Jamaica - part 11

The bus seemed to take a different route back to Negril, meandering through the back roads of St. Elizabeth parish, including the picturesque Bamboo Avenue, several miles of road flanked and shaded by bamboo. Then there were more traffic jams in tiny villages -- Lord knows why -- that provided more glimpses into Jamaican life, albeit through glass windows. The residents looked back at our bus -- one couldn't tell with indifference or irritation; they are probably used to seeing them, especially in the tourist season. I noticed "PNP" graffiti on the walls, the socialistic party that just lost elections to the more conservative JLP. In Jamaica these parties seem to play a similar role to the gangs in California, and as a look at the country's leading newspaper ("The Gleaner") confirmed, the national murder rate was a growing problem.