See ya later, Grenada!

We have officially packed up our Grenada home, loaded it into 4-5 bags (depending on the airline), boarded 3 different planes, spent over 12 hours traveling, slept on numerous airport benches, and had our first American food in 6 months! Each and every one of our bags successfully made it on board each of the 3 planes and we honestly could NOT have had a more smooth travel day. We were extremely fortunate! We even got to sit in first class for the most wonderful 29 minutes of our lives where we were treated like royalty before being sent back to coach on our next flight to sit with the common folk ;)

Yep, we are officially back in Michigan!!

Leaving Grenada was extremely surreal and SUPER sad! It was unbelievably weird to be leaving with a one way ticket and no plans to return in the super near future. We love that little island we have called home for the past 2 years! We will greatly miss our friends we've made there, miss the crazy stories that accompany each day there, and of course, I will miss my Limes babies more than I can put into words. It has been an incredible 2 years of which we have been so extremely blessed!

It's not goodbye, Grenada. We KNOW we will be back. It's see ya later- and hopefully sooner, rather than later! Thanks for an absolutely wonderful couple of years!

Final Cliff Jump... In Style.

Ever since Nick started at SGU and started jumping off the cliff on the backside of campus at the start of 1st term he has joked that at the end of his last term he was jumping off the cliff in his white coat.... ONLY his white coat.

Now anyone who knows Nick knows it really wasn't much of a joke and will not be surprised to hear that when that day came- that is exactly what he did. Nick, his white coat, and white fanny lepts off the cliff in pure joy and... freedom. What a character this guy is! It was pretty hilarious to watch and honestly really hard to take a picture of the moment because I was cracking up so hard!

Here's his status update that accompanied the picture on that wonderful last day of 5th term exams:

"Basic Sciences can Kiss these sweet cheeks Goodbye!!! Officially DONE with my LAST Medschool final here in Grenada and a half-doctor! What an amazing two years this has been, filled with tears, laughs, dirty mnemonics, and shared with some of the most amazing people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Off for one more night out and our final farewells and then homebound tomorrow!!! Can't believe this day is finally here!!"

Gonna miss my babies!

The beginning of  many hard "goodbyes" is here for those of us nearing the end of our 2 years of basic sciences in Grenada. For Nick, this island has been his home for nearly 2 full years and for me, nearly a year and a half. Over the past month there have been so many moments where both Nick and I have found ourselves being extra quiet and simply taking in every single moment- the good and the bad, taking extra time to stop and enjoy the sunsets, bounce around on the bumpy bus rides, and just enjoy all aspects of the life we have enjoyed for the past couple of years. For me, I mostly cherished my time at Limes extra. I squeezed the kids a little tighter, held the little ones a little longer, embraced their sweaty hugs a little more, endured extra "platting" of my hair, and cherished the ever resounding "miss" "miss" calls and the constant tug on my arms, legs, or really any body part they can reach, in an attempt to get attention, a little more patiently.  I will miss all of it.

Last week marked the end of Limes this term and thus for several of us, the last Limes class for us during our time here in Grenada. As our final week approached I found myself thinking about it more and more, and then the more I would think about it- the more I would try not to think about it- so the more I would think about not thinking about it. Ugh.

I don't like good-byes, but I especially wasn't looking forward to saying good-bye to so many sweet children who have touched my lives in so many ways. My life will never be the same due to each and every one of them.

 

Our last day was chaotic and crazy, but even with all of that, it was clear that several of the children- our littles included, knew what the day meant. There were a lot of extra hugs, kisses, and snuggles. My heart broke a little extra each time one of the kids approached me and asked "miss, you comin' back?" There were countless special moments over the last several days at Limes, but 2 moments that I will never forget came from sweet moments with Jivvy and Jada.

JIVVY moment <3

On Wednesday when the talk of who is returning and who isn't really picked up, Jivvy  grabbed my face in her little hands and said:   

"Miss Lindsey, you can go home for the summah... but you have

to come back."
I about died. And that alone pretty much had me convinced I would just stay in Grenada and live in a tent on the Limes field. She is such a sweet girl, who has gives the best hugs, has the most precious giggle, can sulk and pout like no one else in the entire world, and has each one of us completely wrapped her precious little finger! 

