bozz

May 7, 08 - 12:29 PM

living in jamaica

hi all its been awhile...i'm back in my colder home lol...living in ja. there is always a new experience each day...through trial and error i've learned many runnings of the land...the biggest thing i've learned is i will always be a newbie and a visitor....that beeing said i will wait anxiously for my return. i have been accepted on the most part as a local in my neighborhood...some even want me to be their taxi...lol...and we think jamaican drivers are crazy ha!!!the biggest thing for me was trying to live a regular lifestyle but the touristy friends always seem to pull me in their direction without twisting my arm too hard...i made a few small investments this season, washing machine, microwave, fan...i know this sounds minor but buying my washer was a proud day for me...the little things we take for granted can be very luxurious when living in ja. not to bore you more i'll blab on a little more later.....peace

Lola

May 7th, 2008 - 12:53 PM

Re: living in jamaica

Love it, hoping to hear more! Nice to have you back on the more communicative side of things! Okay, 'our' side lol.

LivingLegends

May 7th, 2008 - 1:14 PM

Re: living in jamaica

Hi bozz...it was nice meeting you @ The Boat Bar

CC

May 7th, 2008 - 2:08 PM

Re: living in jamaica

We say we want to move there, but at this point in our lives we would never make it. You really have to be willing to change your lifestyle unless you won the lottery.
I think its great though that you are making it and still enjoying yourself. Its wonderful to be that independent.
Would love to hear more anytime about living there.

Tammy

May 7th, 2008 - 6:22 PM

Re: living in jamaica

So good to hear from you Bozz. It's been way too long lady. Hope to hear a lot more about the day to day living in Yawd. Oh and yes the washing machine a must.

Always said If I move to yawd I got to have it. Fridge, Washer, 2 Fans, Stove .... I can make it. lolol Yes 2 fans ..

ray

May 8th, 2008 - 10:24 AM

Re: living in jamaica

BOZZ! have not seen you around for a while. how are you? You have a place in Ja now??? To die for. Hope all is well...catch up with you

bozz

May 8th, 2008 - 2:18 PM

Re: living in jamaica

each night i sleep in my cozy comfortable little word that i call home...but i can't help but think of how this came to be...it was not a life long dream...but rather a simplification of self...it was at first 2 worlds colliding, not to sound cliche, but it truly was this way...ya know how one thing leads to another...that's how this happened...i've let go of the myths and materalistic objectives that stood in my way of beeing my authentic self. to truly release yourself and be vulnerable to the trutheties if that is a word is quite liberating. the journey i am on is not always smooth to say the least, but i am learning alot on this journey called life and not without regret or misfortune...i will continue to venture and try not to be afraid of realities that come forth...and try to share the realities of my world...i am blessed in many ways that i cannot explain but just need to say that exploration and experiencing life as i never thought i would is exilerating and i appriciate every moment...later, peace

as i look over what i have written i was a little bit hesitant to disclose this part of me...but ya know, so what, so i disrobed a piece of me...life is life...and we are suppose to share right....

DAWN

May 8th, 2008 - 2:25 PM

Re: living in jamaica

Yes bozz..sharing it is the only way...

CC

May 9th, 2008 - 7:56 AM

Re: living in jamaica

Bozz,
KEEP WRITING GIRL. Its great!

Lola

May 9th, 2008 - 1:06 PM

Re: living in jamaica

Bozz I love it, thank you!

Miss Kes

May 9th, 2008 - 4:51 PM

Re: living in jamaica

Yes Bozz...sharing is good...keep on keeping on!!
BTW - it was very nice to meet you in Jamaica.

bozz

May 14th, 2008 - 8:25 AM

Re: living in jamaica

i made the trip to sav. to make the grand purchase of the "washer"...not the kind we are used to but one of those spinner washer's that are semi-auto and that is the truth about that...shopping at bosco is an experience in itself...you have to write the number down and find a little window at the back of the store to request the item...so after about visiting 3 or 4 windows the purchase is made...i'm happy now...problem is when we get to the car; it does not fit...oh oh, so my friend says he will take a taxi and meet me at home...well i won't have this...standing on the side of a road in sav. with a washer is not a good thing...i find out later that his insisting i leave was that if the taxi driver seen a little white woman waiting to move this machine the price was for sure gonna be more...so now my washer is home...but now the problem is draining the machine after a wash....can't put the hose in the sink cause there is no pump therefore the hose must be put down low...i make an executive decision to bust a whole in the wall for the drain...well it turns out that the water main was exactly in the spot i picked out...needless to say the kitchen floor is turning in to a pool of water...how my gonna pick up this water? well with a 6 inch fry pan of course...this turned out to be an all day affair...it did all turn out afterall but it was an exhausting day. to be continued

