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I took a tour in an automobile of the entire city. We started off by seeing the official and public buildings. None of the buildings here have glass in the windows and majority of the buildings are made of concrete or concrete blocks, and have windows going all the way to the ceiling to let the breeze blow through. Many of the more well-to-do people have very nice homes.
Everywhere you go natives are trying to get you to buy trinkets and mahogany carvings and sisal weavings. The sisal is a form of hemp, such as they make rope out of. The women seem to do all the work., especially among the poorer class while the men stay home and sleep and take care of the children. Everywhere you look you see burros carrying more than their own weight with a woman astride it as the burro starts ascending the mountain. The city is built on the side of a hill. It was getting near noon so we went to a small hotel and ate. It was very nice and had recently been renovated. It had all new chrome furniture and fancy floors made out of colored mosaic tile. It was very clean.
Most of the nice homes belong to white people. Most of the cars here are very modern. Didn't see anything much older than 1948 models. The people walk right up the middle of the streets, so the cars must weave in and out of the crowd.
After dinner we went up the side of the mountain on a road that reminded me of pictures that I had seen of the Burma Road in China. It was really winding and narrow. Once on the top of the mountain there was a magnificent night dub that overlooked the entire city. This also was quite modern and very attractive. We only went up to get a view of the city and have a drink.
Coming back down the mountain was even a more death-defying drive. The women in this section were carrying their wares atop their heads, probably because they were too poor to have a burro. They can balance and carry up to 100 pounds on their heads. We went to some of the open markets where there are both stores and open markets for the poor.
To alleviate some of the "other side of the tracks section" the government is building a development and moving a lot of the people out of their shacks. People are milling around all the time with no particular job to do just moving around and begging. I had a kid ask me to buy a coin for $50.00 and it was worth just 2 cents in our economy. I finally gave him a nickel for it and was he ever glad to get the nickel. He got better than 100% profit from the nickel so who could blame him.
At night we rode down a boulevard named "Truman Boulevard". It was evident that it had just been built so I asked the driver if Truman had financed it. He only laughed. By the way my French came in handy all day. I used quite a bit of it. The language on the island is about 65% French and 35% Haitian, but I knew enough French to be understood.
I have to laugh when I thought this would be a small ship and set in Norfolk. Next to the Coral Sea (aircraft carrier with 3000 men) we were the next largest of all the ships in Guantanamo. We have a lot of traveling coming up. Next cruise takes us to South America with six different ports to visit.
Our sailors had quite a bit of trouble in Kingston so there has been no evening liberty. We have been playing nursemaid to twelve Seaplanes while here in Jamaica. We leave for Coco Solo, Panama. The weather is still nice but we have been having frequent black clouds and they open up and give us rain. I'm sun sleeping out under the open stars where it is good sleeping. When the rain comes up abruptly we get pretty wet under the stars until you awake and scramble back down the hatch with your mattress.
We are now in the Panama Canal Zone, Coco Solo, anchored outside the entrance to the locks. I expect to go on a 8-hour liberty Monday and take a bus ride around the locks to the Pacific. It will be the first time I have ever seen the Pacific. It will approximately be the point where Balboa, a Spanish explorer first saw the ocean when he crossed the Isthmus. Pacific means tranquil and peaceful. I wonder if my impression will be the same.
We have trip to Bermuda, Norfolk, the Philadelphia Shipyard, Ireland, England and Norway rumored about. I never thought 1 would be so lucky and get to see so much right off the bat. It is really wonderful I think. I hope you are getting accustomed to me coming and going. I don't think anything of it anymore. If I were not happy doing it then it would be a different story. To date I have never regretted that I signed my name on the line even if it meant giving four years to Uncle Sam. It's better than the Army or Marine Corps.