If you ever get to go to Jamaica and you are a big fan of reggae (like me) then it's a must to visit the Bob Marley Museum.
The museum is located on a beautiful old Jamaican house (56 Hope Road) that once belong to Chris Blackwell owner of Island Records which was the record label that first sign with Bob, years later the house was acquired by Mr. Marley.
Unfortunately it is not allowed to take any pictures or video inside the actual museum in order to prevent all of his memorabilia to slip through the "cracks" of the world wide web, so photos are only allowed on the grounds and parking area that once used to be the yard where Marley played his favorite sport, football (to Americans known as soccer).
After we took some pictures of the outside premises then we took the 1/2 hour tour of the inside of the house, where you can see all of the awards that his records received (a few gold record, triple platinum for the album Legend and even a Grammy given to him for Lifetime Achivement Award back in 2001- 20 yrs after his passing- among many others), there are a few rooms completely full of newspapers and magazine articles about his life and career. You can also visit his room (supposedly pretty much intact, same bed, guitar, clothes and even his meditation pillow), his kitchen and the famous shot room (where he was once shot in the arm).
After you finish the tour inside the house, there's a short film about his life and at the end you visit the souvenir store with everything Bob.
Although this was my second visit to the island as well as the museum, it is definitely a place that you don't want to miss, specially if you are a big fan like me, and if you are not, just even for the interesting story of his life and what an amazing character he was. To me, this is the closest I will ever get to see my favorite singer of all times...
So if you are ever in Kingston don't forget to stop by...
And that would be my the first highlight of the trip... Irie mon'!
Well, I am back after some wonderful sunny days, I had a great time.
Jamaica is such a beautiful place, reminds me a lot of my own country, with it's luscious vegetation, huge old trees, big magnificent mountains and it's very, very green.
People in general are very nice, helpful and even friendlier than even many of the local people of Cayman.
Although in Ocho Rios some people are very different, there's a big situation of harassment from men (and sometimes even women) that it's pretty bad, you can't walk anywhere without being annoyed and offered all sorts of deals and ways to have a good time (so they think!) makes you feel like you are a walking sex symbol, (yeah right!). There's also people that are constantly trying to sell you stuff and those makes you feel like you walking dollar bill, LOL!
Some areas are very dirty and full of trash (unlike my beloved Cayman that now even more I found it very clean). Everybody drives like a maniac and it's pretty nerve-wracking at times, plus if you are visiting from the US you'll need the add up the fact that they drive on the left side of the road, so that's one more factor the get used to (but not in my case).
I have lots of pictures to share, unfortunately I haven't even gotten around to sort them out cause I arrived late last night, so meanwhile I am going to share this collage postcard I bought in 8 Rios and that gives a pretty good idea of what Jamaica is all about (and more!).
So, if you ask me: Should I visit Jamaica? I would say, Yeh Mon'! it's a great Caribbean destination, nice people, good food, wonderful beaches, beautiful rain forest, rivers, reggae, and more! You won't be disappointed...
It's Sunday and today is our last day in Jamaica, we have been in Ocho Rios since Friday and so far having a wonderful time, people are very nice and once again I feel very happy around Jamaicans (well, not so much around the guys that are constantly harrasing you). I have lots of pictures to share in this my little space on the world wide web, so those coming soon!
Today in the afternoon I am going to visit our neighbor, but not the one next door to our house, but more like next door to our island, I am going to the beautiful island of Jamaica!
This is sort of a last minute trip, didn't planned it until yesterday morning, when a good friend of mine called me to tell me that on Friday she has an appointment to get her American Visa at the US embassy in Kingston and because of the recent violence situation on the capital her boyfriend chicken out on her and told her he didn't want to go so she was going by herself, unbelievable right? What a nerve of that guy.
Anyway, she called me to ask me about a contact I have in Kingston that is taxi driver friend of a good friend of mine, to see if he was able to pick her up at the airport, drive her around and stuff... At this point I was kind of shocked to hear that her boyfriend was going to let her go by herself to a place that she has never been to before.
So I called my husband and asked him if it was o.k. with him if I go with her, help her get around and keep her company, I was there once before for about 3 weeks, so I have an idea of what is all about.
I have a good friend that lives in Kingston so I emailed him and now he knows we are coming, plus my boss and his wife are both from Kingston and I asked their opinion about security and they said that the whole violence thing in concentrated in just one area, what they show on the news is not necessary the reality (and I totally agree with that), so the both think it's pretty safe as long as we don't wander by ourselves and go near old Kingston downtown.
