Happy Valentine's Day

Friday evening came very quickly! We ended a productive week by shopping at the bookstore on campus, picking up our favorite UWI gear. The temperature dipped down to the chilly 60's thus we needed to bundle up!!! We finished the evening reading and logging the activities of the week.

The sky Saturday morning was crystal clear and blue; it is impossible to sleep in past 0730 here in Jamaica because it gets so warm and you feel like you might miss out on something! We did laundry and tidied up the flat prior to heading out for a day of shopping and discovering more of Liguanea. On the way to meet the bus we saw a wedding party posing for pictures at the famous UWI chapel. The bridal party had beautiful orange dresses that were complimented by orange umbrellas for shade. The bride strode effortlessly across the grass in her long gown despite the blazing hot sun! What a perfect day to get married and be in love :-)

After the bus ride to Liguanea, we shopped at the Post Mall which is a mall anchored by the Jamaican post office. There is an assortment of small shops inside including a men's clothing store, women's store, bookshop, pharmacy, chinese restaurant and salon. The pharmacies in Jamaica have just about everything you could want from snacks to shampoo to china. We picked up candies including peanut brittle, tamarind candy, plantain chips and pepper shrimps. Pepper shrimps are an equivalent to shrimp jerky! Adidas shoes sell for about $4500 and come in every color here, including green/black/yellow for Jamaicans!

Arguably our favorite part of the shopping trip was the Liguanea Drug and Garden Center. The Center is tucked away in the storefronts pictured above. Within the store there are multiple sections. The entire store was a combination of Micheal's, Bed Bath & Beyond, Hallmark, Wetsel's Seed, and CVS all under one happy roof. We spent at least an hour in this store! ESPN was on in the pharmacy waiting area, reminding us of home!

We checked out the local pastry store and bought snacks for later in the evening. We continued on to a Chinese Restaurant in the next shopping mall. Jamaica's motto is "of many, one people" which is so very true. There is a large Chinese contigent here on this small island, among many other nationalities. The Chinese restaurant is on the 3rd floor of the mall and is boasted by many Jamaicans as the best in the area. We are not disappointed as we arrive to a large dining room with a great view of the mountains and northwest St Andrew's parrish. We treat ourselves to Dim Sun, spring rolls, shrimp cane and beef satay. The Jamaicans are right, the restaurant makes delicious food. We most enjoyed the local flavor that presents itself in the scotch bonnet peppers in soy sauce and allspice (pimento) in the spring rolls. Cindy was most generous in tipping our waiter $600 JD :-)





Spring Rolls anyone?

Shrimp cane: Tempura fried shrimp with a sugar cane for a handle

We wish you faithful blog followers, especially our husbands-Happy Valentine's Day!