Grenada Sailing Week!

January 31st- February 5th is sailing week here in Grenada. Even before I had heard that this is what was going on, I knew something was up because of all the extra awesome boats that have been sailing by our house on a regular basis for the past day or so. Such a cool part of living right on the ocean!

There have been sailing festivities and races almost every day in honor of sailing week and we saw some of the set up begin for the larger weekend activities while at the beach on Friday. Lots of tents, boats, and hustle 'n bustle! There was just an overall feeling of excitement in the air and you could tell that it was going to be a weekend filled with fun on the beach. 

Since Nick did crew throughout high school, I knew this was up his ally and I hated to see him miss out all together so I gently pushed him into taking a study break for a couple hours to head down and check out the boats! We are only here for a few more months so this isn't something we will get to see again, and I am SO glad we went! Unfortunately, just as soon as I started to walk to the catch the bus, clouds began rolling in super fast, and before I even made it to cover at the bus stop the rain began to fall. Thinking it would be a typical Grenada rain and only last a short while, we proceeded to head to the beach where we eventually came to accept that the rain was not going anywhere. The races continued though and at the end of the day the rain made for a little extra excitement. There were several different food vendors there as well, so we got fish patties and some other local foods to snack on for lunch!

At one point, a boat flipped over and we watched as they struggled to turn it back over before a rescue boat went out to help pull them in.  In a scary change of events, one of the men sailing on the boat got tangled up in one of the boat's ropes and was pulled under water. All of a sudden many other sailors and bystanders were rushing into the water to try and assist- one man even went running into the water with his huge machete prepared to cut him loose. Nick and his friend Minh almost had to break out some Dr. skills and perform CPR but thankfully, once on shore the man began spitting up water and although seemed disoriented, it appeared he was going to be fine.

All in all, it was a fun day and one of the many times that we stop and think to ourselves "wow we really live here!?" It's not every day 2 Michiganders like ourselves can stroll down to the ocean and watch hundreds of boats race and fill the horizon- it was pretty darn cool! 

Limes 2013

Today, was our first day back at Limes for the term and boy was it great to be back! The loving squeals and hugs that we were met with as we walked up to the Limes structure were so darn cute and never, ever, ever get old! Upon seeing my sweet baby girl Jada I grabbed her for a hug and our conversation went something like this:

Me- "Oh I just missed you and love you so much!" 

Jada- "you love me dis big?" (holds up fingers about an inch apart) 

Me- "I love you lots bigger than that!"

Jada- "Nooooo, dis big?! (points to her shoe)

Me- "Bigger than that!"

This game went on for several minutes with it finally ending on that I loved her to the moon to which she said with a big smile "miss dat far!" And she instantly had me wrapped right around her tiny little finger all over again. The icing on the cake being when I was getting ready to go she said "Miss give me squeeze to the moon!" Love that baby!

As is usually the case with Limes, it takes a few days for word to get out that we are holding class, so the turnout today was pretty small. It's always kind of nice though because it allows us to get a little more one on one time with those that do show up! It was so fun to see each and every one of them and to hear how their Christmas and break from school was. Oh, and of course gossip with some of the older girls who were quick to ask for details about my "new husband" and who would erupt in giggles at anything I said in reference to Nick! Classic. Definitely looking forward to spending a lot more time with these kids this term!

We had a few new faces out today also which is always super fun! If you are in Grenada and looking for something to do, please come join! We meet 3-5pm Tues/Wed/Thurs we (and the kids) would love to see you!

I brought a new book to Limes today: The Hungry Little Caterpillar... it also has a matching game with what the caterpillar ate... naturally, it was a huge hit! :) 

Operation Grenada Child- Bringing Santa to Grenada

"There is a spirit in the world of generosity- 

That brings good things to all of us, whoever we may be

 So I believe in Santa Claus, for it can't be denied- That he is generosity personified.

 Yes, there is a Santa Claus for children everywhere- 

Though you may watch the chimney tops and never see him there.

People say his magic sleigh flies in the sky above- 

But you might find it anywhere you find unselfish love.

Oh, yes, he really does exist- And Santa Claus will live!

As long as hearts can realize- How good it feels to give.

So when you are feeling blue- Keep up your hopes, because...