I am excited and hope we are going to have a great time, I am not taking my computer with me cause I just want to be extra careful and not take anything valuable other than my camera that is small and I can carry around.
It's going to be a short trip and I will be back on Sunday, promise some pictures and good stories to share, yeah mon'!
We have arrived at June 2nd and it's been 2 weeks since the last time I saw my brother and more than a month a half since I saw his wife.
A few months ago when they first moved to the island I wrote a post title Happy me about their arrival. Well, silly me to think that the fact that they were going to live on the island we were actually going to have some kind of relationship with them, obviously I was wrong!
They don't call, don't visit and the only times that I get to see them is when they have to come into town to run some errands, so they manage to squeeze me into their "busy" schedule and they stop by work to say Hi, I am usually very busy so I don't even get to talk to them much.
But when they need me, then I do exist. If they need a package to be sent to my postal address (I am here!), when they need to borrow our camping tent cause they have friends visiting (I am here!)... Ugh, I just hate it when people only use you for their own benefit.
Anyway, just thought I vent a little bit about this, this doesn't make me happy but I need to get over it and don't take it personal, they rather spend time with people that they just met than with family, and I unfortunately I don't really see a change in their attitude any time soon.
We have finally arrived to another June 1st, to many people this particular date doesn't mean much, but for us living in the Caribbean this marks the beginning of a season full of expectancy and hopefully not much activity from the weather, it's Hurricane Season.
But besides this, for my husband and me, today marks the 2 anniversary of us moving into our house. Now being more than a house it's a home that we enjoy every day of our lives.
When we built the house two years ago, it was with the idea of Hurricane Ivan's path of destruction that he left all over Grand Cayman, fortunately we have not being able to put it fully to the test, but, according to NHC-NOAA the 2010 season is expected to be a very active one, I am keeping all of my fingers crossed for the exact opposite.
So, happy anniversary to our house and here's to a happy & calm 2010 season, blessings to all!!!
One of our neighbors has a horse and every now and then he literary "parks" her next to our house, she is on an empty lot and can eat as much grass as she'll like.
In the past we have bought this big, long carrots at the grocery store and when we know that the horse is around we feed her, she loves it.
Yesterday afternoon after a very hot and humid day (but no rain) I was watering my yard, first I started with the back yard and then slowly I moved to the front. As soon as got to the front, the horse came out of the bush and gave me the most perfect stare and I immediately knew that she was telling me; she was thirsty and wanted water.
So I went to the back, looked for a bucket, clean it and filled it up with water, walked towards her and put it where she could reach it... she was super thirsty.
Less than 5 minutes later she was ready for more, but this time the bucket was pretty close to her, and although I am not really scared of horses, I have had not so pleasant encounters with some in the past, and that's why I like to be cautions about them.
So I approached her, look her in the eye and said: -If you'll like more water just push the bucket towards me... And immediately she did! WOW, it was magical, we understood each other perfectly, I was delighted to have this kind of communication with her and I am sure she was very happy and thankful for the water.
The weekend is here and what a better way to greet it that with a beautiful Caribbean flower.
Tomorrow is the grand opening of a new beach bar near 7 mile public beach (Tiki Beach) and we are invited!
The event's dress code is "elegant smart" so I have a new dress and I can't wait to wear it. Will take my camera and post pictures for the world to enjoy the happenings of that night.
Yesterday while looking at some pictures of my dog Sheba I realized that she is almost Sepia color, if I adjust a color picture the change is not very different, ck it out...
Obviously I don't have much to write about today, I guess I could mention the terrible disaster that it the oil spill in the Gulf but that is just too painful to even think about, nevertheless write about...
On yesterday's post I wrote a little bit about imagining great wonders and how beauty is in the eye of the beholder or at least the camera holder.
Also on my post from the day before yesterday, I mentioned animals encounters in nature. Well, if you are looking for somebody to show you animals encounters and beauty in great wonders I believe Amos Nachoum might just be the perfect person for that.
He is an nature/underwater photographer able to imagine and experience great wonders that he captures with his camera, like this one..
Or this one
But besides showing us those great and gentle giants, I believe he's probably the only person ever able to catch on camera the most extreme smile of the animal world, in no other than a Great White Shark...
