The Kings are Konquering Grenada: Welcome Week at SGU

Friends and family, I know you have been dying for more stories and photos. I apologize for not blogging nearly as much as I said I would. Despite not having a job, I’ve managed to stay relatively busy. First, doing anything here takes longer than it would at home because I have to either walk or catch public transportation. Second, I didn’t realize how much goes into running a household! I plan the dinner menu for a week at a time and do the grocery shopping. But I can’t go grocery shopping just once a week. Without a car I can only purchase as much as I can carry so I walk to the grocery store at least a couple times a week. We also live up a BIG hill from either grocery store I choose to go to, so it takes extra effort for me (and time) to walk back from the store. Only one of the grocery stores has good produce so I have to plan a special trip for fresh fruits and veggies. Cooking dinner every night also takes a while. I’ve made some really good, quality meals though! I’m rather proud of the dormant cooking skills I didn’t know I had. I also clean the house and do laundry, which now includes hanging it out on a line to dry. This takes careful planning as the frequent and sudden rain showers can really put a damper on the laundry process. That was funny, right? I’m going to the campus gym twice a week and volunteering at an orphanage and after school program twice a week. I also try to go to the pool once or twice a week. Throw in those extras like baking for a bake sale last week, going to the crab races and catching a movie on the 2 for 1 movie night and I keep busy enough. The ongoing joke here among the SOs is that you can really only do one, maybe two, things a day because everything runs on Grenada time. Now that you know what a typical week looks like for me, let me go back to tell you some more about our past experiences.

As Jade and I were getting acquainted with our new home in that first week we were also going to campus every day for Welcome Week events and activities. Unfortunately Welcome Week here is not like Welcome Week at UCA, or wherever else you might be familiar with that first week of college. It could have used some more organization and structure. Part of getting acquainted with Grenada was adjusting to the heat and part of Welcome Week was doing a lot of waiting around in long lines, usually outside. Most of the get to know you conversations with the strangers in line revolved around the excruciating heat and how no one was sure they’d live to see the next week. I’m happy to report that both Jade and I have finally adjusted to the warmth. It took about a month, but being outside isn’t instantly miserable anymore.

We took a campus tour in the heat of the day with two orientation leaders who spoke too quietly. We didn’t learn much about the campus or its buildings, but we did learn our way around and realized how lucky we were to now call this place home, if only for two years. Campus is beautiful. Grenada is beautiful.

The Student Center has the gym, a bank and food

In front of the Student Center looking toward the bus stop

Campus has a lot of hills, but with the hills come great ocean views!

The memorial to the US for helping keep the students safe during the invasion

Campus is literally on the cliff side overlooking the sea- it's beautiful!

The library

My favorite spot on campus!

We sat through a couple orientation sessions in one of the large lecture halls where, coincidentally, the air conditioning had gone out. It was difficult to concentrate on the information being given when we were all melting in our seats. We got a locker and mailbox assignment and picked up Jade’s term one textbooks. We noticed students taking rolling suitcases with them to get their books and now we understand why. We took a bus tour to show us where the grocery stores and the other campus were. We registered for Jade’s classes and got photo IDs. Even I get one! There was also an SO meet and greet where I got a ‘welcome to the island’ type packet from the SO group. It was my first opportunity to meet some of the other wives, fiancés and girlfriends. Everyone introduced themselves to the group, introduced their student, told what program s/he was in, said where they were from, told how long they had been married (if they were married), how many children they had (if they had children), when they arrived to the island, and what they were most excited about. At the time I was able to say Jade and I had been married for two weeks. We were definitely the newest and the room gave us a little cheer.

