Wednesday, August 01, 2007

hi

Hi. I love Jamaica. I adopted a son. The island is stunningly beautiful, the people marvelous, the food beyond description, the poverty heartbreaking. One on one, there's no anti-gay sentiment, though every man I talked to assured me there are no gay men in Jamaica. I laughed. They did too. They love lesbians, by the way. The thought of lesbians not being interested in men who might be watching was disconcerting to them. I got trapped in an underwater room of coral. Mike and I were almost swept out to sea while snorkeling in the deep. We were hijacked by a hustler in the market at 11 p.m. Marijuana smoke is everywhere ~ you catch the scent on the breeze like incense from a headshop. We took an 18 mile bicycle trip in the blue mountains, then refreshed ourselves in a pool beneath a waterfall. We saw a rock fight between two men. A voodoo house in the mountains was shiver-inducing divine. The coffee is magnificent and women pick it at $9 per 90 pound crate, a day's work. For retirement, people just "go to the bush" ~ go live in the mountains under a tree. School is not free for children. I didn't talk politics much at all, but met some Dutch people who told me everyone in Holland thinks George Bush planned 9/11. There is no real milk, all powdered. No cream. Butter is rare. We ate a dozen rock lobsters from a fisherman's beach while wasted Rastafarians snugged in the roots of a huge tree nodded and smiled at us. Ginger beer is addictive. Fried plantain dumplings are luscious. I love Jamaica. My son is precious. Sadly, I have to work now. Can't wait to catch up with all of you.

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22 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

My.

Each sentence you've written is itself a delicious teaser for a post topic -- or a book chapter -- in itself.

Where to start?

Welcome back.

August 01, 2007 8:59 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes, can't wait for you to flesh out these tantalizing utterances. Adopted? A son? Really, or figuratively? *frustrated eye roll* more please.

August 01, 2007 9:33 AM  
Blogger rodger said...

Oh honey, you're the biggest tease this side of the Mississippi! Now we'll all be checking back hourly to see what more you may have revealed.

August 01, 2007 11:45 AM  
Blogger M. Knoester said...

HUGE welcome back hugs for Lynette!

Your holiday sounds funny/devine/scary/precious/beautiful/puzzling/jealousy-inducing and quite a few other things.

August 01, 2007 12:02 PM  
Blogger M. Knoester said...

O yeah, I forgot one thing:

Tell.

Me.

More!

August 01, 2007 2:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ditto from the blog-o-gallery ... son? Glad you are home safe and satisfied ...

August 01, 2007 4:04 PM  
Blogger Helen said...

That post made ME love Jamaica and I haven't even BEEN there. ;-)

August 01, 2007 6:08 PM  
Blogger LSL said...

FINALLY you're back!

August 01, 2007 8:35 PM  
Blogger Doralong said...

Glad you and Mike are home safe and sound from your well deserved break! Sounds like you had a blast!

August 01, 2007 8:37 PM  
Blogger here today, gone tomorrow said...

Gah!!!! The suspense!

August 01, 2007 9:04 PM  
Blogger tankmontreal said...

Welcome back. Your updates've been missed. And it seems you've a lotta news for us. Bated breath here.

August 01, 2007 9:48 PM  
Blogger more cowbell said...

welcome back! I'm so happy you had fun, you sound refreshed! And I'm with Tater -- literally, figuratively, wtf? You know you can't just leave us hanging like that. What about our needs, here?

August 02, 2007 12:19 AM  
Blogger Vic said...

Welcome back, Dahling. Beautiful country, but the poverty makes me too sad.

August 02, 2007 12:22 AM  
Blogger dpaste said...

Ex-squeeze me? Baking powder? I will reserve comments on the adoption tease until your next post.

I'm glad that one-on-one there is no anti-gay sentiment there. Unfortunately, there is more than one person in Jamaica, and the fact that gay men are routinely beaten, stalked and terrorized lends these men's protestations of open-mindedness the level of bullshit I usually reserve for George W. Sorry hon, I can't let that one slide.

Glad you had a wonderful time though. It sounds like you are recharged and ready take it all on again.

August 02, 2007 10:26 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Girl! I am so glad you are back! I have missed you. Post soon. Call! You have the digits.

August 02, 2007 10:42 AM  
Blogger Red Seven said...

Welcome back, baby! I will, like the others, be checking back for more updates.

Hooray; Big Ass Belle has returned!!

August 02, 2007 11:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

When I finally took the time to closely read your summary of your vacation (been way too busy), I immediately was reminded in so many ways of the 8 months I spent in Ghana on university exchange. Amazing beaches there too.

I think it was your mention of powdered milk that did it for me, though I'm surprised you didn't see a lot of canned milk also. I actually came to love both powdered and canned milk in a different way (the powder was usually Dutch or Danish and seemed higher quality than what I remember as a kid here).

And poverty? It is what it is (hard to explain what I mean by that -- I don't mean it coldly)... but I'm sure it does make you feel a little more squeamish when you're at a posh resort. No worse than stepping out of a fancy San Francisco hotel onto skid row though, in a way.

A tropical vacation sounds great. How my heart aches to go back to Africa!

August 02, 2007 8:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh you and your adopted son. I can't wait for what's next. I loved your list. Lists work no matter what, Lynette, and you did everything on yours. Amazing. So glad you are back.

PS: Wait, GWB DIDN'T plan the 9/11 attacks???????????????

August 03, 2007 12:53 PM  
Blogger M. Knoester said...

I think that would giving him WAY too much credit.

August 03, 2007 4:01 PM  
Blogger Miss Janey said...

Miss Belle,

Yours is a blog that I think ROCKS. Thus I’ve named you as a Rockin’ Girl Blogger. Please go here for details.

August 03, 2007 5:41 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah, what they all said! Glad to hav eya back!

August 05, 2007 1:28 PM  
Blogger eric3000 said...

Welcome back! Sounds like an amazing trip!

August 05, 2007 10:54 PM  

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