 If there is kindness in this world- There is a Santa Claus!"

-Martha Cratchit, in "The Stingiest Man in Town" 

Childhood memories at Christmas are really hard to remember without Santa. We would write him letters asking for the newest and coolest toy, doll, tamagotchi, or whatever the must-have item of the year was that was coming out. And if our minds changed before Christmas- the panic that Santa might not know, lead to another URGENT letter being sent to clarify the new request.

But imagine, growing up, and from as young as 2-3 years old not having a Santa. Not having that excitement each Christmas morning, and not getting presents- big or small.  That's how the memories of Christmas are for many of the Children here in Grenada. When we talk to them about Christmas, there is very little mention of Santa, or presents, or anything that most of us, as children, associated with Christmas. I was actually talking to one of the "older" girls about how I was getting married at Christmastime and so I would be going home to Michigan to celebrate the holiday with my family and little brothers. She immediately asked how only my brothers were and when I told her they were just a little younger than her, she responded "that's good you are going to see them, Miss, ... Santa doesn't come here." I could have cried and honestly didn't even really know how to respond.

While the purpose of Christmas is not about gifts, how do you explain to a 9 year old that Santa and presents happen to some children throughout the world and not others? And although she didn't seem overly sad and it is a normal thing to her, it was the vast line that was drawn between her and children (like my brothers) at her age that really killed me. I hate how grown up and aware of discrepancies they are at 8,9,10 years old. And I hate that some kids get presents and some don't.

However, this year some SGU SOs- both here in Grenada and those already back in the States, have decided to make sure that Santa does indeed visit Grenada this Christmas. They have started a project called "Operation Grenada Child." The idea is a simple one. For $20 or less, you can create a shoebox that will be shipped to Grenada for a Limes child. It doesn't have to be anything super fancy, these kids get excited over simple things like pencil sharpeners! If you don't personally want to shop for the gifts, there is also the option to assist with shipping the boxes to Grenada- which is equally as helpful as the shoe-boxes themselves.

For more information, or to sign up to send a box follow THIS LINK.

Thanks for helping us put smiles on these sweet children's faces!  

And in the words of Tiny Tim... "God bless us, every one"

Fire, fire! The yard is on FIRE!

Well, today was one for the books.

I was studying for my Social Work board exam in the bedroom, with 2 fans blowing on me from different directions to help avoid heat stroke and completely engrossed in the land of the learning... or at least trying to be.

Then Nick Skype messages me saying that they can see smoke in the LAE area from campus. Interesting. I went out of the bedroom, didn't smell anything. Glanced outside. Still nothing. And wrote it off as not being a big deal. So I sat down at the table to tell Nick I don't see any signs of smoke when our entire house becomes engulfed in smoke. And when I say engulfed... I literally mean 100% filled with smoke... I couldn't even see my feet. My first reaction was "Oh my God, it is OUR house that is on fire!!!" 

I coughed my way outside and breathed a breath of fresh air 1) for my lungs and 2) because it wasn't our house going up in flames, but rather I could see it was coming from a couple houses down. Curiosity got the best of me, so I walked down closer to the water to try and get a look. At this point I was thinking it was contained, but still... I was interested. That's when I see fire quickly moving across the dried brush of our neighbors backyard quickly approaching our own backyard. After staring in awe for several seconds, I realized I should probably do more than just stare at it and ran and got our neighbors. Dana and I proceeded to run up and down the street and called security to connect us to the fire department and Dan joined some other neighbors in throwing buckets of water on an ever spreading fire.


Since we don't have the fire department number on hand (or didn't before, but now do) we called campus security to get the number. Dana and I each talked to them once, and I thought my conversation with them was pretty comical and  pretty typical "no panic, no rush, you can't really have an emergency" Grenada, so here it is:

me: "hi, we would like to report a fire, could please connect me to the fire department or give me their number"

security: "okay, we will file a complaint"

me: "no sir, a fire, there is a fire, we need the fire department, is it possible for you to give me their number?"

security: "yes, yes we are filing a complaint"

me: "This is like a real fire, and it is quickly spreading through ours and our neighbors backyards, we need the fire department"

security: "We will send one of our officers to come and check out the situation"

me: "this is not a situation where we need security, we need the fire department. I called you because I do not know the fire department phone number, please just give me their number"

Finally, I was connected to the fire department, who acted like it was new news to them that there was a fire (even though I do believe others called it in as well). The fire department did respond relatively quickly though, which was good!

