Vacationing in Jamaica is good, very good indeed.

It is good to be here, good people, great service and simply a good experience vacationing. We've been here for three days now, and it's nothing but good experience and relaxation. It's the friendliness and willingness of the people to serve that makes Jamaica a great spot for vacationing!

More pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157634552811985/show

Coyaba Resort in Montego Bay sits right on the ocean, and our room was a stone's throw from the beach - additionally they have built a ramp that goes about 500' feet into the ocean with a place to sit...right in the middle of nowhere... With the waves making that consistent musical beat. Yasmeen and I sat there last night for a good two hours gazing into the darkness, the stars and the sky...and I watched the sunrise enjoying the early morning breeze on my face... Heavens, from the ramp, you can enjoy the sunset and sunrise equally with no obstruction.

Roy, the tour guide drove us over the hills,...sugar plantations, and little hamlets... On the way, we stopped and ate the fruits I've not had in years... Jack fruit, little bananas, fresh coconuts and other fruits... Ate at the local restaurant, and the food was delicious...... jerk chicken was a disappointment, curried goat was alight. I will stick to the grilled food, we cannot go wrong with it. Top three foods of Jamaica - Jerk Chicken, Curried Goat and Oxtail. I am glad we tasted all the foods out there, but was not moved by any, there is no desire to seek that food. 

Of course, we carried great conversation with Roy about everything on earth from religion to politics to cricket to pluralism and gay and lesbian issues. I will write a separate note about it.. he was incredibly conservative but believed in one's freedom a right to his or her pursuit of happiness. You always learn from a healthy conversation where knowledge is learned and exchanged without judgments.

On the other hand, we went to dinner in a cab, and that conversation was a difficult one - he was down on Rastafarians ( a tradition of its own) and I made my effort for him to consider and respect different beliefs, he was very set in his mind, he hated Muslims, but did not have any personal experience with any Muslims, all he was going was by what he reads in the papers. I did my mitigation and long pauses to understand the whole gamut of the problem... and it would take a lot of work and a lot of sharing and caring... I have to do my work, Gandhi has said that to me twice (in my dreams) that every human should value the other.

I don't think any one should miss Negril beach... The sand is soft and powdery...It's like walking on cushion... One of the most beautiful beaches with every possible sports activity..... We took a glass bottom boat... That took us a good 1000 feet into the ocean to see the reef and the fish... We could have walked .. The water was no more than 5' high...

We really resisted the stupidest thing of all : shopping, and I am thrilled to no end that she believes shopping is best in America.

It was good to be here, good people, great service and simply relaxing.

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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links.