Tammy

May 14th, 2008 - 8:42 AM

Re: living in jamaica

Please tell me you have pictures of this. I need a visual of you cleaning up this water with a frypan.

Lawd woman whose house you knocking holes in the wall's of. Tell me you bought yaself a likkle cottage in Negril?

bozz

May 20th, 2008 - 11:57 AM

Re: living in jamaica

well, i arrived on the rock in nov. and a couple days later i had 2 wicked bites; one on my forearm and the other on a finger....after approx. 14 days these bites are not healling...finally had to go to the doc....she was surprised at what these awfull looking bites looked like...a few years back i had a similar bite which some country folk told me where hog bites...so i mention this to the doc. and she says she never heard of "hog bites", right away she calls a few of her colleages whom have never heard of the hog bug either....so maybe some of you "oldtimers" may have some insight....i swear if you were to see them u would think i used a cig. to burn myself....apparently its an acidic bug that daily would give me a dose of what they had...luckily, with antibiotics, and some steroid drug it stopped the pain and the ulceration that was getting bad...so any info you may have would be greatly appreciated....by the way, the scars are still quite obvious, later , peace

Angela

May 20th, 2008 - 5:32 PM

Re: living in jamaica

You are living my dream, glad that it is working out for you.

When you mention the washer story, I have to LOL...same thing happened to me last reach. The backdoor is open when I am using the washer, hose is set up to hang out the door. I go to the ladies room and start to hear these sloshing sounds, quickly run to the kitchen and the hose has let loose all over the kitchen...I proceed to scream out the names of all who live there, panic sets in.....everyone comes in from the yard, sees the water and asks why are you screaming?? I think I was just in the state of mind that if it happened at home, there would be water damage, insurance...etc. Not in JA, just mop it out the door and all is good..

Tammy

May 20th, 2008 - 6:49 PM

Re: living in jamaica

WOW Bozz sounds painful. Will have to ask about this hog bug.

Tell us more lady. Post some pics or send me some and I'll post them.

bozz

May 27th, 2008 - 12:43 PM

Re: living in jamaica

well i must say i have not done so much domestic work ie: cleaning home in a long time...i love my place, but the insects do accumulate (sp.) anyhow, so the daily sweepings also turned into daily moppings...i have a wooden red coloured floor that i put some sort of no polish wax on...as time goes on, the floor is looking whitish...whats up with that...im thinking that i'm not ringing out the mop enough or something...so a likkle more im visiting a friend and her floor is just as mine and the shine was like a mirror...apparently you need to dry mop to buff the shine...oh ok, so i try this and it worked...so now i'm on the hunt for a floor buffer, ya know the kind our mamma's used to have, later, peace

jitterbug

May 27th, 2008 - 2:02 PM

Re: living in jamaica

hey bozz
while visiting in portland, i observed my friends use 1/2 dry coconut shell to buff or shine their floors. works as good as the electric one. you just need some elbow grease . . .

ray

May 30th, 2008 - 11:22 AM

Re: living in jamaica

thanks for the likle stories bozz - sounds like so much fun - well most of it anyway.

bozz

Aug 23rd, 2008 - 12:40 PM

Re: living in jamaica

well i'm packing again! darn, why did i bring all this stuff back...not too bright at times...lol...anyway, time in canada is getting shorter each year and i must admit that ja. is more like home than canada now...besides friends and family here there is not much i miss...

recently i've seen some relatives whom i've not seen in a while and they told my mom that i'm a much calmer person than before....a compliment i guess, that i attribute to living more serinely (sp.)although i'm sure many who have met me in ja. land may think otherwise lol...

a lot of scary stuff going on in ja. these days...sometimes i shake my head at myself and think if i'm doing the right thing...it's the right thing for me right now, that's what i know so far.

