Pollyanna the Super Wife

I've been flattered and really excited to have been featured on not one, but two blogs this summer!  And no, one of them isn’t mine.

In June I wrote for my sorority’s blog, Alpha Sigma Alpha.  It’s a neat blog for women of all ages and stages of life.  The topics vary from sorority related to just life related.  It's a single place for stories, perspectives and lessons from women across the country, and I think that's really unique.  I've had so many major life changes over the past year that I was compelled to write about how I’ve adapted to that.  If you want to read my guest post you can check it out here.

This month I was featured on a really great blog called Budget Blonde.  It’s run by my friend and fellow SO, Cat.  Cat’s blog is more professional than your typical SO blog and she is really going somewhere with it.  I’m often impressed by Cat’s wisdom and talents demonstrated in her blog, so I was thrilled and humbled when she asked me to write for her.  This post is about how I do my meal planning and grocery shopping in Grenada.  I hope you'll take the time to check both blogs out!

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!

Sand Angels

One of the most anticipated events since arriving in Grenada has been a trip to watch critically endangered leatherback sea turtles nest on the northern beaches.  Well, I finally did it and it did not disappoint.  If you haven’t seen a leatherback turtle in real life, you cannot imagine how large they are!  Leatherbacks are the largest sea turtles there are.  Rather than a bony shell, they have a thick skin covering on their back that allows them to be flexible.  They can dive deeper than other marine animals and swim faster than any turtle.  The only adult leatherback’s real predator is the human, which says a lot since it is endangered.

Leatherbacks average six to seven feet in length and can weigh anywhere between 550 to 1,500lbs!  They have large, muscular front flippers and big heads that remind me of a dinosaur.  The largest front flippers recorded were 8.9ft in length!  Can you imagine how big the whole turtle was?  Something interesting to think about is that only females come onshore after they’ve entered the water as hatchlings; males do not leave the water.  It stands to reason that most known measurements would be from females then.  If males are generally larger than females, then the largest of the leatherbacks may not have ever been measured!

The northern beaches of Grenada are ideal for them to lay their eggs because the sand is warm (good for producing females) and not too fine.  Very fine sand makes the turtle’s already taxing job that much harder as she propels her 1,000lb body up the beach to dig a deep hole.  The northern beaches, as opposed to Grand Anse Beach, are also less touristy.  Leatherbacks will return to the general area where they hatched many years ago.

The leatherbacks can travel 10,000 miles in a given year!  They often go from the Caribbean to the Arctic Circle, down the west coast of Africa chasing jelly fish, and back to the Caribbean to lay their eggs.  They can be impregnated by multiple males at a time, so they may need to lay eggs three or so times in a season.  One female may lay 100 eggs, return to the sea, and come back on shore a couple nights later to lay another 100 eggs.  She can easily lay 300 or more in a season.  Sadly, 90% of the hatchlings won’t make it into adulthood.  They have many, many predators, including humans who poach them for food.

The Significant Others Organization arranged for a group of SOs to be able to go to Lavera Beach one night.  With a St. Patrick’s Eco-Conservation Tourism Organisation (SPECTO) guide, about twenty three people boarded an SGU school bus at 6:30 and headed to the complete opposite side of the island.  It took about 2-2.5 hours to get there.  First we stopped at the visitor’s center to hear a little presentation on the turtles and then we continued on to the beach. 

Luckily we were prepped ahead of time with all we needed to know.  No DEET bug spray and no flash photography were important to the health of the turtles.  We could only use flashlights with red light, so my guess is turtles cannot see that spectrum of color.  There were quite a few red flashlights in the group so we were all able to see very well.  I had the forethought to borrow a friend’s tripod so I could stable my camera and get the best pictures possible without flash.  Go figure that I discovered on the bus that my battery had gone bad!  I’d charged it all day in preparation for the night’s event and got one photo before it revolted.  I have the worst luck with cameras.

