Saturday, December 29, 2012

Home

A quick disclaimer for this post - it was written last night during our flight home from Montego Bay, before we were swept up in the joys of winter travel and ended up stranded in Toronto. We are now back in Fredericton and all is well.


After four wonderful months, our time in Jamaica has come to an end. I'm writing this while sitting on the airplane back to Toronto. It is always a very nostalgic feeling when something you have looked forward to for so long comes to an end, but our time away has been an amazing experience and I'm so glad we got to share it with so many friends and family.  Mom and dad, John and Maureen, Teresa, Patricia, Jen - thank you all for being part of this adventure. And a big thanks to the Robin Rigby Trust and Ecology Action Centre for supporting my work and making this whole journey possible.
 
I'm excited to go home, but I have to admit that I'm slightly terrified of being thrown into the depths of winter.  I had to put on pants and a long sleeved shirt for the first time in months and I'm not feeling particularly good about it. I can't quite bring myself to think about a coat, hat and all the rest of it. But, I'm going home to share the rest of my Christmas holiday with my family in Canada and that feels great. Caleb is also excited to see everyone and of course, to be on an airplane! I think he was been a bit worried yesterday morning when, out of the blue, he asked 'Do they have juice in Canada?'. I assured him that they do, and he has been happy ever since.

Christmas morning headbands and airplanes!
 We had a wonderful Christmas in Negril filled with sunshine, good food and not a moment of stress. Caleb was as excited as we could have hoped and although he didn't get much, he was delighted to find gifts in his stocking and under the tree on Christmas morning. He also helped to make 16 Christmas cards and we had a great time hand delivering them to all the friends we have made. Our entire celebration was set to the very popular Jamaican carol - We Wish you a Reggae Christmas.

 
There is so much I will miss about our time in Jamaica:

 - the warmth, constant blue skies and sunshine
 
- the beach - swimming, snorkelling, building castles, watching the crowds

- perfect sunsets every night

- the food (jerk, patties, coco bread, fresh fish, rice and peas, Ital and limitless fresh fruits and veggies)

- the spirit of the Jamaican people who have an amazing appreciation and love for life

- the Jamaican language spoken with a rhythm and intermixed with proverbs and wise words of wisdom

-  feeling almost like a local in a new country and embracing the term 'Janadian'

And of course there are a few things that I will not miss quite as much:

- the steady stream of ants that seemed to appear no matter what we did. They were small enough not to be a huge problem, but contant enough to be a nuisance

- random power outages (although the candle filled evenings were quite fun)

- doing four months worth of laundry by hand
 
- mysterious bug bites that I was never quite sure if they were from mosquitos, jelly fish or another mysterious organism

All in all, I'm very happy to be home and will always feel like Negril is a second home to my family. Thank you, Jamaica.


Thursday, December 20, 2012

Christmas vacation

I am officially on vacation - with my family in Jamaica! I now get to spend my days relaxing on the beach - building sand castles and sand tunnels, snorkelling, watching sunsets and sneaking away for afternoon naps (if I get tired from all the fun). The other members of the research team are leaving Negril today so we wanted to have a few adventures, and take advantage of our rental car, before they left.  

First up was our Christmas party on Sunday evening. Cale and I spent the weekend making decorations, singing carols while being accompanied by Alan on mandolin and getting excited about the holiday. I am happy to spend a year away from the overly commercialized Christmas in North America, but I still want to make it a festive and special time of year for Caleb. We invited the research team (from Jamaica, Trinidad and Canada) over along with our friend Octavius and his kids. We decorated cookies, made crafts, sang songs and let the children run wild. It was tons of fun and Cale was asleep by 7:00. Perfect. I really want to make this Christmas about giving more than receiving for Caleb, so we had a great time hand delivering tons of leftover cookies to people on the beach the next morning.


