This entire entry is entirely dedicated to one of my favourite people I’ve met since I started travelling. Jordi.
I’ll set the scene.
I woke up on my first morning in Ragamuffin Hostel (in Kingston, Jamaica). The common room area is adjacent to a kitchen for the adjoining cafe to the hostel. As I passed through there to head to the bathroom, I hear a voice blurt out a lyric, the specific song I can’t remember. But the voice is one I’d never forget.
For anyone that has extensively read the work I have posted to this site, they know I did album reviews for a while. And this voice is up there with the best of them.
That voice was Jordi, who with a headphone in, sang to his favourite songs in the kitchen as he served up dishes.
Jordi’s voice is the backbone of the relaxed and warm vibes that made Ragamuffin feel like home for me (explaining my three separate stints at the hostel in the 11 weeks I’ve spent in Jamaica this year).
Jordi also cooks Jerk chicken outside the front of the cafe on Thursday evenings. Jordi’s jerk chicken is the best I’ve ever had. The first time I tried it was the night I feel like we truly bonded. First I tried the chicken with a couple I’d met from Quebec and local from Kingston. The four of us, chilled by Jordi’s grill and we spoke for hours on end. We spoke about our lives and our experiences, revelling in the similarities and differences created from our own pockets of the world. We spoke about our relationships with god, mortality and explored our opinions on the big questions in life. It was one of the best conversations I’ve ever had with anyone. And I will never forget it.
As I got to know Jordi better, through our chats on his breaks and before he’d leave for home in the evening, I realised that the man was much better than the voice. He always seemed to speak with precision and wisdom and was a man of principle and morals. Not to discount he is funny as hell!
I remember I asked him if he ever thought about trying to sing for a job. And he replied simply “No”. Unsatisfied, I implored with him that he was amazing, and that there were many with less talent than him giving it a go with relative success.
His response was to explain that he sings because he loves to sing. He is unbothered by being told he is good, or his ability to make money from it. He said that if he sang tone deaf he would still sing because it what makes him happy. I later listened to a podcast that described and a study where people expressed less enjoyment when they were paid to do something they love. This whole attitude was astutely encompassed in Jordi’s Instagram bio: “I love singing and I am a chef” which when I read for the first time I smiled.
Jordi taught me to do just that to chase happiness, pure happiness. Along the way things may or may not fall into place. This path may not lead to a big house or a Ferrari on your driveway, but at least in the end you’ll always be happy. When you’re happy it’s so much easier to leave positive impact on others, like Jordi did with me.
The last time I saw Jordi I asked him to sing a song for me. Of all the songs I’d heard him sing this was my favourite. I surreptitiously filmed it and I actually listen to his rendition over the original. In our final conversation I asked Jordi to sing at my wedding, and whilst he jokingly agreed. I can’t think of someone I’d rather sing on my wedding day, should I be lucky enough to have one.
One thing is for sure that I don’t want to have to wait until that day comes to see Jordi again!
Forrester Word 