In honor of Independence Day I thought it would be fun to learn a little more about this beautiful country I have been living in for over a month and will continue living in for the next year and half.
A few fun facts:
- The capital of Grenada is St. George
-Population is approximately 108,000 people
- Grenada is one of the three largest islands in the southern caribbean (along with Carriacou and Pettite Martinique). Carriacou is absolutely on my bucket list of places to visit while here and Ive heard nothing but really great things about it!
- Grenada is one of the three largest islands in the southern caribbean (along with Carriacou and Pettite Martinique). Carriacou is absolutely on my bucket list of places to visit while here and Ive heard nothing but really great things about it!
-Grenada is approximately 20 miles long by 12 miles wide! On a map, it is seriously just a tiny little dot in the middle of the gigantic ocean.
-Grenada is located where the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean combine. The water from each ocean is different in how rough/calm it is and color.
-Grenada is located where the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean combine. The water from each ocean is different in how rough/calm it is and color.
-Grenada became an independent nation in 1974. Prior to that it was owned by the French, Spanish, and British.
-In October of 1983 Grenada was invaded by the US military following the execution of former Prime Minister Maurice Bishop. The invasion was short (only 48 hours) but at least 24 civilians and 45 Grenadian troops were killed, and at least 358 were wounded.
- Evidently there is a movie called Heartbreak Ridge that is based off the US invasion of Grenada, which I definitely want to try and watch soon.
Some National Icons that I found:
-National Bird- The endangered Grenadian Dove
-Dish- Oil Down (which I still have yet to try)
-Drink- Rum
-Symbol- Nutmeg (Grenada is one of the world's largest producers of Nutmeg!)
-Song- Grenada May God Bless You
More random facts:
-Grand Anse Beach (where we go regularly) has been voted one of the top 10 beaches in the world!
-There are 40+ beaches total in Grenada.
-Instead of saying "this" "the" and "them" they replace he 't' with 'd' and say "dis" "de" and "dem"... when the kids talk, it is the cutest thing ever, but they talk so fast it can also be very hard to understand them!
- Grenada has a wet & dry season. We are currently in the dry season, and the temperature has been cooler than when I visited last term during wet season and from what Ive heard this is due to the trade winds. I likey!
-The public transportation system in Grenada works surprisingly well. Although constantly being honked at or yelled at to ride in a Raggae bus can be annoying, it is also relatively reliable and cheap and seriously there is always one around I feel like (probably unless you need it, TIG).
-Time on the island moves extremely slow and I hardly ever know what time it is at all. Also, you learn if you are early, then you are REALLY early... time in Grenada is always behind schedule.
- Ive seen a total of THREE traffic lights on the entire island.
-To drink on the island is crazy cheap, while to eat on the island is generally more on the pricey side.
-Grenada has both white and black sand beaches.
-There is a volcano on the island, although it is dormant there is another active underwater volcano located nearby named "Kick-em-Jenny."
-Grenada is divided into 6 parishes- St. Patrick, St. Andrew, St. George, St. David, St. John and St. Mark.
-Grand Etang is a 13 acre crater lake that formed over the dormant volcano. Grand Etang means "The great lake" and it is said that nobody has ever reached the bottom of the lake and therefore it is commonly referred to as the "bottomless lake."
-The most popular sports are cricket and soccer
- Hurricane Ivan hit Grenada in 2004 and caused a great deal of damage.
-220 volts are used in Grenada and if you don't use a transformer and try to use American appliances... you will blow up said appliance.
Anyways, I read a ton about Grenada today so I'm sure there are lots of fun facts that I am missing, but that's all I have time for for now. Also, unfortunately I didn't go down to the stadium today, due to not knowing about the activities until last minute and the busses were running very minimally today, but I definitely plan on going next year! Here are some random pictures Ive taken over the past couple weeks of all the flags all over the place. Super fun and colorful! Sadly, I don't have any pictures of their cute and festive outfits :(
-To drink on the island is crazy cheap, while to eat on the island is generally more on the pricey side.
-Grenada has both white and black sand beaches.
-There is a volcano on the island, although it is dormant there is another active underwater volcano located nearby named "Kick-em-Jenny."
-Grenada is divided into 6 parishes- St. Patrick, St. Andrew, St. George, St. David, St. John and St. Mark.
-Grand Etang is a 13 acre crater lake that formed over the dormant volcano. Grand Etang means "The great lake" and it is said that nobody has ever reached the bottom of the lake and therefore it is commonly referred to as the "bottomless lake."
-The most popular sports are cricket and soccer
- Hurricane Ivan hit Grenada in 2004 and caused a great deal of damage.
-220 volts are used in Grenada and if you don't use a transformer and try to use American appliances... you will blow up said appliance.
Anyways, I read a ton about Grenada today so I'm sure there are lots of fun facts that I am missing, but that's all I have time for for now. Also, unfortunately I didn't go down to the stadium today, due to not knowing about the activities until last minute and the busses were running very minimally today, but I definitely plan on going next year! Here are some random pictures Ive taken over the past couple weeks of all the flags all over the place. Super fun and colorful! Sadly, I don't have any pictures of their cute and festive outfits :(
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The yellow on the Grenadian flag represents the sun and the warmth of the people, green stands for vegetation and agriculture, and red symbolizes harmony, unity, and courage. I thought that was pretty cool! |
HI LINDSEY! I just discovered your blog! Grenada seems amazing. I'm a little jealous. Nice (sort of) catching up! :)
ReplyDeleteHey Sofia!! Wow, it's been a few years eh?! Thanks for checking out my blog :) Grenada is nothing short of amazing and I am definitely enjoying my time here with the kiddos! I see you have a couple of blogs yourself, so I will need to check them out! Hope you are doing great! :)
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