Vacation - Montego Bay, Jamaica

So I have been over due for a vacation. Nothing too crazy going on at work but the realization that I will be losing some vacation days by Apr 1 means its time to take a break.

Initially the plan was to go to Turks and Caicos. It sounded like a fun enough place and besides, sandals has great commercials showing how blue the water is and advertising how much fun I would have. But T&C didnt care much for me and my vacation as its fire department was on strike, causing the closure of the airport.

We all decided to go to Montego Bay, Jamaica instead. Boy was I a little excited when I actually got on the flight. This is my first "International" trip since Japan. There were a total of 6 of us on the trip. So there was a lot of excitement to go around. Anyway here is my spill

Travel Location - Montego Bay, Jamaica
Travel Dates: 3/25 - 3/27
- 2hrs 40 mins flight
- Arrived Montego Bay at 3 PM
- really really really long line to exit customs. (seems like all flights land around the same time. Must have been about 200 people in line before us)
- and like every non Western culture, the line was somewhat "blurred". Not a true line
- Took a 45 person bus for 6 of us from MBJ to our hotel in Negril
- The hotel price included free meals and beveragesall comprehensive - Sorted out hotel accomodations and went to dinner

My thoughts on Montego Bay
- I've always hated that EVERY TIME any African country is portrayed on TV, it always something to do with the Safari and the animals in there. Dont get me wrong I acknowledge that some of God's beautiful animals reside freely in parts of Africa but I would rather have people paint a comprehensive picture of the place. I found it interesting that while we were in MBJ, Bob Marley got so much airtime. I guess we went to all the touristy places anyway so I guess that may have had an huge impact on things.
- Jamaicans are pretty confident and worry free people and they have a positive spin on life. For example
a) Someone asked for a virgin drink and the waitress at our hotel said... "You want a virgin drink?, I'll get you a virgin drink and winked. She didnt ask what kind of fruits or flavors the person wanted. He got a drink alright
b) At the airport, the customer service person at the gate said - People on flight blah blah blah, your flight has been delayed by 24hours :).. I kept thinking, you mean its been cancelled :)

Places Visited
- Hotel - Grand Palladium Hotel - All inclusive food and beverage.
- Seven Mile Beach - White Sand and beautiful blue water. We jet skied for a while and yes I summoned th courage to actual jet ski read some books
- Rick's Cafe - Watched people jump off a really tall cliff into the ocean. It was a sight but I dont have that much need for adventure
- The tour guide we had, drove us through Lucea and Negril and through some historical sights including
- Rusea high school in Negril,
- The courthouse of Negril - It has a clock that was ordered by St Lucia but was accidentally switched and sent to Lucea instead. The difference in price was paid to St. Lucia. The building's roof is shaped as a German helmet

Different types of food tried
- Authentic Jerk Chicken (I say authenticate because it was from a man in his shack restaurant. It is clearly the best Jerk Chicken I've ever had
- I'm not a big fan of sea food outside of Fish but we tried lobster on the beach. It was the freshest, "bestest" thing ever
- The hotel we stayed in had an all inclusive meals and beverage plan so we didnt have to worry about food as they had various restaurants and buffett options

My overall travel thoughts
- I wonder if my hypothesis is accurate - people who dont have too much dont care or worry about too much. Maybe Diddy actually made some sense with his mo money mo problem concept.
- My historical thought - I was on the beach talking to one of the locals and I began to think about how he could have been a long lost cousin. The reality is that the only thing that separated me from him is that one of my forefathers ran faster than his and our lives took very different paths.