Keeping afloat in Falmouth

It's ship day in Falmouth, Trelawny, and Desmond the fisherman from Montego Bay, St James, has made the trip to see what all the fuss is about.

"Mi ah hear bout dis ship business from wah day yah. One bag a ray tay, ray tay. So seeing as how mi done wah mi ah do early today, mi just decide fi come see what is what," he said.

Two large cruise ships had docked at the newly opened pier in the town that morning and tourists from several different countries were walking all around.

Desmond seemed about 60 years old. His hair was cut low and his arms muscular. We were both standing just outside a small shop where speakers were set up, blaring vintage reggae music. A dreadlocked man wearing a hat was leaning on a post next to the speakers and had a microphone in his hand. He started rocking to the music, much to the delight of a portly schoolgirl standing nearby. She had been peacefully devouring an ice cream cone, but when the man with the microphone started dancing, she broke out into a bout of raucous laughter. Her sudden movements sent what was left of the ice cream to the ground. She didn't seem to care though, she just kept staring at the dancer with wide eyes and exposed teeth.

"Mi ah hear seh when ship deh yah pan Wednesday day time is pure niceness, but mi nuh see nothing special," said Desmond, his face sweaty.

I asked him what he had expected to see.

"Likkle niceness, dem ting deh," he said.

The dancing man with the microphone started shouting.

"Yes man, Jamaica! All tourist is welcoming right here. Walk about and feel fine. Feel welcoming to anything you see," he said, still dancing.

"Watch all dis yah idiot yah," said Desmond, looking none too pleased.

I was about to offer a word of encouragement to the fisherman, perhaps pointing out the increased business the ships seemed to be bringing to the area.

Unfortunately, Desmond had enough and walked away without saying anything else. Just a dismissive wave of the hand and he was gone, down the road, disappearing into the crowd.

Dancing spectacle

The man with the microphone somehow managed to inveigle a female tourist wearing sunglasses to dance with him. It was an unsettling display as the pair rocked and rolled to Gregory Isaacs' Night Nurse. The crowd that had converged to witness the spectacle, however, seemed fully entertained and the dancing woman appeared to be more into it than the man with the dreadlocks.

I decided to see what was happening elsewhere in the busy town so I walked along clean, narrow roadways until I got to Duke Street where craft vendors had set up displays outside the imposing Trelawny Parish Church.

It seemed there was a bit of an argument brewing between a shirtless man on a bicycle and a bespectacled fellow wearing blue jeans short pants and a matching shirt.

"I gwine teach yuh who mi is, yuh hear?" yelled the man on the bicycle. The man in the short pants seemed annoyed.

"Come teach mi drunkin bwoy! Come teach mi!" he shouted.

An unexpected sound then interrupted the proceedings. Clip clop! Clip clop! Everyone went silent and I looked behind me to see two white horses pulling a wagon full of tourists. They were headed our way. The two men who had been arguing seemed to have forgot what they were upset about and ran in different directions to stand behind tables laden with craft items.

"Howdy do? Welcome, man. No worries," said the man in the spectacles.

The group of tourists hopped off the wagon and walked around, looking at the items up for sale. I noticed some of them walking into the church, the doors of which were open. I followed them inside where I met the unofficial tour guide Adina, a short, plump woman with a cheery face.

"Look around, man. You free to walk around," she said to me. I introduced myself and asked her if she was a member of the church.

"Yes, man. For many, many years now," she said, smiling.

"Since the ships start coming here, we open the doors so that the tourists can walk around as they please."

I asked Adina if the church was proving to be a great attraction.

"Oh yes, man. Is the first church in Trelawny you know. It is here from way back."

Adina paused to smile at two men and a woman who walked in just then.

"See the original pulpit there," she said to them, then turned back to me.

"So it going alright, man. Sometime, when the tourists come and like the place, dem will leave a donation, so it benefit the church too. We happy for this, because Falmouth so nice, is so dem must open it up so the whole world can see it," she said.

Where should Robert go next? Let him know at robert.lalah@gleanerjm.com.