Say cheeese!!!!
Besides taking underwater pictures he also takes land ones and has some amazing expeditions that you can read about (and sign up if you have the time and the money- in case you have both but don't feel like going on one, please contact me and I would love to go for you instead, LOL!).
"Only when we accept small wonders, we qualify ourselves to imagine great wonders"- Tom Robbins.
Walking around my yard last weekend made me think about the above quote found on the Tom Robbins book I am currently reading.
I walked around and took some random pictures around the edges of our property, where there's nothing but overgrown bushes, well, not really...
To some these might just seem like just plants, bushes that are just over grown and don't have any beauty to them, to me are small wonders that make this planet a great wonder.
I am sure you have heard the expression "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder", well, I guess it can also be in the eye of the camera holder, what do you think???
I just love it when I have encounters in nature with animals that come so close that you swear it's like they are trying to tell you something (and maybe they are). It even nicer when you see a new new animal species in nature for the first time.
Since we moved to this house almost 3 years ago we have had the pleasure to have many visitors (mostly birds) in our back porch, this weekend was not an exception, for the first time since we've lived here we had to pleasure to see a Northern Flicker, isn't it beautiful?
I found this video a few days ago and although I knew most of what they say on it, it never stops to amaze me magnitude of the problem us humans are generating with garbage, but in this case specifically plastic bottles.
Over a year ago I bought myself a Klean Kanteen stainless steel bottle that I use every day of my life, at home we have a faucet filter for drinking water and we keep cold water on the fridge out of recycle glass water bottles.
Still when I watch the following video, it makes me feel like I am not doing enough to be part of the solution...
NOTICE: The video is 8min long, so if you don't have time right now, please make sure to watch it later, I promise it would be 8min well spent.
I guess in situations like this one, spreading awareness is the first step towards finding real solutions.
Even though I've done quite a bit of traveling in my life, visited many amazing and exciting countries, one place I've always wanted to go is Iceland.
Of what I've read about it, it seems to me that a country with so many contrasts has to be just magnificent, where there's Icebergs and just down the road an active volcano, I am sure the energy level there has to be just fascinating.
Well, I'm sure by now most of us have hear the news about the volcano that has been erupting there for a few weeks now, that clouds of volcanic ash and other material have caused a weather situation besides generating many flight delays and cancellations around Europe.
But now, can you image the natural scenario around this area?
Well Sean Stiegemeier not only imagined it but was there to capture it in camera, and I have found this amazing video on line, a must see...
Lately in this time of such much economic turmoil I cannot help but think and feel for all the people that are having a tough time with job layouts and debts, among other situations.
But when we are face to face with this hard times, it's time to remember that there's always something that need our attention. It's open 24/7, you always have an open account (no matter if your credit is not good) and you might even have a direct line of credit, sometimes under your own terms!
Just remember when you want you take out a loan, the interest rate will only go up if you don't invest again, but the more you invest the best interest rate you will get and your investments will pay you back for years to come... and that place is no other than our FAMILY and FRIENDS! So, what I mean is that in times of need is very important (almost to the point of vital) to support and lend a hand to our loved ones, whether they need our help now of later, maybe we don't have the economic stability to help them out, but I am sure there are many other ways to help somebody, by lifting their spirit or just saying a little prayer for them... for whatever we do, it would come back to us full circle.
Investing in the people we love and care for is definitely the best investment nowadays, for their happiness and ours, then if we add our neighbors and even the stranger walking next to us, maybe one day we could change somebodies life with a random act of kindness.
So in times like these, I like to share this beautiful prayer
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love, Where there is injury, pardon Where there is doubt, faith, Where there is despair, hope, Where there is darkness, light, Where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, not so much to be understood as to understand, not so much to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in dying that we awake to eternal life.
Our family and friends should always be our most important investments, their happiness reflects on our happiness and having them by our sides makes life much more enjoyable and priceless, so no matter what economic situation we are one, we are definitely reach if we always invest in our loved ones!
So today, let's pray that we are all instruments to make the best out of life, help all beings and little by little make this a better world!
Yesterday was a good day, I finally got back on the water with my rebreather unit, it's been 6 months since my last dive with this system and honestly I was a bit worried and anxious that maybe I didn't remember it all, but I did.
At the beginning I had a couple of minor problems that with the help of one of my dive buddies was easy to solve, because of this we ended up doing only one afternoon dive on the boat.
