Wow, there's some crazy ice here. In fact, after I parked my car, it slid down my driveway, while I was still in it. Then, later, I noticed it had slid again. Uncomfortably close to my roommate's car.
Argh!
Sunday, January 25, 2004
Monday, January 19, 2004
Imagination surely can riddle one with bullets. While in reality truth may be a small demon or perhaps a kitten, imagination can cast a long frightening shadow.
Then again I guess imagination can also create a rosy picture in light of a bleak reality.
Or it can help turn a bleak reality into a rosy picture.
Happy MLKJrBdayObserved.
Then again I guess imagination can also create a rosy picture in light of a bleak reality.
Or it can help turn a bleak reality into a rosy picture.
Happy MLKJrBdayObserved.
Monday, January 12, 2004
Saturday, January 10, 2004
yahman, me got me jamaica time in.
And now I'm days away from being back in school.
First off, some of the downers:
* Delta losing my luggage on my flight to Jamaica
* Being sick for much of the trip
* My one sunset in Negril... was... cloud-covered.
* Delta losing my luggage on the flight back home
But it was really amazing. My first foreign travel experience. Hanging out on the beach, jumping waves, hiking, spelunking, playing in and scaling a waterfall, reading, sampling a variety of tropical fruits and other local food, craft markets, snorkelling in a coral reef, parasailing, dining at Margaritaville, smoking ganjjjust kidding............
Public transportation was such an experience in and of itself. First of there's the fact that they drive on the left side of the road. That's really not too crazy as a rider, but it's one more thing to make it weird. The roads there are terrible. Potholes all over the place -- like every 20 feet. And then sections where all of the asphalt is gone. I think that when they decide to lay some sort of line, cable, or pipe -- they cut across the road, and then they don't re-pave it. So, the taxi drivers learn where the potholes are and dodge them. So they are cutting back and forth across the road like crazy. The whole driving style is much more offensive. They pass people in curves and going up hills. A delivery truck passed us, at night, going up a hill, in the rain. Oncoming traffic popped over the hill, so he of course merged into us. We braked to get out of harm's way. Although they drive like crazy, I wouldn't say that they're poor drivers. If anything, they are probably better drivers. To enable all this offensive driving, the drivers communicate much more -- with other drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists. And livestock. There is a fairly steady din of horns being sounded. I started to tell one driver that in the US, we didn't use our horns as much -- that we only used them when we were angry, or when we wanted to say hello, or we wanted to signal that there may be danger. Then I realized that that's pretty much the same as they do -- they just say hello a lot more, and they put themselves in danger a lot more. They probably don't use it out of anger quite so much -- because everyone drive's like crazy. I think it was one of my brother's friends who said that the only way you can make a Jamaican driver crazy is to stop in the road blocking traffic.
GMC, Chevy, and Ford cars are basically non-existent in Jamaica. SUVs and trucks, yes, but almost no cars. Small foreign cars. And it's totally normal to put 6 people in a 5-passenger taxi. One time I road in a taxi with ... either seven or eight people in it. a couple were in the cargo area.
The people in Jamaica seem to be overall very social. They will just stand beside their roads and talk for hours. There are constantly people walking down the roads or simply standing beside them. Taxis are abundant. And even cars that aren't really taxis often are ... taxis. Taxis are identified with red license plates. Those cars are like... certified & insured. The "fake" taxis are called either "robots", or "rowboats", I never was able to distinguish for sure. I'm guessing maybe "rowboat", because that might make more sense, for being a method of transportation.
*****
If in sin we find only perverted distortion -- a mangled reflection -- of the good life God has for us... I am awed by how amazing that good life must be. God, help me to not settle for less.
*****
In an effort to resolve my current lingering stomach problems, I am not eating. That'll show'em! .. it.. whatever.
And now I'm days away from being back in school.
First off, some of the downers:
* Delta losing my luggage on my flight to Jamaica
* Being sick for much of the trip
* My one sunset in Negril... was... cloud-covered.
* Delta losing my luggage on the flight back home
But it was really amazing. My first foreign travel experience. Hanging out on the beach, jumping waves, hiking, spelunking, playing in and scaling a waterfall, reading, sampling a variety of tropical fruits and other local food, craft markets, snorkelling in a coral reef, parasailing, dining at Margaritaville, smoking ganjjjust kidding............
Public transportation was such an experience in and of itself. First of there's the fact that they drive on the left side of the road. That's really not too crazy as a rider, but it's one more thing to make it weird. The roads there are terrible. Potholes all over the place -- like every 20 feet. And then sections where all of the asphalt is gone. I think that when they decide to lay some sort of line, cable, or pipe -- they cut across the road, and then they don't re-pave it. So, the taxi drivers learn where the potholes are and dodge them. So they are cutting back and forth across the road like crazy. The whole driving style is much more offensive. They pass people in curves and going up hills. A delivery truck passed us, at night, going up a hill, in the rain. Oncoming traffic popped over the hill, so he of course merged into us. We braked to get out of harm's way. Although they drive like crazy, I wouldn't say that they're poor drivers. If anything, they are probably better drivers. To enable all this offensive driving, the drivers communicate much more -- with other drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists. And livestock. There is a fairly steady din of horns being sounded. I started to tell one driver that in the US, we didn't use our horns as much -- that we only used them when we were angry, or when we wanted to say hello, or we wanted to signal that there may be danger. Then I realized that that's pretty much the same as they do -- they just say hello a lot more, and they put themselves in danger a lot more. They probably don't use it out of anger quite so much -- because everyone drive's like crazy. I think it was one of my brother's friends who said that the only way you can make a Jamaican driver crazy is to stop in the road blocking traffic.
GMC, Chevy, and Ford cars are basically non-existent in Jamaica. SUVs and trucks, yes, but almost no cars. Small foreign cars. And it's totally normal to put 6 people in a 5-passenger taxi. One time I road in a taxi with ... either seven or eight people in it. a couple were in the cargo area.
The people in Jamaica seem to be overall very social. They will just stand beside their roads and talk for hours. There are constantly people walking down the roads or simply standing beside them. Taxis are abundant. And even cars that aren't really taxis often are ... taxis. Taxis are identified with red license plates. Those cars are like... certified & insured. The "fake" taxis are called either "robots", or "rowboats", I never was able to distinguish for sure. I'm guessing maybe "rowboat", because that might make more sense, for being a method of transportation.
*****
If in sin we find only perverted distortion -- a mangled reflection -- of the good life God has for us... I am awed by how amazing that good life must be. God, help me to not settle for less.
*****
In an effort to resolve my current lingering stomach problems, I am not eating. That'll show'em! .. it.. whatever.
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