JAMAICA!

This year for our vacation we went to Jamaica. We stayed at Couples Negril, an all-inclusive resort in Negril, Jamaica. Way back in February we decided to book someplace warm and where we could leave our worries behind because work was getting a little stressful. We had never been to a tropical island before or an all-inclusive. One of the reasons we chose an all-inclusive is because Scott tends to worry about finances...well not so much worry more like he's very focused on our financial situation and getting out of debt. So when we go on a normal vacation he would take out all the receipts at the end of the day and balance his checkbook online. This gives him piece of mind. This is a good thing for our marriage because I am completely opposite...not organized and certainly don't plan well for the future so having a partner that does that religiously is a definite plus! Anyway, so we wanted a vacation that we didn't have to even think about money and what we could/couldn't afford. So we chose an all-inclusive. We were originally thinking Sandals but after doing some research Couples seemed more attractive to us. Couples is, as you may have guessed, just for couples so there aren't any kids. We love kids but not for this vacation. Also Couples seemed more relaxing and laid back and less spring-breakish like Sandals seemed. A little more expensive but personally I think it was much better. You get to know more people (workers and guests) since it's a smaller resort.

The weather in Jamaica is perfect. Averaging around 80 degrees in December. It rained once, for about 10 minutes and it was perfect rain...just a shower with the sun still shining. We never got hot, never got cold....just comfortable all the time.

When we arrived in Jamaica you drive 1 1/2 hours to Negril from Montego Bay. We drove through some poverty-stricken areas which made me feel a little weird. I felt like I was this greedy white American just taking advantage of their nice weather and white beaches. So many houses looked like they were abandoned but people were still living there. They just don't have much stuff at all! Scott said something interesting: it's kind of ironic...they have it right and we have it wrong. It looks like they're lives are so empty and they may even think they want to come to America eventually but what they have is something we're very much lacking. They have family and friends that they spend time with all day...they're developing relationships that are so meaningful and rich. Most of all, they're not materialistic. They're lawns aren't groomed perfectly and most don't have cars. They use their own goats for milk, cheese and meat. They have little shops and bars so they can make money. Their simple life was sad at first but slowly became attractive to me. Even a McDonalds didn't last there! Can you imagine? They're lives look like poverty-stricken to us but this is what they know...this is their life. They still had schools and stores and were generally doing well. I'll explain my thoughts on resorts and the effect on their country later.

Upon arrival to our resort we were very impressed. The service was amazing and we got a nice cool towel and glass of champagne while we waited for our reservations to go through. We came at night so we were a little confused when we first got there. From then on we quickly realized we were in paradise. Our room was fantastic, we got breakfast in bed almost every day, no tipping allowed on the resort so no worries there. A typical day would be heading down to the beach and lay out...swim a little, go in the pool, read, sleep, relax...wonderful! Then we'd go up to the beach for some jerk chicken or fresh fruit. When it became dark we'd go back to the room, get cleaned up and dressed up and head out for dinner. Two restaurants are very fancy with a dress code and a 5 course meal. EXCELLENT! They also had an Italian restaurant and buffet every night. They had little events going on all the time like a wine and cheese party, dancing, manager's appetizer party...all that sort of stuff.

We went scuba diving one day. This was our first time scuba diving and we were a little nervous. We went through a discover scuba diving course with an instructor named Sugar :) Speaking of Sugar, all the workers there are Jamaican and just wonderful. They're so laid back and nice...plus it's not a stereotype...they always say Ya Mon and No Worries Mon...always. Anyway, so we went through the course and then practiced what we just learned in the pool. IT was kinda scary and not as easy as I thought it would be. It's hard to get yourself to breath just through your mouth and not rely on coming up for air for a long time. We practiced all sorts of skills like getting water out of our face mask under water, what we'd do if we were out of air, equalizing the pressure in our ears and just swimming around in general getting a feel for our buoyancy. When we got out in the ocean we went 30 feet down and it was amazing. Still a little freaky but it was so calm down there and we saw lots of cool things. It's interesting communicating with each other without even talking and being in a COMPLETELY different environment like that. Scott had a little problem and he handled it so well. His buoyancy was off (he didn't have a heavy enough weight belt on) so when Sugar told us to let our air out and stand on the sand at the bottom Scott couldn't do it. So automatically he thought something was wrong so he started to go into panic mode. He gulped in a ton of water and it came out his nose into his mask (covers nose and eyes). Sugar helped him and made signals to breath and calm down. Scott amazingly did without going back up for air! He got the water out of the mask like we practiced and got his air supply to work again. Sugar took him by the arm for a while and put another weight on his tank. He was much better then. I know when we were practicing Sugar had me practice that I was out of air and that I needed to get air from Scott...well it didn't work right away and I panicked and went up for air...this was in the pool! Scott did well staying under. Overall a great experience!

We also went on a Catamaran Sunset Cruise where we were served rum punch and I even jumped off a 30ft cliff! That was a lot of fun.

Couples is a place we really enjoyed and we really want to go back. It's such a cozy place that really almost feels like a second home. Everyone is so personable! The whole time we were wondering about resorts and what the Jamaicans really thought of them. We couldn't ask resort employees because if they didn't like them...they wouldn't tell us because they could get fired. So what we really needed was someone who lives there or lived there but didn't have any reason to fudge a response. We actually met a guy at the airport in Charlotte!!! Strage coincidence really. His name is Damien. We asked him and he said that people don't have a problem with them...they bring a lot of money to the country. He did, however, encourage us to see the real Jamaica and what the beautiful country has to offer not just retreat to the resorts. I agree with him but that's a completely different vacation. Like we said we wanted a vacation where we didn't want to worry about anything or go anywhere. This was ideal. But I would love to go back to Jamaica someday and tour the country...that would be awesome!!

I'm just going to attach a few pictures because later I'm going to attach our slideshow that we made.

The beach


Us with one of the workers


The pool


Cruise


Relaxing






Our room


Sugar