yay for visitors!

Okay, so yesterday was definitely a very interesting day for me. The brunners arrived at the airport. Earl called me from the airport as a i was leaving work. My office is only about 20 minutes from the airport so i was running a little late but i thought i'd be fine. I stopped to get gas, as i pulled out of the gas station i looked both ways, i was good to go, and i pulled out onto the main street. Jamaicans have a terrible habit of just stopping in the middle of the street for no apparent reason. I slammed on the brakes but alas it was too late! I definitely recommend my car (a old jeep cherokee) because it is a tank and nothing can hurt it. However, the person i rear ended was not so lucky. Three hours later (with embassy guards to back me up) I finally finished giving my statement at the police station. My statement was written down in long hand on white lined paper. I also collected several phone numbers from the police officers and even a marriage proposal from the chief inspector. I would venture to say it was quite a success visit, esp considering its my very first experience going to a police station in a foreign country.

Finally almost 2 hours later i collected the brunners at the airport. I am a terrible host. Well, in an effort to make it up to them we went straight from the airport to port royale (the former pirate capital of the world). Most of the city sunk into the sea during an earthquake in 1692. However, there is still an old fort there, left over from british days, that was still pretty cool to look at. Here is a pic of my unfortunate guests inside a lookout tower (i always forget how short people were in the 17th and 18th centuries).

During yet another earthquake in 1907 the fort's ammunition house also encountered some issues. Its actually called the giddy house because trying to walk inside makes one "giddy". I scoffed at the tour guide, obviously i would have no problems walking in the house. However, apparently i'm human too. It totally weirded me out.

We also saw the grave stone for a very famous port royale resident. You should be able to read the stone but basically he was swallowed up in the earth during the 1692 earthquake and then was spit back up. He went on to live another 40 yrs. I figure if he can survive that i shouldn't complain about my life :)

And to switch topics, i finally finished my last "project" for my house. I have wanted to hang these up for ages. However, living alone definitely has its disadvantages. i couldn't figure out how to do it by myself and get all the measurement right at the same time. Luckily, i talked earl and vickie into helping out :)