Travelogue#2: Australia

In 2000, during my sophomore year of college, I became intrigued with the notion of studying abroad. Well, I was ALREADY studying abroad, but I began to think of doing it again for another semester. Heck, why not? Of course, I was limited by my language skills...I was barely holding it down in my mandatory Spanish classes that semester, and I didn't have the time or interest to learn a new language. So, if I wanted to study abroad, I was going to have to go somewhere that spoke English. Canada? Not exotic enough. England/Scotland? The UK has never really appealed to me. I should visit at least once to see my family over there, but I don't think I would like an extended stay. Ireland? Hmmmm, that could have worked, but for some reason it didn't cross my mind at the time... What did cross my mind was Australia and New Zealand. Exotic, but not unfamiliar (especially as they are Commonwealth countries like Jamaica), far away that I can really be out of my element, the ability to awe people when I say "yes, I've been to Australia, don't you know" etc. I chose Australia over New Zealand for a variety of reasons. Firstly, Australia admittedly has it going on over New Zealand. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that NZ is a beautiful country and it is definately on my "must see before I die" list...but if you've never been to either place, which place sounds more exciting, or has stuff you've heard about before? I also liked the schools I saw in Australia, but the main reason I chose it was because I had a "foster" mother of sorts down there, named Barb Loman whom I met on an Adventist email forum. She took an interest in me, and was very helpful to me when I was there, I'll never forget it (or her). She's also the reason why I chose Adelaide as my city of interest, as opposed to the expected Sydney or Melbourne.

So, between Jan 2000 and July 2000, I applied for and was accepted to Butler University's Study Abroad program. I chose this program on the advice of Dr. Klingelhoffer (W&L's INTL student advisor at the time) and I have no complaints about their program. I'm sure the others are good in their way, but I highly recommend Butler University's program for anyone who's interested in study abroad. I got my travel grant, started to save up for living expenses, got my student visa, and in January 2001 I went back home to Jamaica to visit for a month before heading out to Adelaide in February 2001. I left from BWI on Feb 6, and flew to Philadelphia, then to Los Angeles to meet with the rest of Butler SA students heading to Australia. We all got on the same 14-hour flight heading to Sydney, then broke up to head to our various cities. Our Adelaide group was split between two universities: the smaller group going to University of Adelaide and the rest (including myself) to Flinders University. We were together for Butler orientation with Cathy Romeo as our co-ordinator. I just have to give props to her, she did an AWESOME job with us! We arrived in Adelaide on Feb 6, and classes didn't start until Feb 21, so we had a lot of time to acclimatize ourselves.

For me to go into detail with what happened for the entire 5 month period would take a book to account, and maybe one day I'll write such a book. I will sum it all up by saying that that semester abroad was the best time I ever spent in college. To me, it was the right mix of people at the right time, and it all just clicked for the most part. It wasn't all perfect all the time, and I had some rough times there too...but the entire experience was one that I wouldn't have changed for the world, and one that changed my whole outlook on life and on myself. If I could go back and change anything, I wouldn't change a thing. Well, I probably would have spent more time hanging out than studying, especially this one time when I had to turn away a welcome guest in order to hit the books. I'm sure that I was under pressure from the books then, but in retrospect...damn, that was a dumb move!!! Still, who knows...

Things I loved about Australia:

1. The people. Before I left, someone was telling me that Australia was a racist society, akin to South Africa in some respects. I've read the history and I agree that all wasn't rosy in their history and there may be some grey spots here and there; but I didn't experience any racism when I was there. Based on the people I met when I was there, I say this without apology: Australians are the coolest people on the planet. Hands down, objectively speaking, they just rock. Friendly, funny, plain-spoken, no frills or airs, what you see is what you get. Aussies of the world, I salute you!
2. Adelaide. It's a big city with a small country town feeling. That's the best description I have of it. It's the third or fouth biggest town in the country, but it feels comfortable and home-like. I could see myself living there.
3. The environment: To have a kangaroo hop out of bushes to within 12 feet of you and watch you watch him is an experience to remember.
4. The people: I have to mention it again :) This time, I would include the schoolmates I met there, but that's for a separate post about my experience. This post is about the country.
5. Low prices. The US dollar was worth about $2 AU, but prices in Australia are numerically comparable (a meal that would cost $5 in the USA would cost about $5 AU in Australia.) So, if you go to australia, don't do what I did and keep some money in the USA. Take it all with you, change it all, and budget.
6. Danish Caramels from Balfour's Bakery. I would import that stuff to Jamaica if I could, in all seriousness. I never had a pastry like that before I went to Adelaide, and I've never had one since I left. I'm here remembering the texture and flavor, and wata come to mi eye. mmmmmmmmmmmm...yeah, I really miss those :(
7. The People (you see a theme coming out here? And remember I'm not really a people person either :D), especially those at Adelaide City church. Will say more about those experiences later.
   