One day there was an optional hike that we signed up for. One of the ways in which the university was lacking organization is that it required students to sign up for a day and time to take the hike, but didn’t use that number to plan it seemed. There were not enough busses to fit all the students who showed up for the hike and they didn’t use the list of those who had signed up. It was a bit crazy. After waiting around in the heat, we finally got onto a bus and began the journey to St. George’s (often referred to as just ‘the city’). I believe there were six busses total. We did not truly know where we were going, what to expect, or what to bring because that information wasn’t provided, but I had heard that there would be waterfalls and monkeys, so I of course packed a banana. We drove along the beautiful Carenage and up winding roads where you could literally feel the temperature change as you climb in elevation. We had a little rain shower on the way, which also made the air feel great. We drove into this lush, green forest and pulled over to begin the hike. We mysteriously lost some of the busses however. Without instruction (or none that I heard) we began playing follow the leader as we passed exotic plants and flowers heading to some unknown destination. Minutes later we arrived at Grand Etang Lake, an extinct submarine volcano near the center of Grenada. It was very serene and still. We took advantage of the photo op before an orientation leader started gathering the group. He indicated the direction of the hike and warned that it would be muddy because of the rain we experienced on our way up. Some people were in flip flops and I was just glad not to be one of them. The large group began to slowly make their way and we thought at the rate we were going it would take forever. Shouldn’t be much of a hike if we’re barely walking along. Well, it eventually did thin out- just in time to discover that the trail, only wide enough for one person at a time, was one large mud slick and was only getting worse with each set of feet that passed over it. Jade decided the school did it as a team building activity to make the students grow closer because everyone had to grab onto everyone else and support one another to prevent a chain reaction group slide down the mountain. It was downright treacherous! Because of where we were in the group people in the front had already been to the top and had begun coming back down. They said the waterfalls weren’t up there at all and that it was a rather anticlimactic view of the same lake we’d just been to. With bug bites, scrapes from unknown plants and mud-caked shoes Jade and I got almost to the top, got a great picture and headed back down. We were told that the top was relatively small so they weren’t allowing you much time before they asked you to head back down and make room for others. The trip down was even more difficult as gravity desperately wanted you to slide down in the mud. I made it without falling, but Jade and some others were not so lucky. My shoes and socks are permanently stained and I still can’t get the mud stains out from Jade’s shorts.

The Carenage in the distance, a natural bay in St. George's

A typical house

Driving up into the middle of the island

The big group headed to the lake and hike

Grand Etang Lake

The view from near the top of the hike

MUD

We made it back to the busses (which have a no food and no wet clothing policy, but evidently mud is okay) where I learned we were now heading to the waterfalls. It turns out half the busses went there first and half went to the hike. With the shape the trail was in for us I felt really bad for the second group. We arrived to another section of forest further down the mountain where it was just a short walk to a beautiful waterfall. People were already jumping into the pool by the time we got to it. There was a local man putting on a show for us by jumping from the rocks high above. Jade and I attempted washing off our shoes just as the orientation leaders were asking us to return to the busses. The hike had taken too much time and all the students were supposed to be back to campus for something. I’d realized I never saw any monkeys and Jade said they were back at the lake. Later someone said that they don’t often come out when there are THAT many people around. I’ll just have to go back with a few friends!

Driving from the hike to the waterfall

The plant life here reminds me a lot of Maui; I've seen a lot of the same flowers.

The waterfall through the trees- I wish I knew which waterfall we went to!

This local man was jumping for cheers

Students jumped from this lower spot

National Cricket Stadium

Also that week was a bazaar hosted by the Student Government Association of SGU. Each student was given tickets for coming to an SGA presentation that were good for food at the bazaar. There were restaurants from around the area and various food vendors. There were also booths for the grocery stores (to get frequent shopper cards), beverage distributers, apartment complexes, etc. The live music was a steel drum group, which was really cool. Jade and I shared his tickets and got steak on a stick, Indian food, Thai food, a slice of pizza and two smoothies. It was pretty cool! In a different area all the student organizations had booths set up for students to learn more about them and find out how to get involved. Jade joined the surgery club and I paid my dues for the SO group. It was a really fun evening!

And while this technically didn’t occur during Welcome Week, it was pretty close. The White Coat Ceremony was really neat for Jade and I. We dressed up and went to campus extra early so that I could get a seat. The ceremony took place in the campus’ largest lecture hall. It could accommodate all the students and some guests. Additional guests could sit in another auditorium and view the ceremony from a screen. I did not want to be one of those people, so we made sure to arrive extra early- or so we thought. We went to the building where the ceremony was and there was already a large group of people waiting outside the doors. The group rushed the doors when they opened and I had to squeeze in with Jade’s humongous backpack that he left me with. You know the one. His turtle shell I call it. I just barely made it in before they started turning people away. Whoever organized the ceremony should have marked off the rows for students and instructed guests to sit behind those rows. Guests had already claimed seats when someone announced that rows A through P were for students only, as there were over 600 medical students. The unlucky guests that had already sat before row P had to move to the other auditorium and I felt so bad for them. I can’t believe how many guests there were! I know there are over 100 significant others (I don’t know if that includes children), but I think a lot of parents moved their kids down here to medical school. Anyway, the ceremony ran about two hours and had several speakers. It was neat to learn the history of the school and hear a pep talk for the students. In groups of 10 to 15 the students walked on stage after their name and home state or country was announced, gave their white coat to the person behind them and had their coat put on for them. Each student only got a moment of glory, but it was so neat to see their faces in the process. Jade was all smiles, and I’m sure I was, too. The school hosted a hors d’oeuvres reception after the ceremony where we got to munch on some great treats.