Anyways, long story short, we watched the fire spread (and inch closer) to our backyard for about 40 minutes- hour before it was finally put out.  During that time the fire truck ran out of water which required them to leave with the truck and re-fill before they could return and put it out. While they were gone, there was a Grenadian man with his 2 buckets who walked up and down the rocks throwing water on the fire and actually kept it contained relatively well... and I stood nearby and had my bucket ready to assist if necessary too of course :)

The reason it started was not because of the dry ground and overly hot sun, but actually someone was initially attempting to burn things on their own. Hot day. Lack of rain. Very dry ground. Bad decision. It could have been SO much worse, and it was not easy to get the fire out. A few more feet and it would have been heading toward our houses via a wooden fence- really fast. And I would have been running to gather a few of our belongings before hitting the hills! Counting our blessings <3 

Our house after I went running out as it filled with smoke... there were few clouds in the sky today, so yeah... the white around it... not clouds.

The first time I ran down it was burning off in the distance a little bit, but the smoke was already way intense and I could tell it was moving pretty quickly

A few minutes later when I ran back down I saw just how quickly...

At this point we were anxiously waiting for the firemen to return as the fire came within a couple feet of the wooden fence that would have been really rather disastrous if it caught on fire and made the problem SO much worse... they arrived in time and other than smokey houses, none of us had any actual property damage.

Definitely was not an ordinary day and being from Michigan- I have never experienced a fast spreading brush fire before... thankful that my first experience ended with no major damage done and simply a good story to tell! 

Oh, and so my streak of being the crazy, white girl running up and down the street gathering the troops for some crazy event continues... reality tv ain't got nothing on our life here in Grenada :) 

Warning:: Nick & Lindsey engagement picture overload!!!

4th term has hit us like a pound of bricks. We knew it was coming, but seriously it is amazing the difference that I saw in Nick after just one day of Pathology. The tension is higher and the exhaustion is already beginning to set in.

This week all 3 days, he has been out the door by 7:30am and home around 11:00-11:30pm. The schedule that I posted before is legit and in that15 hour + day (INSANE) he gets a short break for lunch and dinner and otherwise is in lecture, labs, and study hall. And no, this isn't a "finals week crunch"... this is just the life of a 4th term medical student. Holy schnikeees!

Soooo, on that note, I am now taking applications for a new island pal! I'm nice, fun, like hiking, adrenaline rushes, swimming, and kids. Oh, and reading, cooking, and basically anything you want if you will just hang out with me! Haha just kidding, I am not sitting around bored, but it is an adjustment getting used to talking to him only a handful of times through out the day and only seeing him for MAYBE an hour a day- nah, an hour is too generous... maybe a half hour a day.

BUT today there was a little bright spot in Nick's crazy day because we got our engagement pictures back!!! I wanted to get cutesy pictures around the island before we left and so when we got engaged I thought "HEY, what a perfect excuse?!" We are SO blessed to be on this beautiful island for 2 years and although I take a bajillion pictures, I wanted to get some nice ones to hang on the wall back home after we leave here. We are also SO lucky to have a ridiculously talented photographer friend, Kat, who was willing to spend a couple hours running around the island with us making us look good! She captured our special moments perfectly and the pictures are very, very Nick and Lindsey! We couldn't be more pleased and I am in love with them all (there are hundreds... so that is how good Kat is!) At least I can stare at Nick's cute face in these pictures if I forget what he looks like during this intense term ;)

Enough rambling... take a look for yourself. It was so hard to pick a few ... but here are several (okay, TONS) of our favorites! Love is in the air, in Grenada!

For more of Kat's amazing work check out her photography blog HERE!

J-Ouvert/Carnival in Grenada!

This past weekend we joined in Grenada's Carnival celebrations. This was my first time being here for Carnival and let me tell you, it is quite the experience!