Back to the good stuff… we all stepped onto the sand to find a place to wait.  Many people brought blankets or towels, which was a great idea.  We quietly conversed while SPECTO volunteers and Ocean Spirits workers combed the beach looking for the first turtle to arrive.  The night was calm and mostly clear.  Without any city lights the stars were absolutely incredible.  Just off the beach is a neat, pyramid shaped island, Sugar Loaf, that made an awesome silhouette in the dark. 

We didn’t honestly have to wait that long before one person radioed to another and we were on the move down the beach like a silent army.  We were being led by our guide and each time she paused I anxiously peered around her for the giant turtle.  The group could only approach once the turtle reached a certain stage in the process.  Finally, the guide led us to the spot and instructed us to gather in a U shape around the sides and back of the turtle, but not to obstruct her head, which was facing the ocean.  From the moment I saw her I just kept muttering under my breath things like “wow” and “oh my gosh”.  You cannot fathom how big and powerful they are compared to humans! 

I wasn’t checking the time, but I don’t think she was on land more than thirty minutes.  She came on shore, found her preferred spot and started digging.  As she neared the end of her digging, she signaled with some part of her body that the eggs were ready to come out and she entered a trance.  That was when we gathered.  Two Ocean Spirits workers laid on their stomachs catching each egg as it came out.  With gloved hand they gently placed it in the sandy hole and kept count.  She laid around 94 eggs with about 9 false eggs on top, for a total of 103 eggs.  From what I could see, the eggs are round, as opposed to chicken eggs, and a bit larger than a golf ball.  The unfertilized false eggs at the top of the nest are for added protection in case the nest is looted.  They are noticeably smaller and would not fool a human who was looking for eggs. 

As the turtle laid her eggs, she rid her body of excess salt by excreting it through her eyes.  Thick mucus ran down her face like tears.  One by one we were allowed to gently touch her back before she came out of her trance.  I can’t find an accurate surface to compare the feeling to.  I anticipated skin like an alligator with the texture of an iguana.  It wasn’t.  It was super smooth when you wiped away the sand. 

As she began covering her nest back up, the workers took measurements of her body and noted that she was already tagged and in their system.  They helped fill the hole with sand to make her job a little easier.  She used her body to pack the sand into the nest.  The red flashlights went off and we watched her attempt to cover her tracks by making sand angels.  Her muscular flippers could send sand flying clear down the beach if she wanted to.  Imagine how strong those flippers must be to scoot their bodies up the squishy sand.  Just amazing.

She slowly made her way back to the roaring waves of the ocean.  The waves breaking on the shore were large and would easily topple a grown man with its force.  As she made her way in and the waves crashed over her back, she didn’t budge an inch; a true testament to her weight and size.  A few more waves washed over her and she was gone.  It was such a powerful and moving experience.

The volunteers and workers raked over the nesting site and her track back to the ocean.  While she may camouflage her tracks from animal predators, only another human can camouflage her tracks from a fellow human predator.  The group made its way back to the bus and came across two more leatherbacks: one just finishing the nesting process and another just coming on shore.  Workers were already there doing their job while volunteers were still combing the rest of the beach.  There is no telling how many came to nest that night, but workers and volunteers would be there until sun up.  This happens every night from April to August. 

If you ever get the chance to observe something like that in the wild, without being intrusive, I highly recommend it.  If that doesn’t make you appreciate the beauty and diversity of our planet, I don’t know what will.

Lavera Beach by Becca Thongkham

A long exposure photo of Sugar Loaf Island by Emily Vacek

Courtesy of Emily Vacek

Counting eggs by Becca Thongkham

Courtesy of Becca Thongkham

Me touching the turtle by Emily Vacek

Taking measurements by Becca Thongkham

Courtesy of Emily Vacek

And Then There Were Nine...

Nine boxes of Girl Scout cookies, that is.  Yes, I shamefully admit that my husband and I consumed an entire box of Girl Scout cookies today alone.  We’ll I’ll be more responsible with the rest of them.  I can’t make those kinds of promises for Jade.

