Home Again Home Again....

Well, we made it back from Jamaica safe and sound and totally bummed to be leaving such a beautiful island. We had an absolutely wonderful time! Jamaica was definitely more beautiful than I had expected. While choosing our vacation spot we heard many different mixed reviews of Jamaica and I must say I was a little apprehensive. It seemed that most people who had visited there on cruises didn't care for it and those that had stayed on resorts loved it. Since we were going to be on a resort I was pretty confident that everything would be ok and we would love it. I also didn't worry about our safety because, well #1, I tend to be rather oblivious to things like that. Im sure that I take things like that for granted I just really have never been worried about that type of thing. Kinda like how I feel about storms, they just don't scare me at all really, just tell me when to get in the closet because I'm sure I'll be off in my own world....or shopping on my laptop : ). But, yes, knowing we would be on a resort offered a level of comfort. In regard to the negative reviews from cruise go-ers, yes I can definitely see where Jamaica would appear dirty because honestly, it is! It really just depends on where you go, who you go with (tour guides), and what you see.

Our review was based mainly on the comparisons we could draw from other places we have visited. For our honeymoon we went to St. Lucia and WOW...talk about an uncivilized country. Jamaica was leaps and bounds ahead of St. Lucia in the developmental aspect. Don't get me wrong, St. Lucia was an unbelieveable experience and I feel so blessed to have experienced such beautiful beaches and terrain. Certainly an opportunity that I never dreamed I would be presented with. The thing about St. Lucia, Jamaica, and any caribbean island is that they truly are 3rd world countries who live in poverty. I learned so much in Jamaica talking with tour guides and employees on the resort. It is crazy to think that all we dream of as Americans is to visit those beautiful beaches and rainforests that we think only exist in a dream, and all Jamaicans dream of is the chance to come to America and live the life that we do. It really puts things in perspective for you and helps you to realize all that you have. Our tour guide who took us into Ocho Rios on a full day excursion was a wealth of information. We stayed in Montego Bay so to get to Ocho Rios was an hour and a half ride one way so there was lots of time to get educated on Jamaican people. On the ride back a couple we had met from Maryland and myself took the opportunity to dig for info. Of the interesting things that Carla, our guide, told us there were a few that stuck out in my mind. Like the fact that she has to put her 10 year old son on a taxi to go to school everyday because most Jamaicans can't afford cars. She works nearly every day till sometimes as late as 9 pm depending upon which tour she is guiding for the day. She also said that she has tried to get a Visa 3 different times to come to America for a 2 week visit and has been denied all 3 times. The funny part is she said that she assumed to get a Visa you must tell a lot of lies because each time in the questioning phase she only makes it as far as "Are you married?" and when she replies that she is not, they immediately say "Im so sorry, we can't issue you a Visa." You see most Jamaicans who travel to America, get married, and do not return. Isn't that wild? I guess I just assumed that they would not want to leave their family or their country for that matter. She also said that all Jamaicans love to shop and that they all wanna go to New York City...HI-larious...definitely my kind of people! Another thing we noticed about Jamaica is that everyone there is so happy and friendly, not surprisingly so taking note of their main extracurricular activity which they are way more open about then I had bargained for. All in all, I just thought it was a beautiful country. Amazing beaches, lush rainforests, mountains and hillsides far and wide, and sunsets that would literally make you wanna slap yo' mama! I have to say that I would recommend it to ANYONE and I would be ready to go back at any point! As a matter of fact, we definitely decided that we would like to go back someday and stay in Negril, one of the places we did not have time to visit while there. So that's my first hand, positive Jamaican review

