Good morning

Woke up this morning excited to start the day. I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere in my classes. I have a bit of a break this morning so I am going to take a much needed break and hit the beach. Hopefully some of my dorm friends will be doing the same. Sunny and 28 degrees celcius -beautiful! I had to buy a new pillow yesterday because Figaro has been insistent on taking it over in the middle of the night and I find that I have a crick in my neck in the morning trying to share. I have anatomy this evening and I'm really enjoying that class. Some people have had time constrictions and as a result have dropped the class so as a final tally there are only 6 of us which means two groups of three per dog to dissect. What an amazing learning opportunity. The course is taught by several different profs and we've only had the one so far, it will be interesting to see what the other two are like. I'm getting really excited for mom and dad to come visit. I've already started researching and asking around to find possible touristy excursions. I had the best conversation with one of the cleaning ladies this morning, Genevieve. She has lived in Grenada all her life but spent a couple of years up in Edmonton. She gave me a list of all sorts of neat places to research with mountain biking trips, city historical tours etc. Exciting!!

update

Sorry everyone for the lack of updating. The past couple of days have been really busy and jam packed with activities. Luckily I've been making some friends and so on Friday we went to bananas - a local cave themed club. Very fun evening with lots of music from home mixed with a bit of reggae and soca (local) music. Saturday was one of the best days I've had here so far. A new friend, Micah, has a prof whose friend owns a sailboat and he arranged for us to go on the sailboat in the pt louis regatta. The regatta is this really large sailing race and we got to race a cruise class in a 54 ft sail boat -very very cool!!



The whole thing was very exciting. It was a mostly female crew all students from SGU and even though we didn't come in first we saw some bottle nosed dolphins. I've never been on a formal whale/dolphin watching expedition so it was really neat to see those little guys jumping by the boat.


Sunday was a little more low key with some chore catch up (grocery shopping and laundry) and I managed to watch a couple of episodes of Blue planet (for those who haven't watched these BBC documentaries they are highly recommended -some of the sea critters are really something). For now it's off to bed so I can stay awake in class tomorrow. Happy Birthday Brett -hope it's the best one yet!
cheers!

eww..

Had my first vet related club meeting and it was really good. It was for the wildlife/exotic club:) We also got free pizza and pop which never hurts. Making a couple new friends each day. Got to know a couple of the kids in first year vet this year so that's exciting -I'll actually know some people next year!! Sounds like they're going to have lots of events and I can't wait till i'm a real vet. Trying hard to get caught up on all this homework... It's been a bit hard to concentrated because Yuck, I keep finding cockroaches (almost had a heart attack when I found one in the bathroom this morning.) It's not that they're scary it's the element of surprise when you sneak up on one. Luckily I have fig, he flips the over and tries to eat them so they're pretty mangled and almost dead when I find them. It would be horrible if they could still scurry along. I LOVE my cat. So today I spent a couple of hours tracking down things to kill roaches. Got a tupperware to put all my dry food in and some moth balls (which I had to throw out cause they smelled too bad and i read they cause cancer after the fact). My friend Yvonne told me about some kind of trap where they eat the stuff in it and take it back to their nest to die so I think I'll buy some tomorrow. I also need to get some bleach to put down the drains too according to the site -yeah for living in the tropics!! The cleaning lady here is really sweet and had a cold so I gave her what was left of my vit c. She left me a whole bunch of fresh fruit on my doorstep this morning!! Some of the kids I know are thinking of going to fish friday -some kind of fish market in the next week or so. That should be fun. Very sore today from hitting the gym the last two days. Tomorrow is a hip hop class so I am excited to get back into dancing. The instructor teaching it tomorrow is the one I was working with yesterday -bambi. Can't believe how fast time gets eaten up when you're trying to be a real student and do ALL the readings and questions etc... Love you guys talk to you tomorrow

and one and two and three

I am getting into the swing of things I think... finally! I got up at a decent hour this morning and had my telephone line installed. I'd have my own internet too but they gave me the wrong cd to install -such is island life. I'll have to wait until tomorrow. Yesterday was a bit of a bummer, my friend Jared (the pastry chef) went home and everyone here misses him. Good thing I have tons of homework to keep me super busy. I read two solid chapters this morning of Genetics -kinda interesting but the experiments get pretty complicated. I also took notes while reading and read ahead in the notes we're going to cover on Friday. Trying really hard to be a great student and it sure takes work. Now maybe if I can get a handle on Biochem I'll be ready for tomorrow's hectic schedule -4 classes (each 2 hrs) so it's like 8 until 7pm including small breaks. There is also a vet club meeting tomorrow night that I'm going to try and make -they promise free food -yumm!!
I also went to the gym today -second time in a row. I LOVE MY GYM. I'm not used to being treated this well. You go in, sign in, get a towel that they've laundered for you, head upstairs to the cardio equip, do about 25 minutes while watching american tv (Feels just like home!!) then it's down to the main floor again where one of the many instructors, takes you to the individual equipment, explains what to do and counts sets and reps for you. Essentially it's personal training for free!! There are also lots of classes available and I plan to try the Hip Hop class on Friday. Today my instructor was "bambi" I'm probably spelling it wrong but tha's what it sounded like. I learned a lot about lifting weights and he assured me that if you do it properly you don't get too "big" nothing worse then getting tree trunk arms if you're a girl. One of the other instructors offered to burn me a cd of local "soca" or local music. Can't wait to see what that will be like.
Fig is feeling really good today. He was really interested in something in the corner this morning. So I saw my first cockroach -gross!! Good thing I have a cat, the thing was dead and was easily disposed of. The cleaning lady I spoke to said I can get some kind of -sounded like "Camfur" balls to keep them away. For sure I will pick some of those up tomorrow. Joys of warm countries but I still thing this is all worth it. I'm getting to know all my dorm room mates and am making friends slowly already tonight i've had three knocks on my door to chat -it's really fun to have all your friends living right next door.
Hope everyone had a good day, talk to you all soon!!
katie

Slow down please...