Anemone with Blenny fish
This is the 4th year that I am some how involved on Inner Space (but not participating as a diver). My husband on the other hand, has participated every year for the past 7 years. This year though, I have my own unit and understand pretty good the whole concept of close circuit diving so it makes a big difference.
I have to say that it's very interesting the whole industry of close circuit rebreathers, how very advanced they are in the way "conquering" the ocean and how deep too! (For those reading this, that have no idea what what I'm taking about, click on the Innerspace word above, and for those who want to know what is it that I dive click here).
School of Bar Jacks
So yeah, I had a great dive, pretty uneventful and enjoyable, now if only I can sort out my arm so I can manage to dive again as often as I used to, that would make my whole year (and maybe more to come...!).
It's not very often that I post on weekends, but it's Sunday and I am home by myself because my husband is participating on an annual diving week event call Inner Space.
This is the 7th year he has done it and for the first time ever I will be joining one of the boats tomorrow.
I haven't been diving on my rebreather since last November, so to be honest I am a bit nervous. Fortunately there's a married couple that have become quite good friends with us (as they come every year), so they have offered to take me in the morning for a check up dive near the shore and then if everything works good and I feel confident, we will join the afternoon boat for a real dive, I hope everything works out alright!
Yesterday was a pretty nice day, I had to run an errand so I decided to take the dogs with me for a car ride, after I did what I needed to do, I decided to take them for a walk near the Ritz Carlton Golf Course where there's a sea canal and some pretty nice houses, we had a great time.
this is the canal we walked by
Nice house with big catamaran and small boat
nice crib! (LOL)
Dogs got back very thirsty...
but very HAPPY!!!
Then in the afternoon I work on fixing an Aluminum Sun fixture that we have on the front of the house, it's been out there for over a year and you can start to see the damage of the wind, sun and rain, so I bought some spray paint and it went from this
to this Much better, right?
As I mentioned before, tomorrow is a holiday on the island so I should be getting my rebreather wet again, wish me luck! Have a wonderful week :)
Roses are Red Violets are Blue on my blog today, I have Roses for you...
This is a little rose that is growing on my back deck, I think it's some kind of hybrid plant because the flowers are very small and don't last very long... still beautiful.
I am really looking forward to the weekend because Monday is a holiday on the island (Discovery Day- something to do with Columbus coming around this area). I will be diving my rebreather again for the first time this year, yey for that!
Have a wonderful weekend and don't forget to smell the roses!!!
For those who read my blog and those who don't (shame on you, LOL!) I have to tell you all that I LOVE coffee!
Coming from Costa Rica where one of the 3 top industries is coffee plantations, I cannot even recall when was it that I first tried coffee for the first time, but I do remember at the beginning I used to drink it with little milk and sugar, nowadays I am all up for the good all black no suga', the best. Now, I take my coffee in the mornings before coming to work, then sometimes mid morning, sometimes mid afternoon, and sometimes both, jeje... So that's at least 2 or 3 cups a day.
Of course when I drink it at home I don't spend much money, but then when I buy a cup around work it's at least $1.95 KYD (Cayman Islands Dollars) = $2.40 USD x 5 days a week= $12usd x 4 weeks a month= $48usd a month just on coffee. Now, we have a new manager at the store that contrary to our previous manager this one drinks coffee, so she has decided to get a coffee machine, so we are renting this:
It's the Keurig B40!
If you've never heard of it, this are all it's amazing features:
Two Brew Sizes 8oz and 10
Ready to brew three minutes after turned on
Brews an 8 ounce cup in less than one minute
Optional Auto-off feature shuts down brewer after 2 hours
Water Heating and Refill Tank indicator lights
Removable 48-oz. water reservoir
Descale indicator for long use
Easy-clean, removable plastic drip tray
Nice, isn't it, we should get it delivered by tomorrow of maybe Monday, can't wait!
Wednesday is here, the middle of the week day, hump day or just whatever you want to call it...
I myself always liked Wednesdays, it's my favorite "business" day, dunno exactly why but maybe it's got something to do with the fact that I was born on a Feb. 23rd for the year 1977 which was not other than a Wednesday, maybe that's why!
I feel pretty energetic today, must be because lately I've been walking/jogging for a 1/2 an hour in the mornings, I really want to get into running. When I lived in Cayman Brac (the other island) I used to run about 2 miles a day, sometimes on the treadmill and other times (when it wasn't too hot) on the road... I really want to get into that again.
