After our weekend away in Jamaica, I have been thinking a lot about time. We, as Americans, spend a lot of time worrying about time. We plan events with timelines, organize our lives and schedules and spend our time thinking about time. So far in this post I have written "time" six times, seven now.
Before we even landed we got a taste of "island time," our flight was delayed because the Kingston air traffic control was only allowing a certain number of of flights into the country per hour. So we waited. When we got to Jamaica and through customs and immigration we boarded our bus and waited a bit to leave. Then, once we were on our way, our one hour bus ride turned into two because Roger, our driver, liked to stop and chat when we would drop some passengers off at their resorts. But, "no worries mon we'll get there before the sun sets." When we arrived at our hotel we checked in and got to our room and there was no clock. In fact the only clocks in the resort were on the wrists of the staff. I felt silly but I'd try to read their watches as they breezed by us.
After we got used to waking up whenever our eyes opened and eating when our stomached growled, time became irrelevant. We slowed down and began enjoying our time together. The sun dictated a lot of our activities, including my sunburn. I wish that we could have brought island time home with us, but unfortunately we have a sign on our door that says we arrive at 9am and leave at 6pm. It was good for us to escape, relax and unplug. Now we have to get back on schedule to live in the real world and not on island time.