Things I didn't like about Australia:

1. Lack of ice. Call me weird, but don't Australians ever use ice in their drink??? The only time I might have gotten any ice was if I went to a fast food store. Besides that, it seems that the only thing they drink that's non-alcoholic is cordial (aka syrup) and water. Their food is great, and the wine and liquor is very good if you do that sort of thing, but they need to step up for the "dry" people of the world.
2. "Neighbours" and "Home and Away." It takes a lot to beat "Dawson's Creek" for the title of Worst Show Ever, but these two manage to do so.
3. The cafeteria food. The caf workers were nice people, but God only knows what they did to the food, yo. I mean, how can you make RICE unedible? I ate what I could when I could stomach it. All of us on dorm lived for Tuesdays when they had an Asian cook come in for Asian night, because the food was then just a bit above mediocre. Interestingly enough, the Asian students on dorm HATED Tuesdays. Not only was the food borderline for eating, but the caf was closed on weekends, so we had to fend for ourselves those times. There were kitchens on dorm, but funds to buy food to prepare in said kitchens were limited. I had no luck in finding a part time job, and I found myself having to subsist on ramen noodles and cordial on Sundays and some Saturdays, if I was unable to hustle a lunchtime invitation from people at church. To this day, I refuse to eat ramen noodles unless it is the only thing between life and starvation.
4. "Live hard, party harder" seems to be the Aussie motto. I've never seen an official uni orientation where a pub crawl was the focal event, until I went to Flinders. Well, that's a plus for some people, but I'm a square :) besides, it's not healthy.
   
5. Hmmmm...that's pretty much it. Any other negative thing were experience-based. I told you it was a cool country :D

I was hoping to go back to do some further schooling after New Mexico Tech, but it didn't happen...if I ever return to school, I think I'll try to go down there. Highly recommended!

Travelogue #1: California

I lived in California for 3 and a half months, from May 14 2005 to September 3 2005. I was in Orange County, in the city of Tustin and worked in Irvine. It was an interesting experience...and I don't just mean my entire job thing, which I will not detail on this website.

I liked the time I spent there, because it was different from anything I had experienced before. However, I don't think I would have been able to stay there for more than 3 years or so, and I definately would not want to settle there. I had heard that Northern California was the place to be, and Southern California was all congestion and sucktitude. Well, I didn't get the chance to visit NoCal, but SoCal wasn't as bad as I had feared, in some respects.

What I liked about California:

• Tustin. It's a nice suburb of the OC. It wasn't as slick or yuppie as Irvine, where I'd drive past the apartments and say "yeah, I ain't gonna be able to live up in here for a loooong time, if EVA!". It wasn't as beat-up/ghetto as Santa Ana or La Brea, where I'd drive through and say "don't these people ever clean up the place?" Tustin had the perfect mix of upper-middle class and blue collar-class, for me at least. My apartment was the right type for me at the time, too bad I didn't have any furniture for it :D It just felt "real". I just wished I could have gotten to know more people around there, but I'm a quiet guy anyways.
• The Orange Coast SDA church. Beautiful people, multi-cultural church, all that's good about so-called "California Adventists" and nothing bad...at least not from what I saw in my three-plus months over there. It was a bit weird to see the church go out for dinner at Soup Plantation after church, but to each their own. Pastor Ken was a really wonderful pastor, and I always had a blessing whenever I went to church there.
• Bible study at Russ and Megumi's place. Their house was the first place I went after I moved to California, on the emailed advice from Pastor Ken, and this bible study became the high point of my week. The people I met there had a great impact on my spiritual life, and Russ and Megumi really helped me during my stay in California in more ways than one. I'll never forget them, and they've got a friend for life in me. Open line for any assistance I can give 'em! Special mention to Courtney and David as well :)
  
