**on-site Trip Report ~~ [[ Thursday evening ]]....8/18

[smith744]

Yep..!!..
:-)
I'm here

nothing has changed
within the past 5-months
same-oh same-oh

[smith744]

landed @ 11:05 Jamaica time
and out the airport door in quick quick fashion

'twas the sweetest zip-zip thru customs/immigrations i've ever experienced

more on all that pre-arrival/flight stuff later

right now, i'm too-too tired
...only 'bout 10 hours sleep over the past 4 days
.......long story

nevertheless, about 1-hour ago
i was recline-ing on my bed in-country
almost dozing off
...listening to my landlord fill me in on all the *stuff* that's gone-down since I left

* Wow *

IF i were to post the stuff he told me, your computer would blow-up
I'd be banned from the board, Negril, & Jamaica

but of course, moi beign moi do-tend to chat-too-much
so,
stay tuned
i've got some hum-dingers
...AND:::>> i've only been here 6+ hours

anyhooooooooo.....
moving right along

i was sleepy
super sleepy

but had to get-TO Lucea town to pick-up a few things
and to handle some bizness::::::>> e.g., a Ja$100 phone card, some munchies, a few toilet items, and other this & thats

details later

oh
oh
oh::>> I do got some pics for you-all
nice stuff
AND:::>> this trip:::>there WILL be nuff videos
lol
lol
lol
lol
lol
*we* gonna have some fun with this trip report
lol
lol
lol
Trust me..!!!..

anyhoo...

skipping over some stuff to get back to & post later
lemme say this::::>> in brief, the *plan* for this trip *was* suppose to "..Do NOTHING.." [period]

NOT one cotton pickin' ting-y

but, for some reason
un-be-knownst to me
if/when i still & be quiet, and lay-low for 5 itty-bity minutes, something or somebody(s) in-evitable-ly *pops* up to mash-up my *plan*

* sigh *

for example:::>. 'member:::>> i was tired
vision blurry
stumble-ing as i walk
don't know my name
draggin' along
brain dead

then::>> it dawned on me:::>> i was hungry
Duh..!!..

you-see, prior to leaving
i'd been doing some a serious fasting thing-y

my system is clean clean clean
from lots of fresh fruits, veggies, juices

the problem with this pre-trip practice is that when you get hungry, you REALLY get hungry, and if you don't eat something you can feel sleepy.

so,
as a consequence, my entire alimnetary(?) canel is empty-empty
...the stewardests on the airplane can verify, if you don't believe me
.....'cause i walked up & down that aisle quite a few times

anyhoooo...

i saw the orange man
we exchanged fist-bumps
".Welcome back."
he peeled
i gave him Ja $30

oh
oh
oh:::>> money-wise

this trip today's exchange rate is the same as it was from my last trip
....i have my notes/journal/daily expense data

again::>> as with the last, the plan is US Ja $20 per day
shouldn't be too hard
prices so far, seem 'bout the same for most stuff

so,
i'm sucking my orange

a *new* Lucea-face circles me
...at least, the *face* was new to mehe's watching me

i ignore him

oh
oh
oh::::>> i've got to shoot a '.sucking orange video.' for you-all

soon come

continueing

circle-ing guy finally makes his move

wants ME to buy him an orange

i lean over
really really close to his ear
and whispers:::>>> "..No.... sorry.."

"..Why.."

"..'cause i don't have the money."

he frowns & moves away
..and is greeted by some somebody he knows, who knows him
......dem friends apparently

they chat about CashPot

cho..!!!..
he play CashPot
and wanna ask ME to buy him an orange

lol

i DON'T thinks so

[[ continue-ing in a few minutes ]]

[Manda81]

This is like when a commercial comes on and all you want to do is watch the show! hurry hurry

[marley9808]

Yes! A smith trip report! I feel like I won the lotto as it doesn't seem like it was that long ago when he was there last, so yay!
I'm here and I'm ready for the reporting, the " I'll talk about that laters" and the roaming laptop webcam movies!
Woo hoo!!!

Bring it on mr smith! So glad you're back!

[justchuck]

Glad to see you are back on the rock, I'm enjoying your ramblings!

[Nick]

I look forward to your vacation Smith.