Today was just a fantastic day!  I’m getting ahead of myself here because I’ve got a lot to write about from earlier this month, but I think today takes the cake.  So a while back a woman contacted the Significant Others Organization to ask about possibly getting a campus tour for her and her son.  He had been accepted to the SGU School of Medicine for the fall 2012 term and they were going to be in port one day while on a cruise.  Their day in port was going to be a Sunday and the school does not run official campus tours on Sundays.  Our SO president emailed the information out and I volunteered to do the tour.

I contacted Terri via email and began arranging the details of our meeting.  She was so nice and appreciative of me volunteering to do the tour that she offered to bring us items from the States.  Jade and I had just been talking about how spring meant Girl Scout cookies and how bummed we were to miss out on them.  It was the very first luxury item from the States to pop into my head so I gave Terri our two favorite kinds of Girl Scout cookies: Thin Mints and Samoas (which THIS Girl Scout will forever call Carmel Delights).  I was anticipating two boxes, maybe four, but to our great joy and surprise we have had ten boxes of the coveted cookies.  They took up an entire carry-on of their luggage!  Terri and Ryan were also so generous as to share snacks with us today so I scored not one, but two chocolate mint Clif Bars.  It’s the little things, guys.  Jade said my face lit up.

Jade and I took a 7:40 bus to campus to meet Terri and Ryan at 8:00.  While we waited at the security booth one of the security officers chatted it up with us like we were old friends.  He was just SO nice!  He invited us into the booth to see the most updated campus map and looked around for some resources to give us.  Once we stepped inside we saw our landlord, who also bent over backwards to help us get ready for the tour we were about to give.  Within minutes the taxi pulled up and Terri jumped out of the car to give me a hug.  She and her son were just great people!  I took the taxi driver’s number and estimated our tour to last about an hour.  We actually finished our tour in about two hours, but they got to see a lot of campus, including a dorm room.  I know they enjoyed meeting some additional students, too. 

From campus Richard (our taxi driver) took us to True Blue Bay, the hotel they’ll likely stay in when Ryan moves to school.  I had been to the Thursday cooking class and I had eaten at Dodgy Dock, but hadn’t seen the resort.  It’s beautiful!!  It has some really, really stunning features in some of the rooms.  It was neat to see the interior of a place I’d been around the outside of so many times.

We then went past Food Fair and on to Spiceland Mall.  I think it was invaluable for Ryan to be able to walk around the grocery store and hardware store to see what he can and can’t get in Grenada.  That’s one of the things many potential SOs and students get concerned about before coming to the island because we read about how some products are impossible to find.  That may be true with a few things, but unless you are super picky about brands or some specific aspect of a product, you can fairly easily find a substitution that will work.

But not Girl Scout cookies, Starbucks and Sephora.  Nope.  No suitable replacement there.

From the mall we went to Grand Anse campus and Grand Anse Beach where we had a terrific view of their cruise-ship. 

We had just over an hour before they had to report back to the boat, so Richard took us to Clark’s Court Rum Distillery.  It isn’t the best rum distillery on the island to actually see the process, but there was some stuff to look at and they offered free rum tasting.

From there we drove to St. George’s (the city) and up to Fort Frederick to snap a few photos of the area.  Richard took us to a couple more scenic spots for photo ops before getting them to the boat right on time.  We said our farewells and I know we’ll be talking again soon.  We’ll likely see them again in August!

Even our driver, Richard, was awesome.  He was kind, accommodating, patient, very informative and absolutely pleasant to talk to.  This should be a given, but he also drove really well.  For those that know the roads here and what it can be like to drive or ride around the island, that’s a great thing.  Richard was filling in for his uncle today, but I will definitely be using their service in the future for any of my taxi needs.  For anyone else who is interested, it’s Augustine Mitchell with K’s Taxi Service at 473-414-2738, 473-458-7717, or auguskay@hotmail.com. 

To top the day off, my wedding dress sold online!  I’d been trying to sell it since November or December and just when I was losing hope, someone came through.  I’m so glad it can make another bride as happy as it did me.


It was just a lovely day full of great experiences and great company!  And who knows, maybe SGU will endorse me for weekend campus tours in the future.  Will work for cookies...

