Jamaica...

I was recently blessed to be able to spend 5 days in Jamaica with my husband...who has been leading mission trips on the island for the last month...How great it was to spend some quality time together!

  

Since Jon had a week off and we hadn't seen each other in a month...we decided to spend our week relaxing and getting some quality time with each other. This was our first time vacationing in Jamaica...and thanks to Hotwire (again, I totally recommend using this site!) We got a great deal on a wonderful resort...We felt spoiled, spoiled, spoiled...!!

...We ate WAY too much....

It was all-you-can eat...so of course Jon ordered TWO meals when we went to the steakhouse restaurant...!

...Attempted to windsurf (we had lessons 4 yrs ago in Belize...but they apparently didn't do us any good...), Soaked up some sun, and rented a pair of wheels we had not tried out yet in Jamaica...

Jon is now convinced that he needs one of these...I will convince him that that is not happening :)

 

Please try to imagine the two of us on this with dorky helmets, riding through villages...Can you say tourists?! How embarrassing! We did have fun though, and it was quite useful as Jon had a meeting and some errands to run...!

Our resort had fun shows every night. My, oh, my these Jamaicans can dance!! JEALOUS!! I volunteered Jon to go up on stage (he was not very happy with this, but I loved the idea)...They made him do some funny dances, then him and 3 other men were arranged into a human table... Jon purposely kept the camera in his pocket during this ordeal...:( So no pictures...) !!

This is the stage where the shows were every night...

Great food, great shows, great beach, awesome pools, fabulous company :)

....but I can't help but think about the millions of tourists who filter into Jamaica each year, staying at a resort like this one, then going home thinking that they have visited Jamaica. Yes, the beaches and vegetation of Jamaica are exquisite...and the country relies on tourism...but to be completely honest, the resorts are so "Americanized", it doesn't feel like you are in a different country...

I kept telling Jon that, while I was enjoying myself, I just didn't feel like I was in Jamaica.... Fancy resorts, good steaks, big pools, fancy bars, elaborate buffets.....this is NOT Jamaica... I would love to give you taste of this beautiful country...but that will have to be another blog post :) Just promise me that when YOU go to Jamaica...you will leave your resort so you can really experience what life is like on this beautiful island!

All, in all, AWESOME vacation...but I have to admit...it left me with a thirst to get back to doing mission trips...so next time, for me, I will skip the resort :)

For now, I will focus on praying for this man...as he leads his last 2 mission trips of the summer...! <3