Jouvert festivities started at midnight on Friday and I think we walked in our front door around 8am Saturday- yes, it is literally an all night country-wide party! We'd heard stories, but this being our first time were not completely sure what to expect, but were told "wear clothes you don't like, cover your hair, drink lots of fluids, nap, and be ready to be covered in paint and oil." My thoughts were pretty much "what in the world kind of party is this" and "what am I getting myself into?"

The answer?! We were in for hands down the most ridiculous night ever and would come home completely covered in paint and oil. And yes, 2 days later, still be trying to get it out of our hair.

Basically, the gist is that people get together and start to party and head out to St. George and continue to party until 4 am when the more formal celebrations begin. Students were given goodie bags which consisted of rum, a monster energy drink, red paint, a water bottle, a bandana, and a fireman hat. Once you have all these things, you run around and throw and smear paint over each other for hours while loud music begins to blare, dancing starts in the street, and Grenadians in bright colored costumes roam the streets. Like I said, it was bizarre, and nuts!

It was definitely not completely my scene, but I am glad we went. It was fun to participate in something that Grenadians do every year and that is such a great tradition in their culture.

Some of the dancing and outfits were definitely a bit inappropriate and slightly uncomfortable, but it didn't phase me too much because I was expecting it. For those who went in completely blind, I think it was a bit shocking! But what was hard for me was seeing all the kids who participated and roamed through the packed streets late into the night/early morning. Parents held babies on their shoulders and hips and didn't let them stop them from having a good time and basically if you were over the age of 3 it was apparently okay to wander about unsupervised... there were 3 adorable brothers we saw at one point and the oldest must have been 8 or 9 and he was holding on to his youngest brother's shirt as tight as he could so he didn't get separated. SO heartbreaking. They all looked overwhelmed and scared and so we gave them our fireman hats and chatted with them for a few minutes- but really I was ready to swoop them up and take them home away from all the madness.  Definitely a different kind of living here.

All in all quite the Grenadian experience and a really fun night! I was exhausted for 2 days after, but when will we ever get another chance to participate in something like that?

BEFORE being covered with paint

AFTER being covered in paint

The following pictures I did not take but gathered from other people because I thought they were awesome and showed off the costumes and crowd well!

Lawn Day Rant

The Grenadian lawn people are here.
One of my least favorite things about Grenada.
I literally dread this day.
Basically, any plans for the day- out the window as soon as they show up.
If there is laundry on the line- plan on re-doing it due to nasty fumes.
If you were planning to Skype or listen to  music or watch a show or think- too bad, it will be too loud.
If you wanted to sweep your house- don't bother all the little grass pieces will make their way inside somehow.
If you wanted to work out- dont. You'll look up to see a worker not working and staring at you instead.
If you wanted to cook- again don't. It's too close to the window and the guy will just stand and stare at you.
Also, it will always be the hottest day ever when they decide to visit, so even though you want to close your back door or window- you can't or you will die of heat.
Basically, when it's lawn day, the only option is to pull out your computer and blog/complain about it, while babysitting the workers to make sure nothing outside goes missing as they pick up every single thing of ours that we keep on our back porch.
And no, glaring at them when they do so will not deter them.
But, continue to give them a disapproving/grossed/annoyed look anyways to make yourself feel a little better.

I love most things about Grenada. I will miss a million things about Grenada when we leave. But I assure you, lawn day will not be one of them. As a matter of fact, I will probably never allow a lawn crew into my yard ever again as soon as I have that control.

So if someone wants to buy us a lawn mower for a house warming gift someday, that'd be excellent.

Under the Sea!! Scuba Certified!!

YAY! After a week of learning about scuba and a couple days in the water, I can now say that I am officially certified to scuba dive!!  Wooo! With 4 dives under my belt I can definitely say I am confident in my skills and exploring the underwater world has become easy, relaxing, and funny enough... second nature. It is such a fun feeling to be under the water doing things you learned without thinking about it... not to mention breathing with ease at such great depths for an hour at a time!

Yep, I'm pretty much a fish now.

In our first 4 dives we went to 3 different sites: Glovers Island, The Underwater Sculpture Park/Marine Park and Flamingo Bay and went down as far as 60 feet!! Each location was awesome and we saw different and unique things at each spot! Among some of our sightings were: an octopus, sea horses, several different kinds of eels, porcupine fish, barracuda, french angel fish, lizard fish, azure vase sponge and barrel sponge, shrimp, and a lot more but those are just a few that come to mind!

