Falmouth Jamaica

Hello all!
We were warned by current Peace Corps Volunteers that the 'mail' would dry up once we were gone 3-6 months. Well, sad to say, it appears to be the case as we haven't heard from some of our friends for months. Certainly is an interesting dynamic and illustrates the 'out of sight - out of mind' concept. It certainly makes me mindful of those who have written regularly long notes to keep us in touch and most particularly of my own actions when my oldest brother was in the Vietnam War and how little I wrote to him then. And this is peacetime. Life is indeed a circle. For those who have written but have had my email bounce, you are also welcome to try seacoastmatt@gmail.com.

We spent the weekend at Falmouth on the northern and more western shore of Jamaica. As most of the shoreline is tourist oriented, this shoreline was clean - even pristine as compared to our more normal environs. The place we stayed was the fishermans inn a somewhat more budget friendly place than most resorts or hotels on the shore. Our friends Gary and Margaret set it up and we simply tagged along. I think that literally we were the only 4 people at the place but then it is off season here in Jamaica. VERY pleasant except for very loud music next door Saturday night...do the musicians follow us? Great to laugh with friends.

We had the opportunity to visit Rose Hall - a restored sugar plantation. Very interesting on several levels not the least of which is that there are several golf courses nearby. [ok, I admit this is a shallow consideration]. We had the chance to tour and then grab a lunch at a nearby Ritz Carlton so we definitely took a departure of our usual thrift to have a good solid American lunch. We also toodled around Falmouth a bit and got a sense of the flavor of that town. Since it has stopped being a shipping port it has somewhat been degraded and this is most unfortunate in that there really are some buildings worth saving and ading to the charm of the place.

Later, we toured the bay in one of their post dinner boats for a nominal fee to see the luminesant waters of the bay. This was well worth it if for no other reason than being on the water. The luminessance was great to see and was a first for us. Funny to see glowing fish dart underneath our boat.

The ride over to the coast was truly hair raising and we count ourselves lucky to have survived. Some of this we caused by not making a better selection of a taxi. A good lesson was learned all over again. Red plates, red plates, red plates... look for red plates. These designate the officially sanctioned taxis. Back in Spanish Town we were dropped into a maalstrom of taxis all vying for our business. After pushing back 15 or so very aggressive drivers we found one that was literally 25% of what some others were charging. AND he was a Red Plate! See? We learned! Again no less. It is a little hard to imagine the chaos that is this kind of taxi stand. Drivers were tugging at our bags and trying hard to get us to get in even with a bit of a shove in that direction. Takes a certain rudeness if you will to SHOVE back when confronted with this type of 'sales'.

At any rate, all for now. Write!

Love to all and thanks to those who have chosen to stay in touch with us. It is deeply appreciated.

Matt