Well, it is official-- Nick left again for Grenada to start Term 2 of medical school on January 4, 2012 and this time I did not have to stay behind at home!! We have been here for several days and have almost completely settled in. The key word here however, is almost. I have quickly learned why the phrase TIG or "This is Grenada" is so commonly used. I obviously heard Nick say it a million times last term, and would even chime in myself and say it when he was telling me a story about something that happened to him or a friend, but living here gives TIG an entirely different meaning!
Here are a few of our TIG moments in our first couple of days:
- The first night we arrived there were hundreds of little, tiny bugs running around on the counter top in the kitchen. It was late, so although really kinda gross, we were exhausted and decided to just deal with it in the morning. However, when we woke up and they were gone and we have not seen them since. We told a few people about them who live near us and have come to find out these mysterious bugs appear once a month at night and disappear in the morning routinely. Sure, that makes sense? TIG.
- On the first night we got a first hand experience of what happens when you do not convert electricity correctly. We bought this little adapter gadget thing at Brookstone back home and were SO excited to use it. So as we are unpacking we decide to plug in the little fan I brought with me to help pull some fresh air inside. Well, Nick grabs the adapter and plugs in the fan and a few minutes later I'm looking at it and saying "Nick I think something smells funny" so he comes in the room and notices that it is smoking and the next we know it sparks and dies. Adios fan. Turns out our wonderful little gadget was ONLY an adapter, not an adapter AND a step down transformer. Good to know! TIG (Appliance #1 broken.)
- Nick was taking a shower and all of a sudden we hear a loud snap/pop noise, like something had exploded. Sure enough something had indeed, and this time it was the shower heater. The TIG moment... the water heater is all ghetto-rigged up INSIDE the shower. So, after the loud noise, a decent amount of smoke and a horrible burning smell, there was no more water heater due to it getting wet during Nick's shower (because you know, putting a water heater inside a shower is a very dry and safe place). So, showers are a bit more exciting here... luckily, we are so hot during the day we don't really want warm water anyways! Cold showers for the win. TIG. (Appliance # 2 broken.)
- A few hours after the shower explodes we hear a really loud, high pitched sound coming from somewhere in the house. We look around and can't find anything. I was convinced the house was about to go up in flames and suggested we just "run and get out"... but luckily Nick was a little more level headed and discovered that the source of the loud sound = a cricket who had found its way inside... TIG.
- Today, we find a transformer under the sink and are all super excited because this will allow us to use more american style plugs! So, naturally, I go to plug in a surge strip and BAM, loud noise, a spark, and the surge strip is dead. Nice. Just when we thought we were getting the hang of it. (Applicance # 3 broken).
So, needless to say it has been an exciting first couple of days on the island! Ace hardware (which yes, does exist on the island!) has been our best friend, and the workers there have been extraordinarily helpful and haven't laughed at us too much. After killing 3 appliances, including a transformer, we splurged on a larger 750 watt transformer and have since had no problems! Although, I must admit I have become a transformer nazi and am constantly saying "what's the voltage?" "how many watts?" and "please unplug everything else before you use that".... ya know "just to be safe". How long till those phrases get super old to Nick? haha TIG. On the plus side- I now know much more about electrical stuff than I ever thought I would. Every day/hour here is a learning experience!
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