Really though, getting certified was such a great decision and I am officially addicted to it! I could not have asked for a better group to learn with! Also, our instructor was awesome and really added to the experience :) We were certified through Aquanauts here in Grenada, and our experience was wonderful and I'd highly recommend them to anyone who wishes to get certified while on the island!

Best scuba certification group ever!!! So much fun learning with them and our fabulous instructor Reese!

The pictures from underwater were taken by Aquanauts, so I cannot claim them as my own! However, they are all things from our dive :) Since they were bringing down a camera I figured a) theirs is much nicer than mine, and b) why risk damage to mine when they know theirs for sure can go to that depth and I am not positive mine would survive 60ft... but I am so happy to have pictures from our first few dives- however, they don't even come close to doing justice to what it is really like under the sea :)

Exploring!! So much fun!! And of course lookin' good in scuba gear ;)

Getting briefed on the dive we were about to do

Puffer Fish!

Some of the underwater sculpture garden

Black Sea Horse! They're actually bigger than I thought they would be (still super small though)... and so cute!

Yikes! Biiig urchin! Watch out for these guys, they'll hurt ya!

Cowfish! Such a silly name, esp bc it looks more leopard print to me ;) 

Aquatic rescue mission

Just another day in our battle against bugs? No. Not so much.

We recently realized that the ants are nested in our ceiling and therefore the previous spray had not been as effective as it could have been since they only sprayed the floor. So after attempting to get the pesticide people out here for days (with us always missing them because they never come at the time they say they will come) they randomly showed up yesterday and thankfully this time I was home.

However, for the life of me, I cannot understand the one guy when he talks. He talks super fast, doesn't move his lips, and mumbles. The conversation consists of him talking and me nodding and say "yeah" (unless he looks appalled at that answer, then I quickly change it "no.") Anyways, after about 45 minutes of this, they seemed to be done, and the other guy who had been running around the outside of the house doing who knows what- comes in and asks for 2 plastic bags. Seemed a bit random, but hey why not- I gave them to him. Then he asks if I would mind him leaving his shirt on my back porch. This seemed strange so I had him repeat himself, and that still didn't seem right so I simply said "sure." 

Well- I had heard correctly. The next thing I know I look out our window and see him without his shirt on running down toward the water. And a minute after that, he was down to his whitey tighty style undies. Only in Grenada. They were far down near the water and so I simply laughed and chose to continue about my day leaving the pest control guys to whatever it was they were up to (and of course quickly jumped on the computer to inform Nick of the latest TIG moment.) They continued in whatever it was they were doing for a good 40 minutes, and so I eventually stopped watching and continued on with laundry etc. So the next time I looked out, I saw the one guy on a rock kind of far out in the water. Hmm they must be fishing maybe? I still wasn't sure. After a couple minutes however,  I heard the guy on the rock yelling to the other one, and his tone just sounded different to me. So I poked my head out our back door and yelled to an older man who was with them and who stayed back a ways and was just spectating if everything was okay. I expected it would be and that as usual I was just not hearing them right and that they were just yelling about fish or something... but for peace of mind, just wanted to make sure. Well, much to my surprise, the man responded with a panicked "NO, NO, DIS IS NOT OKAY!" 

Turns out the one guy was not fishing or playing on the rock, but rather a wave had come and knocked him into the water- and no, he could not swim, but had somehow managed to climb himself onto the rock out in the water, but was now stuck there. Great. So after running to where I could yell to the guy on the rock (I found out his name was Dave) and making sure he was okay enough for me to run and get other people I ran and got our neighbors Dan and Dana, Kimoni (our Grenadian neighbor who lives across the street), and Kerrie.  When we got back our other neighbors and Dr. Sobering were also on their way down to help. Kimoni took one look at the situation and informed me he could not swim and that he was "very nervous" so I told him to watch for Nick (who thankfully was on his way home) and to send him down as soon as he got off the bus. 

