Jamaican Treasures

Throughout my time here in Jamaica I've been able to experience all kinds of different areas of the country. Treasure beach, where we've been staying for the past four days, I recently learned is an area where many Jamaicans come to visit and vacation. During our travels outside of Treasure Beach and on the way to St. Mary's school, we passed by poorer areas where the houses were more spread out and farm land was very prevalent. When we did pass a nice house, they looked nothing like mansions in America. They're still huge, but the windows and doorways are covered with iron gating and a lot of them had some oddly paired color palettes (green+orange, pink+yellow). We are currently staying at the Whistling Bird in Nagril, which is a more tourist-y area. When I was actually awake on the bus (not for very long), I could immediately tell the difference in the standard of living - the fact that I could easily sleep signaled the significant decrease in potholes, there were actual lines on the road to guide traffic, sidewalks, more dense neighborhoods, and more stores.
 
I know this is pretty obvious, but the differences from the area I'm from (NJ) are insane. There's not much flat land or a myriad of buildings like in Hoboken/NYC. When we left Treasure Beach and began to travel, the increase in altitude made for amazing views of the island. The mountains blanketed in trees are dotted with little houses here and there and the amount of fruit trees everywhere is crazy. Even at our current resort we were told to be aware during the night because mangos and nuts will likely fall on our roof from the surrounding trees, and this is normal. So far it has rained twice, once on our way from the airport, and today when it sun showered as we arrived here.
 
Today we were able to recharge as we visited some really pretty places. We spent the morning in YS Falls, which was such a gorgeous area. The falls were like giant steps, and we zip-lined and tarzan-swung into them. They were surrounded by really thick greenery which made for picture-perfect scenery wherever you looked. The freshwater itself felt so amazing too! After spending a couple hours there, we traveled to Nagril where our resort guides us straight onto an amazing beach with light sand and crystal clear water. This sounds great and all, but clear water has it's drawbacks when you see crabs and little fishies at your feet. We even found and played with two small starfish! Since we are on a more western side of Jamaica, we have a really pretty sunset view right over the beach. This is one of the sights I will definitely remember from this trip and I'm really glad we got the chance to step back from our work and enjoy the true beauty of this country.
 
I'm very grateful for today, and I think I can speak for everyone when I say today helped us get ready to go back to work tomorrow.
 
Laura Oliveto
 
P.S. - I'm a huge fan of the all the dogs and cats everywhere and I'm very excited that Whistling Bird has a little kitten friend named Papaya.

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