i'm breaking down and getting a t.v. and internet hooked up this time so to keep abreast of the comings and goings....not sure if it's a good thing as i think thats what has givin me the serenity...

so my boardie friends, hope to see you on the other side sometime....give a ring and i'll make you a bozzmo.....peace

Sharleen

Aug 23rd, 2008 - 11:49 PM

Re: living in jamaica

I lived in Jamaica from 1972 to 1978 -- Jamaica was a different place back in those days, easier in some ways and harder in other ways... I pretty much never ever ever went to a restaurant to eat, and in those times there really weren't too many to choose from. All of our food was purchased in either Sav or Green Island. Back in those times, the only transportation on market day was in a van with concrete blocks with wooden things sitting on top of the blocks as seats. When I first moved to Jamaica, I didn't even know how to cook rice property !!! We had some standard meals though, goat cheese omelettes in the morning with some fruit and "really bad bread" back in the 1970's.. really hard but if you sliced it really thin it was okay. Some of our dinners were whole chickens (and in those times you had to pluck out the feathers that were left in)... we had an almond tree in our yard and would stuff the chicken with rice, sliced onions and almonds from our tree. Getting the almonds out of their pods though was a trip.. we would all take turns and inevitably hammer a finger or two in doing so. Grilled cheese and tomatoe sandwiches were another thing on our menu, along with spaghetti... hard to get noodles back in those times. There was this Rastaman Everall (who I think is in these times affiliated with Mayfield Falls) who would come around yard to yard with vegetables.
The one thing that REALLY was annoying was having to leave Jamaica every six months, visa wise. It got to be excessively expensive when living on a strict budget (to fly to Miami) every six months for 24 hours. We never had a washing machine & I just would wash my clothes by hand and we did have a nice line (and I had clothes pins) to hang our clothes to dry. Another thing I remember doing is diving for "wilkes" and cooking them up with butter and garlic.
I have also lived in Jamaica during the three month summers of 1987, 1988 and 1989 with my (then) two little girls. During those times I wasn't as poor as in my early times in Jamaica. It was still "nice times" ... no hackings, no crackheads... Yow, Kaiser's Cafe ruled with so MANY great stage shows. Actually, I think in those times there were WAY too many husslers on the beach selling this and that and that and this.
I live in upstate NY and it gets BRUTALLY cold here, not to mention the fact that it is going to cost an enormous amount just to keep my house marginally warm with oil heat my only option. I also want to retire early.. I just can't WAIT... Jamaica here I come !!!
Some things though, really bother me... the machete choppings... what a horrific way to go... also if I really need medical attention quickly, like after a car accident or something, will I able able to exit really quick???
For sure I have definitely had it with "the rat race"... the 9 to 5 business after all these years! I have explored other (Central American) options for retirement, but still, after spending so many years in sweet Jamaica, Central America might be hard to take. I live in an area with a huge huge Jamaican population, loving the "good" Jamaican people and respecting them to the max. Not a one of them though, even consider JA as an option for reitrement.. how sad... they all have a story to tell of a relative who has lived in NY or UK and retired to JA and were robbed and murdered within months of their return. How "f"d is that?

ray

Aug 24th, 2008 - 8:29 AM

Re: living in jamaica

bozz...please have fun and be safe...you got a good brain and i ma sure you will be fine...see you in a few months...

sharleen...thanks for sharing - quite interesting stuff.

getting hacked is certainly a frightening thing to me....i thought that was something that went away many man years ago until i was in grad school...my roommate was from burundi (next to rawande). he was a tutsi...the hutus and tutsis were in civil war and murdering one another...some may remeber rwanda and hte river turning red...he went home to burundi and I worried for weeks...no calls or anything...upon his return he told me of his cousin and her husband and three kids and how they were hacked to death and their place set on fire...she was a schol teacher...i had nightmares about it...every time i hear of these hackings i get the same awful visualizations in my mind...so barbaric and brutal...

people often discuss heatlhcare and the such on the boards...i looked up some data on longevity...despite the less quality in healthcare, jamaicans live on average about the same number of years as americans do...jamaicans at 75.2 and us at 77...(source: http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa042000b.htm) ...if you took into account that one is in a tougher spot with very serious and traumatic injuries in ja, it appears that they are probably healthier than us! Must be all that fruit and veges and fish...oh and the callaloo.