In fact this morning I feel so full of energy that I could probably walk around the world in 80 seconds, wanna join me?
Isn't this video fun? Have a wonderful Wednesday...
For those who keep a blog and even those that read them, there's always a time when you feel it's a struggle to think about what to post, when the inspiration fairy just took off without notice and you feel that whatever you are sharing just don't appeal to anybody and that maybe there is really no one out there reading, sharing and enjoying what you decided to write about...
Well, just when some of those feeling appeared on me and I start doubting if my life is interested enough to continue sharing it through a blog, yesterday I got a unique surprise, a bit of my life on the island was featured in another blog/web site, it's a wonderful site called Daily Vitamin Sea, and Oh WOW, what a great honor to be feature on a blog that is all about coastal lifestyle!
So, go head, check me out, I know you want to... (click here to find it).
I think Maya did a wonderful job taking a little bit of information about my life and how much I always wanted to live on an island.... I really had not idea that she even reads my blog and that is probably one of the things that makes blogging such a wonderful experience, being able to reach to people from different cultures, backgrounds, different opinions and very different places.
So I want to thank Maya for the honor of mentioning me on her site, hopefully one day she can come down and visit me to have a better idea of what life in this little rock is all about.
Meanwhile I will keep trying to share more about my life here and today with this little video I took on Sunday at the beach, enjoy!
Over the course of the year I've had all sorts of weekends.
When I was a little girl it was all about birthday parties, going out to family events or just try to stay up a little later than usual.
Then when school years came, it was all about sleepovers or pajama parties, going rollerblading, maybe to a friends pool and if lucky, catch a movie without any grownup supervision!
As I ventured into my teens and high school years, weekends were about being on the phone for hours with girlfriends taking about the latest gossip, boys and that family event we were pretty much forced to attend. Also in my case I can't forget those times when I used to leave homework for Sunday night ( last minute deal after procrastinating all weekend long) when the assignment was due Monday first period.
Years went by and then weekends were all about going out with friends. This are the years when I was either close to 18 or already 18 so in CR this means legal to drive, to drink and to vote (but not necessary in that order), and that's when the fun on weekends begin, I had a few "party hardy" years myself. Those were the years when I would go out pretty much every night of the weekend, sometimes getting home with the early morning newspaper, just in time to crash for a few hours, charge batteries and then go out again at night... good times!
Then the real deal with college begins and in my case so was my first job (part time while in school). Then that's when things start to change because, you either have too much to study or you simply start working on weekends, so so in my case I started slowing down, maybe got together with friends, have some drinks or even just catching a happy hour after work to get home early, study some more or just get the "beauty sleep" for next day.
Now a days my weekends are all about chilling out, I like to stay home, watch movies, maybe go for a dive (although with my arm situation I haven't been doing much of that lately), work on the yard, etc. But mostly, my weekends nowadays are to rest and spend time with my husband. Sometimes we go to dinner at a nice restaurant and go shopping together for stuff we just can't go do during the week.
This past weekend, for a change, in a long time, we catch the release of a brand new movie: Iron Man 2, it was awesome! (well if you are into super heroe/action movies or into Robert Downey Jr- like me, I'm into both!!).
To the movies we went with some friends that are going through a very difficult time; their dog Angel has been pretty sick for a while, so finally they had to make the decision to put her down the next day on Saturday. So a movie on the previous night was a good deal to take their mind off such a hard and difficult decision, I am very sad for them.
On Saturday I went to get another test for my arm, this time it was an EMG which is an electromyogram, that measures the electrical impulses of muscles at rest and during contraction. So basically, I went to see a doctor that gave me electric shocks on my arm (not pleasant!) to find out if my problem is a pinched nerve, well it looks like I don't, what's going on is a chronic tendonitis in both my elbow and my shoulder (more on treatment later).
Also I have to mention that my doctor was a Russian visiting Neurologist and after watching IM2 the night before, getting electric shocks from a Russian was not that fun (when you watch the movie you'll know what I mean).
The on Saturday afternoon we finally made up our mind and went looking for a new grill, we found a great deal and upgraded in a very nice way, this is out new baby:
Then yesterday was just a very nice day, sunny and hot, we went to the beach, did some snorkeling and then watched a movie at home, now my batteries are charged and I am ready to start my week.
Have a wonderful Monday!