Rudolph decorations! Alan even got into the fun and made his own! Can you guess which one??
Decorating cookies and ice cream cone Christmas trees with Dante and Gisele
We then decided to hit the open road to see some sites. Monday's stop was Mayfield Falls, a beautiful, remote area where a guide leads you up through the river and over (and under) several small waterfalls. Cale was literally squirming with delight the entire time. We were also followed by a site photographer who took some nice shots, but it was the incredibly cheezy shots that convinced us to buy the cd at the end of the trip. See below, and maybe, just maybe, I'll send out another cheezy one as our family Christmas card. 
This was probably the most serious photo shoot Alan and I have ever done, wedding photos included. He did capture some nice ones, but it also felt a lot like being chased by the paparazzi.  Cale loved it, however!
Warning: Squealing child with amazing hair ahead.
I can't quite find the words to caption this one!
Yesterday we headed to a 'sorrel and organic agriculture festival' in the small fishing village of Bluefields and although we were actually one day early for the festival, we got to meet some nice people, buy a few handicrafts, eat amazing jerk chicken and try our first sorrel juice - a red fruit juice that is very popular in Jamaica at Christmas time. We then drove on to Black River for the crocodile safari and stopped for a great Rastafarian Ital meal in a tiny, one table, roadside restaurant on our way home. Again Cale was soundly asleep at 7 pm after a day filled with wonderful adventures.
Now to rest on the beach. No plans are the best plans!

Bluefields
Crocodile nursery in Black River! 

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Coconuts and classrooms

Catch of the day in Orange Bay- Barracuda
My work in Jamaica is quickly coming to an end and my tropical vacation will soon begin. Over the past few weeks I have been interviewing fishermen and people involved in the tourism industry to understand the changes and challenges they have been facing. The environment in Negril has changed drastically over the years, and these changes are being accelerated by climate change. It is very interesting to talk directly with people who have been impacted by these changes and hear how they are adapting and what they think needs to be done to protect the future of their industries. If you'd like to learn more, you can check out the project's website here - Partnership for Canadian Caribbean Community Climate Change Adaptation (PARCA).
I've also been busy trying to do a few personal projects, like helping some inspiring locals I've met prepare grant applications, creating somes short films and giving a presentation to the local school.

Talking to the Environmental Club at Negril's All Ages School. We talked about the importance of a healthy coastline and ways to protect the beach in Negril.
Female Streamerbird resting on our clothesline
I've said this before, but one of the absolute best parts of my experience in Jamaica has been having the opportunity to meet locals and hear their stories. There are many people who have become familiar faces on the beach and through my interviews, I've had a chance to really learn about their lives. One of my favorite people on the beach is Gemma (who we also call Mama Fruit). I couldn't believe it when she told me that for the past 22 years, she wakes up at 4:30 am and travels over 2 hours to get to Negril to sell fruit on the beach to tourists seven days a week. It is not an easy life carrying a giant basket of fruit on your head and walking through the sand on days that are often incredibly hot to make a few dollars of profit. But she still feels blessed and thankful for her life and is always cheerful and singing when you see her. I didn't realize that the songs we hear her sing each day are originals! She was very happy to have me record a video of her singing one of my favorite songs - Coconut Woman. 




Now to finish decorating for our Christmas party tonight. The research team and a few local friends are coming over to make cookies and have dinner. Should be tons of fun and a great way to kick off the holiday season. 

Thursday, December 6, 2012

West End Adventures


The 'Office of Nature' in Bloody Bay is actually a bar
Alan has been here for over a week and we finally found time this afternoon to explore some sites around Negril. First off, Cale and Alan joined me while I interviewed some fishermen in beautiful Bloody Bay. We then went to an amazing, organic restaurant in the West End called 'Just Natural'. With no advertising at all, word has spread about this out of the way place and it was recently named 'Top ranked restaurant in Negril' on Trip Advisor. The sisters who run the place had never even heard of Trip Advisor until they received the certificate in the mail! The tables at the restaurant are hidden away behind fruit trees (lime, ackee, orange, banana, breadfruit) and wild flowers which made for prime hide-and-go-seek territory while we were waiting for our food.