After some quick problem solving Nick and Dr. Sobering grabbed their surfboard and hopped in the water to swim out to perform the aquatic rescue.  Poor Dave was pretty terrified and exhausted from holding onto the rock while continually getting pummeled with large wave after large wave- and was literally holding on for his life. Luckily, despite being panicked he followed directions very well and was able to stay calm, which made it much easier to get him out. When he was back with us on "shore" I asked if he wanted to sit down for a second, to which he quickly responded "no, I want to get away from de water." I think that will be the last time for quite awhile that he goes anywhere near the ocean without knowing for sure he won't get tossed in. 

So thankful for the speedy response of all the neighbors who helped get him out of the water. There is no doubt that without everyone's help the outcome would not have been such a good one. Also, very thankful for the many years of swimming lessons. 

Beautiful every time...

It is not uncommon to see rainbows in Grenada (as they are actually very frequent visitors) and yet, they excite me and amaze me every.single.time!! They are so perfect and vibrant, that it is impossible not to stop and stare in awe of them. Yesterday was no exception. We had the brightest FULL rainbow I have ever seen in my life directly over our house! It was perfect. You could see every color perfectly and you could even see where the rainbow hit the water- which was something I had never seen this clearly before... simply amazing. So there we stood- outside in the sun, getting lightly rained on, staring at this incredible rainbow and thinking to ourselves for the 483924 time "yeah... we get to live  here." 

It was perfect! You could see every color, the beginning and the end of the rainbow!

I love rainbows!

Catching the bottom of the rainbow

Our backyard... really?! Spectacular. 

Not exactly photo-ready, but rainbows don't wait for you to look good!

After surviving what was possibly my first battle with Dengue ( a lovely Grenadian virus spread by mosquitos- that of course I would get because I love to get weird illnesses...) this was exactly what I needed to boost my spirits!! 


Also, TONIGHT, we are picking up Shelby, Alex, and Papa Leo from the airport! Eeee so excited to have some visitors from home! 

It's the simple things

Like waking up to the rain pounding on a tin rooftop, pouring a glass of juice, and walking out to the back porch to lay in the hammock and watch as the rain rolls in. You can always hear the sound of the rain pouring into the ocean well before you can actually see, feel, and smell the rain around you- it is really cool and so relaxing! Yes, this. is. Grenada.

You can see the rain falling out over the ocean in the distance here!

Could not have asked for a better start to the day... there is just something about the rain! :) Happy Thursday everyone! 

Happy Independence Day Grenada!

Today Grenada has officially been an independent country for 38 years! Needless to say Independence Day is a huge day here, and they have been hanging up colored flags and signs to prepare for today for weeks.

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 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 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 :( 

 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!

B-I-N-G-O and bingo was his name-O

Every Wednesday at Prickly Bay, a local outside bar by our house, is BINGO night. We had never been before and a few of our friends were going, so we decided to join. Oh my gosh, so much fun!! There is a real bingo machine and a guy on a microphone calling out numbers and saying all sorts of random things. Each game has several winners- you can win for a vertical line, horizontal line, diagonal line, X, and BINGO. There are cash prizes and other prizes for each win, with the bingo round being the biggest prize (last night = 700ec and 1500 ec!!) The game gets super competitive and it is hilariously quiet while the numbers are being called... until they end when everyone is hollering out the numbers they want to be called to win. The other thing about playing is that when you win you have to yell line or bingo loudly and immediately otherwise the guy calling out the number moves on. If another number is pulled before he hears you, then you risk sharing your winnings if someone else gets a line or bingo with that next number. It is so funny! We had a great time, and the pizza at Prickley is awesome as well!! Unfortunately no one from our group won it big this time, but Nick did win 50 ec for a line in his first game! That was enough to get us our money back for playing, or buy a round of beverages for everyone at our table... I'll let you decide which one he chose :) All in all,  a super fun Wednesday night and we are definitely hooked to BINGO. 

Always hot and sweaty here in Grenada, but ready to enjoy a fun game of bingo!

If you are looking for something fun to do, I definitely recommend it! It starts at 8pm on Wednesdays and costs 20 ec to play two games :) 

Crocs for Kiddies!