A Happy, Belated Birthday

I know I’m off to a rough start with the blog this semester (good thing it wasn’t a New Year’s resolution).  I’ve had ideas for all kinds of things I’ve wanted to tell people about, but because I don’t write short blog posts about single events they stack up until I’ve got a month or more of experiences to write about.  Then it takes hours to write, edit, format and publish.  Today you can thank Jade’s grandma, Nora Lee, who told us she’d been checking for blog updates when we called to wish her a happy birthday last week.  So this one’s for you, granny.  Happy belated birthday!

One of the most exciting pieces of news I can share is that we finally know what my sister and brother-in-law are having!  Just like she predicted, they’re having a boy!  They’ve picked out the name Landon, which I just love.  I know my parents are excited to have one of each grandchild and I’m excited to be an aunt again.

On the topic of small things, I wanted to share a photo I took of our one remaining puppy from the litter Vodka had before we left for Christmas break.  All the others were sold and they choose to keep this one.  His name is Buck and he is as sweet as he can be.  He’s a tad clumsy, but that makes him cuter in my opinion.  Buck had some skin issues earlier this month and had to wear a cone, but again, it just made him that much cuter.

Buck

I know you know all about our tiny, beloved sonar frogs, but we had a visit from quite the opposite earlier this month.  This is a cane toad that was waiting for us on the step in front of the main house.  They’re so big and ugly!  It just stares at you as if to say, “I’m not afraid of you.  Do something.  I dare you.”  I stomped at it to see if I could make it jump and it just stared me down.  Jade and I turned our backs for a moment, heard a big splat and twisted around to find it nowhere in sight.  Creepy!

Cane toad

Everything has been great moving back into our house.  Jade and I were both looking forward to returning from the break because this little house is OURS.  If you think about it, we never had a home together in the US so this is our home together.  Our house was spotless and so fresh smelling when we returned thanks to our landlord’s mom.  Most of our curtains had been replaced with nicer ones.

At first, we continued to have the same mosquito problem that we did last semester, but that’s fixed now.  I cannot convey to you my level of relief (my sanity might not have held much longer).  Want to know how the problem was solved?  Jade finally listened to me.  For months we both theorized on how fifty to sixty mosquitoes were magically appearing at dusk, every night, inside our house and we both suggested possible fixes.  Some were tested and some were tossed to the wayside without much consideration.  After about the third time I suggested Jade block off the gap around the pipe behind the toilet, I finally asked him (okay, told him) to do it even though he didn’t see how that could be the problem.  I couldn’t explain it either, but I figured it couldn’t hurt trying.  HALLELUJAH!  Go figure that all it took was some duct tape to keep me from itching off layers of skin all these months.  Husbands should listen to wives more often, right ladies?

It’s also been really great to have some fun stuff to decorate our house with this term.  I brought back fake flowers to put in the bottles above our cabinets for some kitchen décor.  Before anyone jumps to conclusions about our alcohol consumption, let me say that we’ve been living in Grenada for roughly 25 weeks and there are 12 wine bottles up there.  That’s an average of one bottle of wine every two weeks.  No worries!  I really love the way the flowers add some color to all that lime green up there.  The menu board I made at home is also working out perfectly.  It’s so much more fun than writing the week’s meals on sticky notes!  We hung the wedding photos in the living room, which lasted for about a week, but even two Command strips per photo couldn’t keep it on the wall.  I also can’t find a way to hang the K (for King) letter I painted.  These walls are tricky.  Anyone have any suggestions for me?  I’d welcome them.

Some of this week's dinner next to Aunt Polly's smiling face

As you all know, I’m on the board of the Significant Others Organization as treasurer this term.  We have a weekly planning meeting and try to go to as many SO sponsored events as we can.  I spend more time on our finances than I would have expected primarily because I’ve gotten used to on-line baking.  I don’t have that luxury with the SO account so I manage everything the old fashioned way.  It has gone really good so far and I’m enjoying having more commitments and responsibilities. 

