This was one of my memorable days in Jamaica, as if they’re not all memorable. One afternoon I was running a bunch of errands on foot in Ochi and it was a terrible weather day. Like when I went into a cambio to pay my JPS bill I was stuck in there for almost an hour waiting out the torrential rain before I could get back on the street. Eventually the rain did subside and I made it as far as the laundromat to drop off my dirty clothes. I was no sooner out on the road after that than the downpour happened again! I had to duck into the first place I could find which just happened to be John Crow’s restaurant on Main Street in Ochi.
In all my years I’ve never set foot in John Crow’s, it seemed too touristy but this day I had no choice. I ran in and the place was almost empty. I perched myself on a seat right up at the bar and ordered a flask of Appleton and some Coke and checked out the menu. The rain was bad and I figured I’d be stuck in here a while. After I poured my drink I glanced out to the patio to see the rain still pouring when two men at the opposite end of the bar noticed me and smiled. One was Jamaican and one was white, and the white guy asked if I was alone. I told him I was so he invited me to come sit with them. That was nice, I love meeting new people.
I scooted my way down and introduced myself and found out the white guy, Kevin, is from England and was staying at the Jamaica Grande all-inclusive up the street. He was in Jamaica for a family wedding and decided to venture out of his hotel this day to see some of the sights. He ended up in John Crow’s because of the rain too! So here we sat chatting it up with the Jamaican dude he was with.
Turns out that guy was just a random dude in the same place as us. That Jamaican guy had a lot to drink and was getting in all kinds of debates with us. I mentioned the name Faukland (the Faukland in Ocho Rios) and Kevin started talking about the Falklands that Argentina invaded in 1982 and then the whole conversation blew up. The Jamaican guy had his facts all wrong but continued to argue them anyway and it got hostile enough that I pulled out my Blackberry and Googled the real facts. Kevin won LOL.
In the time we argued I managed to polish off a panini I ordered and my flask of Appleton. Then the next debate began. I made the mistake of saying something about the parish of St Catherine being in the east and immediately the Jamaican argued that it’s in the west. I asked him if he really is Jamaican and from this island because St Catherine is in the eastern part of Jamaica. But he wouldn’t take no for an answer. It got bad enough that I actually located a LARGE fold-out map of Jamaica and said to him as I pointed my finger at St Catherine, “divide this map into quarters and tell me that this isn’t EAST!!” He still disagreed – even after I pointed to the little compass symbol on the map. I ended up getting so frustrated that I felt like killing people and Kevin was laughing so hard that him and I just gave up. The last thing the Jamaican guy yelled at me was “I could NEVER cook for you!”
So anyway….back to Kevin. In our conversation I had mentioned that I live in Jamaica and once he heard that he begged me to take him somewhere other than Main street Ocho Rios. He really wanted to see something more local than this so I agreed. I told him I just had to pick up my laundry and we could catch a taxi up to my neighborhood. Off we went, up the hill to my favorite neighborhood bar called San Pins. It’s on the top side of Milford and about five minutes walk to my apartment. The girl Tamara who basically runs the bar is one of Jamaica’s finest gems! She is, hands down, the nicest female I’ve met in Jamaica and the best bartender I’ve come across.
I think I’ve brought every single foreigner I know up to this bar because it’s a cool spot to hang out and Tamara can hold a conversation with anyone and it’s always entertaining, and the drinks are dirt cheap. I think Kevin was surprised at the difference in price from where we just came from. I could see he was thoroughly enjoying himself being outside the resort though. Inside the bar was only me, Kevin, Tamara, my friend Demus and a couple locals but it was still a much different scene than what he’d experienced so far.
Through conversation I learned that Kevin would be in Jamaica another week and a half, unfortunately I was leaving Jamaica in a couple days to come back home. But I did get his UK phone number and asked my friend Demus if he’d be willing to take Kevin out a few times in the next week to show him more. Unfortunately I don’t think my texts or calls to Kevin worked in the following days, maybe I don’t know how to dial a UK phone number properly.
If anyone stumbles across this post who knows the guy in these pictures (long shot I know) please tell him to get in touch with me! I’d love to hear how the rest of his trip was.
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