To me, the first impression of Ocho Rios, Jamaica, was not a good one. Ocho Rios was one of the places I went during the cruise vacation. First of all, the smell. I got off the ship and and all I smelled was the nasty, dirty water at the pier. Second, the scenery - the place was full of lush trees and other vegetation, but the people didn't dress well, most walked in a strange way (unhurriedly, leisurely, with their hips swaying), and the place looked as if it was 20 years behind a major city. Third, cleanliness of the pier: it was full of stinky, dirty water. What a bad first impression it was! At that time I thought: I'd never come back to Jamaica again.
All that negativitiy changed, however, when I boarded the mini bus with other people on the tour. The tour guide had a beautiful voice. Her attitude was laid back and happy. She wasn't beautiful in a way that we prefer (such as thin, fair and tall). She was very fat. However, she had a radiant smile that made all worries go away! I enjoyed her introducing Ocho Rios during our loopy ride to the mountain. Seeing that I was Asian, she asked whether I understood English, I smiled and said yes. Another bonus point for her because she was aware that non-Caucasians may not speak the language. We stopped at Shaw Park Garden, a park that was built by the English years ago when they were there. It was mostly an English style garden, nothing I haven't seen before because where I was from, was also colonized by the English. I thought: oh, another place that looked like nothing new. But, the tour guide of the garden made it new to me. It wasn't like any garden tours I've had in the past, where the guide just took us around and pointed at what tree is what, and what flower is what. The guide got us all enthusiastic by teaching us how to say "ya man" the Jamaican way. Then he showed us around - it was a tour of sight, scent and touch, with stories of course. We all had opportunities to rub fresh spices on our skin to prevent mosquito bite, we touch exotic flowers, and we smelled some plants.
All in all, it was a lot of fun, because the tour guide had a lot of fun. At the end of the day, I have enjoyed Jamaica so much more than I expected, all because of the wonderful tour guides.
The main message that I got? No matter how well a person dresses, if the person is not loving life, the person is half dead! Image management is impression management, but the rest of it comes from your attitude. The tour guides at Ocho Rios were in their uniforms, and were not specially good looking. But their wonderful attitude and their care for others made me willingly give more tips to them because they've made my day. PS: if you think I was miserable (from the negative first judgments), I was, since I felt seasick by the 2nd day of the cruise. Ocho Rios was on the 4th day. Right now I'm recovering from the lolling motion.