Something else that has been taking some of both Jade’s and my time is working out.  At a New Year’s Eve party with some of Jade’s best friends we decided to support one of his groomsmen in getting in shape.  He was telling us about trying to run a 5K in May, a 10K in August and a half marathon in December.  Jade thought that we could do it too, so that’s what we’re shooting for!  It’s been nice having something that Jade and I can work to achieve together and it will be really great when we can support each other running those races together.  We think we have the May race picked out already, which is exciting to now have a specific goal in mind.  We’ve been trying to jog/run every other day with a mixture of indoor treadmill and outdoor runs.  Some days are better than others, but we’re working on it!  I’m proud of us.

One pretty neat event we went to recently was the Work Boat Regatta on Grand Anse Beach.  The regatta is the final weekend of the Grenada Sailing Festival, which is a major sailing event that brings in enthusiasts from all over the world.  The Work Boat Regatta (as I understand it) is the event for locals from all three islands to makeover work boats into sailing boats and race them through a course for cash prizes.  There were different classes so we were able to see different types of boats.  We even saw kids racing little one person boats.  Many of the makeshift masts we saw were constructed of bamboo.  It was also super windy that day, so we saw A LOT of boats tip.  When that happened a motor boat had to rush out to check on the people and to haul the boat into shore.  There were vendors on the beach and music was played.  For part of the time we sat under a tree next to a woman from Carriacou who was watching her husband and son race.  Her husband had won that exact race numerous times before, although she wasn’t by us when the race ended so we don’t know if he won again.  She was kind enough to explain the rules and answer our many questions.  We met several school friends during the event and it was a really great day of culture and conversation. 

The kids' race

A few days after the Work Boat Regatta I began volunteering with Grensave, a local nonprofit that serves children and families around the island in many capacities.  My friend Marieke had already been volunteering with Grensave and asked if I wanted to get involved too.  Their office is located in downtown St. George’s and she typically goes in once a week.  I began by going with Marieke and Ms. John, the director, around the island to take pictures of some of their different projects.  The pictures are for self promotion at their big fundraiser coming up this weekend, the International Food & Drink Festival.  With Marieke and Ms. John I went to three preschools, a community center, a public bath they built and a fresh water supply they constructed for a rural village.  It was an all day tour around the island that was so rewarding.  It was also the perfect way to start volunteering with them; seeing their projects firsthand helped me really connect with what they do.  For now we’ve just been concentrating on getting ready for the festival and I’ve only been into their office once.  Marieke and I are designing the boards with photos for their booth at the festival and also putting together a video.  We interviewed a man who was sponsored by Grensave when he was younger and are using it to show what a big impact Grensave has on individuals.  I also started working on the other side of the festival trying to get things together for the American booth, so I’ve got my hands in a little bit of everything.  I’m really looking forward to the event this weekend!

Pearls Preschool

A public bath house in Pearls

Children wearing the national colors before Independence Day

The first meeting place for Grensave volunteers and workers

We missed out on eating junk food and watching the Super Bowl with friends and family, but did our own little Super Bowl get together here.  Marieke and Emily threw a surprise Super Bowl party for their husbands and their friends.  Jade and I were the cover story and I helped them make food for the event.  The boys watched the game while the girls left for a nearby restaurant’s grand opening.  I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with the girls, but a part of me did want to be watching the game.  We at least got to see the half time show, which was fun for me because I knew several people working on the field during the performance.  I didn’t see any of them, but it was exciting to look for the familiar faces.  I know the guys had a great night and we appreciative of the ‘man time’, or whatever it is they call it. 

A few days later was Grenada’s Independence Day.  We were thrilled when our landlord invited us to eat a traditional meal with the family.  I’ll never forget last semester when Ms. Moore told me that Grenadians are generally ready a few hours later than they say they will be.  It was no surprise when our meal was a couple hours later than we expected, but it was so worth the wait!  It was very local fare that Grenadians all over the island were probably eating the same day.  Ms. Moore was going to make oil down, the national dish, but she couldn’t get a hold of any bread fruit.  So we had provisions, saltfish, rice and peas, coleslaw, chicken and pork rib and fresh orange juice from the trees in the yard.  It was fantastic and the company was great, too.  We enjoyed talking to Ms. Moore about Grenadian patois, although poor Teshawn was feeling really bad.  Ms. Moore even packed two of my food containers full so we’d have leftovers to eat.  They’re so good to us!

