Negril, Jamaica

Hi Guys! I am Jenna’s sister, Kaela. I have hopped on over here from Cookin’ and Kickin’ to share a bit with you about one of my latest excursions. This last February, my husband and I traveled to Negril, Jamaica. We had never been.

In my eyes there are two ways to travel. Your can live the ways of a local, or experience occasional bits of localness while still staying at a resort. Usually I am the "live the way of the local type of gal". I am the type to milk the goat, sleep on someones floor, and eat from the local markets. So as you can imagine, though excited, I was a little uncertain about what kind of a trip I was going to have when invited to spend a week on an all inclusive resort.

We were invited to Jamaica to share a week long wedding celebration with my dearest childhood family of friends. The soon to be newlyweds invited us to a week of relaxation and laughs at Beaches Negril. It was our first time ever going the all inclusive route, and it ended up being a fabulous experience! Though we of course paid for everything ahead of time, it still felt like the food and drink were free all week:) All inclusive takes the guess work out of the cost of a trip, and also allows for no hassle of carrying your wallet around because all food, drink, and tips are included in the price. No kidding! I tried tipping anyway and no one would accept!

For a first time experience, this was perfect. It was safe, hassle free, and extremely enjoyable. There were many options with food and drinks, and even a few excursions offered through the resort off the resort if you wished to do so. There was enough to experience on or near the resort for a first time visitor to Jamaica that we were plum tickled with our stay. I walked away from the vacation very satisfied, and pleasantly surprised by how "local" a resort experience can actually be.


The people of Jamaica more than welcome tourists to their country. After speaking with many locals, I learned that a large percentage of the population makes their living through tourism. Everywhere I turned the people of Jamaica were warm and welcoming. There is an overall free and easy feeling in Jamaica. You are appreciated for who you are and are not forced to be something you are not. Wanna wear a fancy dress? You go girl! Wanna be totally naked on the beach instead? Go for it! Wanna just chill in a swimsuit cover up? Ok... Wanna smoke ganja? Alright. You'll pass? No prob. Cool Mon...Just to be clear we did not smoke ganja or run around naked...lol... But I love that there was a place for it for the people who wanted to:).
   
I could ramble on all day about the interesting people, places, and things, but I truly believe that a picture is worth a thousand words. I'll spare you more words and share pictures instead. Here are a few things that made our travels memorable.

Meet Angela. She is one of my two favorite people I met in Jamaica. She is an honest, hard working, kind hearted gal. She is a single mom in her upper 20's. She and another woman rent a space on the beach which belongs to a local tiki bar. They set up their massage cabana 6 days a week in the location they rent. On the 7th day she goes to market to get food and other supplies for her family. The massage cabana is set up just outside the resort property. At the resort an hour massage is near $200 after tip. Angela provides a 1 hr massage for just $30. Besides the price, the ambiance is much more authentic. You get to lay under her homemade bamboo cabana and brightly colored, very thin, almost bed sheet material. The fabric lightly blows in the breeze and as you lay there just yards from the ocean you can hear the waves crashing in and children playing in the distance.

The colors Black, Red, Yellow, and Green, are found in many jewelry and clothing pieces available for purchase from locals. These colors are known to many as the Jamaican colors. The colors of Rasta are black, red, yellow, and green. The red, green, and yellow are the colors of the Ethiopian flag, and the black reperesents Africa. Each color has its own meaning. The black is for Africa because it is considered the homeland - the color of the people. The red is for the blood, yellow for the sun, and green for the land. I picked up two shark tooth necklaces for my nephews from Angela. Since the nephews are twins I wanted the necklaces to be the same. All of the necklaces varied a bit, so without hesitation she snipped the necklace with her teeth and restrung the bead work so that two would match. She strung the black, red, yellow, and green on the necklaces for the boys. Angela and I quickly hit it off as we spoke of her children, her home, what market is like, etc. She was very happy to answer any questions I had about Jamaica. She even offered to let me stay with her next time I visit Jamaica, as long as I don't mind sleeping on the floor. I may take her up on that.

Every night on the resort there seemed to be something going on. This particular night they had fire blowers, fire limbo demonstrations, dance contest between random visitors from different countries, and a DJ.

