Our trip to Jamaica

I've been so busy that I was not able to finish telling you all about our trip to Jamaica. In my first post about our trip, I wrote about Days 1-3. If you need to catch up, read here. I promised to pick up where I left off at Day 4. Read below:

Day 4
We were finally able to go to the beach. We looked at it every day but didn't go since Arjay was so sick. We all went and we really enjoyed the beautiful blue water. There was Reggae music playing and people doing water aerobics and games on the beach. The whole atmosphere was phenomenal. It was really awesome and we felt like our vacation had FINALLY started.
This was also the day that we visited my grandmother's house. This was one of the days that I was anticipating. At my grandmother's house there are several aunts, uncles and cousins. My grandmother has 11 children so just imagine how many grandchildren are there. I lost count at 35!! Now she even has great-grandchildren. It was really nice to see several relatives, they were not all there at the time though. My cousin (whom my grandmother raised) just renovated my grandmother's house. It was amazing to see the transformation. It looked really good, like a brand new house (which everything was gutted and re-done anyways). They even added to the kitchen and made it larger. My grandmother was beaming with pride: she was so happy! I was very happy to see her so happy and also glad my cousin did that for her.

We chatted with our relatives for a while, gave them the gifts we brought and took some pictures. We noticed Arjay was playing with a kitten and before we could say anything he grabbed the kitchen by his neck and he scratched him. Poor little guy, he was sick and now attacked by a cat! After that we left and visited with Trecia's mother who lives about 30 minutes away. She offered us some fruits (yummy) and made lunch for us. We stayed for a little while chatting and giving her the gifts we brought for her and her family. Then we left and headed back to the hotel. We took a shower and went to the dinner and that was pretty much it for the rest of the day.

Day 5

After breakfast, we hanged out at the beach again. Arjay was doing much better today so we were happy about that. We took turns and played a few games on the beach. We also watched a group of people learning the latest Jamaican dances (very funny). Next we went to the pool, had some drinks (very hot there today in the 80's) and relaxed in the pool for a while. Afterwards we had lunch: Jamaican jerk chicken. Very delicious!
After shower and a nap we had dinner at the Brazilian steakhouse at our hotel. The hotel has four restaurants and 3 of them require a reservation. You have to go to the lobby in the morning @ 10am and wait in line to get a reservation. The restaurants only have limited seating and there are only 2 reservation times (7pm or 9pm). Once they are gone, they are gone. We were lucky to get a 7pm reservation that night and we were excited about it. The ambiance of the restaurant was really nice. Before the meal we helped ourselves to a buffet of fish soup, salad, cocktail shrimp and many other appetizers. When it was time for the main course, the waiter comes around with a big skewer of meat and drops a big piece on your plate which he then chops into smaller pieces. The meat choices were pork, steak, sausage and lamb. We tried all but the lamb was to die for, absolutely amazing!! They also served a platter with rice, black beans and a whole bunch of veggies. They also served fried sweet potato which was really delicious. The food was great but with 2 young children it was a bit challenging to sit and eat (as it usually is). We ended up doing our normal eating in shifts and when I got back my food was tepid. We decided that night that we were going to try the hotel's baby-sitting service. The hotel has a real fancy gourmet restaurant that we wanted to go to and we knew it would be tough with the kids. We also needed a break because we felt spent after tending after Arjay while he was so sick.

Day 6

Arjay was feeling much better today. We had plans to spend the day with Greg's cousin, her husband and her daughter. They actually live in Ft. Lauderdale and coincidentally we were all in Jamaica at the same time so we asked them to come to Negril and hang out for a few days. They arrived yesterday but we did not get to see them yet. We were really excited about this day because later we were also planning to attend a beach barbecue with my cousin and her friends at their hotel. Greg's cousin and her family picked us up and we went to Cosmo's for lunch. This is one of the best seafood joint in Negril. They are famous for their curried lobster, fresh fish, and conch soup. I had stew peas (a Jamaican favorite for me) and Greg ordered the fried fish. Very delicious! After lunch we hanged out at the beach. Adryana and Hailey (their daughter) were wearing the same swim suit. We did not even know they had the same one so that was funny. We had a great time and did not want it to end but we had to get back to the hotel to shower and get ready for the beach barbecue.
The beach barbecue was very nice. They had tables and chairs set up on the beach and there was a Reggae band and a bonfire. There was also a dinner buffet and the food was great. My cousin had over 40 friends with her so it was a lot of people to "party" with. We really let our hair down for this and even with the kids I danced and danced and even did "limbo." Adryana and I had a ball. Arjay fell asleep in his Dad's arms. This was one of the best days for me because Arjay was feeling better and we got to do a lot of fun things.

Day 7
On this day Greg's cousin and her family picked us up and we went to the craft market to see what kind of souvenirs they could get since they were leaving the next day. You have to be careful in these craft markets because you can get ripped off. Like the one lady who told me one price and when Greg came over she told him a price that was $5 more expensive. Crazy! So I told her no way because she already gave me a cheaper price but she started saying how it wasn't her shop and she wasn't sure of the price. Yeah Right! Someone will also negotiate with you though. They bought a few things because we suggested that they could get better bargains at the gift shop where my aunt works and that's where we headed next. They found several things where my aunt works and her boss gave them a discount too. After that they dropped us off at our hotel, we said our goodbyes and they drove away. It was nice spending time with them.