 

JADA moment <3

My moment with Jada came on Thursday. I wore the locket that I often wear and that Jada loves to open and play with. As soon as I got there she ran to give me a hug and immediately demanded  "miss open dis." I did as I was told and then the sweetest thing in the entire world happened. Jada took my locket and kissed the inside a couple times then quickly closed it before looking at me and saying "you have my kisses forever."

I die.  Seriously, I'm not sure I've ever heard something so precious in my entire life. She did this multiple more times throughout the day and each time I had to fight back the tears because it was just far too incredibly sweet. I'll still see this sweet girl one more time on Tuesday, but I still haven't quite figured out how I am going to say goodbye for good yet. She's my baby!!!! 

SGU SOM' 15 last lecture/class picture!

SGU differs from other medical schools (in my opinion) because it isn't just a school- but rather it's a small community. The students and their significant others/family, all arrive here to this tiny island alone, away from family and friends, to begin the hardest education of their lives. They spend more time with their peers than they do anyone else.  They go to lectures, labs, hospital rotations, and study together. Outside of school, everyone celebrates, relaxes, and lets loose- together.  

This past week Nick's class had their official LAST LECTURE. That is crazy! 2 years of hard work and overcoming the many obstacles that are present with island living and attending medical school at SGU are complete in just one more week! While this is obviously an exciting time and huge milestone, it is also a bit bittersweet. It's going to be sad to leave so many wonderful classmates and friends that we've grown accustomed to seeing everywhere, everyday. 

To celebrate their accomplishments, everyone came together on campus for a group picture and I think the pictures show how excited and proud each and every student is. What I love is that it isn't a strict picture with everyone standing tall in line, in their white coats. Rather it clearly shows all the different personalities and fun that is the class of '15. SO PROUD! :)

Sunset Crew

Nick and a few of our good friends who also study on campus started a daily routine of taking a break around dinner time to mingle, eat, and watch the sunset. It didn't take long before this became known as the 1st and 3rd floor library "mingle" and while there was the core group who was always there, as time passed it wasn't uncommon for many others to come and join in. It was a super fun tradition and a bright spot in their mundane study lives.

As the end of the term approached, Nick and the other "core sunset group members" decided it was necessary to have a photoshoot in order to commemorate their tradition. They took SO MANY PICTURES! They're awesome and super hilarious and define those 5 doctors-to-be incredibly well!

At what other medical school would you create friendships like this?

PS- They took over 100 pictures during their photoshoot! So this is just a sample. And the bottom picture is the extended crew in the final days of term 5!!

Remember When....

In 6 days we are officially back in the States and our time here in Grenada has officially come to an end. AH! That's unbelievable. I wouldn't mind if time would slow down just a little bit until then. It won't be too long before all these amazing, hilarious, crazy, ridiculous, and sometimes challenging moments become "remember when we were in Grenada andddddd....." stories.

For instance, remember when we lived in Grenada AND

...When walking to the bus stop a mango fell out of a tree and literally landed on MY head.
...When the "BINGO lady" walked up and took my drink out of my hand and started drinking it herself. OR  when a highlight of your night was being the big winner of a toliet seat bowl.
...When we squeezed 60-70 people on a bus with only 30 seats to drive an hour north for a hash?
...When we lived in a place where it was okay to drive WHILE drinking a beer, but illegal to drive without a shirt on.
...A lizard fell on my head not once, but on TWO separate occasions in ONE week.
... Traffic would be completely backed up due to a herd of goats crossing or hanging out in the street.
... When we constantly had all 5 bus schedules not only memorized, but knew the best time to catch them all in sequence to make it to our destination and back quickly [seriously, it's a skill and like a puzzle putting them all together!]
... There were days when the groceries would be too heavy so I would literally hide them in the bushes, RUN home with some as fast as I could, then run back to gather the rest.
... We had to kill cockroaches by arming ourselves with spear-fishing spears, swim goggles, bop bug spray, and Nick hosting me up on his shoulders to reach a top corner.
...Nick would come home to me standing ON the kitchen table with chairs randomly throughout the house because mice were taking over the floor.

Honestly, I could go on, and on, and on, because Grenada gave us so many funny, adventurous, and challenging moments that all turned in to great stories we will be telling for the rest of our lives!!! We are so fortunate to have lived on this wonderful, tiny island - and it will always be home to us. Thanks for so many great memories, Grenada... even the ones that weren't great until days, weeks, or months later, because now- they make one hell of a story! We will truly miss the beauty of the island, the slower pace living, and simplicity of life here. We'll definitely be back to visit!

