So Annual Conference was over, and the delegation left to return to the US. I’d found a MoBay hotel on Expedia. It’s the Wexford, it’s on Gloucester Street in Mobay, it’s Jamaican-owned, and many Jamaicans seem to patronize it. (As a matter of fact,while writing this, in the lobby, I ran into Dr. Marjorie Lewis, the President of United Theological College of the West Indies, and one of our Annual Conference guests! She's been staying here with her mother). I talked with another guy who got it on Expedia, His rate was higher than mine, but they were both under $100/day, with taxes included. That includes breakfast, a pool, access to a private beach area/water park, and wifi in the lobby. He is from Martinique, and we both noted that the hotel is Jamaican-owned and patronized largely by Jamaicans. It is fairly well appointed; slate veranda, faux marble lobby, a decent elevator, wood trim, wood flooring. A step up in quality and down in price from our Annual Conference hotel. I don’t know if there would ever be an Annual Conference in MoBay, but if there were, I would certainly recommend this hotel. It’s right beside the Pelican restaurant, a place to which Bishop Reddick treated us last year, and that is right beside a Burger King, for all those who miss American food when traveling abroad. Additionally, there's a Chinese restaurant on the other side of the hotel. It's secure, and has easy access to shopping in MoBay, including a crafts area.
I hired a driver and took some time to explore. I made another genius move and contracted with the driver, someone I knew, before contacting an American who was familiar with the environment. Big mistake. While the driver told me he’d have to rent a car and I’d have to pay for the rental and for gas (which decreased the amount I paid him), the tank was on E and he filled it up. We used between a quarter and a half tank of gas. So I’m wondering if he used the rest of the gas for himself personally or what? Not a big deal, but it added to my out of pocket cost, and when I told someone who’d done it before how much I agreed to pay him, and then when I found one of the places I was going to would have given me a round-trip ride for a fraction of what I paid him – well, I decided to make sure I got my money’s worth. I didn’t choose to renegotiate because I choose to keep my word; next time I’ll just be wiser, even with people I trust. And I have to say that the guy was a GREAT driver/tour guide, threw in a couple of extra sites, got me some local fruit, fronted me money when I had no Jamaican dollars or small US bills – he was great and did everything I wanted, I just think I paid for an extra half tank of gas and I don’t know why.
So. The plan was to go to 9 Mile, Bob Marley’s birthplace/resting place, and then to swim with dolphins. On the way to 9 Mile, we stopped at Discovery Cove, the place where Columbus first landed in Jamaica. I took pics of and with a lot of 15th Century items, and then we were on our way. We passed by huge ships processing bauxite (a raw material for aluminum), and by the big cruise ships. He showed me lots of mountain communities, including communities where people have no water and have to collect water for the whole town in big reservoirs. He showed me yam farms and how the farmers have them to grow up on poles.
Finally we arrived a 9 Mile. It’s up a mountain. On the way in, you see the school that Bob Marley’s mom built. The road to 9 Mile is lined with people begging for money. Once inside the complex, you have to pay a $20.00 entrance fee for a “tour.” The tour is a bunch of stoned (I swear they were high; Gary says they weren’t) Rastas making dumb jokes and stretching out what should be a 20 minute photo op into a painful hour of attempting to make Bob Marley into a saint. Do’t get me wrong, I love Bob, and there was a time when I loved smoking weed. When I smoked weed, though, if I offered it to you and you said no, I was like “Cool. More for me.” These folks offered you weed literally every 20 yards, and after a while it was no longer novel, it was just annoying. I couldn’t help but wonder if we Christians are as annoying in our presentation of the Gospel. Do we make it relevant and appealing to those to whom we offer it, or is our attitude simply “here. Do this. You need it. It’s good for you.” Because that latter attitude doesn’t work.