That next weekend I went on my first hash.  For those of you that don’t know what hashing is, here is an excerpt from the Grenada Hash House Harriers (HHH) website:

"Every other Saturday, at precisely 1600 hours, a motley group of assorted runners and walkers assemble at a previously designated rum shop, somewhere in Grenada.  After an initial briefing by their leader (known as The Hash Master) they set off in the bush, shouting ON ON.  They follow a trail of flour or shredded paper which takes the “pack” through some of the most attractive parts of the island and they return to the rum shop a couple of hours later to consume large quantities of beer and undo all the good that this running and walking has done to them.”

According to Wikipedia, hashing started in 1938 and there are more than 1,700 chapters.  They can be found on all continents.  HHH has its own lingo and funny rituals.  At the end of each Grenadian hash there is food and beverages for sale and usually music.  It’s quite the party as I understand it.  There is always a good mix of locals and visitors (or students) and the true hashers all come to know one another.  Eventually they all get nicknames and that’s all anyone calls you by.  I’ve only been on one hash so far, but it was something I intend to do again and again.  The scenery was just amazing!  I would never wander into the woods without a trail, so this is the only way for me to see places that don’t have hiking trails. 

Each time it is somewhere different on the island, or even on Grenada’s other two islands, so I can’t always make it.  I was lucky to catch a ride with some friends who were going.  We did get a little lost going to the hash so we started late.  Our driver, Richard, also locked his keys in his car and had to wait with it instead of join Sarah, Myra and me on the hash.  Being at the back we were able to take our time and take lots of photos.  We crossed two streams, went through a bamboo forest, saw goats on a rooftop and many other things.  This hash started and ended at Westerhall Rum Distillery in St. David’s.  At the end I saw Kurlon and my other landlord, John.  I also discovered the hash master is the man who is building our other apartment, so I knew several people there!  There was a pretty big group of virgin hashers there and we all participated in the ritual and got certificated commemorating our first hash.  The ritual consisted of standing in a big hugging circle while the certificate was read to us and then getting sprayed with beer.  I was so very, very sticky.  I was also the very center of the hug, so I think I got most of the beer.  The other fun ritual is that anyone caught with new shoes on a hash is made to drink a beer from their shoe once back at the starting point.  Luckily I knew about this one ahead of time and was not about to make that mistake.  The whole thing was really a blast.  It was just a good way to spend a Saturday afternoon and I can see the community that forms around it.  I hope I get to know some of the regulars and maybe become one myself within the next two years.

Westerhall Rum Distillery

Sarah, Myra and I before the hash

A circle of paper indicates possible trick trails

Bamboo forest

Crossing a stream

The hash master himself, reading our certificates

Wait for it...

Me, covered in beer, with my certificate =)

That following Monday was the dreaded Unified, the first set of tests for the medical students to gauge how well they're understanding the material in each class.  It is relatively short, so Jade was out mid-morning and was able to meet me at the University Club pool after our SO board meeting for a little rest and relaxation.  Two of our new friends met us there and then the four of us went to dinner that night.  We went into St. George's to what I think is Grenada's only German restaurant., Schnitzel Haus.  It was a treat to go into town and eat by the Carenage; it's my favorite place in the city.  I think it's just beautiful.  We caught a reggae bus into town and walked up the stairs of a building right in the center of the street that runs along the bay.  The view was great, the service fantastic and the food was delicious (I had Bratwürstl mit Sauerkraut).  The German couple running the restaurant was so helpful and had the best accents.

View from near Schnitzel Haus

The next day was Valentine’s Day and the SOs had a big Valentine’s Day bake sale.  Many people baked for it and many, many people bought treats from it.  It was held to raise money for the Dorothy Hopkin Centre for the Disabled here on the island.  I used the cute Valentine’s Day sprinkles mom bought me and made chocolate sugar cookies.  We raised $1,740.50!!  It’s because of all the baked good deprived med and vet students that we made that much!  I don’t think your typical school bake sale would normally bring that much in. 