San Fran Jan

Aug 24th, 2008 - 6:20 PM

What about insurance?

Is health insurance available to foreigners (like us) who live in Jamaica semi-full time or full time? Just wondering as there are many tourists who consider moving there and that is a major consideration if you're retired (e.g. older, LOL)

Just wondering . . .

ray

Aug 25th, 2008 - 6:47 AM

Re: living in jamaica

you peaked my interest on this one san fran jan as my mba is in healthcare administration and I have worked for healthcare providers and insurers and in healthcare consulting before becoming a loathed lawyer.

I found he article below. Now it is a couple years old but the writer idd in fact buy health insurance. OF more interesting note, it appears that he writer got better service in ja. Who would have thunk?

here is the link:

http://francismove.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_archive.html

and here is another link htat may get your answer fi sure:

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/living/resources/healthandsafety.shtml

San Fran Jan

Aug 25th, 2008 - 7:39 PM

Re: living in jamaica

Thanks for the info Ray. I'll check it out. I don't have any plans to move down but that was a major consideration when contemplating the idea.

DAWN

Aug 26th, 2008 - 9:18 AM

Re: living in jamaica

I have never seen you anywhere but in Negril and let me say, She looks good on you!

I am so happy that you get the time to be there for so long. I can't wait to book myself and come and hang with you..what do you say...Red dragon?

bozz

Aug 26th, 2008 - 12:06 PM

Re: living in jamaica

hey dawn, raggabones is a date anytime...as for medical...i have extended medical and i also purchase extra emergency care in case...one reason for choosing ja. long term is being one flight from home...that being said, i had the experience of spending the night in the sav. hospital...considering i seen 6 doctors, had several tests, i.v., the total cost was $1,800. ja...i sure don't want to go there again but in an emergency their care was very good...thank goodness i had friends to bring me t.p., pillow, blanket as these are luxury items....it is sad though that so many patients had no one to help....peace

