Jared’s Blog

Frankly, I don’t think there are words to describe whatever the hell this is.

Rick and I went and caught Endwell, This is Hell, Comeback Kid, and It Dies Today last night. I took a bunch of pictures as usual, but last night the stars must have aligned. I got a number of high quality shots, a couple I hope to frame for my wall in my new room. I’m going to take 5-6 of my favorite shots and get them printed at 8×10. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for awhile and why not decorate my new room.

If weddings are one hell of a party, then Caribbean weddings are a freakin throw down. As predicted, the weather cleared up in the morning and it was perfect the rest of the day. In the morning, Justin and I went to breakfast with the Burns’ and then chilled out in the hot tub and pool in the early afternoon. At 3, we all gathered at the beach for the wedding ceremony. We were there for maybe an hour and 50 minutes of that was taking pictures. Speaking of pictures, I snapped a bunch from the wedding and they came out great. I’ll be posting them to Flickr shortly. The wedding itself was very simple. Just a dozen of us on the beach, a minister, and a photographer. Those of us observing weren’t able to hear the minister, Laura, or Hank so well, but then again it really wasn’t for us to hear.

While Hank and Laura went and got some more pictures, the rest of us hung out at one of the bars by the oceanfront. Once we all were together, we walked over to San Genaro, one of the restaurants on the resort. I enjoyed the most entertaining dinner I’ve ever had. Caroline, Laura’s friend, had made friends with a few of the staff at some point during our stay and those three just happened to be waiting on us at the restaurant. They kept our drinks, plates, and tummies full. It was a crime to not be able to tip them, but I think Caroline was going to see if we could work something out with the management.

The rest of the night was one giant party. We made our way to a couple different bars, then to Hank and Laura’s room. Sandals gave them a cake and bottle of champagne. It was a perfect time to smoke the Cuban cigar I had picked up earlier in the day. It was so big, 3 of us didn’t even finish it all.

The group capped off our night at a the discotheque. The only reason I went was for Hank and Laura. I don’t like dancing, I can’t stand any of the music they played, and I didn’t have anyone to dance with anyway. There was only 4 other people outside our group and everyone was paired up in couples. I didn’t much feel like dancing with Justin and I’m positive the feeling was mutual. Rick, Kristi, Justin, and I bounced early and went to the grill for a late night snack.

Yesterday was very much a standard vacation day. Wake up late, sit by the pool, and relax. I was very pleased that I wasn’t burned to a crisp in the hot sun. Sadly, I had so much sunscreen on, that the only place that got any real color was my feet. I’ve yet to go out for a nice meal. While at the pool, I just snacked or grabbed something from the little grill they have near one of the pools. Other than that I’ve only been to one of the restaurants and it was one of the less-than-fancy ones. I’m content with that, but I want to go to one of the nicer places at least once.

Today is the day of Hank and Laura’s wedding. It has been raining off and on all morning, but I think that is pretty typical around here. Rain in the morning, sun for the rest of the day. Hopefully things aren’t too wet by 3 o’clock when the wedding takes place. If it clears up, I’m sure it’ll be dream-like. As I write this, the sun is starting to come through the clouds, so I think things will work out. I don’t have any duties in the wedding other than to just show up. I think maybe I’ll go get a Cuban cigar to enjoy with Hank after the ceremony.

This place really is gorgeous. I don’t think I can mention that enough. You see postcards, pictures, or videos on TV and you think that this place looks really nice, but being here is on a whole other level. It’s hard to describe so I think I’ll just leave it at that. I haven’t done too much picture taking because it’s kind of hard to keep track of a camera while you’re in the pool all day. With the beach wedding, I’m sure there will be plenty of opportunities.

Not long after I wrote my first entry about Jamaica, things took a turn for the better. Justin and I found the rest of our group and we spent the night swilling drinks and talking about our adventures so far. I had one of those surreal moments later in the night. We were sitting on Hank and Laura’s balcony, it was about 1 in the morning, and there’s people partying in the pool. That was it, but it felt so unreal, especially since the day we left Minnesota, we had gotten about 6″ of snow and it wasn’t above 20 degrees. My mood definitely was a little brighter on the walk back to my bungalow.

I’m sort of having a problem with staff’s hospitality. The thing is, even though I’m at an all-inclusive resort, I still don’t think anyone should have to take my bags around or hold the door for me. I think part of it comes down to me not feeling like the hotel employees are being real (read honest). I want to experience Jamaican culture, not some Americanized resort atmosphere. I get the impression that the only Americans these people ever see or meet are wealthy snobs and so that is what their idea of America is. Unfortunately, they are somewhat correct. I’ve made every effort to thank the staff and be pleasant with them so that hopefully, they can at least see that I’m not just another lazy American.

The only plans for today are to sit by the pool or lie on the beach. Laura was telling us last night how she wants everyone to go on this tour/hike of Dunn’s Rivers Falls. I’m told we get a tour of the area, get to hike up the falls, and then we go snorkeling. It finishes with a shopping excursion in Ocho Rios. I’m not sure if I’ll go yet because it costs $77.

Really, I have found it. Let me explain. Today started with me waking up at 3:30AM, on purpose. I was pretty excited. It’s not every day you get to leave the country, for me this would only be my second excursion outside the good ole US of A. My only other trips have been to Canada, which were fun, but not quite on the level of a Jamaican vacation. So after flying for 8 hours, and a 2 hour bus trek across the Jamaican coastline, I arrived at Sandals resort. Just what I thought I’d been waiting for all day (or the last 3 months for that matter). As soon as I got here, I realized I was in for a long week.

I agreed to come to Jamaica for my friends, Laura and Hank. “What could be more fun than celebrating a wedding in Jamaica?”, I thought. My initial idea, I guess, was that I never go on vacation and this might as well be the time. It all sounded good before I got here.

It’s no secret that Sandals is a couples resort and it’s also not much of a secret that I’m a single guy (at least I don’t think so). On top of that, my buddy Justin, who is my roommate for this week, is a guy. For the record, neither of us is gay, and so that means we end up in awkward situations for the rest of our trip. And if things couldn’t get much worse, every other person here that I know is with their spouse/girlfriend. Even Justin has a girlfriend back home. I don’t even know what kind of spare wheel that makes me.

Just some of my experiences so far. After settling in, Justin and I set out to find some place to eat and pretty much just sat down at the first place we found. Of course the table was set with adjacent place settings. Let’s not forget the single king size bed in our room, or when one of the hotel staff asked where my “partner” was. As I sit here on our balcony writing, there’s some kind of beach party going on, but hell if I’m going to show up all alone. I can only imagine what the next few days is going to bring.

As I said to begin with, I’m in hell and it looks like paradise. Maybe the rest of the week won’t be so awkward, but I won’t be holding my breathe. The best I can hope is that by tomorrow I can meet up with the rest of my friends and try to have a good time.