I also made Jade a special Valentine’s Day dinner.  He got shrimp fettuccini alfredo with heart shaped pasta, steamed broccoli and a tiramisu pie with red lip sprinkles.  It was a pretty cute meal, if I do say so myself!

Last week the support sessions from last term continued with a local woman speaking about how to adjust to Grenada.  I feel fairly adjusted by this point, but I wanted to hear what she had to say.  I’d heard she was a hilarious woman and she really was.  She was very intelligent and well traveled herself.  Her experiences helped her understand other cultures so she was able to recognize the differences and difficulties other people might have adapting to her own native culture.  We talked about customer service and catcalling, mainly.  Many people I know jokingly say customer service doesn’t exist here, which is true to an extent.  Customer service the way Americans know it certainly does not exist here.  The customer is not always right, nor is the customer always put first.  It can be very frustrating and make people seem downright rude.  The speaker explained that while Grenada does have a large tourism sector, it is still not as big as most Caribbean countries (think Jamaica, Bahamas, Virgin Islands, etc.).  The idea that positivity, big smiles and pleasant conversation can often earn you a larger tip or repeat service is not really thought of.  In such a bad time economically, she said it’s common that people come to their dead end jobs, make dollars a day and literally have a starving family at home.  Especially if I wasn’t trained on any customer service aspect of my job, I’m sure I would be pretty blah at work too.  She also said that since Grenadians are descendents of slaves, there is some of that remaining hostility when someone is expected to serve a particularly rude, self-entitled and arrogant student from abroad.  I can absolutely understand that as well.  I unfortunately see a lot of ugly Americans here who expect certain things and tend to be very demanding and rude to locals.  With several of those things compounded, it’s easy to see why daily dealings at the grocery store aren’t always the best part of the day.  We really have to work at proving them wrong on the negative American stereotypes. 

We also talked about catcalling, which is really common here, as well as many other countries I’ve been to.  Heck, it even happens in the US, but not as commonly in my experience.  I don’t understand how men around the world can seriously think they’re complimenting us.  For most women it is really frustrating and annoying.  The speaker talked to us about how to deal with it and how to address a situation if we really can’t take it anymore.  It was a rather funny conversation with her personal stories thrown in.  

  

And to finally bring you up to date, I spent all Sunday with a fabulous and crafty friend who sewed with me for my first time.  EVER.  I know, a wife who can’t sew can’t be much of a wife, right?  Lucky for me suturing taught Jade everything he needed to know about sewing and now he’s the one that can repair our ripped pockets and missing buttons.  But really, I’m pretty proud of myself for what I was able to accomplish.  My bag didn’t come out perfect by any means, but even with Cat helping me it is more than I thought I would be able to do.  Cat has a small sewing machine and she makes skirts and bags fairly regularly.  She was the perfect person to help me take on a tutorial I found on Pinterest.  It was for a beach towel (with built in pillow) that rolls up into its own beach bag.  It has pockets and everything for carrying beach supplies!  I brought the supplies down with me from the US when we came back from Christmas break and I brought Cat some pillow stuffing so she could make one too.  One was definitely enough for a day!  Our main issue was that the sticky Velcro didn’t want to stay on the towel, but the Velcro was too thick to pass through the sewing machine in order to stitch it into place.  She also didn’t have any thimbles so ramming a needle through Velcro by hand was out of the question.  I currently need to figure out another way to secure it closed, and maybe add the trim.  Then it will be fully usable and so comfy!  It’s pretty cute if I do say so myself. 

Just after stuffing the pillow

The fabric used for pockets and eventually trimming

Pockets sewn

Like any good dog, Julep tested out my new towel for me

Outermost side of the bag

Well, that’s about all I have for you, plus you’re probably on information overload.  Who knows, maybe I’ll start writing more often so I don’t spend entire nights doing this all at once.  Ahh who I am kidding?