Ted Meinhover Tedericco

Football in the Jungle

The concrete steps that were the seats of the Arnette Gardens football stadium had all day to absorb the direct Caribbean sunshine, and our butts paid the price as we sat down for a Sunday afternoon of Jamaican football.

Tivoli Vs Boystown, semifinals of the Flow Cup

A fascinating and surprising aspect of the afternoon was the halftime sexy dance contest (this video is intended for mature audiences). The notion of sexuality and modesty is much different from that of this shy Minnesota-raised lad who feels compelled to avert his eyes at the first hint of female exploitation.

Arnett Gardens Stadium

A friend lent me a Tivoli Gardens jersey (orange and white). Lucky for me, Tivoli went ahead to win the day.

The open and perfectly acceptable drug use in the bleachers was another aspect of this particular game that I was not entirely prepared for. I had no trouble relaxing, in any case, as the billows of smoke drifted about from every direction.

Even the snack vendors were pushing the stuff - "cigarettes, peanuts, high grade..."

"Peanuts, high grade"

Circumnavigating: the Eastern bit

The eastern nub of Jamaica seems to reach past Haiti and Aruba, straight through the blue waters of the Caribbean Sea, as if it were trying to break through the Lower Antilles and escape to the vast Atlantic Ocean beyond. While firmly planted south of Cuba and west of Port Au Prince, however, this eastern side of Jamaica is nonetheless a beautiful and pleasantly unfrequented part of the island.

Saturday was a perfect opportunity to pile into someone's car and take a meandering voyage along the coast and through the mountains, from Kingston to Long Beach to Annotto Bay, and back over the Blue Mountains and Stony Hill.
View Larger Map

The sights and smells of the island, from the sugar cane plantations to the seemingly constantly grilling of Jerk chicken and lazy old Rastafarians smoking their spliffs, never leave the senses, and they certainly give the area a character of its own.

Change your elevation, change your mood

Sunday, in Jamaica perhaps more than most places, is meant to be a day of leisure, rest and family. This week, Sunday was an opportunity to escape from the car horns and anxious crowds of chaotic Kingston and breathe the fresh air atop Strawberry Hill - if only for a couple of hours.

If life can be summed up by the totallity of our collected experiences, the afternoon excursion added a few especially relaxing moments to the long and not entirely memorable MLK Jr. weekend. While it may not have stood out at a life-altering experience, it was most definitely a reminder of the natural beauty of this island, of my appreciation for cold air, and it provided an opportunity to learn a little more about Christina, whose story is as interesting as anyone's. She reecently learned of her next assignment with USAID, and she is not overly excited about the year she is going to have to spend in Afghanistan.