So we’re moving. Amber decided a few weeks ago that our apartment wasn’t quite big enough. It turns out that there was a guy trying to sublet his two-bedroom apartment in the next building. We went and looked at it a few weeks ago and decided we were ready for a change. It’s being cleaned this week, and we should be able to start transferring our stuff over by the weekend. We should have at least a week to get everything moved over, and it’s just across the parking lot so it shouldn’t be too bad. Now if we were only more prepared…

All good things must come to an end. We’re just passing over Cuba on our flight back to Chicago. Unfortunately, our honeymoon had a pretty lackluster finish. We woke up yesterday morning to rain and this time it didn’t dry up quickly. It rained most of the morning and stayed overcast until early evening. The worst was the wind, which forced them to close down all water sports for the whole day. Since we had planned on snorkeling in the morning, the weather pretty much blew our entire day.

We did end up meeting a few older couples in one of the hot tubs, and I wound up playing sand volleyball with them for most of the afternoon. It was fun, but I definitely would have preferred to be doing something else and I’m sure Amber was bored just watching.

The way our schedule worked out today, we had time to go snorkeling this morning, but because we had to have our bags packed and be out of the room by 11AM, it just didn’t seem feasible to keep out swimsuits and a change of clothes. We spent most of the morning watching other people have fun.

All in all, it’s been a pretty sweet trip, and we’re definitely looking forward to going back sometime in the future.

The second tour we chose involved a jeep excursion followed by a trip up Dunn’s River Falls. The tour was operated by the same company as the canopy tour, and this one didn’t disappoint.

Our jeep seated eight people total, plus our guide, Peter. Fortunately, he’s one of the few Jamaican’s we encountered off the resort who spoke clear English. After we picked up some other people, Peter took us up into the mountains, through some small communities and onto a large cattle ranch. Along the way we stopped several times so he could explain Jamaican history and culture, as well as show us specific plants and landmarks. He also took us off road at unexpected times. The roads themselves are bad enough, so we’ll probably be stiff tomorrow.

Some of the things we learned:

• Irie = things are good.
• Coffee plants don’t smell like coffee at all – the flowers are sweet smelling.
• Banana trees have hard cores with very fine fibers inside, while the outer layers are soft and spongy. (And they only take 9 months to grow big enough to bear bananas.)
• There’s some kind of fruit that grows on trees and can get as big as 50 pounds each.
• In order to mine limestone and bauxite, mining companies built a six mile conveyor belt to carry the minerals to port.
• There are only five rivers in Ocho Rios (not eight).
• Starting at age three children attend Basic school, then elementary from first to sixth grade, and high school starting with seventh grade.
• Jamaica has the most churches per square mile of any country in the world. (There’s always a bar close by, too.)
• You don’t need a working speedometer or gas gage to drive people around in a jeep all day.
• Guava = Jamaican Viagra.
• Goats = Jamaican Reindeer.
• Blue Mountain (where the best coffee comes from) gets over 300 inches of rain each year.
• Pimento leaves have the flavors of cloves, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

The last part of our tour involved climbing up the falls. I’m not talking about hiking to the top for a nice view, but climbing straight up the middle as the water swirls around you. The guides made everyone form a human chain which is helpful at times, but mostly just annoying, because a lot of the people weren’t as nimble as we were. It was pretty fun, but a little chilly. Since we didn’t have anything but flip flops, we had to rent nasty aqua shoes out of some ladies car. That sucked, but it wasn’t enough to tarnish the rest of the trip. All in all, another really fun tour, and well worth the extra cost.

Today we headed over to Sandal’s Ocho Rios. There’s a free shuttle about every hour and we wanted to check it out. It was nice, but definitely not as nice as Dunn’s River. They have seperate little villas as part of the resort over there so things are a lot more spread out and a little more secluded. Here, most everything is located just off a large central plaza with two pools and lots of lounging space.

While we were over there we took a spin on a Hobie Cat which was pretty fun, so we’ll probably try and do it a few more times before we leave. We also had lunch at a buffet over there, but it wasn’t much different than anything here. Unfortunately we lost our chance to go snorkeling today by going over there. We’ll have to make time for it either tomorrow afternoon or Saturday.

Anyway, after seeing what the other resort was like, we were really glad we ended up where we did. It seems to be a slightly younger crowd (we’re still some of the youngest) and it definitely seems to fit us better.

Wednesday evening the staff set up a guest and staff talent show. There’s a team of people responsible for entertainment, so they were the main acts, but there were a few other members of the staff from behind the scenes and a few guests that performed as well. There was one really good rendition of Collide by Howie Day; it was pretty strange to hear those sounds coming from a Jamaican band and singer but it was very true to the original. One guy played a pretty mean sax, and there were a few guests who had some singing talent.

There was one act that just stuck out as the worst of the night. This woman willingly got up on stage and totally butchered At Last. A don’t think she hit a single correct note for the whole song, yet her friends were all cheering her on to be louder and crazier. The worst: when the song finally ended and everyone felt obligated to clap and cheer when no one in their right mind could have enjoyed her performance. A few more drinks and I might not have noticed. Despite the low point, it was a fun evening and one of the only events setup by the staff that we’ve attended.

Parts I and II done, just III to go. (That’s photos, ceremony and reception.) See you after Jamaica!

After we clenched a playoff spot last week, we came back again with a sub for a different one of our regulars. He helped us jump out to an early lead in our division. He’s a better bowler than all of us, so I was joking around with Chris that I was going to try to beat him in the third game. And suddenly I started hitting the pocket every time. Before I knew it, we were in the 8th frame and I hadn’t missed a pin yet (5 strikes and 3 spares). I left the 9th open, but managed to spare in the tenth to finish with a 204 – my first ever game over 200 and one pin over Chad. As a team we were only 6 pins under a scratch win. Rock on!

Some people have a knack for putting things into words better than I ever could. One of Leigh’s recent Xanga entries is something I can definitely relate to. I think I’m a little less concerned about the future as far as my career goes, but that’s just because I still haven’t figured out what I want it to be. I’m trying really hard right now to focus on NOW. Things are good and I don’t need to go screwing it up worrying about the rest (more than is necessary).

Currently Playing: Cary Brothers – Blue Eyes from the Garden State Soundtrack

Wish enough, wise man’ll tell you a lie
Window broke, torn up screens
Who’d have thought that you’d dream
Of a single tragic scene

Cause Blue Eyes
You’re the secret I keep
Cause Blue Eyes
I just wanna sing a song with you…

Or maybe Hazel Eyes.