Best Friend Jennifer and I ready to go to Rick's Cafe for Ladies Night Out. some of these pictures are off of her camera. Thanks Jen!

Ricks Cafe is famous around the globe. Our group decided that we needed to experience why, first hand...Twice.

 

The first experience there was for the Bride-To-Be's Ladies Night Out. A group of us ladies took a taxi to Ricks and arrived just in time to see the later part of a beautiful sunset, listen to a great live reggae group, and sip on some sweet Jamaican Rum. Because the Cliff Divers were done for the day and the sunset almost over we pretty much had the whole joint to ourselves. It was beautiful, relaxing, and very free feeling.

Above: Great picture Jen took of the Reggae Band from the pool area

Below: Our group of ladies with the Reggae Band

Below: Late Night Ricks. When there are no Divers doing tricks off the cliffs, and the sun has disappeared it is a pretty peaceful place. Denise and Jen dipping their feet in the pool and gazing at the resting cliffs and listening to the water crash up against the rock.

The second round of Rick's Cafe we traveled by water. This was one adventure that we decided the whole group needed to experience together. We went early enough so we could watch the Cliff Divers, enjoy a sunset, and experience the "not so quiet" side of the cafe.

Below is a picture of the whole group traveling to Rick's by boat. What a crew!

 

The Cliff Divers are a main attraction at Rick's. Boys start at a young age as jumpers. Through time and with lots of experience, they graduate up to the top of the cliffs and beyond. Eventually they become the experienced diver who climbs to the tops of trees and built diving stations where they carryout very dangerous dives. These boys and young men put on quite the show and know how to perform and capture the attention of the crowd. They work on tips and tend to barter a dive for specific amount of cash pledged throughout the crowd. These guys are pretty talented and entertaining.

 There were boys as young as 5 or 6 jumping from lower levels and working the tips with those cute smiles and risky jumps.

 

Had to enjoy the local brew while at Rick's Cafe. Red Strip Light. Brewed and bottled in Kingston, Jamaica.

Below shows the Jamaican Flag blowing in the breeze at Rick's. Beautiful against the evening sky. It doesn't matter who you are, or where you are from. I think everyone would agree that any nation's flag against an evening sky is beautiful. How cool would it be to capture nations' flags against evening skies on all of life's excursions? What a cool collection of photos that would be!

The ride back from Ricks was nice. The guy driving out boat took us through a cave. Pretty cool and unexpected. We watched the sun set on our way back, and even spotted a few random naked amateur cliff jumpers....I say amateur because they were obviously on vacation as well. The "cliffs" were only about 10-15 feet high compared to Rick's 80 ft, and these jumpers sounded strangely American, they were about 55 years old, chubby, and white. Ever heard the saying S**t happens when you party naked? 

-Haha -

 I don't want you to think I was laughing AT them. I want you to know I was doing one of those "smiling laugh" "good for them" laughs....cause that will probably be me someday. -Haha-

At Beaches Negril there are always locals willing to play you a beautiful tune. Please remember to tip them.

If you make new friends easily...

...You may find yourself here

...and here

 ...at sunset:)

Had to represent! 

Key Largo, (South Florida), Florida.

Jamaican Cigar on the beach in Negril, Jamaica.

Plentywood, Montana.

If you walk along the beach on either side of the resort you pass anything and everything interesting. There are Tiki Bars one after another, little cabanas and huts set up selling everything - clothing, jewelry, tobacco pipes, little trinkets, etc.  

One of my favorite things to do while at Beaches was to grab a drink, and tootle along the beach and see what I could find and who I would meet. There is always live music within ears distance, fresh ocean water on one side, local Jamaican fare such as Curry Goat, an occasional nude beach, and once in a while a little whiff of something from the local pharmacy. Below are a few things I ran across while walking.

Barry's Bar - Every 5 steps there is a new bar. I liked this view with the random tree and hair braiding sign.

 This one didn't even have any dry sand between it and the ocean.

Another Tiki Bar. Tucked away off the beach a little.

I ran across this place while walking. It was about 1 mile or so from the resort. So, so, neat!