Author	Comment
bozz May 7, 08 - 12:29 PM	living in jamaica hi all its been awhile...i'm back in my colder home lol...living in ja. there is always a new experience each day...through trial and error i've learned many runnings of the land...the biggest thing i've learned is i will always be a newbie and a visitor....that beeing said i will wait anxiously for my return. i have been accepted on the most part as a local in my neighborhood...some even want me to be their taxi...lol...and we think jamaican drivers are crazy ha!!!the biggest thing for me was trying to live a regular lifestyle but the touristy friends always seem to pull me in their direction without twisting my arm too hard...i made a few small investments this season, washing machine, microwave, fan...i know this sounds minor but buying my washer was a proud day for me...the little things we take for granted can be very luxurious when living in ja. not to bore you more i'll blab on a little more later.....peace
Lola May 7th, 2008 - 12:53 PM	Re: living in jamaica Love it, hoping to hear more! Nice to have you back on the more communicative side of things! Okay, 'our' side lol.
LivingLegends May 7th, 2008 - 1:14 PM	Re: living in jamaica Hi bozz...it was nice meeting you @ The Boat Bar Email: BobandPat@miyard.com
CC May 7th, 2008 - 2:08 PM	Re: living in jamaica We say we want to move there, but at this point in our lives we would never make it. You really have to be willing to change your lifestyle unless you won the lottery. I think its great though that you are making it and still enjoying yourself. Its wonderful to be that independent. Would love to hear more anytime about living there. Email: negriblues@yahoo.com
Tammy May 7th, 2008 - 6:22 PM	Re: living in jamaica So good to hear from you Bozz. It's been way too long lady. Hope to hear a lot more about the day to day living in Yawd. Oh and yes the washing machine a must. Always said If I move to yawd I got to have it. Fridge, Washer, 2 Fans, Stove .... I can make it. lolol Yes 2 fans ..
ray May 8th, 2008 - 10:24 AM	Re: living in jamaica BOZZ! have not seen you around for a while. how are you? You have a place in Ja now??? To die for. Hope all is well...catch up with you
bozz May 8th, 2008 - 2:18 PM	Re: living in jamaica each night i sleep in my cozy comfortable little word that i call home...but i can't help but think of how this came to be...it was not a life long dream...but rather a simplification of self...it was at first 2 worlds colliding, not to sound cliche, but it truly was this way...ya know how one thing leads to another...that's how this happened...i've let go of the myths and materalistic objectives that stood in my way of beeing my authentic self. to truly release yourself and be vulnerable to the trutheties if that is a word is quite liberating. the journey i am on is not always smooth to say the least, but i am learning alot on this journey called life and not without regret or misfortune...i will continue to venture and try not to be afraid of realities that come forth...and try to share the realities of my world...i am blessed in many ways that i cannot explain but just need to say that exploration and experiencing life as i never thought i would is exilerating and i appriciate every moment...later, peace as i look over what i have written i was a little bit hesitant to disclose this part of me...but ya know, so what, so i disrobed a piece of me...life is life...and we are suppose to share right....
DAWN May 8th, 2008 - 2:25 PM	Re: living in jamaica Yes bozz..sharing it is the only way... Email: dawncancook@Yahoo.com
CC May 9th, 2008 - 7:56 AM	Re: living in jamaica Bozz, KEEP WRITING GIRL. Its great! Email: negriblues@yahoo.com
Lola May 9th, 2008 - 1:06 PM	Re: living in jamaica Bozz I love it, thank you!
Miss Kes May 9th, 2008 - 4:51 PM	Re: living in jamaica Yes Bozz...sharing is good...keep on keeping on!! BTW - it was very nice to meet you in Jamaica.
bozz May 14th, 2008 - 8:25 AM	Re: living in jamaica i made the trip to sav. to make the grand purchase of the "washer"...not the kind we are used to but one of those spinner washer's that are semi-auto and that is the truth about that...shopping at bosco is an experience in itself...you have to write the number down and find a little window at the back of the store to request the item...so after about visiting 3 or 4 windows the purchase is made...i'm happy now...problem is when we get to the car; it does not fit...oh oh, so my friend says he will take a taxi and meet me at home...well i won't have this...standing on the side of a road in sav. with a washer is not a good thing...i find out later that his insisting i leave was that if the taxi driver seen a little white woman waiting to move this machine the price was for sure gonna be more...so now my washer is home...but now the problem is draining the machine after a wash....can't put the hose in the sink cause there is no pump therefore the hose must be put down low...i make an executive decision to bust a whole in the wall for the drain...well it turns out that the water main was exactly in the spot i picked out...needless to say the kitchen floor is turning in to a pool of water...how my gonna pick up this water? well with a 6 inch fry pan of course...this turned out to be an all day affair...it did all turn out afterall but it was an exhausting day. to be continued
Tammy May 14th, 2008 - 8:42 AM	Re: living in jamaica Please tell me you have pictures of this. I need a visual of you cleaning up this water with a frypan. Lawd woman whose house you knocking holes in the wall's of. Tell me you bought yaself a likkle cottage in Negril?