A look back a basic sciences

Well I'll show you! This image was being sent around Nick's class Facebook page over the past few days and I think it really does an excellent job of really highlighting all the hard work that these students have done over the past 2 years of basic sciences. So proud of my doctor-in-training and ALL that he has not only accomplished, but excelled in, over these past 2 years! The road to becoming a doctor is NOT easy, takes a ton of work, not a lot of sleep, hours upon hours sitting in the library surrounded by notes and books, gallons of coffee to stay awake, not enough time with significant others/families, and a dedication like no other... but they are the future of medicine, and for that I am thankful that they are willing to put in that much work- because I surely could not do it!

The road to medicine during the first 2 years academically includes:

Cheers to test #51 and Nick rockin' the USMLE!

Leatherback Sea Turtles

Grenada is "home" to the beautiful endangered Leatherback  SeaTurtle. By that I mean that this time of year is when they lay their eggs and lucky for us, Grenada is a popular location for them to do so! The location where the turtles are seen most frequently is located in the north about an hour and a half drive from SGU, located on Levera Beach. 

Last weekend our wonderful SO coordinators this term (Katie and Stephanie) arranged for a huge group of us (about 60 + people) to head north to hopefully see some turtles lay their eggs. This had been on our bucket list of things to do before we left so we were super excited that the SOs would be putting on the event and Nick arranged his entire week schedule around it. There were 2 huge buses full of people and a tiny cab- which we were in and later named the party cab- as there were only 8 of us in it and we were blasting music, playing games, and overall just being rowdy. Our driver was great and cruised along and was willing to make random stops whenever we wanted! The time flew by and we were at the beach before we knew it!

Leatherback turtles are the largest turtles on Earth and as adults can grow to as long as 7 feet and weigh over 2,000 lbs!  They are huge! Leatherback turtles can also dive deeper than any other turtle, going as deep as 4,200 feet and are able to stay down there for up to 85 minutes. Talk about holding your breath eh?  The ritual of nesting/laying their eggs is extremely cool. The mama turtles come to shore (they return to their same nesting area)  in the evening and begin to dig a hole in the sand.  Once the hole is deep enough she begins to lay her eggs (often depositing around 80 eggs- a mix of real eggs and fake/filler eggs.) Once the eggs are safely in the nest she begins the process of covering them back up. THEN as if that wasn't enough work, she will normally dig several "fake nests" and disturb the sand near the nest to make it difficult for predators to detect the nest filled with her eggs. After all that, she can finally call it a night and return back to the water. 

At the beach there are researchers and trained professionals who monitor the beach and scope out the turtles who are making their way onto the beach and then lead small groups to watch the process. It is really cool! Before actually stepping foot on the beach, they give you a little information about the turtles and give very careful instruction of the "dos and don'ts" of turtle watching.  Once on the beach it is a waiting game waiting for the turtles to make their grand entrance! We had been warned that it could take a while before they were spotted so we were all prepped with food, drinks, and things to entertain ourselves. It was a very nice night, although overcast, so this made the beach even darker than normal. It took about 2.5 hours before we  were alerted that several turtles (I think we passed by 6 before getting to "our" turtle) had made their way to the beach to begin laying their eggs.

Each small group was taken to a different turtle where we were able to get quite close and even touch the turtle's shell. When she is laying her eggs, she enters a zen-like state/trance and  therefore is not aware or bothered by people, which allows us to be up and close and personal (literally.) Super cool! The biggest "don't" was that we were not allowed to use flash photography because this can hurt the turtles and take them out of their trance. Luckily however, one of the SOs who is very talented with her awesome camera was able to snap several amazing shots even without her flash being on! Trust me, even though it looks bright in some of these pictures below- it was pitch black out there!

All  photos taken by an SO- Allison Gray! A few of the pictures show the red lights that were allowed on the beach and for us that was what it looked like- VERY dark, with little red lights everywhere. It's so great Allison was able to capture these pictures even without her flash being on! Aren't these turtles so beautiful and amazing!?

The baby turtles will hatch in June and I'm sad we won't be here to go back and see them! How cute would it be to see a bunch of tiny little baby turtles roaming the beach!? Hopefully other SOs will go and I can live vicariously through them! :)