Now that I have said all these wonderful things about Jamaica and given them so many compliments...we did have an unfortunate experience that makes me just wanna say Shame shame on you Jamaica. So, Jason and I arrived at the airport for our return flight and dropped our luggage off at baggage check like everyone else. We boarded the flight leaving Jamaica headed to Atlanta. The flight was a little over two hours and we arrived in Atlanta right on time. In Atlanta we had to reclaim our luggage and go through security again and customs to enter back into the U.S. So while we were waiting on the luggage to come off the shoot and onto the carousel, I got intrigued by this cop and drug dog who were dilligently working sniffing out each bag that came off the shoot. Being the curious person I am, I thought I would get up to the front and see if this little beagle dog busted anyone trying to bring drugs back into the U.S. About that time I see Jason's suitcase come off the shoot halfway unzipped, all in disarray, and all his stuff falling out on the carousel. I took a second look and was like, "holy crap, that's ours!" So as the baggage takes it's little spin on the carousel and everyone standing around is like "Oh no, someone lost all their stuff, that sucks" Im chasing behind the bag following it around the circle like I don't even know how to pick it all up. So as everyone is witnessing our junk falling out, Im pushing through the crowd, "Excuse me, I'm sorry, that's ours"....Still chasing the bag. Finally someone helps me gather it up and I took it over to Jason. He starts to put it back together and notices his tolietry bag on the inside is all unzipped and everything looks as if it as been pilfered through. Three words...Random Security Check...Awesome! So knowing that we needed to rush on and get through security, get something to eat, and catch the next plane to Little Rock, we threw it all in there and checked to make sure that the wooden carving we had bought in Jamaica wasn't broken (a wooden fish, I named him Kingston). Kingston still had his fin, so off we went. After all of that rush and being a little frazzled, we were sitting at the gate waiting on the plane and I mentioned to Jason that I saw the case and floatation attachment to our handheld video camera but I didn't see the camera. The camera has a floatation attachment because it's waterproof and I saw it hanging out because it's bright orange. Referencing the possibility that we left it in Jamaica, Jason assured me that he knew he had packed it. I didn't think about it again and when we made it home with the luggage we got into it and started unpacking and putting away all the goodies we bought. I'm sure you can see where this is going...No video camera in the luggage. Like I saw earlier, there was the case it was packed in and the attachment but no camera anywhere. We arrived at two possibilities. #1 It fell out on the plane ride from Jamaica to Atlanta (wishful thinking after we later found that Jason's zipper was broke and malfunctioning) #2 Some crappy Jamaican unzipped the case in a random security check and slipped it in their pocket because it's small and easy to get away with...Im gonna go with option 2 on this one unless my video camera grew legs on the flight and hopped out of it's case. Soooo, needless to say, I am BEYOND bummed. We put a lost/found request into Delta Airlines and every day we check it it just says, "Your item has not been found yet" Thank you Delta for reminding me of my misfortune! I was really hoping you would be kind enough to take a quick trip to Jamaica and put out an APB on any Jamaicans carrying/peddling a white Kodak video camera. Thanks anyway. The biggest disappointmet is of course, not the actual camera because I can certainly replace that someday (even though I'd rather not), but the video that we took while in Jamaica. We used that camera the day we went into Ocho Rios to record in the Dunn's River Falls excursion we did that. The Falls were, oh my gosh, the FUNNEST day we have ever had! Seriously so cool! It's just a giant river/waterfall thingy that you climb and swim all the way through. We had two great tour guides who lead us the whole way and created the most fun, high energy experience you can have in freezing cold water. We were having so much fun I didn't even notice being cold. In actuality it felt really nice because Jason and I had gotten a pretty sweet sunburn the day before. So, the tour guides made a video of the experience and sold it for $39.99. Obviously we declined the purchase because we made our own video all the way through....B.U.M.M.E.R We also videoed our whole zipline experience that day which was totally awesome! I actually held the camera and videoed the whole way through the zips. We were totally high on life that day and had so many once in a lifetime fun experiences and now some Jamaican is enjoying all my fun memories, or making some of their own which Im sure no one would want to see! In addition, on the memory card, we had some snorkeling trips from Mexico and Jamaica, and several lake trips. So, oh well, ce la vie sweet memories. Lesson learned...and no, I have NOOO idea why I we didn't pack it in our carry-on or even in my purse because all of the other cameras certainly went onboard with us, but for whatever reason, we didn't. Too bad for Jamaican Jimmy that he's gonna need the charger to charge that thing in a couple of days when it dies and guess who has that...ME!!! Oh geez, Im still fighting tears about it.

Anyway, aside from the camera drama we had a GREAT vacation and it was really hard to come back to real life but as we all know, vacation has to come to an end at some point! I plan on making a few full posts with pictures on Jamaica soon but I took upwards of 600 so I will be spending some time editing for the next few days. In the meantime, in true Otwell fashion, we came back to a full schedule of work, an upcoming camping trip, and our little labor day trip is not too far away. So we have a lot to look forward to and get ready for as we prepare to take this summer to a close...ok, I can't even talk about it, not ready for it to end, that's for another day! Happy week people! Enjoy the cooler temps that are hopefully coming our way here in Arkansas!