So you see the house where he was born, you go up the hill and see the place where his maternal grandparents are buried, you go up the hill some more (or maybe this was below) and see his albums, you see a room with his mother’s bed in it. Then at the top of the hill (I think this is before his mother’s bed), you have to take off your shoes. You see what used to be their kitchen, you see the meditation rock upon which he used to sit and write songs, you see his mother’s mausoleum, and you see his mausoleum. The spaces around his mausoleum in particular are very tight; I saw a fellow in a wheelchair being wheeled up the mountain and felt bad for him, as there’s no way his chair can fit around the mausoleum. The weirdest thing about it was that inside Bob’s mausoleum no pictures or video are allowed, no alcohol or cigarettes are allowed but you can smoke all the weed you want. No one in our group chose to do that, but still the stench of old weed permeated the structure. There was a time when I loved the smell of weed, and when my own house probably smelled like that. Thankfully, that time is long gone
So that, along with incessant offers to smoke weed, two gift shops, a group of drummer/musicians (I often find myself wondering if Bob Marley is so revered because he’s the only Rastaman who can actually hold a tune…), and a whole lot of weak, quasi-narcissistic banter about Rastafarianism was 9Mile. Glad I did it. Never have to do it again.
From 9 Mile, we made it to Dolphin Cove. I was spozed to be there at 2, but the swim didn’t start til 2:30. We actually got there about 1:45, but there still wasn’t time to do anything else before the swim. I did the same swim as last year. I toyed with the idea of swimming with two dolphins, but wasn’t sure how it worked. I think I’m going to try that next time, though. So I did my dolphin swim, watched a little bit of the shark show, and went snorkeling while waiting to hold a stingray. I held the stingray, and by the time I finished, realized I’d lost my key while snorkeling. The shark guys said they’d look for it and they took their snorkels and started searching. I wanted to go in and help them, but the folk on deck wouldn’t let me. After a while, I decided to go ask the locker attendant if they had a master key. Of course the person with the master key was off site…
At which point the diving guys showed up with my key!!! That may have been the highlight of both our days. The signs said “No Tipping,” but he went above and beyond, and I showed my gratitude. Afterwards, I walked through the park and took some more pictures with the birds. Last year, there were several birds on me and in my arms. This year, I just held Mango while he kissed me. So I kissed fish and birds on this trip. Maybe I can get some monkeys in Costa Rica.
While worshipping with Good News CME Church in Jamaica, I noticed they don’t use the CME Hymnal, they use a hymnal called Redemption Songs. I noticed the ladies with it (probably have a picture of it), and immediately recall Bob Marley’s song of the same name. In that song, he’s talking about freeing oneself mentally, by using Redemption Songs. (Marley, incidentally, was buried with a soccer ball, a Bible, and a spliff. Maybe something else, but that’s what I remember. While his theology appeared to be Rastafarian (the union of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba produced the line from which the Messiah comes, and that Messiah is, I believe, an Ethiopian head of state. Or something like that. It’s like the Kebra Negast, but with weed). While his theology appeared to be Rasta, he certainly revered the Bible. It’s not a big stretch to think that this book, Redemption Songs, containing hymns based on Biblical passages, would be the tool he thought of as emancipatory. That just blows me away!!!!
So of course I had to get a copy of the hymnal. That’s the one thing I would have bought on 9Mile, but it wasn’t there. So Gary took me into Ocho Rios and we found a bookstore, but they didn’t have it. They directed us to another bookstore, which was closed. He asked them to open up, they did, they had the book, and they sold it to me!!! (See why I can’t be too upset for paying him a little extra? The guy is good.). We had patties and then headed back to MoBay. He stopped a couple of times for me to get pictures of sunsets. And he must have noticed that I like trying new things: As we were leaving MoBay, everyone was asking about sugar cane, so I bought a bag (it was $1.00) and we cut it up so whoever wanted to could try it. Gary stopped on the side of the road and got this really cool fruit called jackfruit. It’s interesting looking, and it was very tasty. He’s a good tour guide – show me new and interesting things, teach me about your home, and give me photo ops.
When I can get to a pc with a DVD drive, I will put the dolphin pictures here.
The rest of the pictures from the day can be found here. Again, you should be able to click on the blue hyperlink, but if that doesn't work, just cut and paste the text below:
(https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10202828451286179.1073741872.1048146180&type=1&l=234eeca66e)
(https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10202835712067694.1073741874.1048146180&type=1&l=d620b1b204)
(https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10202835786389552.1073741875.1048146180&type=1&l=80e9243598)
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