A beautiful End to a Wonderful Year

Thank you Jesus, You are absolutely awesome. There is no one honestly like you. I couldn't have imagined how much fun, how great this trip to Jamaica would be. I'm glad my other plans fell though and I was able to experience this with the ones I hold dear. THANKS

The plane ride:
The plan ride was very uneventful. Of course, the cheap airline didn't serve any food, only snacks. I am seriously thinking of not flying Us Airways anymore. Anyways, we got to Jamaica and everyone regrouped all 13 of us. We started towards the doors of the airport and I could have sworn we were back in Lagos. The amount of people waiting....just waiting was as if we were in Muritala. The heat that descended on us confirmed that even though we were on an island thousands of miles away from home, we were home. The bus ride (yes, we had to rent a bus) took 4 hours because of the rain but it was great because the driver had on some reggae gospel that just put us right at home.

The resort:
God's handiwork! That’s all I can say. We got to Catch a Falling Star at about 6-7ish and as such, could not see the resort. How about our reservations were messed up but thank God it all got sorted out. The girls had a separate 2 bedroom cottage with a living/bedroom, the boys a one room cottage and my parents and the pastors’ each had a cottage. We had an inside and outside shower, each room had a standing fan and a ceiling fan. The girls’ cottage was something out of Africa...literally! We had a thatched roof, wood floors and walls and the most breathtaking view.

The View
We woke up to the most spectacular view. I mean words cannot describe the interplay, of colors, sky and vegetation. It was as if the lilies had spoken to the Mango trees who in turn spoke to the cliffs and the ocean and they all agreed that they would work together to steal my breath away. We had walkways to each cottage built with stones, the air was clean, and the ocean lapped and rested and played on the sides of the cliffs....Beauty was truly at play.

The Mosquitoes
I should have known. It didn't even click that we were going to a tropical country. I haven't stopped scratching myself…nuff said

The activities
What did we not do! The first day we all went out to dinner and had a blast reminiscing and eating authentic Caribbean food. Had a pesky cat eating from the table, but other than that, it was a great night. The next day was filled with a boat trip and snorkeling! I am officially a professional snorkler! It was great seeing the fishes in the sea and the reef...I had little fishes eating out of my hand, what an experience! Later, we went for the dinner rehearsal at the Negril resort for the Wedding. That was uneventful, but the whole wedding party met up at a Boat House directly beside the beach later in the evening. The food was flawless and it was just a nice night. You can't beat RUM ice cream, jerk chicken, rice and peas, some kind of spinach and rum and fruit cake! Later my older Brother and I and his Girlfriend went out to meet up with our friends at a dancehall. How about I was challenged when I was busy doing my eagle dance by my lonesome...lets just say them jamo people were not ready and I won hands down. The guy couldn't keep up HA!
The next day, we strolled about the surrounding streets by the resort and at 4pm, went for the wedding.

The Wedding.
The wedding was simple, elegant and exquisite. The backdrop was the ocean and the vows coincided with the sunset. The bride was beautiful and full of love for her man. The groom wouldn't keep his eyes off his bride and they both committed to each other in the sight of God and man. After the wedding, we danced the night away. Even mama and daddy hit the dance floor. And just so the Jamaicans couldn't figure out what continent we were representing, we did the electric slide and the cha cha and mixed in Angelique Kidjo and some Yusuf N'dour.

NEPA reenactment in Jamaica.
Like I had stated earlier, we may as well be in Lagos, except of course, there was more security and less corruption. How about when we were trying to get ready for the wedding, "NEPA" took light! Ok, so a transmission went out, but still! WE had to put on our makeup in the dark and in the heat...NOT FUN. We had to light candles and lanterns for the better part of the evening until the power was turned back at about 1 in the morning.

The Proposal.
WE all knew he had it planned, we just didn't know when. After three days on the island, we were wondering when he was going to pop the question. On the last night after the wedding celebration, in the dark, my younger brother Djcool came into our cottage and said my Older brother SA wanted to see his babe SA( yeah, they both have the same initials). SA went with him...about 15 minutes later; the next thing I hear is “we’re married"!! See screams, of course they weren't married but he proposed and she said 'Yes". I mean, she was already our Iyawo wa, but it was still nice to make it formal and all. There were hugs and tears everywhere. We later went to our parents’ cottage and they prayed for them...both SAs bawled like babies!!! My big bro did good with that Emerald cut ring.

The End.
We left the next day and said goodbye to that beautiful island. I'm sure we shall all be back.