It is the work place of a very kind man named Amason. Remember Angela? The massage lady I said was one of my two favorite people I met in Jamaica? Meet Amason. He is the other of the two. This is his place of business.

Amason is a woodworker. He has been working with his hands since he was 15. Was very welcoming to me. He let me watch him work and answered the questions I had. He did not push sales on me as his pieces did the work for him as I am sure he knew they would. He was not a boastful person, rather laid back and quiet. We had a nice chat and he showed me his photo album. It was beautiful! He had pictures from everything he had every made in there. I especially enjoyed seeing the pictures of him as a teen with some of his masterpieces. Very cool! 

I brought one of my friends back to meet Amason. She agreed that his work was priceless. He had a lot of pieces of naked pregnant bellies, heads, Bob Marleys, and fish. I ended up purchasing two wooden pieces from him. A Red Stripe Bottle and Fish. I wanted this really cool life size pregnant belly. I am not sure why. It was just REALLY cool. But then I thought about it and what would I do with a big wooden pregnant belly? 

From sunrise to sunset there is a peaceful and free feeling cast over all. Jon, Jennifer's Dad, enjoyed getting up early before anyone else on the resort and walking the beach. He would find really neat things in the water like this starfish!

One of our beautiful sunsets at Beaches Negril

 

One of our beautiful sunsets at Beaches Negril.

  

 ♪♪♪ One Love...One Life...Let's get together and feel alright. ♪♪♪ 

I STILL have Bob Marley's lyrics stuck in my head and it's been over a month! 

Gotta love a good tune! 

I thought this picture of my friend Kelley, Jennifer's Mom's, hands was a perfect picture for his lyrics, and also to sum up the feeling of love I was surrounded by whenever I experienced a good chat with one of the locals.

 ♪♪♪ One Love...One Life...Let's get together and feel alright. ♪♪♪

Video of a Cliff Diver at Ricks



Video of Amason


Video of Amason

Bhopal, India

Whew, I've been slacking lately.
Well, not really. I've been burnin' and turnin' at school.
I suppose...who said getting a Master's Degree was going to be easy? No one in the history of mankind.

I am posting about a place I have not been, but would like to go.
Bhopal, India.
In a class called "Anthropology and the Environment" we are reading a book called: Advocacy After Bhopal: Environmentalism, Disaster, New Global Orders. It is about the Union Carbide chemical disaster and those who were/are victims of it. It is surprising how little they were compensated or helped after it happened.

While the pictures are hard to look at, I encourage you to see the damage that was done. Also, if you have a minute, read a little article about it. I did not realize how little I knew about the subject until I started to read this book. Hope you learned a little something too.

Penn's Cave - Centre Hall, Pennsylvania

Hello folks! It has been a little longer than a week since I have posted. Life has been busy! I started school on Tuesday. The beginning of my Master's Degree in Anthropology (Cultural) is in the making. I am pretty excited and slightly nervous. I have been given a full ride to attend at NDSU. So far so good, it looks as if it is going to be an interesting semester. I will be teaching a few undergrad classes as I am attending school, so there is a lot of experience to be had in the two years!

The next place I want to share is Penn's Cave in Centre Hall, Pennsylvania. Let me just start off with
I
love
this
place.
I could live here someday. Seriously.

The town is small and friendly. My sister and I parked on Pennsylvania Ave with only a few other cars around. We were pretty happy to be a few hours away from the busy interstate. Being from Montana, you often take the peace and quiet for granted until you are smack in the middle of busy central.
Anyway, even the main street in Centre Hall was quiet. There were many old style buildings. A lot of retirees just sitting on the front porch of businesses etc, soaking up the sun. It was so peaceful.
We ate dinner at a small pizzeria called Brother's Pizza, and it was glorious. The staff was friendly and the food was outstanding.

THE Penn's Cave was SO neat.
It is the country's only all water cave and is simply outstanding. It is hard to describe the awe we were in while we took the 90 minute tour through the cave. They take you by boat in small groups and give you a full history of the place. I won't spoil the details of the tour. But look at the pictures!
Yea...we went in this tiny opening for a cave with the boat...

