Port Antonio - The Discovery

Port Antonio – The Discovery
Port Antonio has given me a much better experience than Kingston. Yesterday we decided to take a trip for the weekend and go to Port Antonio, a small town on the northeastern coast of Jamaica. In order to get here, we had to take a three and a half hour bus ride. For those that don’t know already, in Jamaica, there is no capacity to vehicles, and you can always fit more people. So on the way down, the five of us sat in the back of a large van – all five of us in four seats. Every row was the same, and as we acquired more people on the way, passengers began to sit on other people’s laps or stand in the little space remaining. In order to make more room for passengers, some men rode with one foot in the car and held onto seats and left their bodies hanging out of the sliding door. It was crazy and the roads are bumpy so I can’t imagine how scary it would have been for those guys. At times the road was so windy and the turns were at such high speeds that I felt like the car was going to flip off and fall to the ocean below. Eventually the passenger load thinned out and we had enough room to sit one person per seat. The entire ride was charged with loud dancehall and reggae music, and one of the passengers, a man in a yellow shirt, was drinking malt liquor the whole way down – just kept drinking and drinking and drinking - and by two hours into the ride, he was dancing in his seat with his arm around an old woman who he named "grandma". This man was absolutely hilarious and he was being loud and making friends the whole way down.
When we arrived at Port Antonio we checked into our rooms at the OceanCrest Guest House. The woman who owns it is really nice and she cut us a great deal for a second night. She has been very fair with prices and accommodations, and she calls us her daughters. The Port Antonio citizens know her as Auntie and no one messes with her. Once we got settled into our rooms, we were starving so we walked to town and bought some chicken. When we walked down the first main street we were confronted by happy faces and men that asked our names and told us that we were beautiful. At first I thought these people were going to be really nice and then pick our pockets or something, but it turns out that these people are just amazingly kind and they love meeting foreigners! The people of Port Antonio proved to be welcoming and anxious to see new faces. This area of Jamaica has no crime at all. It was explained to me that because it’s such a small town, everyone knows each other and respects. Even tourists, though sometimes charged higher prices, are treated fairly and politely. Auntie told us that we didn’t have to worry about theft or rape or anything like that in this area, which was very assuring, and turned out to be very true.
We stayed out really late just hanging out on the street with these people. There were several notable characters, and it seemed like one of them had their eyes set on each of the girls – except for me of course because I’m already dating the coolest man in the states…. ANYWAY, here is a brief description of a few people…
Kevin was the first person we met. He was hanging out on the street and when we walked by he introduced himself and asked us if we were going to the club, LaBest. We told him that we were hungry and he introduced us to ChickenMan, who makes the best chicken in Jamaica. ChickenMan owns a barbecue and hangs out on the street selling chicken. It was really good. As the night went on we all became acquainted with Kevin, but he seemed to have a special attraction for Catherine, who he said that he was in love with – "seriously". He explained that if he were to marry Catherine, he would provide for her and that all she would have to do all day is watch TV.
Devon was hanging out with Kevin and ChickenMan before we met them. He was wearing this neon green Tupac shirt with the price tag still on it for style. Apparently he makes his living by buying shirts for cheap in Kingston and then selling them in the Port Antonio area for high prices. Devon ended up being fascinated with Leanne and he’s planning to find us in Kingston and rent a room in a hotel where he and Leanne can spend "a night of pure pleasure" together. Leanne was not too keen on this suggestion.
By far the most outrageous character that we met here was Ninja Star. Ninja Star is this totally awesome guy (who smells like B.O. and bad breath) who is a celebrity within Port Antonio. His claim to fame is the jewelry that he makes, but he is also recognized as a musician. He constantly makes really weird noises, he’s as thin as a toothpick and was so high that nothing he was saying made sense. He became fascinated with Rachael and, since he’s related to Michael Jackson, Nanny (of the maroons), Nat King Cole, Wilson of the tennis balls and Nefertiti, he’s going to provide for her forever. He works for the Queen of Australia, who helped Bob Marley and said she was going to hook him up in a music video with DMX, Eminem and Puff Daddy. He owns three houses and a boat. According to him, the ocean is the most beautiful thing ever and girls are the ocean. Ninja Star and I both have Japanese heritage, so we are brother and sister. Apparently, in the year 2006 (which is actually in the future), the world will be ruled by blacks and Japanese. Ninja Star is always smiling and laughing and making sure that everyone around him is doing the same. We discovered today that he can do back flips somewhat successfully. Ninja Star’s wardrobe was one of a kind. Yesterday he was wearing glasses frames (no lenses), a million bling necklaces/rings and a bright neon green shirt. Today he was wearing the same bling and a fanny pack. When he wanted to get into the water today, it took a whole half hour to get his clothes and jewelry off. When finished, however, we figured out that he couldn’t swim. He was doggy paddling out to us and this wave hit him. He went under, but as soon as the wave passed, we saw his same face – big smile, big eyes and that crazy laugh. Kevin had to shoo him away and tell him not to come out any farther. After that he gave Rachael one of his bling rings because he wants to marry her. He was absolutely ridiculous. When you smile, you are Ninja Star. When you laugh, you see Ninja Star…. I don’t think he’s gone a day of his life without being high.
