If you ever have the good fortune to travel to a far away place with a friend from that far away place, grab it.
Firstly you will see how that friend lives in an element that is his/ her own. You will see a dimension that is surprising and colourful. You see them in their full capability and a side to them that you did not even know existed. Secondly, you will have a most extraordinary and authentic time.
Once I lived in Paris in my early twenties, I was broke, held three jobs concurrently and lived in a way that would have given my mom hives and sleepless nights. I was so happy. Paris became mine because I lived in it. So much so that I was as offended as any French person was when I overheard American tourists walk by me shouting about how they just wanted to find a good burger and the Wall St Journal.
So here I am with a native Jamaican.
She knows when to stop and what to get (can you see this is the back of a roadside pick up truck?)
Lunch right here at the fishing/ hunting camp was bird, lobster, fish and festival. Festival is like a deep fried bread. Lobster trapped here, bird shot here, fish caught here. We drink coconut water right out of the coconut. We eat food we have never had in a backdrop like this
We eat fruit we have never seen before
3 days at the beach house, 3 days at a hunting lodge, 3 days in Kingston at their family house (which is like a treehouse- I will write you soon about it- )
This is travel that transforms.
tastes like sh**t actually. But pretty, no?
fruit called star apple
that festival, bammy and red stripe I LOVE. But hey who shrunk my jeans?
I was born there – in a parish called St. Andrew, just outside of Kingston. We moved to Toronto before I was one, so I’ve only been a tourist there myself, a few times. Hellshire Beach fish huts with catch-of-the-day fare, with festival and bammy and Red Stripe = happy dance.
Glorious pics!! And yes, what is that fruit?
HEAVEN What the hell does that fruit taste like???
ok just let me know when to stop telling stories of this adventure! Did you say you were from here? What part?
Lovely words, lovely pics, lovely you. Can’t wait to hear more about it, Nancy! (Still totally jealous, by the way…)