Hi, and thank you for taking out time to read my piece, if you would love to catch up with the first part, of this adventure, please click here
LIME CAY
It was on this dork I met Ashantia, a lovely sweet girl, with a pretty smile. We all went in on the same boat after paying a little sum of 2500JMD each and got on our way to Lime cay.
The ride was fun, the sea was a bit rough, and Ashantia had a whole different sound effect to every dive the boat made as we sailed through the turbulent waters, I promise that her Patoi accent added a little more color, I laughed my fears away, until she said “it’s giving titanic vibes”.
The ride, gave a captivating view of the mountains, the buildings around the sea, we were able to see the other side of the “Prince of Wales Lines”. As the journey progressed, in the middle of the sea, we sailed passed a wood which was floating aimlessly, the person who was sailing our boat turned around and headed back to the spot, then asked his partner who was on the boat with us, to pick up the wood.
I found it impressive, the willingness to clean up the ocean unsolicited, the Jamaicans on the little speed boat agreed as well, it was in the passion at which someone voiced out “we haf to take kia of our own” and they all nodded in the affirmative.
30 minutes later, we were at Lime Cay, seeing as we all arrived on the same boat, we naturally gravitated to the same spot on the beach. Its interesting you know, the ability of humans to pull towards each other, even when you barely know one another.
Ashantias dad had brought along some nice Redsnappers, he was seriously focused on making a fire and roasting it, While the rest of us hit the beach.
When you are 16, and when you are a girl, the world thinks they can tell you what to do, but not with Ashantia, she was fierce in an attentive way, effortlessly humourous she managed to make you laugh at the tiniest things. Her boldness was astonishing, it was in the way she randomly echoed jovially yet earnestly the need to capture her angles whenever you wanted to take a picture of her, so much so I struggled to picture the Ashantia she talked about that was calm, quiet and did not get into trouble, side by side the audacious 16 year old that was swimming in my front.
Yet that’s the thing with humans, the deep complexity’s are what make us who we are.
As we floated in the salty Caribbean water, using the beach stones to scrub our feet, we talked about her future and what she wanted to do, She watched with passion in her eyes every plane that flew across us, often times we would wave to them, or pretend for a minute that we were stuck on an Island.
As I watched her inquisitively, I asked what she wanted to become in future, she replied with a large smile, as though she had rehearsed all her life for this moment, with immeasurable excitement, she announced that she was going to be a Pilot, as her smile grew wider, she narrated that Yes she was going to be flying one of those Planes as well soon, at this point she was grinning from ear to ear, it was interesting to watch, that’s how its supposed to be.
Your dream is supposed to excite you, keep you blushing like a school girl, whenever you think about it.
I was pleasantly surprised, and I did not hide it, but then I do not think I could have expected anything less, from the fearless child I had fallen in love with so quickly.
She did not just have a dream, she had actual plans and practical steps, to see that they came to fruition, most of all she had a father who loved her fiercely, that was and still is all that matters.
She asked me to sing, my favorite reggae songs for her, we swayed along to good woman by Roman Virgo, and soon after we were on Sean Pauls songs, I did the singing while she clapped her hands to make beats as we both danced in the water.
An hour Later, Ashantias Dad was done cooking the fish and let me tell you, it tasted so good.
We decided to take a walk on the beach, we walked against the gushing wind, taking in the fineness of the sand beneath our feet and the beautiful landscapes, we really were on an Islet in the middle of the Sea, as just this little walk had landed us at the end of the of the land, we could now see just water, and the other parts of kingston.
We took pictures each documenting the moments, Ashantia loved the camera, she narrated that people said she was photogenic but she never saw it.
There must be something that screamed safe to approach about 4 girls taking turns to pose and take pictures of themselves, because Shazoo a Japanese girl felt it was safe to approach us.
The language barrier was not a big deal, once she held out her phone, we knew what she wanted and so we set out, everyone around, helping her pose, arranging her outfit and hyping her up to get the banging picture, Shazoo wore a nice swim suit and had a white shirt on as cover, when she got deep into her mini photoshoot and wanted to take it to the next level, she took a bow, and said the words “sorry” to the group before she took of her swim cover, exposing her two piece swim suit.
I presumed it was culture and I found it interesting. We each took turns to get group photos and when everyone was satisfied, we walked back into the Islet.
On our way back Shazoo stopped us next to her brothers, and asked one of them to take pictures of us, and there it was our group photo documenting a peculiar time where 5 girls from different cultures and races, bond together by our obscene love for freezing moments in time.
Technology really is the best thing to happen to man after sliced bread, sharing the pictures would have been a hard due to the language barrier, but once I mentioned Airdrop, she understood the assignment. We said our good byes and continued our journey back into the Islet as we dropped Shazoo off with her brothers. They were all in Jamaica for work actually, they were part of a reggae band, it was interesting to know that reggae was a big deal in Japan.
HUMANS OF PORT-ROYAL
Sadly all good things must come to an end, we parked our things and made our way into our boat, then rode the waves back to the dork of Port Royal, and finally began the long drive home.
The humans I met here were phenomenal. from the stranger who let me take his bike for a ride, who even after I consented to a picture, still requested consent to hold me in a pose for the picture, to the little girl who reminded me off how beautiful it was to be young and carefree, to Ashantia the bold 16 year old who showed me that Calmness and fierceness could coexist, our Boat Helmsman who showed me the importance of doing your little part for the greater good of the world. Shazoo, who reminded me of the beauty of womanhood, the natural desire to always tilt towards warmth and safety and the unwavering support we give so affectionately to one another.
Port Royal was an amazing experience, and maybe I’ll go back when I conquer more parts of the Island.