• Anything I wanted was within 10 minutes drive. From Ikea to groceries to chinese food to car marts to Barnes and Nobles to sushi to movie theaters...you name it, and it's around close enough. Coming from small towns in New Mexico and Virginia, this was enough to make my head spin...and I loved it ('specially that B&N thing, hahahaha.)
• Variety of scenery. When I was driving to Tustin from NM, all I saw was desert, and the two-hour stretch from the Arizona border to Bakersfield, CA (where I-40 merges into I-15 N&S) was probably the second worst stretch of driving landscape I've had the displeasure of passing through. I'll describe the worst in another travelogue. Anyways, I was surprised when I headed south on I-15, and saw the whole range of scenery! From desert to snow-capped mountains to beach scenery, all within 3 hours of driving. The range in the OC wasn't too bad either. I went out on a drive a couple of times, and took a bike ride a few days before. The first drive was through the south mountains, and the second drive was through Malibu with Lauren. The bike ride was along one of the trails to the beach, but I didn't get to the beach. I did find this really nice small park, and had a good meditation there. My point is that California does have a good range of climates.

What I didn't like about California

• Traffic. Freakin' Traffic. Sodding, bloody, disgusting, traffic. Let me tell you, I have experienced rush-hour traffic in Jamaica every morning heading to work. I've driven in NYC, and I've been in the best of beltway traffic in DC on many an occasion. None of those in any way prepared me for the horror that is Southern California rush hour traffic. It has to be seen to be believed, but let me give you an idea. Imagine a 12-lane highway, 6 lanes running one way, and 6 lanes running another. Now imagine this highway packed to the brim with cars that aren't moving, for about 30 miles or so. That, my friends, is I-405 every day after 5 pm. I mean, I lived about a 10-minute drive from my office at a regular time. Leaving early in the morning, I would make it in about 15 minutes or so. Coming home in the evenings, if I reached home in an hour, I was lucky. It made no difference if I used the freeway or tried to find local roads, it was clogged either way. Traffic would have played a major role in making me leave Cali if I had kept my plan of working for a while in that state.
• Heat. The whole place was just MUGGY, and the fieldwork I was doing in the Inland Empire (near Loma Linda and San Bernardino) made me aware that smog is really REALLY bad around these parts. If you live near the coast, you might catch some breeze, but other than that, you salt.
• High cost of living. I never did understand why everything was so overpriced over there. Was I supposed to pay for the privilege of living in this "wonderful" state? sheesh! From rent to movies to groceries, it was all high-priced. I learned a lot about living on the cheap...
• Fakeness of people. It said a lot to me that in my time in California, the only friends I made were people who were not native to California. Every last one of them came from somewhere out of state or out of country, or even out of SoCal. I never knew that people could be so two-faced until I experienced OC natives.
  
• Being black in California. I had my first and only DWB experience in California.
• Earthquakes. I experienced two tremors in my time there, and it only reminded me that the Big One is overdue. If you live in California, keep on dreaming that it won't come. People in New Orleans thought the same thing about the levees.

All in all, I had an eventful and fruitful time in California. It would not be my first choice of a state to live in, but I would go back there to work for a while if the situation was right, with the proper expectations in mind.

And i never even got a chance to truly go through Los Angeles...but that was probably for the best.

My favourite memory of California: Visiting Whistler Island (if that's the name) on July 4 with the OC young people. Beautiful place, and it got me into kayaking. Honorable mention goes to my bike ride through Costa Mesa towards the beach, the Monday Bible studies at Russ's place (and James's place sometimes), and the times I spent hanging with Bev and Lauren, especially with Lauren and her friend at that free Jars of Clay concert at Angel Stadium. Also, finally getting to meet Rachel!

Not so cool memory of California: Traffic, feelings of confusion after my experience, feelings of being BROKE, uncertainty of the future, speeding tickets.

Another review of "the wire"

This is the tail end of The Sport's Guy's review of Gridiron Gang. I was pleasantly surprised to see it as I came to the end of that column, on www.espn.com/page2
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One more thing ...

I found it fascinating that, in the same month that "Gridiron Gang" became the No. 1 movie, HBO ignored perpetually crummy ratings and renewed "The Wire" for a fifth and final season. After plowing through the first 37 episodes of "The Wire" in three weeks this summer, I agree with others who argue that it's the most important television show of all-time, surpassing even "The Sopranos" because of its ambition and social relevance. The "Sopranos" worked because the acting and writing was so exceptional, we found ourselves identifying with unlikable characters who were basically unredeemable (save for Tony's wife, his children and his therapist). We excused every horrible action because we grew to like these characters personally over the years. In real life, we probably wouldn't like any of them, and we would definitely be afraid of them. It's fantasy disguised as reality: Lose yourself in the show for an hour, digest it when it's over and move on to something else.

