Reality check

So for those of you who didn't know, I just spent the last week on vacation in...Jamaica!! Unfortunately, I did not meet a steel drummer (unless you count the keyboard player who set his synthesizer to a steel drum setting, but I'm way above that). :) But I had such a blast. Here are some random thoughts swirling around my head from the trip.

First, I really am very bad with cloudy days. I have to learn to deal better with overcast weather. On our third day in Jamaica I woke up to...no sun! And within a very short time my mood had completely plummeted, even though I was on vacation! Ridiculous, I tell you. Thankfully, drinking caffeinated tea, combined with reading on the cloudy beach, seemed to work wonders. Another case in point is that I was in a superb mood yesterday, even though I was back in Michigan and settling back into work. Why the great mood? I'd like to say that it was because I was thankful for getting home safely (which I am), but I suspect that a large part of it had to do with the fact that the sun was shining brightly. Why Michigan is sunny when Jamaica isn't is beyond me. :)

Second, friendly people make me happy. Jamaican people were very friendly (some of the males were a bit too friendly though), and lots of them waved and yelled hello as you walked/drove/biked past them. No one had inhibitions about asking questions, asking for tips, complimenting you, etc. Of course, some of that was a bit unnerving and occasionally annoying. But after thinking about it for a bit, I've come to the conclusion that it simply shifts the burden of social expectation onto the recipient. In other words, you just have to get used to answering a lot of questions and saying "no" frequently.

Third, I'm way more interested in learning about plants when food is somehow involved. I've always wanted to become a better naturalist and be able to identify plants and such, but I'm never quite motivated enough to actually sit down and really learn what I need to learn. I can identify a few common trees by their leaves and I can identify ash trees by the ski-slope bark pattern (thanks Charlotte!), but that's about it. Anyway, it was neat to get to Jamaica and see coconut trees, lime trees, and the vegetation that produces allspice berries. The lime tree leaves smell like lime (or lemon)! And the allspice leaves smell like allspice!

Fourth, I become sortof uncomfortable when I become aware of the vast difference between poverty and riches. Wherever I went in Jamaica, I could look one direction and see wealth (the tourists and resorts) and look in another direction and see poverty (many of the locals). And it was disturbing to me to be reminded that, for instance, my digital camera alone probably cost more money than a lot of people have to live on. One of my friends recently blogged about feeling a bit of guilt over time and money he has spent on leisure occasionally, and I definitely resonate with that to an extent. Eventually he concluded that leisure is good in that it reminds him that the work he does is not really his to do -- he is God's instrument. Did Jamaica remind me of being God's instrument? Not really, to be honest -- I was busy enjoying the beach! But it has done a bit to tweak my mindset in ways that I think will ultimately lead me to better understand the importance of choosing to be God's instrument.

Fifth, I like how kids think and perceive the world around them. Being around kids turned a "neat" and "pretty" hike up a waterfall into a giggly and exhiliarating adventure. And while I was taking a bike tour along a very poor section of Jamaica, two Jamaican kids sharing an old bike pedaled up to me and biked alongside me for part of my trip. They chatted away, asked about my vacation so far, and swerved around crazily, somehow not hurting their bare feet on the pedals of the bike or on the rocky, dusty road. At one point I asked one of them what he liked most about living in Jamaica. Giving me a huge toothy grin, he stated simply, "Everything." Wow.

Ah, the trip was so cool, and I loved all of it. My friend Lindsey wrote up a great blog entry of what we actually did on our trip, so I didn't try to cover that at all here. If you're interested, take a look at her blog entry about Jamaica. It's titled, appropriately, "Ya Mon!" :)