stage to make their presentation.  Jodi started by briefly talking about translating the Bible into their native Patois language, followed by reading Luke 5:17-26 in Patois.  Lloyd followed with a shortened version of his Sunday sermon.  The students standing on the edges of the crowd (where we were) were definitely more easily distracted, as any high schooler might be, and didn’t pay attention as much as those in the center and front.  For the most part, it seemed like they were very receptive to what they were hearing, and I think the translation team would agree that the majority of the students would probably agree that what they were hearing, in Patois, was easier for them to understand than what they usually hear in English, in church.  Then, Bertram closed their devotion time with a prayer in Patois.  Afterwards we stayed a while and spoke with the Headboy of the school who was very enthusiastic about the project.

 

Next, we headed to the Bible Society of the West Indies headquarters, where the translators work.  We sat in on their morning meeting where they discuss their goals, progress, and/or lack of progress, as well as upcoming meetings, etc.  We met the big boss (Secretary General), Rev. Courtney Stewart, who led the meeting.  Think about James Earl Jones, and the big guy from The Green Mile…that is the kind of voice that Rev. Stewart has.  We also really liked the sign on his office door.

Then we got a very in depth tour and explanation of the facility and how the translators work.  We got to see the software they use and their reference books, and everything that is necessary for translating accurately.  

(David learning about the translation software)

Then Bertram showed us how he has divided up the Bible for the three translators, the method in which they translate (1^st-4^th drafts and exegete revisions, etc.) and then how he tracks their progress to make sure they are using their funding wisely, efficiently, and effectively. 

Then we went to have lunch across the street at an Indian restaurant (Bombay) where we had curry chicken, curry goat, and roti sandwiches.  It was delicious, very filling, and cheap!

We returned to the BSWI and got to observe some of the group review time. The way it works is that one translator will send what they have translated to the other translators and they will go through the scripture verse by verse, and often word by word, to make sure that the translation is accurate and would be understood properly with the words used in Patois. 

Today, a portion of Jodi’s scripture was being discussed.  Beginning in Galatians 1:1, Jodi read in Patois and Lloyd and Bertram commented and asked questions when necessary.  Their big debate today was about the best way to translate the word “brothers” or “brethren” in this context.  Since Patois is a gender neutral language they just wanted to make sure that the way they translated it was accurate to the way Paul wrote it.  …who, specifically, was being included in the word “brothers” in this letter…  They considered the Greek, the English translations, the context of the letter and previous letters Paul wrote and in the end they decided to leave a note for the exegetes to add their opinion before they make an official decision.  This kind of debate happened often within the first 2 verses of Galatians to ensure the accuracy and understandability of the Patois translation, as it has been done in the past for other translations.  These translators are picking apart scripture word by word for the entire Bible.  They know this word so well!  How often do most people thoroughly study and think about God’s word in this way?  Well, if it’s not our job, and we don’t have our workday set aside for it, then most of us probably haven’t.  We’ve placed our priorities elsewhere and we’re missing out!

We left the Bible Society and headed to a local transportation center and at this hour, most students were awaiting their busses home for the day.  Our goal now, was to take some of the already translated portions of scripture out in public to spread word about the project, so that people can hear it, and to make sure that what they were hearing was clear and understandable.  The range of reactions we saw was very interesting.

We started by speaking to a group of three high school aged girls.  Lloyd started most of our conversations by asking them if they spoke Patois – you may wonder why this would be a good conversation starter, but if you remember what I wrote in my first post about Jamaica and the opinion of Patois vs. English it might make a little more sense.  In about 50% of the interactions when Lloyd would ask if they spoke Patois, they would say “no.”  The other half would say “yes, but only with friends” or something similar.  So, in this first group of girls there was one girl who very quickly, and with a negative tone, said “No, I don’t speak it” while one of her friends said “yeah, I do.” From there, Lloyd’s strategy, to prove to the resistant girl that she did speak Patois was to question her in Patois, and once she responded she would prove to us and herself that she does speak it. That helped soften her view on things, but it also helped that she had a friend that was interested in talking with us.  

Soon into our conversation with them, three other girls jumped into our circle (probably just to see what was going on – since David and I stuck out amongst all the Jamaicans) and they immediately said that they spoke Patois and were interested in trying to read some of it.  Lloyd had his copy of the book of Luke (Di Luuk Buk) and he read some of it for them just so they could hear and to see if they thought it was easy to understand.  They said it was.  But, at that point, the resistant girl said that it would be a waste of time to translate the Bible to Patois since they already read the Bible in English, plus she wouldn’t even know how to read it, so it would be a waste of time and money.  This is when Lloyd asked them to try to read the cover of his book, and after that we gave them each a bookmark that had the Lord’s Prayer (Di Laad Prieya) on it.  They all tried reading it together, and with a little guidance they did very well.  Eventually the resistant girl warmed up to the idea of the translation and said “Yeah, I could read that.”

