JAMAICA!! . . . Arrival.

So, everything went fairly well with leaving Halifax and arriving in Toronto. The flight there ended up being about 45 minutes late because it was late leaving Kingston in the first place. Something that was to be expected as my cousin Lorna told me the planes were ALWAYS late. But we get on the flight, arrive in Jamaica without any major problems only to have a welcome to remember! My brother didn't have a passport but we were assured before purchasing the ticket that a birth certificate and photo i.d. would be sufficient. We get to immigration, I get landed alright but my brother is taken to the side, they 'explain' that they can't accept the birth certificate because it's a little tattered but if we just wait 10-15 minutes the problem should be solved. So they take his stuff and we go to a little holding area to wait . . . and wait . . . and wait. And then after that - we wait some more. Throughout this we talked to numerous Immigration Officers, pretty much all of them telling us that they are going to find something out, help us out. No one was really explaining the situation properly to us, we always seemed to be getting a slightly different story and consistently were getting brushed off from being able to see a Supervisor. After about the 1st hour and a half passed we were able to get in touch with Lorna who was waiting for us. After about the 2nd hour and finally hearing from the Supervisor who assured us that Air Jamaica was working on the letter they needed to receive before letting us enter the country (to make sure that Clinton would be able to leave the country and not incur a 10 000 dollar fine to the company) we were able to get in touch with Lorna who was making phone calls for us. The amount of people we pulled aside to talk and the amount of people who wouldn't give us straight answers was ridiculous! And all this time we were just sitting in a cramped, hot, dirty little holding area while the Jamaican sun was setting without us. When the supervisor came about a half hour later he asked if my brother was 'Mr. Davis' letting us know that he didn't even know who we were after all of this time and so couldn't have actually been doing much to handle the case. We found out after it's likely they were just telling us stories to not alarm us that it was most likely they were going to try to send Clinton back to Canada in the morning! We don't know this for sure but one lady told my cousin that's what would happen. But at long last - long, long last, just approaching the third hour we were called back over to the immigration desk and told we could leave without the letter that we had been informed we NEEDED before leaving for the last three hours. We tried to get the names, get a copy of the letter at first being told the copy would be on file at the airport and when we insisted were told that there actually wasn't even a letter yet but that the immigration officer was 'letting' us go without out. (Out of the goodness of his heart I imagine). He sure didn't like it when we tried to get his name to insure what he was saying was true and Clinton wouldn't have any trouble when we were trying to leave! And then, the initial immigration officer, after our long ordeal, asks Clinton if we're married, and when he says no, asks me if I'm single, and then asks Clinton if he can 'get' me!!

When we finally were able to walk out of that building and feel that balmy, sweet smelling Jamaican air, embrace our cousin - it was wondrous!! And what a tale did she have to tell us. Bless her heart, the woman had called her sister, called my mom's friend Peggy and got a friend of ours who worked for Air Jamaica to talk to the manager and the head immigration officer. Between Pauline (her sister) and Peggy the Minister of Government was contacted, the Primary Secretary and a couple other high up people I can't remember the titles of! If Air Jamaica hadn't given in (seeing as it was already their onus to let us through since they'd let Clinton get on the airplane in the first place with his birth certificate) the Head Bishop of one of the churches was going to get the Minister of Government to come release Clinton under his custody - or something like that. Needless to say, the phonecalls were enough without taking any physical action! Family is amazing! Clinton was saying he felt like someone with diplomat status or something!

And we were on the road. When we were getting off the plane I told Clinton I was wondering if it would feel like I was coming home. Said we were entering the land of our blood, or at least half of it, and then mentioned that I always kinda felt like I was going home when I went to PEI. I'd say it definitely kinda feels like that. Driving a long the street, windows down, taking in the scent of burning wood and burning meat - jerk meat. Seeing people walking along, talking, eating, doing a bit of dancing on the street - it felt good. And almost every single person we see has this 'swagger', they just mosey along as they walk, as if they didn't have a care in the world, and as if they owned the world. I knew the way I walk would be something to point me out as a foreigner but I see it so much more now. I think Clinton pretty much has the walk down, always has. He says it's cause it's in his blood - I guess I missed out on those genes.

We arrived at Peggy's house for a quick visit. And a wonderful one. The woman is nearing 80 and so vigorous! We had to see her tonight because she's heading abroad again in a couple days. She's an old friend of my parents who worked at the Boy's Home where my mom and dad met when mom was a missionary. She told us a bit about that life, about her life, about the island and showed us around her place. Pretty much all of the houses in Kingston have gates and barred windows, but she left hers open while up at least. Her house has this beautiful garden with like 7 different types of fruit trees and rocks and a great rooftop view. (Alright, it's getting late - I must finish this off).

We took a quick visit to cousin Pauline's and met her family then headed back to Lorna's where we met Aunt Lynn (the oldest living relative on my dad's side of the family) and a 3rd or 4th cousin - Jodi, who is 20. She had a dinner of Sweet and Sour Chicken waiting on the stove for us, and it was great! (Her first endeavour at the meal and it was most certainly a success!) Jodi seems great and it will be good to talk to Aunt Lynn more tomorrow (I think she went to bed just after we left).