The cave was discovered by Seneca Indians and has since turned into a tourist attraction. It is not small in that no one knows about it, but it is never crowded with people. Just a steady trickle. So you will not be overwhelmed when you visit Penn's Cave. Guaranteed. It is a little off the grid, so to speak.

I hope you will be in the neighborhood someday. You will remember it forever.

Moccasin Approved.

Año Nuevo (New Year's) en Cancun, México

I've been thinking about Mexico a lot lately. Especially around the holiday season. I used to spend a lot of time there.

A couple years ago I was visiting Cancun over New Year's. It was pretty neat to experience the traditions of another country during the holiday. I was lucky enough to spend it with a family who practices their traditions proudly and consistently.
They spent a better part of the evening going around the room telling each other how much they mean to one another. A lot of tears and a lot of laughs were exchanged.
At that time I needed a translator. He did a pretty good job so I felt like I understood everything. I wish I knew then what I know now. I'd have been able to understand everything and speak a little easier to everyone. O well!
We ate a lot of Rosca De Reyes (three kings bread) that night and a ton of other traditional food.

One of my favorite traditions from the evening was eating 12 grapes when the clock struck midnight. There are different theories about what each grape means. But the one they followed was one grape for every month of the year. You could tell how the month was going to be by how the grape tasted. For example sour grape = sour month and sweet grape = a good one. It is also just a good luck thing to eat all 12 of them. I had no problem devouring them. Purple grapes are delish!

Happy New Year!

Good Ol' Plentywood, Montana

I wrote a post a while back about my home town. I just love that place.
Anyone who has been able to spend some time there loves it too.
Plentywood is celebrating 100 years in 2012, so the upcoming festivities are surfacing some cool stuff. Here is a little glimpse of Plentywood culture. Enjoy!

Movie Trailer - Plentywood 100 Years from Colleen Hareland on Vimeo.

Otavalo, Ecuador - América del Sur

Otavalo, Ecuador.

I hope I have found the right words to describe how awesome this place is.
Nestled in the mountains, near the border of Colombia---this place is breathtaking.

I took a two week trip traveling around Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands with a group of classmates. We traveled from Quito to Otavalo by bus for part of it. It was a three hour trip and worth every minute. Plus, you cannot pass up the scenery any day of the year. While you could probably rent a car and go yourself, it is important to know about the traffic jams you may run into...and if you will be able to handle them.

This was one we got caught in coming down a mountain. There had been a wedding in a nearby city and they were heading back up to their house to continue the party. After an hour of standstill, they decided to walk. The bride was stunning, the groom proud. They were thrilled, walking or not.

 It was such an experience. We learned a lot and did some brushing up on our Spanish. We also learned to hold our share of  $2 - 40 oz. Ecuadorian beers. Tehe!

The people are quiet and kind here. So accommodating and interested in where you are coming from, your reason for travel, and most importantly how many languages you speak.

We spent some time at the markets in the heart of the city. The colors alone at the markets in Otavalo are amazing. But there is more than just color that waits to be learned about here. The colorful people. Here is a couple that made me smile.

My friend and I spent the better part of an hour talking with a Quichuan man. He was so jolly.
He was extremely interested in learning more English and we were interested in learning a few Quichuan words.
---Let me side note that we were debating in Spanish so it was a funny and interesting conversation we were having because we were all speaking in a second or third language.

We were debating back and forth about who should teach and who should be the student.
I think we all knew we would teach each other something,  but it was fun to hassle each other.

Funny how a little humor with a touch of sarcasm is a universal language, huh? Ahh culture, you never seize to amaze me.

Moccasin Approved

Fargo, ND

In honor of moving back to No Dak I figured I would honor it in a post.
I was often given a sour face when people found out I was moving to North Dakota from Florida. While I wanted to just give them an earful about being polite and a "yes people do live there" instead I told them why it is so awesome.
"The people? Well there is just the right amount. Not too many and they are all genuine. Each and every one of them. Because in North Dakota, it gets cold. And only the hardy survive. I've never met as many kind people as I have in the Midwest."
The skeptics usually reply with "well, good luuuuuck!"
My hope is that they at least thought about our conversation later. Or they see this.

On a second thought, I hope they don't find out how awesome this place is.
After all, it is one of the best kept secrets.