bozz May 20th, 2008 - 11:57 AM	Re: living in jamaica well, i arrived on the rock in nov. and a couple days later i had 2 wicked bites; one on my forearm and the other on a finger....after approx. 14 days these bites are not healling...finally had to go to the doc....she was surprised at what these awfull looking bites looked like...a few years back i had a similar bite which some country folk told me where hog bites...so i mention this to the doc. and she says she never heard of "hog bites", right away she calls a few of her colleages whom have never heard of the hog bug either....so maybe some of you "oldtimers" may have some insight....i swear if you were to see them u would think i used a cig. to burn myself....apparently its an acidic bug that daily would give me a dose of what they had...luckily, with antibiotics, and some steroid drug it stopped the pain and the ulceration that was getting bad...so any info you may have would be greatly appreciated....by the way, the scars are still quite obvious, later , peace
Angela May 20th, 2008 - 5:32 PM	Re: living in jamaica You are living my dream, glad that it is working out for you. When you mention the washer story, I have to LOL...same thing happened to me last reach. The backdoor is open when I am using the washer, hose is set up to hang out the door. I go to the ladies room and start to hear these sloshing sounds, quickly run to the kitchen and the hose has let loose all over the kitchen...I proceed to scream out the names of all who live there, panic sets in.....everyone comes in from the yard, sees the water and asks why are you screaming?? I think I was just in the state of mind that if it happened at home, there would be water damage, insurance...etc. Not in JA, just mop it out the door and all is good.. Email: angelabrooks4@hotmail.com
Tammy May 20th, 2008 - 6:49 PM	Re: living in jamaica WOW Bozz sounds painful. Will have to ask about this hog bug. Tell us more lady. Post some pics or send me some and I'll post them.
bozz May 27th, 2008 - 12:43 PM	Re: living in jamaica well i must say i have not done so much domestic work ie: cleaning home in a long time...i love my place, but the insects do accumulate (sp.) anyhow, so the daily sweepings also turned into daily moppings...i have a wooden red coloured floor that i put some sort of no polish wax on...as time goes on, the floor is looking whitish...whats up with that...im thinking that i'm not ringing out the mop enough or something...so a likkle more im visiting a friend and her floor is just as mine and the shine was like a mirror...apparently you need to dry mop to buff the shine...oh ok, so i try this and it worked...so now i'm on the hunt for a floor buffer, ya know the kind our mamma's used to have, later, peace
jitterbug May 27th, 2008 - 2:02 PM	Re: living in jamaica hey bozz while visiting in portland, i observed my friends use 1/2 dry coconut shell to buff or shine their floors. works as good as the electric one. you just need some elbow grease . . .
ray May 30th, 2008 - 11:22 AM	Re: living in jamaica thanks for the likle stories bozz - sounds like so much fun - well most of it anyway.
bozz Aug 23rd, 2008 - 12:40 PM	Re: living in jamaica well i'm packing again! darn, why did i bring all this stuff back...not too bright at times...lol...anyway, time in canada is getting shorter each year and i must admit that ja. is more like home than canada now...besides friends and family here there is not much i miss... recently i've seen some relatives whom i've not seen in a while and they told my mom that i'm a much calmer person than before....a compliment i guess, that i attribute to living more serinely (sp.)although i'm sure many who have met me in ja. land may think otherwise lol... a lot of scary stuff going on in ja. these days...sometimes i shake my head at myself and think if i'm doing the right thing...it's the right thing for me right now, that's what i know so far. i'm breaking down and getting a t.v. and internet hooked up this time so to keep abreast of the comings and goings....not sure if it's a good thing as i think thats what has givin me the serenity... so my boardie friends, hope to see you on the other side sometime....give a ring and i'll make you a bozzmo.....peace
Sharleen Aug 23rd, 2008 - 11:49 PM	Re: living in jamaica I lived in Jamaica from 1972 to 1978 -- Jamaica was a different place back in those days, easier in some ways and harder in other ways... I pretty much never ever ever went to a restaurant to eat, and in those times there really weren't too many to choose from. All of our food was purchased in either Sav or Green Island. Back in those times, the only transportation on market day was in a van with concrete blocks with wooden things sitting on top of the blocks as seats. When I first moved to Jamaica, I didn't even know how to cook rice property !!! We had some standard meals though, goat cheese omelettes in the morning with some fruit and "really bad bread" back in the 1970's.. really hard but if you sliced it really thin it was okay. Some of our dinners were whole chickens (and in those times you had to pluck out the feathers that were left in)... we had an almond tree in our yard and would stuff the chicken with rice, sliced onions and almonds from our tree. Getting the almonds out of their pods though was a trip.. we would all take turns and inevitably hammer a finger or two in doing so. Grilled cheese and tomatoe sandwiches were another thing on our menu, along with spaghetti... hard to get noodles back in those times. There was this Rastaman Everall (who I think is in these times affiliated with Mayfield Falls) who would come around yard to yard with vegetables. The one thing that REALLY was annoying was having to leave