Mandeville today

We went off to Mandeville today to see a cousin that E had not seen for 40 years. Cissie spends some of her time in Atlanta and some in Mandeville. Mandeville is crowded and lively in the center, but seems to spread out fairly quickly away from the center.

We picked Cissie up at the supermarket she and her husband own. Then we had lunch in a Chinese restaurant with her husband, and went on to Cissie's home at the top of a hill. After Kingston, the cool air and breeze were really nice! Cissie's grandchildren, two girls, were there along with their mother. They were really cute and lively. One is 4 and one is 2.

We had a good long talk (well, I listened), discussing what was going on with our families. As we drove around we also passed the street on which E's coworker's parents live. We'll visit them another time, as we pass through to Negril.

The drive back was not too bad, though there were certainly some maniacs on the road. It takes around 1 1/2 hours to get back to Kingston. The new superhighway - T1 - really improves things. My name for the country part of the road is the "Food Road". In the flat lands you pass stands vending honey. Farther along the road you pass the "Cashew Crossing", a railroad crossing where cashews are sold in bags by roadside vendors. Right after that comes the Juicy Patty factory and a store where you can get patties and lots of other things (e.g., fried chicken, red pea soup, Jamaican meatloaf, coco bread, etc.) Farther along the road starts winding up the hill. In this section there are bags and bags of oranges, as well as stands with coconuts and other fruits. As you get up near Mandeville there is an off the road parking place with a set of stands where you can get things like roast corn, roast yams, fried fish, and other things to eat.