Well, there's nowhere to hide in "The Wire." The characters are stuck in Baltimore, a washed-up city ravaged by drugs, poverty and political corruption. Our closest thing to heroes are renegade detective Jimmy McNulty (a likable, hard-drinking iconoclast who disappears for much of Season 2 and becomes completely irrelevant in Season 4) and a gun-wielding nomad named Omar (a scarfaced Robin Hood, only if Robin Hood was gay and stole from drug dealers). We spend three full seasons watching Baltimore police break the city's biggest drug syndicate ... only to watch an angrier, more ruthless group of rival dealers immediately pop up in its place. The current season centers around four poor teenagers (all of them threatening to succumb to the drug lifestyle) and Baltimore's incompetent school system (which can't even begin to hope to save them), with the show elucidating in painstaking detail why these kids can't be salvaged: They have no role models and no chance to escape, and things will never change because the lead politicians and major police heads only care about themselves. There's no overall plan to save the city, no passionate leader on the horizon, nothing. All of it would take too much effort. Like a dead fish, Baltimore rots from the head down.

It's an exceptional show, and I'm not even sure "exceptional" is a strong enough word. Of course, barely anyone watches it. HBO deliberated over its renewal all summer until the gushing feedback for Season 4 left them no choice. Late to the party, I spent the past few weeks devouring the show, then the next week wondering what took everyone else so long to jump on the bandwagon, and more importantly, what took ME so long to jump on the bandwagon. Two weeks ago in this space, I explained how I'm one of those people who doesn't like when other people tell me, "YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS SHOW!" If anything, that makes me not want to watch it. I like to stumble across these things organically.

Now I'm wondering if I avoided "The Wire" because its central themes -- drugs, corruption, urban decay -- were realities that I simply wanted to ignore. Instead of being haunted by a show like this, it was easier and safer to skip it entirely. Most people feel this way, I'm guessing; it's the only conceivable reason why five times as many people would watch "The Sopranos" over a show that's better in every way. See, when most Americans dabble in inner-city TV shows or movies for our "taste" of street life, we're hoping for the Hollywood version. We don't want despair and decay, we want hope and triumph. We don't want the zero sum game of drug dealers killing each other, we want the Rock coaching juvie kids and turning their lives around in two hours. We want them to win the big football game, we want the movie to end, and we don't want to think about these people ever again.

That's the real reason why "Gridiron Gang" became the No. 1 movie last weekend, and that's the real reason why "The Wire" was barely renewed for a fifth season. Upon further review, maybe the problem isn't Hollywood after all.

Bill Simmons is a columnist for Page 2 and ESPN The Magazine. His new book "Now I Can Die In Peace is available on Amazon.com and in bookstores everywhere.
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Jimi's best rendition of his best work

No one would ever be able to cover this song, I don't think. It's in 2 parts because it's kinda long.

BSG

Good TV is coming back, baby! Both BSG and The Wire at the same time, mmm...

Who Knows

Youtube+Geoff+blogger= a whole lot of experimenting :)

This is one of my favourite Jimi Hendrix tunes. It's not his greatest work, but it has a really funky groove to it and I just wanted to put it up here.

Down in the hole...

Credits of Season 4 of the Wire. The best version of the theme song they've used.

Animation Domination

I am (was? no, am) a fan of Fox's Sunday night animation lineup. The Simpsons has always been on my radar, and when Family Guy first came out, I thought it was really funny and gut-busting. I wasn't too impressed with American Dad, I thought it was too derivative of Family Guy.

My, how times have changed.

I caught the premiere of all three shows last night, and it confirmed to me what I had suspected all throughout last season.

Firstly, The Simpsons. "The Simpsons" is in imminent danger of becoming more of a guest actor winker show instead of a comedy. I mean, I was totally stoked to see Metallica do a spot...but what was the point of it? I love it when Fat Tony and the Sopranos do their mafia thing...but they've done it better on the Simpsons before. It was watchable, but I was more chuckling than laughing out loud. I know that you've done everything before on the Simpsons, but they should keep the stories a lot tighter, I think.

Next, Family Guy (which actually came on at 9 pm after American Dad, but I'll deal with it now). This show has totally lost its humor to me. Peter Griffin has gone from Homer Simpson likeability to "Will someone PLEASE kill this moron!" territory for me. I miss the Family Guy of old, and I hope they get it back. It says volumes that I didn't finish watching the episode, I just turned it off before the half hour finished...and it's not the first time I've done so. I'll keep giving it a shot, but right now they are on borrowed time with me.