Jamaica every six months, visa wise. It got to be excessively expensive when living on a strict budget (to fly to Miami) every six months for 24 hours. We never had a washing machine & I just would wash my clothes by hand and we did have a nice line (and I had clothes pins) to hang our clothes to dry. Another thing I remember doing is diving for "wilkes" and cooking them up with butter and garlic. I have also lived in Jamaica during the three month summers of 1987, 1988 and 1989 with my (then) two little girls. During those times I wasn't as poor as in my early times in Jamaica. It was still "nice times" ... no hackings, no crackheads... Yow, Kaiser's Cafe ruled with so MANY great stage shows. Actually, I think in those times there were WAY too many husslers on the beach selling this and that and that and this. I live in upstate NY and it gets BRUTALLY cold here, not to mention the fact that it is going to cost an enormous amount just to keep my house marginally warm with oil heat my only option. I also want to retire early.. I just can't WAIT... Jamaica here I come !!! Some things though, really bother me... the machete choppings... what a horrific way to go... also if I really need medical attention quickly, like after a car accident or something, will I able able to exit really quick??? For sure I have definitely had it with "the rat race"... the 9 to 5 business after all these years! I have explored other (Central American) options for retirement, but still, after spending so many years in sweet Jamaica, Central America might be hard to take. I live in an area with a huge huge Jamaican population, loving the "good" Jamaican people and respecting them to the max. Not a one of them though, even consider JA as an option for reitrement.. how sad... they all have a story to tell of a relative who has lived in NY or UK and retired to JA and were robbed and murdered within months of their return. How "f"d is that?
ray Aug 24th, 2008 - 8:29 AM	Re: living in jamaica bozz...please have fun and be safe...you got a good brain and i ma sure you will be fine...see you in a few months... sharleen...thanks for sharing - quite interesting stuff. getting hacked is certainly a frightening thing to me....i thought that was something that went away many man years ago until i was in grad school...my roommate was from burundi (next to rawande). he was a tutsi...the hutus and tutsis were in civil war and murdering one another...some may remeber rwanda and hte river turning red...he went home to burundi and I worried for weeks...no calls or anything...upon his return he told me of his cousin and her husband and three kids and how they were hacked to death and their place set on fire...she was a schol teacher...i had nightmares about it...every time i hear of these hackings i get the same awful visualizations in my mind...so barbaric and brutal... people often discuss heatlhcare and the such on the boards...i looked up some data on longevity...despite the less quality in healthcare, jamaicans live on average about the same number of years as americans do...jamaicans at 75.2 and us at 77...(source: http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa042000b.htm) ...if you took into account that one is in a tougher spot with very serious and traumatic injuries in ja, it appears that they are probably healthier than us! Must be all that fruit and veges and fish...oh and the callaloo.
San Fran Jan Aug 24th, 2008 - 6:20 PM	What about insurance? Is health insurance available to foreigners (like us) who live in Jamaica semi-full time or full time? Just wondering as there are many tourists who consider moving there and that is a major consideration if you're retired (e.g. older, LOL) Just wondering . . . Email: janetallen39l@sbcglobal.net
ray Aug 25th, 2008 - 6:47 AM	Re: living in jamaica you peaked my interest on this one san fran jan as my mba is in healthcare administration and I have worked for healthcare providers and insurers and in healthcare consulting before becoming a loathed lawyer. I found he article below. Now it is a couple years old but the writer idd in fact buy health insurance. OF more interesting note, it appears that he writer got better service in ja. Who would have thunk? here is the link: http://francismove.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_archive.html and here is another link htat may get your answer fi sure: http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/living/resources/healthandsafety.shtml
San Fran Jan Aug 25th, 2008 - 7:39 PM	Re: living in jamaica Thanks for the info Ray. I'll check it out. I don't have any plans to move down but that was a major consideration when contemplating the idea. Email: janetallen39l@sbcglobal.net
DAWN Aug 26th, 2008 - 9:18 AM	Re: living in jamaica I have never seen you anywhere but in Negril and let me say, She looks good on you! I am so happy that you get the time to be there for so long. I can't wait to book myself and come and hang with you..what do you say...Red dragon? Email: dawncancook@Yahoo.com
bozz Aug 26th, 2008 - 12:06 PM	Re: living in jamaica hey dawn, raggabones is a date anytime...as for medical...i have extended medical and i also purchase extra emergency care in case...one reason for choosing ja. long term is being one flight from home...that being said, i had the experience of spending the night in the sav. hospital...considering i seen 6 doctors, had several tests, i.v., the total cost was $1,800. ja...i sure don't want to go there again but in an emergency their care was very good...thank goodness i had friends to bring me t.p., pillow, blanket as these are luxury items....it is sad though that so many patients had no one to help....peace