It's a Boy!

We can hardly believe our time on the island this term is coming to an end!  It doesn’t seem possible that we could be heading back to the US already, but we have to get in that mindset as we prepare to pack up again.  We’ll actually be home Thursday, but not before we go turtle watching one more time!  Time flies when you’re having fun!

As usual, I’m long overdue for a regular update on our life.  In a past post I talked about how I was gearing up for the Grensave International Food & Drink Festival, which took place in early March.  Several SO volunteers put in some good time preparing both the overall event and the American booth that would be there.  On the day of the event Marieke and I arrived pretty early to unload her car full of supplies and to help wherever we could.  A few countries were already there setting up and we jumped around between the American booth and general event setup.  A good portion of our time we spent at the gates collecting entrance fees from cars as they drove in.  Both of our husbands arrived at different times so we took breaks to enjoy the festival and go eat with them.  It was so awesome to see how many different countries are represented on this little island and be able to taste their culture.  I couldn’t possibly name all the booths there, but I especially enjoyed Brazil’s brigadeiros (little chocolate truffles rolled in coconut), China’s spring rolls, Venezuela’s little meat sandwiches and the smells coming from South Korea’s booth, even though I didn’t get to try any of their food before it sold out.  The SOs asked for donations of baked goods to sell and we received some really amazing treats.  Everything sold and we were able to give Grensave a donation of EC$664.25.  There were performances in addition to the food, activities for kids and other goods and crafts for purchase.  It was really a neat thing to be a part of.  We were worn out by the day’s end.

Though I had my camera with me, I was too busy to take any photos so all of these are courtesy of Emily Vacek.

Our awesome table decorations by the talented Becca

Marieke and I in front of the boards and video we made for Grensave

The Americans selling baked goods

Since then, Marieke and I have been into the Grensave office on numerous occasions helping with other projects.  I’ve written an article on behalf of Grensave that is supposed to get published any week now.  I actually sent two versions to the director, so I’ll share whichever version gets printed in a later post.  Last time we went in we sorted donations for a large sale they were having.

Jade’s birthday was just a couple days after the festival.  It was their midterm week so we weren’t able to do much to celebrate on the actual day, but we did eat a nice dinner.  I got him an obscure gift, but something I knew he would absolutely love.  Wait for it…

Yes, a machete.  That face says it all, doesn’t it?

Jade’s on his way to becoming a doctor with the instruments mom and dad got him.  Here’s another happy face.

Came in the form of an email; he'll get them soon though

That will be Dr. J King in a few years!

My friend Becca and I threw a joint birthday party for Jade and her husband Dean on the weekend following midterms.  Becca is a brilliant designer and awesome chef, so their party was really cool!  We made all sorts of treats and a lot of our friends joined us to celebrate the halfway point of the term and the boys’ birthdays. 

The day after the party Jade and I went hashing.  It was Jade’s first hash and we brought along another couple who hadn’t gone before.  It ended up being a fairly intense hash, but it was a lot of fun.  Right on cue the rain began to pour as the first runners hit the trail.  And I mean it when I say it poured.  We had no choice but to make a run for it in order to not sink into the earth.  I could only partially see because the water just kept running into my eyes and flooding my contacts.  What could you do but laugh?  We all looked like drowned rats.  At one point we had to use a rope to climb up a big hill because it was too steep to climb without one.  The views were well worth it and photos could never capture the breathtaking views you get on a hash in Grenada.

Us with David and Holly BEFORE the rain

We ended up at the top of that hill at one point!

The hash party afterwards was a typical hash party and I got to watch Jade earn his certificate like I did mine.  The photos of him getting sprayed with beer didn’t come out well because it was dark, but you can see the aftermath here.

The national dish, oil down, is usually served at the hash parties.

And here is a good example of just how dirty we got!  That definitely isn’t a tan line.

A few weeks later was the photography auction benefiting Grensave.  It was held by the SOO and planned by my friend, Emily.  Many SOs donated their photos from the island and a couple others donated their skills in the form of photo session packages.  There were even a couple photos of mine that made it into the auction.  We also sold brownie and ice cream sundaes, which were a big hit.  The auction raised almost $2,000!  It was an event I’d really been looking forward to and one I’m really proud to have been a part of.

The next week a group of SOs went to Annandale Falls and JessamineEden Botanical Gardens.  The falls and gardens are near the rain forest in the middle of the island.  There are so many different types of trees and flowers that grow here.  It’s really neat to just be able to walk through and photograph them.  While I’d been to the waterfall before, I’d never been to the gardens.  They were well kept and expansive.  The owners even have an apiary and sell different stages of raw honey.  While we were there a nice man explained the different types of honey and gave us a taste test of each.  We also tried honeybee pollen, which was kind of neat.  It was a really gorgeous place that I’d recommend everyone here go to at least once.

Over the long Easter weekend a small group of us went to Carriacou, another Grenadian island.  It was an incredible trip that deserves its own blog post, complete with pictures.  More on that later!

Since being more involved this term, it has flown by even faster than the last.  I’ve been spending a lot of time wrapping up everything for my treasurer position and getting ready to pass all financial information along to the next treasurer.  I’ll be serving on the board again next term, but this time as the fundraising coordinator.  I’m really looking forward to it!

We’re finally able to say my parents and Jade’s little sister are planning to come visit us in February!  We’re so excited about it we can hardly wait!  I’ve already been thinking about all the things we’re going to take them to do.  It’s one thing to tell your loved ones about your awesome experiences, but another thing to actually share it with them.

Jade and I unexpectedly became parents to a kitten recently.  He was found by some friends in the bush behind their apartment complex.  They kept him while trying to find a home for him, but had to move him faster than expected when Emily started having allergies because of him.  We took him in and there was no going back.  Benny is our new baby and yes, even Jade loves him (Jade called him ‘son’ the other day).  I’m really excited to have Benny and take him back to Arkansas with us this summer!

Benny snoozing against Jade's hand

He also likes to cuddle with the mop

Benny is very playful, but he's so fast that we can't take good pictures of him awake!

See everyone soon!