Reaching for bananas at Just Natural
We also climbed the Negril lighthouse, located at the Western tip of Jamaica, and made it to the top just as a helicopter was landing below! Unfortunately, my palms were sweating too much from the heights to really enjoy it, but as you can imagine, this was quite exciting for a two year old to witness. We wrapped things up by watching some cliff jumpers, who make a living jumping for tips, and were home in time for a sunset swim. Perfect family afternoon in paradise!

Karate chop!
Helicopter landing
The last time I took Caleb to a restaurant he suddenly realized that he had forgotten to thank the waitress for his pineapple juice. Feeling quite proud for raising such a well-mannered boy, I told him it was ok to walk over to the bar and say thank you. As Caleb sat back down at the table, the waitress came by to say that she would place his french fry order right away. Apparently, he did say thank you, but also thought he should take the opportunity to order himself some fries!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

He's here!

So wonderful to have music in our home again!

As Alan said, "I feel like I'm finally at home, even though I've never been here before!" It's so great to have our family back together. Looking forward to an amazing final month in Negril. 

Monday, November 26, 2012

Jerk Festival


Jerk  - a style of  cooking native to Jamaica in which meat is dry-rubbed or marinated with a hot spice mixture called Jamaican jerk spice.

Negril Jerk Festival - an annual festival on the cliffs of Negril that offers jerk seafood, chicken, pork, veggies and very loud music. After reading about the festival online - cotton candy, bouncy castles, live music - I thought this would be a super fun way for Cale and I to spend our Sunday afternoon. When we arrived, however, the only thing that was set up for kids was this bamboo swing - no bouncy castle or popcorn machine in site. I was worried that Caleb might be upset, but in true Caleb fashion, he took it all in stride. "Oh well, mom." he said "that is not a big deal. We can still have fun." And we did. 

Bamboo swing at the Jerk Festival
I'm so excited to say that Alan arrives in 2 days!! Finally our little family will be complete again. Here are a few of the many changes that Alan will notice in his not-so-little-anymore boy:

 -  Potty-trained (!!!). This was a huge accomplishment for Caleb and I, but I'm really excited to have daddy here to share tips on how to pee standing up!
 -  No more naps which has lead to much earlier and easier bedtimes
 - He is very interested in letters and words and can spell his name, and two other essential words - mom and dad. He wants to know what is written on every sign we pass.
- He had grown! It is a tight squeeze to get him into his scuba suit now!
- He has added some hilarious words to his vocabulary - interesting, amazing, frustrated, holy moly, fantastic, wonderful, awesome (sounds a bit like his mother, I know). He also has started telling people on the beach that he is in Jamaica 'doing research'!
 - He has become a bit of a prophet uses his advanced reasoning skills on his mother. When he can see that I'm beginning to feel frustrated or tired, Cale will often tell me "Mom, remember what Bob Marley says? Don't worry about a thing, cause every little thing is going to be alright". I can't stay mad after that.

Alan may not be quite as excited to realize that Caleb has been sleeping in my bed every night. We only have two bedrooms, and with the steady stream of visitors it was easiest to just let Caleb sleep with me for the past few months. I'll admit that I'm afraid of how we are going to break this habit. Another challenging sleep journey begins.

Three more days!

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Weekend explorations

Hello, gecko.
I've had a busy work week with a presentation to the Negril Chamber of Commerce, a live radio interview that broadcast across the country and trying to stay on top of a few Nova Scotia-based projects that I'm still working on. Needless to say, I was very happy when the weekend arrived.

We have a new visitor this week - Patricia, another member of Alan's family who took me up on my offer to visit us in Negril. It has been great having both Patricia and Teresa here to watch Caleb, and they are both always up for adventures, so we decided to spend today touring the mountainside and checking out some attractions that Cale and I haven't had a chance to see yet.

Our first stop was YS Falls, a really lush and beautiful area in St. Elizabeth with a 7-tiered waterfall and mineral pool. We then drove across a mountain range and through an intense rain shower to visit the Appleton Rum factory where we were greeted with umbrellas and a complimentary rum punch. On our drive home we passed through 'Bamboo Avenue', a 3 km stretch of road lined with an archway of bamboo trees. We made it home and went for a dip in the ocean just in time to catch the end of a perfect sunset. Truly a memorable day.

