Well, we’ve been here for two and a half days, we have wet swimsuits everywhere, and I’ve decided that the nudists might be on to something. It really would be nice to take a towel down to the beach or the pool and call it good. I want to go swim again tonight and I’m going to have to put on a wet suit. I guess I could wait until it’s dark, then go to the nude beach. I’m still pretty white thought. If there’s any light at all, it will light me up like the moon. That would be unfortunate. I did some dance exercises on the yoga deck earlier today so there may already be questionable video posted on the internet.
I don’t think Jamaica is going to be my favorite vacation destination. It’s definitely not a place to come if you want to learn anything or meet interesting people. But, we have been doing fun things and it’s going to be a good vacation. We’ve had fantastic vacations in the past so the bar was pretty high. They can’t all be 5 stars. If I hadn’t been anywhere else, I’d think this was an amazing place so it’s all about perspective.
As Bill noted yesterday, we went catamaran sailing yesterday. We did learn some things about sailing catamarans, and I think we will do more of that. It’s tricky to get the sail to catch wind in the direction you want to go. The hardest part is turning to go back in the direction you came from. It’s like being Moana in the Disney film only right now, our sailing skills match the part where she flips her catamaran over in the ocean. We watched a video last night of a very skilled 10 year old sailing one beautifully. That said, Bill got a short description about how to use the catamaran. I understood very little of the instructions, but he managed to figure it out pretty well. It’s a different form of driving, which I’m very bad at on water and on land.
After breakfast this morning, we did a short snorkeling trip. It was fun, but the snorkeling here is not as good as other places I’ve been. We also had to wear ridiculous life vests that float up around your neck and choke you. I’ve snorkeled in lots of places and I’ve never had to wear a life vest. I’m still having problems with my goggles fogging up. Between being hanged by my life vest and blinded by foggy goggles, I don’t really know what’s in the water here. After snorkeling, Bill and I took out some paddle boards. The wind really picked up while we were out so it was the roughest paddle board experience I’ve had. It took a lot of energy to make it back to the beach. But, I think paddle boarding or using the catamaran will be a much better snorkeling option for us. We can take those out any time and not have to be on someone else’s schedule or worry about life vests. I’m really surprised that they make you wear vests. You can engage in all sorts of other questionable activities without any trouble, but you have to wear life vests on a fairly calm bay.
After lunch, Bill and I worked out at the gym. It rained here again this afternoon. We are trying to time activities when the sun is out and workout while it rains. There is a big yoga deck with weights, exercise balls and other stuff, which is perfect for me! It’s super hot and humid and it feels awesome. The indoor gym with AC is also really nice with lots of equipment so Bill used that.
I was supposed to have Spanish lessons this evening, but my Spanish teacher, who is a young guy in Panama, got stuck at a bank and had to cancel. I miss being able to practice Spanish. Everyone here that we’ve met is American and most of them seem to be from the South.
Bill has some pictures. There are quite a few of them. I’ll post half in this post and half in his.
Traveling with Emily! 