A Freelance Writer’s Life Abroad: Inside Peek at My Life as an American Living in Jamaica for a Year, Part XI

June 22, 2010

This Girl a Go Go is homesick.

I know living and working in the paradise that is Jamaica is a dream come true for many (me included), but every time I go away, I get this way about a month or so into the trip. I know it will pass – and I’m still having a blast, but I miss the comforts of home like:

An American in Jamaica: Things Back Home I Long For

Sleeping in My Own Bed: Even though my bed at home is not as comfortable as the one in my little studio apartment here in Negril, it’s still MY bed.

Fluffy Towels: I hand wash and line dry my laundry here. So the towels are sun-dry “crunchy” when fluffy-towelsthey come off the line, not dryer-soft fluffy.

Air Conditioning: Even though I can stand heat of up to 90 degrees with no problem, I get tired of being hot all the time.

Hot when you get in the shower, hot when you get out, hot when you’re getting dressed, hot when you’re cooking (which I don’t do a lot of at all), hot when you’re sitting — it’s just darn hot here in Negril! As I said in this post on living in Jamaica, I’m quite frankly scared of August.

Food Variety: Jamaica has some wonderful cuisine – the fresh seafood, veggies and fruit available here are second to none. BUT, I’ve been craving a steak and cheese quesadilla with jalapeno peppers and sour cream (with a big margarita) like a pregnant woman.

There is no Mexican restaurant here in Negril – not that I’ve seen. I’ve also been craving sushi. Again, no dough.

Rain-Free Days: It’s the rainy season here in Jamaica. Every day between about 1 and 2 pm, you can expect a rain shower that lasts anywhere from 15 minutes to a half hour or 45 minutes. Even though this is not long, it’s the interruption it causes. Usually the internet signal gets wacky, so I have to constantly move around to chase it.

Then once the rain subsides, it gets all hot and sticky again – and the mosquitoes come out in full force. And boy, they’re vicious. As I said, I’m a Florida native, so I know about mosquitoes, but when the ones here bite you, it seems that the itch lasts for an hour or so. I get these big, red bumps that just drive me crazy.

Forget wearing perfume – insect repellant – with a “spring fresh breeze smell” is my perfume of choice these days.

In spite of being a little homesick, I have continued to have my share of fun.

Fashion Show in Negril on the Beach

Last Friday night, I went to a fashion show. Remember the post I wrote about not being the only American to pick up and move to Jamaica? Well, the woman I talked about in that post and her friend from England (who also lives in the same building as the both of us), opened a boutique at the Traveller’s Beach Resort here on seven-mile beach in Negril.

The fashion show was the bomb!

The deejay was rocking (mostly American hip-hop music which is one of my favorite musical genres), the fashions were fly (although, you have to be 18 and a size 0-2 to wear them), and there were free rum punches!

I went with some friends and we had an absolute ball. When I was younger, I did a little local modeling and my mom used to drag us girls (she had 3 of us) to fashion shows, pageants and girly stuff like this all the time. So it brought back a whole slew of good memories.

I’m going by the shop this weekend to pick up a Muhammad Ali t-shirt that was featured in the show for my 17-year-old nephew. I knew it was “him” when I saw it (heck, I may even get one for me it was so cool!).

The Young Men and Women of Jamaica

Let me just say, most of the young women here (18-25 or 30) have the sickest bodies (and for those who don’t know, that’s slang for “slammin!”) .

Tyra needs to look for America’s Next Top Model here because these girls have physiques that just won’t quit. And the guys – you could get whiplash trying to keep track of all the six-pack abs you see on a daily basis! And these are young and old men.

Most of them are way too young for me, but it’s a parade of good-looking specimens you can’t help but shake your head at sometimes.

The World Cup Here in Jamaica

world-cup-argentina-vs-brazil-2010Football (soccer) is huge here! Everywhere there’s a TV or radio on carrying the World Cup with guys and girls alike glued to the program. I daresay that commerce has stopped for the most part and won’t resume until July 11th, when it’s over.

Most Jamaicans seem to be rooting for Brazil. I’m rooting for Argentina (and the U.S., of course).  When there’s a score or a good play, you can hear a collective sound from the crowd no matter where you are on the street.

It’s actually kinda cool because it reminds you that you live in a relatively small community who all come together to share in the joy that sport is.

Training for the Reggae Marathon

reggae-marathon-jamaicaI’m training for the Reggae Marathon here in December. I was going to do the full because my sister wanted to. She’s mostly a walker, not a runner. After she did a 16+ mile walk this past weekend in the heat (I managed 9), she changed her mind and has decided to do the half.

So that’s what I’m training for.

I went for a long run this morning; stayed on the road instead of on the beach because I wanted to get a good, hard run in. No matter how fit you are, there’s only so far you can fight the sand. It tires you out way sooner than you want to be.

People see me running and walking all over the place here. A few guys have commented, “You’ve lost weight since you’ve been here. I can tell. Lookin’ good guurrrrlll.” I smile and keep running.

Jamaicans tend to draw this word (girl) out. Coming from anybody else, being called a girl would be an insult. But when the Jamaican guys say it, it makes you feel oh so special and cute!

Sundays at the Beach

As Sunday is family day, I spent most of it at the beach with my sister and a few friends – after putting in a few hours work. Last week I had some schedule interruptions (ie, the dentist, internet outages, lunch date with friends) that caused me to get a little backed up.

So I HAD to put in those Sunday hours to stay current.

In the next post, I’ll talk more about settling into a schedule while living here in Jamaica – and how my income is shaking out. It’s been a huge adjustment for me. If you ever choose to live abroad, it’s something I think you’ll need to prepare yourself for mentally.

It’s kinda hard to explain, but I’ll do my best to encapsulate it for you in the next post in this series.

Best,
Yuwanda
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Related Posts

A Freelance Writer’s Life Abroad: Inside Peek at My Life as an American Living in Jamaica for a Year, Part VIII
A Freelance Writer’s Life Abroad: Inside Peek at My Life as an American Living in Jamaica for a Year, Part VI
A Freelance Writer’s Life Abroad: Inside Peek at My Life as an American Living in Jamaica for a Year, Part V
A Freelance Writer’s Life Abroad: Inside Peek at My Life as an American Living in Jamaica for a Year, Part II
A Freelance Writer’s Life Abroad: Inside Peek at My Life as an American Living in Negril, Jamaica for a Year, Part I

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One Response to “A Freelance Writer’s Life Abroad: Inside Peek at My Life as an American Living in Jamaica for a Year, Part XI”

  1. Christian Louboutin Purses says:
    June 28, 2010 at 9:14 am

    Love reading your blog. You should add a RSS button.

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