My photos today have no central theme. This morning our Amizade group toured a sugar cane factory. It was such an intense experience to watch the cane stacked,washed, ground, separated, heated, squeezed and transformed in brown sugar. I saw mountains of sugar, bagged and loaded onto trucks for foreign markets. I have so many thoughts about sugar I hardly no where to begin other than I think it is a terrible product, but more on that some other time. Rather than showing one of the hundred pictures I took of the plant, I liked this last photo of a plant worker resting. It was at least a hundred degrees in the factory, it had an indescribable, noxious odor, and was noisy as hell.After the tour, the group went to the larger town for some shopping. I left the group and strolled down to the chaotic market. I have so many photos of foods and vendors, but chose this one of a pickup truck bed, because it lumped together in one big pile many of the local foods. How many can you identify?
The top picture of a sign on the seawall of the nearby town, Savanna al Mar, caught my fancy. Like most places, this Jamaican town lacks public bathrooms. I would be cautious and reluctant to use them, even if there were any, but when you have to go, well you have to go. Travelers often tell one another bathroom horror stories and, so far, I've avoided sharing any on my blog. Relieving yourself in any town for a tourist unaccustomed to ruder accomadations is always a challenge. Anyway I walked over to the wall to see the beautiful blue Carribean and unfortunately it wasn't the sea air that caught my attention. So much for civic messages!
Great post! I love the pic of the guy relaxing after what sounds like a horrible day in the factory. Working in 100 degrees? Lots of people do it, and I can't believe that as a teenager I had little problem with those temperatures, but I sure do now. Anyway you caught a great look and a great setting.
ReplyDeleteAs for photo (do I dare say) Number One? I should have had a sign that that here today. I came back from the post office, and a guy was just sauntering out from behind the building pretending he wasn't up to anything but sightseeing, carrying a bag maybe with a can of beer in it. That IS why the duck around the corner here. When you gotta go, you gotta go, but at least this town is provided with a number of bathrooms, and I sure wish they would not prefer my landlord's deck.
Nice looking fruit and veg on the truck.
Great post as always, Lee! I'm not sure I recognize all the food in the pick-up truck, but they are colorful! Yes, the "number one" photo leaves little doubt as to what it means! And it is hard to imagine working in that kind of heat! You do paint a very vivid picture with both your photos and your words. Thanks for the latest look at Jamaica! Hope you have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteSylvia
Green peppers, bananas, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, two or three different kinds of melon, radishes, carrots, cabbages, something that looks like Jerusalem artichoke but probably isn't, maybe kumquats...
ReplyDeleteI just love the first photo. We could use it in the Paris underground.
Sugar is bad, huh?
Happy Easter!
Lee: Re Photo Number One :) That's about the LAST thing I expected to see when I first looked at this post. Of course, I didn't know it was the last thing I expected to see until I saw it!
ReplyDeleteAs far as sugar is concerned, everything is relative. It actually seems like a fairly innocuous substance compared with high-fructose corn syrup, which has all the negatives of sugar--only more so. I have yet to hear anything positive about it and try to avoid the stuff as much as I can.
Ceil: To add to your list, I think the brown roots in the front left corner of the truck are taro roots. There is another kind of root next to them that's the same color but a different shape, but I'm not sure what it is. The green fruits under the watermelon wedge look like chayote squash, which is also very common in the Mexican markets around here.