‘Book the sunshine’

WESTERN BUREAU:

“WE CAME for Christmas sunshine.”

The joyful expression came from first-time visitors, Andy Jones and his partner Alberta Basso, who despite the inclement weather are spending their Christmas holidays in Jamaica.

Jones, who is from the United Kingdom (UK) and Basso, who is from Italy, have been together for over a decade and visiting the island for two weeks.

Walking in an upbeat mood on the Hip Strip in the tourism capital in Montego Bay, St James, both shared their fun experience being in Jamaica.

“Initially, we stopped at some friends in Portland, and then we realised that Portland is the rainy capital of Jamaica. So, we decided to come to Montego Bay to see if we can get some sun and it’s raining. Can you book the sunshine for us?,” Jones said jovially.

He added: “We’re heading off from here to Negril, and then go down to Kingston, and we’re going to spend some time in between here, Negril, Kingston, then go back to Portland. Hopefully in a week, we’ll say our goodbyes and head back to the UK. So we’ve got some travelling to do while we’re here.”

The streets were busy with bumper-to-bumper traffic and people hurrying to attend to last-minute Christmas shopping.

According to Jones, the experience has been good so far.

“It has been diverse. We have come across from Portland in a hired car, and we have seen quite a lot of Jamaica so far, especially the top half, and mostly, it has been good. Apart from the weather, the temperature is fine. The people have been generally friendly, but we have been met with some hostility. It was nothing we couldn’t handle,” he shared.

A different vibe

“In MoBay, it seems very ‘touristy’, quite relaxed and amenable. It is very different from Portland. Portland has a different vibe, I am not going to lie. I would say a lot more urban. Here in Montego Bay, there is strong American influence here,” Jones said.

In the meantime, as it rained during the Gleaner interview, Basso said she’s learnt about Patois and loves the taste of the food.

“I learned a few things like ‘wha gwaan, blood’, ‘ya man’ and ‘wi irie’. Other things I saw were bumping fists, but I wanted to know if women could do it. As for the food, the food is good and healthy. The fruits and vegetables are something else. The papayas are a lot bigger than in the UK. It’s a different taste; in the UK they’re soft. The peppers, I had an incident with Scotch bonnet pepper where I just wiped the plate and licked my finger and burned my finger,” Basso explained.

“We want to see Jamaica. We travel a lot, we do travel a lot in general and saw a lot of different places in the world. I like to see a country for what it is, rather than see a hotel and the beach,” she added.

Having a real bellyful

As for the reggae music, they’ve been having a real bellyful.

“If you’ve been to Portland, you can’t help but hear the music, a lot of reggae which is good. You get a lot of music in Portland. Here, you get Bob Marley, and it seems to be in every other shop competing in certain areas,” Jones told The Gleaner.

Having tried to contain their joy about the experience, Jones and Basso stated that coming back to Jamaica is something they would not say “no” to.

“Me, I am still digesting everything. Sometimes I’m trying to compare it to other places I’ve been to so I can try to find my feet around here, but it’s just an experience. The thing is, I’m happy to embrace it. Next time, we need to speak to the tourist board, and they need to do an online portal so we can book the weather and they can stop the rain,” Jones and Basso laughed.

ashley.anguin@gleanerjm.com