One of the many tiers of the YS Falls 
Mineral pool relaxation. They say it takes 10 years off of your age - good news for me, but for Cale, not so much!


Need I say more??
And I have some amazing news to share - my best friend, Lydia, gave birth to her baby boy (Kai Alexander Fudge) on November 14th. I'm so incredibly happy for Lyd and Nick and feel like Caleb's bff has finally been born (that is a completely realistic wish, right?). I have already sent home a Bob Marley shirt for Kai that matches Caleb's and have been dreaming of their first photo shoot together ever since!

Friday, November 9, 2012

C is for celebration

To celebrate two months of living in Jamaica, and the halfway point of our adventure, I took Caleb out on a date. It was just the two of us, so we dressed up and headed to a restaurant down the beach. We 'chatted', laughed, built lego rocketships and ate delicious veggie pizza. Walking home, he greeted all his beach friends and told them all about his 'pizza party' with mom.



Today was an exciting Friday. Teresa, Alan's aunt, has arrived and she spent the day with Caleb while I headed out to the beautiful community of Bluefields. I was invited to attend the official launch of the Bluefields Fish Sanctuary, a marine protected area supported by the community. Jamaica has fish sanctuaries in different 14 villages that will all be receiving international funding to increase monitoring, enforcement and education initiatives. The celebration consisted of balloons, boat rides and speeches (including one by the British High Commissioner), and a delicious lunch of lion fish, rice and peas and festivals (fried donuts).


The mountains melt into the sea in Bluefields
I was excited to get home because we had another party to attend - the birthday party of a good friend we have met on the beach. Caleb was very, very excited about the party. He had already had a birthday card made and he couldn't wait to present it to his friend. I must say that Caleb has become a bit a legend on the beach. He is really happy to see his buddies everyday. He greets them with a 'respect' (fist pump) and tells them all about his day. They are amazed at how well adjusted he is and I think I can say that Caleb has officially adapted to Jamaican life.

Teresa, Alan's aunt, is now here, and without much time to adjust, she was thrown right into a rasta beach birthday party! We headed over to the abandoned hotel that Michael, the birthday boy, and his friends have made their home. We were greeted by incredibly enthusiastic welcomes and overflowing plates of jerk chicken and rice and peas. It was a ton of fun and made for a wonderful and very memorable Friday.

Caleb celebrates with the birthday boy

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Learning to chat Jamaican

Locals on the beach were not happy this week - we were hit by a cold front. This was completely unknown to us, however, since the temperature only dropped to 24 degrees. But sure enough, people were dressed in coats and hats and a few even tried to convince us to buy them some rum because 'they were sooo cold!'.

Grampie and Caleb, barely surviving the cold

We've been having a great time with Grammie and Grampie and will be sad to see hem go tomorrow. We've had lots of adventures including almost getting stranded in the mountains when our taxi nearly broke down, spending an afternoon in the sun at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, beach mapping in Montego Bay...but I think the most memorable part of the past two weeks has been watching the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Each day has brought about new changes to the beach. As a coastal researcher, it has been fascinating for me to witness and document all that has taken place. I'm now working to provide good information to the hotel owners on the best ways to manage the changes on the beach, like how to deal with the mountains of seagrass that have recently washed up on the shore.


Wastin away again in Margaritaville

Another exciting development is that Grammie is quickly becoming fluent in Jamaican! After reading my 'Chat Jamaican' book she can almost decipher the local dialect when talking to locals or reading the Jamaican Gleaner. The 'Chat Jamaican' book is really quite amazing. Here are a few of the different situations described in the book where you may need to use an authentic jamaican phrase - although I admit I haven't found myself in many of these situations so far! Obviously I need to stay in Jamaica a bit longer.

Days of the week: Monday - Mondey, Tuesday - Choosdey
Dining: Give me a little more rice- Gi mi a lilly mow rice
Visiting the family: Where is my grandfather: Weh grampa?
A mother and her pregnant daughter: You are catching man: Yuh a ketch man

A few sections only have cartoon depictions, such as: A farmer on his donkey, a lady cutting sugar cane, A peasant running for his life and When a man's woman is giving him a hard time (yikes).


Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Sandy: the aftermath

It has been a wild week, not only in Jamaica, but in all the other coastal areas that were in Hurricane Sandy's path. I have spent the week watching the people of Negril's Seven Mile Beach prepare for, withstand and recover from the impacts of the storm. I would never have imagined how far-reaching the economic and environmental impacts of the storm have been - and we were not even in the worst of the storm. The many people who sell fruits, baked goods and crafts on the beach have not been able to work all week. The fishing and tourist boats also have not been able to work, at first, because the sea was too rough and now the boats have been blocked in the river after a huge sandbar developed at the river's mouth. We haven't been able to swim in the ocean for 6 days, but we are hoping that the water will be calm enough tomorrow.  I certainly have a new appreciation for the long-lasting and wide-ranging effects of a storm and am thinking of everyone who has been affected by Sandy.

Here is a short video showing what life in Negril has been like over the past few days.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Sandy


Grammie and Grampie Jefrries arrived on Monday and were greeted by news of the approaching tropical storm Sandy - the first storm to directly hit Jamaica since Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. Yesterday, everyone on the beach was talking about it. People spent the morning preparing for the storm - closing up shop, bringing tables and chairs inside, building sand bag barriers and literally battening down the hatches. By late afternoon the wind was blowing, the waves were building and the beach was empty. All the preparations seemed complete until our local lifeguard, Gary, came down the beach looking for people to help him bring in the ropes and buoys that mark the swimming area of our hotel. John and I both volunteered and as the waves crashed around us, we waded into the water to begin dragging in the gear. At one point we left John to hold onto a rope that was connected to a concrete anchor. As I swam back out to him, I didn't realize that Gary had also asked him to hold on the 2 ft machete that he had been using to cut the rope. It was an image I won't soon forget - my father-in-law, during a tropical storm, bobbing in the water with a giant machete in his hand!

Living on the edge. The morning after the storm.
We lost power for the remainder of the afternoon and evening, but it turned out the the anticipation of Sandy was greater than the storm itself. Other areas of the island were hit hard, but Negril was spared from the worst of it. We spent the rest of the day on our balcony, drinking rum and watching the palm trees blow. Caleb loved having dinner and reading books by candlelight and he is now a huge fan of hurricanes. 
We spotted some birds, including this red-billed streamertail, seeking shelter from the storm. This hummingbird is the official bird of Jamaica and is indigenous to the island. 

Monday, October 22, 2012

Big news!


This week Cale and I were on our own. No visitors - just quality mother and son time. In Caleb's world this translates to hours of building lego rocket ships and airports interspersed with twice daily swims. I encouraged long naps so I could squeeze in some work and would try to pry the lego out of his hands long enough to sneak in some other games - like fishing at sunset.



Well, I have some big news. I have waited a long time to write this - but here it is - I think Caleb is officially potty trained!!  We have been slowly working on this for months, but Cale has taken this task very seriously since we arrived in Jamaica. He did really well the first 2 weeks, but then we hit a period of 'potty training regression' - a term I quickly learned from google. I began to get frustrated when he had an accident and I really wasn't sure how to get back on track with things. After doing some reading I decided to change my approach and follow some key potty training rules:

1. Never ask if it is time to use the bathroom, tell them when it is time. ('come on, it is time to pee now' instead of,  'do you need to pee?' ) This worked really well.
2. Don't make a big deal out of accidents. Just clean it up with little reaction.
3. Make a HUGE deal out of successes. Try a sticker chart for each accident-free day. I was a bit skeptical of this one, and I somehow felt he was too old to actually feel like receiving a sticker was a big deal. I was dead wrong. 


We now end each night now with a highly enthusiastic ceremony. Caleb gets to put a sticker on his chart as I (and any guests who are willing to participate which has been all so far!) sing 'For he's a jolly good fellow' and 'Caleb, Caleb, he's our man, if he can't do it no one can!' He BEAMS with pride, claps his hands, dances and comes running for high fives. We are now at 27 stickers, and although this doesn't represent 27 consecutive days, it does represent a huge step towards independence and probably my greatest parenting achievement to date. And no more diapers! (Except at night). And now my only problem is figuring out how to put an end to the sticker chart! I'm sure I can google some advice on this  when I need it!