Later we were excited about our date to Sir Andrew (the hotel's gourmet restaurant). Greg was nervous about the babysitter not showing up because we thought she would call us to confirm the time. We had left a message for her but I guess he just wanted to make sure she was really coming. She got there right at 9pm just as we were about to get the kids dressed and take them with us. Thank God! The restaurant was beautiful. This is the one where they usually host their weddings so the mood was very romantic. We were glad we did not bring the children too. There were no other children there either and you could tell everything was real fancy.It was a five course meal and for each course you were offered 3 choices. We really enjoyed our time at the restaurant and the food was really delicious. It was nice just to be with each other and no kids too. It's always nice when we can go out on a "date". Afterwards we listened to the Reggae band they had performing and then head back to our hotel room because our 2 hours were up in a breeze. This was one of our favorite nights because we were able to spend time just the two of us.

Day 8

This day started early because we were heading to Mayfield Falls which is about 1 and 1/2 hour away. It was a long bumpy drive. Most of the roads on this journey has terrible conditions, like lots of potholes and even some parts were not paved. This was a beautiful place though. It is not as popular as Dunn's River Falls but the falls was really beautiful. Everyone, even the kids were able to climb but certain parts we had to go over on the river bank because the water was too deep for the kids. It was nature at its best. The tour guides were really helpful and even carried the kids through certain parts that they considered a bit risky. We got to a part that they called "the cave" which you have to dive under. Greg did it and several other people who were with us. He was really excited about it but of course I was nervous because they said that it's really dark under there and it's deep waters. Of course I didn't do it but I was nervous for him.

Following the climbing of the falls, we took a nature trail back down. This was really awesome because the tour guides gave us history about plants, tree and herbs. We learned about a plant that you could use as soap to wash your hands (I didn't even know about this before), they use ferns to give all of us temporary tattoos and they showed us a bush that can be used as toilet paper. We even learned about certain herbs that you can use for medicinal purposes. I was truly amazed and it was really nice hearing about my own culture especially since I wasn't aware of some of the information that they shared.

We sat down for lunch under a tiki hut. Awesome!! The food was really delicious and they served us a sweet fruit punch that I enjoyed. Afterwards we took several pictures in their garden and then it was time to go. We drove to my grandmother's house again. This time all my cousin's friends came so there were over 50 people in my grandmother's small house. It was weird and funny because everyone was taking pictures and it almost look like we were at a museum or some kind of tourist attraction. Very funny!

We made it back to our hotel after a few stops and hurried to shower and get dressed for dinner. On this night we had reservations for the steakhouse. Before dinner we had some appetizers and then we ordered our food. I ordered the shrimp for Adryana, the beef & pork tenderloin for me and Greg ordered the steak. We tasted from everyone's plate and once again the food was so delicious. Our dinner conversation was about how our vacation was coming to an end and how we wish we could stay another week. However, we could not wait for the next day because it was the day we were all looking forward to.

Day9

After breakfast we headed to my cousin's hotel. Today was her birthday and we wanted to surprise her. When we got there we found her at the salon having a manicure and a pedicure. She was so happy when we all showed up and started sing the Happy Birthday song to her. She was beaming and said how happy she was that we surprised her. We spent the morning with her and her friends just hanging out at the beach. It was awesome! Greg left and went to the Town Square to buy souvenirs and when he returned he had patties (another Jamaican favorite). So we sat under the palm trees at the beach and ate our patties with my cousin. Then we had some pineapple, bananas and sugar cane. It felt like I was in heaven. Oh man! I love Jamaica!

Later we went back to the hotel so that we could shower and the kids could get their naps before the big night--my cousin's birthday party. When we arrived at the party we were greeted nicely and given leis. Then we were escorted to the beach area where the party was set up. It was breath taking. There were several tables and chairs on the sand and they had formal tablecloths and napkins and goblets, etc. There was a huge stage with a Reggae band and there was also a huge bonfire with torch lights surrounding the tables. Later we would be entertained by the Reggae band and also some dancers. The kids also participated in several activities and Adryana went up on stage to dance and won the competition. The crowd loved her and she was happy to win because she was upset when she didn't win the first competition (a Pepsi drinking competition).

We had so much fun it's hard to even fathom. Just being with family and friends made the party amazing. My cousin was ecstatic. Her husband gave a speech about how they met and he spoke about how life was full of surprises and that although they were from different parts of the world(she from Jamaica and he from Norway) that they came together and found a great love. They have been married for 12 years and he said that they were the best years of his life and that he looked forward to many more. He gave our grandmother accolades for doing such a good job with raising my cousin. My cousin was in tears and we were all touched by his sentiments. In addition to that he serenaded her with "Sha la la la..my brown-eyed girl!" and the crowd went wild. My cousin was so happy and so were everyone else. We danced, we laughed and we ate good food. It was a night that we will all remember. Happy Birthday Trecia! Keep smiling and keep dancing! I love you...

Day 10

This was a sad morning for me. It was time to go and I wanted to stay. We had already said all of our goodbyes to everyone last night because we knew the time would go by and we had to be on the bus that was taking us to the airport at 11:30am. While we were having breakfast my aunt stopped by to bring some Jamaican goodies for us to take home. We were happy to see her but sad to say goodbye. We got on the bus and drove almost 2 hours to the airport. Then we checked on our bags and had lunch. After that we went through security and then sat waiting at our gate until it was time to go. The plane ride was tough coming back because there were some turbulence and our ears hurt really bad when we landed even though we were chewing gums. Thank God we made it home safely. Bye-Bye Jamaica; we will miss you.