I never thought I'd see the day where "American Dad" would be the funniest of the three, but it happened a lot of times last season and it happened again here tonight. This was the only one of the three shows that made me laugh out loud, even though the story here was not the best that it's been either. They've come a long way here, and I hope they keep it up!

no more needs be said

Experience; that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you
learn.
--C.S. Lewis

Random thoughts...

"Lost" begins its new season on October 4, and "Battlestar Galactica" begins on October 6th. I cannot WAIT for those dates to come!

"The Wire" begins this coming Sunday. It's unfortunate that I can't get my parents to get HBO for 12 weeks, but if I have to spend weekends at my uncle's house so I can watch it...well, I will.

I have to be willing to walk away...and I'm developing that willingness slowly but surely.

I also need a chill pill :) what's the balance between taking yourself too seriously, and taking everything as a joke? And which is worse? (i think taking everything as a joke is worse).

Is there anything new worth watching on TV this season? It's not a lament, it's a genuine question. For some reason, I haven't been really watching any TV since August.

It's easier to curse the opposite sex than it is to wait for the few members of the opposite sex who aren't completely clueless. And that goes for both men AND women.

Those who say you can't be platonic friends with someone you once had feelings for...they're lying. I will admit that the situation and people involved have to be pretty special though...but it happened to me, so anything's possible. Of course, there are situations where it HASN'T happened for me too, hahahahaha.


For Adventists, dating a non-SDA is almost always never worth it in the end. The exceptions only prove the rule. If God wants you to do missionary dating, He will show it to you clearly. Trust me, there are fish in the sea up in this church. Tons of 'em. Just because the ones you know are dysfuctional doesn't mean there aren't other schools of fish out there. Forget them crazy sprats and God will help find your king (or queen) tuna.

ok, that analogy was a bit corny, but so what?

He who swats a mosquito has done a good thing.

If I could pick only10 albums to listen to on a desert island, I would include "Persuaded" by Richard Smallwood, "Jars of Clay" by Jars of Clay, "Superunknown" by Soundgarden, "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy" by Sarah McLaughlan, "Kind of Blue" by Miles Davis, a burned CD of my favourite Phillip Aaberg tunes (or if they hold me to the album rule, i'd pick his "Out of the Frame" album), "One More Remains" by Alter Bridge, "Joe Satriani" by Joe Satriani, something good by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and "Best of Bach".

Then I'd go crazy because I forgot something I'd have wanted even more.

Wikipedia is the greatest thing to hit the internet since Google.

There are some things you can't find on the intenet. Believe me, I've tried.

Steve Irwin was a great man, and the world has lost much for his death. He was no Tim Treadwell (from Grizzly Man)...I'd have to think some more to back up that statement, but I do believe that these guys were different. Steve was exhuberant, Tim was crazy. Steve knew what the animals could do to him, and was a conservationalist. Tim thought he was immortal, and that he was ONE of the animals...he was just nuts. I'd have to ponder it some more.

If your child says they don't want to take piano lessons, find some way for them to keep it up, or make it fun for them. I have yet to meet someone who was sorry they took piano lessons; I have met many who are sorry that they didn't continue.

Country music has no redeemable qualities except to illustrate the lives of people who are more miserable than you.

Praise and Worship music is almost as bad as country, for the most part (but not for the same reason).

The man isn't alive who won't look at some great cleavage when it appears.

In Jamaica, Adventist musicians are taken for granted and under-appreciated. It's not easy to play the piano/organ every weekend, and calling it "The Lord's Work" applies only when you're at your home church. If you ask someone to come from their church to play for your choir or your church, you better be ready to offer some form of assistance. He/she is doing you a favour if it's free, and the worker is worthy of his hire. In the same vein, don't ask someone to play for a wedding and expect it to be free. You're paying everyone else; why should the music be gratis?

Funerals are a different story; but you should still offer or something.

Facebook messed up in their new re-design. There is going to be fallout from that, wait and see.

Adventists, seriously, don't decide to go the non-SDA route. You're depriving some deserving SDA person of a wonderful spouse, and trying to convert a non-SDA for the wrong reason. Now you've gone and made 3 people miserable. Or two, if God decides to carry your intended spouse to another option while you do your own thing...

I nearly went the non-SDA route. Twice seriously, and once semi-seriously.