Next we went into a bakery, Swirl, where it wasn’t as noisy and where Jodi knew someone who worked there.  She gave us permission to speak to the customers.  There were a few younger girls and a lady who began talking with Lloyd. One of the girls was open to talking with Lloyd without any reservations but the lady began by saying that she didn’t know Patois at all.  Lloyd used his “talking to her in Patois” technique and was able to get her to respond.  But she was still extremely negative about the language. 

Then Lloyd asked her what language Jamaicans speak and she said “English,”

 

Lloyd: “But you speak Patois too, right? You speak two languages.”

Lady: “Oh, two languages…yeah I guess so.”

Convincing her that she was bilingual made a big impact on her willingness to hear about the translation project.  Then Lloyd read to them from Luke and we gave them each a Lord’s Prayer bookmark and encouraged them to try to read it.  A group of young boys approached looking over my shoulder (…I must be short because they weren’t that old) to see the brochures I had, so I gave them one plus a bookmark and they tried to read along as well.  At this point, the lady in the corner began reading too and when the younger kids struggled with a word she could figure out she began to help them!  It was a pretty big transformation within the course of about 10 minutes.  These people, once they see they can read it, really desire the acceptance of their own language!  And how cool that it begins with them reading their own language for the first time from the word of God.  That is how people used to learn how to read English in our country…from the Bible in Sunday school classes.

Then we stopped to talk with a very well dressed man who was sitting next to a much poorer looking woman (I think they were talking prior to our arrival, but I’m not sure).  The woman never said very much, although she was very smiley. 

From the very beginning the man was incredibly excited about the idea of the project and when he read the Lord’s Prayer he read it very loud and with enthusiasm.  I think it was because he was just thrilled to be able to read it!  It was great.  He asked for details about the release date of the New Testament and how to find out more in general.

Our next encounter was, by far the most interesting.  We walked up some stairs right to a woman who was trying to hand us something. (I will leave out the belief group she was representing)  I bet she didn’t think that someone would be trying to give her something while she was out.  She gave the defensive “No.” to Lloyd’s questioning her ability to speak Patois.  Then, she thought that David and I were walking around with these Jamaicans because we were interested in learning to speak Patois (the thought had crossed my mind).  We finally got to the point where Lloyd mentioned the translation project and she was very skeptical and seemed greatly protective of the King James Version of the Bible.  She wanted to know about how the translation was being done, mostly if it was being translated from the original scriptures in Greek. This reassured her a little so that our conversation could continue.  Lloyd was then able to get her to try to read a little of the text of Luke.  I’m not really sure how it happened but quickly the conversation switched to her view of God only having one name, and then about the church that she goes to, and Jodi and Lloyd tried their darndest to get her to see that what she was saying was wrong, but she was very defensive of the false truths she has been taught over the years even if they could be easily disproved.  Then Lloyd asked her if what she learned from God’s word wasn’t what she currently knew to be true, if she would be willing to change what she believes, but she refused to believe that that was even a possibility!  She then said boldly that she would live and die believing what she believes, basically, because she wanted it to be that way.  I understand that it is hard to change what you believe especially, for example, if your entire life you were told that grass is yellow and one day someone told you that it is really green and whoever had been teaching you had been teaching you incorrectly.  I also understand that pride was probably a big part of her statement.  But at least she was able to hear what we had to say and whether she changed her mind right then and there in front of us doesn’t matter, but now she can at least think about it and take the time to make a final decision.  I can pretty much guarantee that she thought about that conversation for the rest of the day, if not longer, just because of how worked up it got her.  We still left her a brochure and bookmark.  As we walked away I noticed her looking at the brochure intently and then stopping someone to either give it away to them or to talk to them about it.  At least it didn’t go straight to the trash can!

We ended the day in conversation with a young adult male who also had the same kind of support for the project as the well dressed man did.  It was great to see the Jamaicans who recognized the need to have scripture available in a language that they all could understand better, but also to agree that there are many Jamaicans in the country who don’t know any English at all.  When they all start accepting this I think the mindset of the country will change.

By the time we finished “field testing” we realized that it was about an hour later than we had planned, so it was time to head back.  Jodi took us back to our hotel, we gave her an Awakening CD as a thank you gift for driving us everywhere and then went to sit by the pool so I could begin recording our events for the day, David could swim, and we could simply be outside to enjoy the beautiful climate.  The whole time I wanted to speak to the Jamaicans at the pool about the translation project.  I was thinking that we should ask Jodi and Lloyd to teach us something so that when we go to Montego Bay we could at least have a foot in the door to talk to some of them.

For dinner we ate at our hotel.  I had a filet mignon a la Four Seasons that was phenomenal and David had a pepper soup and BBQ chicken that had a great flavor as well. 

We only have one more day with our new friends in Kingston.  It has been so great to use this opportunity to meet them.  Our giving has so much more meaning now than it did before.