[smith744]

almost-IMMEDIATE-ly i felt invigorated
revived
good to good
refreshed
like new (somewhat)

so,
i scurried over to the soup man

got a nice big cup of DELICIOUS chicken soup

:-)

felt better-er

saw the jelly coconut man
...not my regular man
......another one
........saw my regular-man earlier but he sell-off all his coconuts

new-guy gave me a HUGH jelly
HAD-to have been 2-gallons of water inside
ummmmmmmmmmmmmm
*maybe* 1-1/2 gallons

bottom-line::::>> i'm tip-top
getting perky-er by the minute, as we *speak*

oh
oh
oh:::>> while sitting there minding my bizness eating my soup

this lady,
whom i KNOW i don't know from Adam or Eve
...smiles *that*-smile
.....and walks up to me ----- like she knew me

* sigh *

here we go again

* sigh *

no biggie
i'm feeling my oats

"..Hi... haven't seen you in a long time...."
"..Good to see you too.....the reason you hadn't seen me is because i've been in jail in Kingston ... just released..."

she not sure whether to belive me or not

"..Buy me a soup.."

"..no can do... no money ... 'member i just got of prison.... but when i find a job, i'll buy you a soup, 'cause i wanna see your pretty-smile even prettier when you eat that soup.."

then i reach down
..patted the two gigantic black plastic bags she was totting
.....chock-full of food stuffs.

mi-SAY::::>> "..ummmmmmm.. those bags tell me you're doing really well for yourself.."

she walks away

so it set

oh
oh:::::>>> i forgot to go to the hardware store
..to get some ".Stop Leak."

'cause it rained hard this afternoon
:-(
in FACT, it' been raining a lot
according to the reports i've been getting from multiple sources

So::>> you coming down soon..??..
betta do like i'm doing RIGHT NOW::::>> wearing my water boots

you gotta see the video i shot today...this afternoon
...of the rain storm in-country
....this ".liquid sunshine." video is for all you's rain lovers

got some good shots of the mud & deep potholes for ya

been raining so hard
that it's not unusual for Lucea-town to flood so bad that cars & some vans/buses can't get thru town to Negril or to airport
...they gotta take a detour

ummmmmmmmmmm...
*wonder* why nobodys posted trip reports on that-FACT

oh well

new subject

earlier
at the house
in country
had hunger pangs

Landlord had cooked earlier
so,
we *shared* the meal::::>>>> dumplings & yams, with a kingfish sauce

"..what is this..??.." i asked
"..called 'flash-up.' ..... 'cause it's so easy (and quick) to cook.." <<<<:: he said

oh
oh
oh::::>>> the weather::>> Hot..and..Humid
air is damp

it's late
i should get back to country
and work on some pics

opps..!!!..
'bout the Stop Leak
....when it rained, the roof leaked in a spot, over my bed
:-(
yep
we gonna fix that

landlord explained that one of the nail-heads that holds down the zinc was worn, and the StopLeak will fix things

i'm gonna try
but Friday landlord & I 'spose to link-up with his son
...who lives in Canada
....with his *wife* and twins (boy girl)

son is on-island visiting for month
and i wanna see the babies (now toddlers)

i remember when this boy/man hadn't even started high school

* sigh *

he's come a long way

grew-up in Jamaica
got scooped up by a Canadian lady
went to college
graduated in not four, but 3-years
getting ready to work on his masters-degree

anyhoooo

should be a fun-trip/visit to another commnity i've not been to

oh
oh:::>> 'member mi-SAY::>> "..no plans.. not gonna do nuting.."
well,
my Ja-play-dawta sent me an email the other day
...she now lives in Portmore
...opened a computer/internet bizness
....wants me to come visit

* sigh *

SEE what i gotta deal wit


good night you-all

oh
oh
oh:::>> you-all GOTTA see my two new pairs of dress pants
dem soooooooooo nice
hand made

it took my tailor TWO-years to get 'em to me, but but but...that's another long story
details soon come
..and pics too
...maybe within in a couple days ...
.......the back-story is *interesting*

p.s.... i'm looking for a new tailor
any recommendations

[ex-ochigirl]

YAY!!!!!
So glad you're back pon di rock Mr. Smith...
You shoulda seen the big goofy smile on my face when i saw that you posted an 'On Site Trip Report'.

[booger]

Man, I have been jonesing for a trip report, and low and behold we are blessed with a Smith report. Your trip reports bode well with my, hey where's my keys, ADD.

[sunray]

From the comments, sounds like the last trip report was a HIT. How can I find it? Thnx!