No, i won't tell what happened, at least not on this site :)

The day Jamaica's leaders put country over party, and the day Jamaicans start taking themselves and each other seriously and start to suck up some deprivations in order for a long-term benefit is the day this country lifts off like a Saturn V rocket.

I am going to KILL this freakin' mosquito in my office!

Rain on a zinc roof is the best sleeping aid ever. And the best aphrodisiac too. No, I don't know the second one from personal experience, but my time is gonna come...

The only reason I would buy an xBox 360 is to play Halo 3, and the only reason I'd get the new PS3 is for the next Grand Theft Auto.

just wanted to reiterate my last blog to credit card people; y'all SUCK.

American food is fattening and gets its flavour from the oil. They need more spices in the mix.

I hate the "game." Why do I have to be fake or do what I don't want to do in order to get what I desire? Why can't I be myself and have someone be attracted to me; why must I "generate" it?

If you're bored, it's your own fault. Find something to do, whether it's productive or not.

"Boomtown" isn't coming back and I have to forgive NBC at some point in time.

Nah, they're still idiots. I may watch that one show though, just because of Aaron Sorkin.

I got the little cabron, hahahahaha!!!

I hope I can make it to GYC this year.

Finally for now, I think that taking piano lessons again is going to be a very good thing in more ways than one. I'm not sure what the other benefits besides the obvious will be, but i feel that they are there. We will see what transpires.

drowning under tons of debt? priceless

If you’re reading this and you work at/with a credit card company, I just want to tell you that you suck. Shylock would look at you and cross the road because he doesn’t want to be associated with you. Tell your boss that I said he/she can kiss my nether regions. The system is so rigged to keep people down, it’s not even funny. The WORST part of it all is that it’s not those who spend recklessly that get screwed the most, it’s those to whom life happens (lose a job, get sick, big move, etc) and then fall into hardship. Do the financial companies care? Take a wild guess.

You predators make me sick.

Just when u thought he was dead...

...he pops up with new pics of the Jamaican countryside and fascinating (to him) hydrology information! hahaha. First off, let me just say good riddance to August. It's the month of my birth and I usually love it, but this August was just stressful for me in so many ways and I am not sorry to see the back of it.

Anyways.

Yesterday, I went on yet another investigation for my job, this time looking at possible sources of silt in the Dry Harbor Mountain basin. Apparantly, there is a hydroelectric power plant located on a river, and they reported having issues with their intake getting clogged with silt that was coming from outside the area, since that silt was all brown and sandy; but the dam is in a marly limestone region with white dirt. The river rises out of this AWESOME blue hole at the foothills of the Cockpit country, and there is at least one known river that sinks about 20 miles to the southeast of the blue hole which connects to it.

So.

We, the WRA crew made our way firstly to the headwaters of this smaller river in Manchester, outside of Spaulding. See the pic with a small river in this sandy river bed (for the life of me, i can't figure out how to put these pics where I want them to go.) We didn't actually go to the actual headwaters, but stopped off right below where it pops up. Some Rural Water Development people are building a treatment site near there, so we checked it out to see if it could be a potential silt site. It COULD be, but with the relatively small volume of water at this location, I wouldn't hold my breath on it. The soil here was pretty hard and clayey, stuck together.

Next, we went to the place where the river sinks into the karstic limestone. If you don't know what karstic means, go ask your geology teacher ;) There's one pic where the river seems to flow right under the limestone outcrop; that's the low flow sink. The other pic with the whole bunch of bambo debris and the other pic staring into a dark crevasse with bamboo debris is the high flow sink...and I would not want to be there at high flow! The debris was piled up from the last major flood event (Hurricane Ivan) and hasn't been cleared yet. As per the course for this place. One note about the crevasse pic; you can clearly hear the water flowing off under the rocks to points known in routes unknown. Where does this water come out? We got a soil sample here, regular river sand...

Then we took a long haul into St. Ann, through Browns Town and into the edge of the Cockpit Country where the Rio Bueno rises up. See the Blue Hole pics. From this point, the river flows to the sea, and gets dammed for useage. We checked it all out, went down to the dam head and the hydro station, saw these two people having sex in the river with no shame, and made our conclusion. Basically, the dam people have to suck it up and build a better intake, plus dredge their dam more often. :)

Anyways, that's what i've been up to. Hope you like the pics...back to lurking and chilling until i get inspired again. Thanks to those who left comments, I only just got them! I will be getting more notice of them now, so please let me know you read all this.