Reach out. Raise hope. Change Society. That was the slogan I heard over and over while getting my master's in Social Work at the University of Michigan. I must admit, while I thought it was a good slogan I didn't think too much about it while I was there. Of course I wanted to help people and of course I wanted to be a part of change, but mostly at the time I was focused on simply graduating. However, since graduating it has crossed my mind many times. Living in Grenada and being involved with the children here I see first hand the impact that people can have on these children, even with the smallest acts of kindness.  The After School program at Limes is a wonderful program, and a much needed one. It gives these kids something to do after school and helps keep them out of trouble- at least for a couple hours. It gives them something to look forward to and it gives us the opportunity to shower them with love and the attention they are starved for.

Reach Out. Today at Limes we gave out 63 pairs of crocs!! One of the SOs Aunts and their church were super generous and donated the shoes and paid to have them shipped here for the kids. Now how wonderful and thoughtful is that? People who haven't even met these kids, yet have heard stories about them and seen pictures reached within themselves to do something special for these kids. Many of these kids come to class without shoes, or with shoes that are in really dreadful shape, and so this gift was perfect. All the way from another country they put huge smiles on many kiddos faces and made a small(but for the moment, big) difference in their lives.

Raise Hope. Not only do these shoes provide for the kids in the fact that they don't have shoes and need them, but they don't get gifts often and that gesture alone is a gift to them.  They got to feel special and loved, and they have a brand new pair of shoes as their very own. What's the saying... "they won't remember you for the things you gave them, but for how you made them feel." I think that is a key component to "raising hope" and being a positive influence on these kids. While they will most definitely outgrow these shoes, the feeling that people care about them may last. At the same time, Grenada is full of people, and more importantly children, who live in poverty, and who don’t necessarily have basic things, such as shoes. These shoes were a token of love and provided for some of their basic needs, put a smile on their faces, and maybe in the smallest of ways elevated their hope and comfort, at least for the day. 

Change Society. This doesn't mean we want to come in and change the way these kids and their families are living or force our values and beliefs upon them, but rather I think it is our opportunity to use what we have to help those who have less than us. By sharing our gifts, talents, and time, we can help to make their lives a little better and reach out to them with kindness. It is small acts of kindness such as these shoes that do change society, little by little, child by child.  It's the thought and actions that we all have the ability to do, in some form, that can make a difference and lead to change. 

You don't necessarily need the official title of "Social Worker" or to be officially employed as one to do social work. Social work is helping others and striving to make the world a better and more equal place. It is about reaching out, raising hope, and changing society in every day life through our thoughts and actions. So although we SOs (significant others) may only be in Grenada because of boyfriends, husbands, girlfriends, or wives, and we may not get a paycheck every week, working with these kids quickly becomes something we love doing and a part of our weekly routine.  Since it isn’t a paid job, we don’t need to show up 3 days a week, but we do because we love these kids. I think that is what I love so much about volunteer work. We aren’t driven to help because of money or obligation; we do it because we care.  And we get to give the children wonderful gifts because of others in Grenada or at home, whose hearts have also been touched. I've only been here a couple weeks, and I admire all the hard work and dedication that I see and know was put forth before I came here, and am excited to be a part of that moving forward. There is nothing better than the hugs, smiles, laughter, and happiness of kids. Let alone, kids who don’t have much, and deserve every little bit we can give them. 


Before I came to Grenada this term (and even still from time to time being here) I get looks and questions as to what I am doing here, or the popular joke of "oh, so you are just on a 2 year vacation in the Caribbean?" To answer- yes, I am in Grenada for 2 years, and I am getting to spend a lot of time on the beach, but as someone who went to school for social work, I couldn't ask to be in a better place. These kids need us, and I think what the SO program is doing is amazing. Yes, we are going to continue to be broke for many years to come, but we will get a chance to be employed, slowly pay back Uncle Sam, and make money later on. But for now, we get to play, help with reading and math skills, hug, snuggle, and love on some really special kids who need it. Yeah, I think that beats a paycheck any day. 

Waiting for their surprise and being super excited when they saw all the new shoes in all different colors!

She melts my heart. She is just the sweetest little girl.

Couldn't you just eat these cuties up?

Showin' off all their brand new shoes!!

"Miss, I no cranky butt, you de cranky butt"

Miss Julie asked to see their shoes and this is what they did... so silly! 

SO much love! 

"The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart, head, and hands, and then work outward from there."