While we were hanging out with this crew, we saw a familiar face walk by. We immediately recognized him as the man from the bus that was drunk and dancing with "grandma". He was extremely happy that we had recognized him so he bought us all drinks – 12 people. He wanted us to walk down this dark alley but we didn’t want to go, so he got kind of offended. After a while, some of our new friends thought he was trying to be mean to us, so they started getting mad at him and telling him to go away. We had to intervene and explain that he was our friend from the bus, and he was so happy that we were acknowledging his friendship that he, for a second time, bought us all drinks! He was such a happy guy but he was extremely drunk. In fact, when we asked him what his name was, he spelled it, "D-R-I-C-H" and was trying to spell D-E-R-R-I-C-K.
Last night we spent most of our time in the street, hanging out with cool people who kept saying, "you’re beautiful," "you’re an angel" or "how you like your time so far?" I have to admit that while Jamaican culture is so much more than marijuana, I realized the real prevalence of the drug in this country. You literally cannot go anywhere in Port Antonio without seeing or smelling the ganga. People try to solicit it to you and trick you into taking it. A man introduced himself to me and offered to shake my hand while concealing a bag of the herb. I wasn’t expecting this, and the baggie fell to the ground. Devon immediately kicked the man out of the area because he knew that we do not smoke and told the man off. It was so comforting to have a local looking out for our wellbeing.
After we went to LaBest, the nightclub, we headed back home. On the way home we passed by a bar owned by a Rastafarian. The other girls headed back to the house and I stayed and talked to the rastas that worked in the bar. They told me a lot about Rastafari, and they are by far the kindest people that I’ve met thus far because they care about you, but they don’t try to pick up on you like the rest of the men in Port Antonio. I stayed and talked for two hours to the three rastas who were working. Stuie, the owner, was originally from Brooklyn but has spent most of his life in Jamaica. He corrected a lot of views that I had about Rastafari. Actual Rastafarian religion is not based on race. He says that there are many Asian and white Rastafarians that are more dedicated to the religion than other black people. He also explained the biblical influence and how Rastafari compares to other religions that are popular in this area. He told me a lot about the history of Jamaica and taught me about the famous Rastafarian leaders as well as a pattern of 3’s that is found in the bible and life. When it got too late, one of the rastas named Rick walked me home. These rastas are absolutely amazing. I cannot tell you how different they acted compared to the other people – no pick-ups and no concern about anything. I feel that I can really relate to these people, even though there are things that I would not want to be associated with – like drugs. In a big sense, rastas remind me of hippies. Some key words that they use to describe their religion are love, respect, life, truth…. I can’t help but see the similarities between this subculture and the hippie subculture in America, and maybe that is what has sparked my interest in it. Rastas are such peaceful people and I can’t wait to visit them again.
Today our housemother cooked us a big breakfast for $300 each. Then we headed to Winifred Beach and spent the day there. Winifred beach is the most beautiful beach we’ve been to yet. In order to get to the beach, you have to walk 3 miles (or drive) down an unpaved road through a rainforest. Once you get to the beach, you can order all sorts of food, etc. The water is gorgeous and we immediately took a swim. When we got tired of that and decided that it was time to sunbathe, we got out and saw all of the friends that we had made the previous night (including Kevin, Devon, Ninja Star, etc). We spent today at the beach, brushing off people’s seduction techniques and laying in the sun. I played soccer for two hours with four other locals. It was nothing like regular soccer – no shoes, loose sand flying everywhere and random waves coming in to distract you, but I was able to hold my weight, which was impressive to the guys that I was playing with. They said that I had skills and they were proud to have met an American woman who plays football.
Tonight we walked down to the rasta bar and one of the rastas took us to a restaurant called Gang Gang’s. I had chicken and rice and peas with veggies, and it was the best meal that I’ve had since I’ve been here. After eating we went back to our place and rested for a while. Nightlife in Jamaica does not begin until 1am (and lasts literally until the sun starts to come up), so we had a lot of time to kill before going out. When we finally did, however, we realized that there was not much of a scene at all. We had heard that on Saturday nights, the happening place was a club called the Roof, but it had an entrance fee that none of us wanted to shell out so we decided to head back to the rasta bar and hang out for a bit.
We all had a long conversation about the importance of Haile Sellassie I, the Rastafarian god, and his significance to the rest of the world. Another topic was the issue of race. Stuie was so supportive of people becoming blind to race, but I couldn’t help noticing how homophobic he was. Our conversation ended on the topic of poverty and wealth. Stuie said that poverty is a state of mind and that wealth was a type of spirit. It’s not the first time that I’ve heard a phrase like this, but it’s the first time that it actually stuck around and meant something to me. Anyway, we spent about three hours there having insightful conversations when everyone decided to leave. Again I wasn’t ready to leave because I was so fascinated so I stayed a while longer and talked to Rick about our outlooks on lifestyles. Rick was really interesting to me and I’m pretty sure that he was interested in the way that my mindset differs from his. Something that struck me as really profound was when he told me that everything moves with life – people, animals, plants, wind, soil… it was really interesting and we’re planning to meet up again when I make another trip out there. He does woodwork and he’s going to make me a bowl to take home.
This weekend was the best weekend so far, and even though I’m beginning to get closer to the other students, I wish that I could be sharing these experiences with people at home – family, friends and Kyle. Miss you much.