Monday, October 15, 2012

Captain Caleb


Negril sunset
My friend Jen is spending the week with us in Negril. Jen and I work together in Halifax, so it has been great to have someone here to talk about my project and bring new perspectives to the coastal environment here in Negril. 

Caleb has been eagerly awaiting our long list of new visitors and has adopted the role of tour guide. He was really excited to show Jen all around our apartment and introduce her to friends on the beach. He was most excited to show her  the  guest bathroom which we had decorated with shells. Cale kept saying "When Jen sees this she is going to say "Whaaaat??? Who did this! And I'll say it was me - Caleb!" 
Bathroom decor

Some highlights of our week with Jen:

 - glass bottom boat tour up the Negril River through Jamaica's second largest freshwater wetland, known as the Great Morass. We were surrounded by mangroves, giant ferns and egrets flying overhead. Cale loves boat rides, especially with Captain Raymond, one of Cale's absolute favourite people we've met so far.
Captain Raymond and Captain Caleb
You are never too young to drive in Jamaica!

- Dining out: eating dinner of steamed fish and rice while watching the sunset at the '24 hour cafe' (and no, it is not open 24 hours!).

- Snorkelling: Caleb's daily swims have paid off - he now is not only swimming - he is actually snorkelling! Mask on, snorkel in mouth, deep breaths, eyes open! He only keeps his head submerged for 5-10 seconds, but it is still pretty amazing and almost unbearably cute. 

- Jamaican cook off: We invited our friend Octavius, who sells carvings on the beach, and his two kids to our place for dinner. Octavius taught us how to cook a traditional Jamaican meal - snapper with rice and peas (red beans). One of my favorite quotes of the evening was when we asked how long we needed to cook the beans for and his response was - "Jamaicans don't have time. We just cook them until they are done." Makes sense somehow.

Snapper with tomato, onion, garlic and thyme
Dinner time on the patio!
I'm also extremely happy that Alan and I are half way through our time apart. 8 weeks gone, 8 weeks to go. He is now on his tour of Saskatchewan and British Columbia with the David Myles Trio. He'll be flying straight here when the shows are done and I can hardly wait. 

Monday, October 8, 2012

Thanksgiving

Singing 'Twinkle Twinkle' on the beach with friends Dante and Gisele.
Caleb and I are on our own this Thanksgiving. After spending the day on the beach, Caleb is napping on the couch while I heat up some Jamaican patties and prepare a big salad for our dinner. We'll follow it up with Cale's favorite part of the meal - chocolate digestive cookies for dessert. 

Greg left Jamaica yesterday after spending the past 5 weeks with us. Sharing this adventure with my parents has been a really fun experience. It was amazing to watch their comfort level grow each day until they both reached point where they didn't want to leave. My parents love to travel but they usually opt for the all-inclusive resorts, rather than the more do it yourself type of accommodation. I was a bit worried when my mom wrote to her friends on her first day here that we were staying in a two star at best, and that she greatly preferred Mexico. However, during their time in Negril, they learned to embrace the chaos of living in a developing country- they enjoyed shopping locally, trying new foods, meeting new people and they quickly became integrated into the local scene.   It made their travel-loving daughter very proud!

Here are a few of my favourite photos taken by Greg over the past few weeks:

Mommy, Scuba Steve and Kayla. Her dad has a small souvenir shop on the beach that sells towels, t-shirts and jewellery.
Greg with one of his many friends on the beach - Mama. She sells fruit and you know she is coming up the beach  when you hear her call out 'Fruuuuuuuit!'. This inspired Caleb's latest knock-knock joke:
Knock knock!
Who's There?
Fru
Fru who?
Fruuuuuuuuuittt!!!
Caleb joins a beach band
Sunset cruise

The caves and cliffs of Negril's West End and the most beautiful shade of blue. 
Catch of the day - flying fish and triggerfish.