Today was the busiest day of my life. Between trying to find all of my classes while they continually changed the lecture halls they're supposed to be held in and trying to purchase the necessary textbooks etc... all while trying to get the homework and reading done for classes I haven't even had yet, there wasn't a spare minute in the day. I also went to my new gym (I joined a really nice gym across the street from the dorm), cooked a "real" supper of pasta and salad and picked up the modem for my internet connection that is supposed to be installed tomorrow -can't wait!! I promise a longer update tomorrow but for now I've gotta hit the books and get caught up!

Start your engines...

And so the first day of classes is finally here. Everyone was gone early this morning to get a start on our new professional careers while I luckily get the day off until my anatomy class this evening. Until things really get going and I have readings and homework etc. Mon and Wed will be nice mental health breaks with only one evening class while Tues/Thurs will be long (8a.m. to 8 p.m.) Luckily school has a beach so I can take a quick break at somepoint on those days. Friday leads nicely into the weekend with two classes (one being intro to vet sciences which I think will be fun!) I've also decided to enroll at the gym right accross from the dorms. It gets dark really early here which makes running outside impractical/not the safest and the school gym is PACKED. So that is on the list of things to do. I'm going for a smoothie later with a new dorm resident. Josh and his brother moved in a few days ago with their St. Bernard (-so cool!!) named Oliver. Josh's brother (22 y/o) is a pastry chef from New York and Josh (28 y/o 2nd year pre med) is from Texas. Lastly, there is some grocery shopping to do (need to get some lined paper for school and maybe a pot).

Ruhm Runner

SGU is awesome!! Today they arranged for all of the orientation kids to take some free tours. Some kids toured the Nutmeg factory and had a walking tour of the Capital city -St. Georges, I went on the boat cruise and waterfall/lake tour. We started out early and the buses left for the boat cruise at 9:15. We drove to St. Georges (about 20 minutes) and boarded the Rhum Runner. There was a carribean steel drum band, dancing and rum punch. We stopped at Morne Rouge beach and they let us off for an hour and a half while locals pulled kids who wanted to go on the bananna tubes. We also tossed crackers off the boat to feed the fish -they were huge! The weather was a bit funny, raining for a few minutes and then sunny for an hour, rinse and repeat!

The Ruhm Runner

As soon as we got back to campus, the second tour left for Annandale falls and Grand Etang lake. The falls were first. I'm amazed at the roads here -they are super steep and narrow and windy. It's lucky that the school has reliable buses because anything with questionable breaks could kill you. I also think I'd have to work up my nerves prior to driving anything out of town. The falls were really pretty, there was a cliff that some people were jumping off of into the deep pool below. I didn't jump but conveniently I had my swimsuit on from the cruise in the morning so I hopped in the pool to cool down -delicious!

Annandale falls


All of these school outings are definitely helping to meet some people. Already I am starting to notice some people around campus and know their names. Grand Etang lake was highly disappointing, it's a crater lake formed from an old volcano but really it looked like a small marsh. It probably was destined to be disappointing though because it was super cold there (higher altitude with lots of cloud cover plus I was soaking wet from the falls.)
Grand Etang Lake
Later that night we had a welcome bbq for all the SGU students with free food and beer. It was really fun, everyone had a nice time and later we went to one of the local nightclubs (bananas) until about 2a.m. Long day but lots going on and lots of fun.

My backyard

Here is what my backyard looks like... Finally got out there to take some pictures for you. Our dorm meeting was cancelled because not all of the students are here yet (talk about arriving at the last minute..) I'm super excited, we get to go on a boat cruise in the morning and are hiking to some water falls in the afternoon. I think a little bit of relaxing and tanning is in order...

Looking down the beach to the right...


The beach


My scuba shop hangout


My dorm from the outside...

drugs drugs drugs... which are good, which are bad...

So today started early with a run on the beach at 8:00 a.m. with Garo (guy from france I met during orientation yesterday). I asked others to come, some said they would another time and others wouldn't commit -haha.. I am bound and destined to create a running group so we can all have motivation to stay in shape. Running on the beach is honestly running the way it should be! I suspected it would be good, but it was even better then anticipated. There's beautiful scenery to look at, it's a bit harder because you have extra resistance from the sand and best of all, when you get tooo hot you just bail into the water! Hopefully I can make this a routine. Last night I figured out my class schedule for this term and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I was shocked how much time off I have to study, unlike U of A, there isn't a lab for every course I take so there are way less time commitments. I guess everyone will have time off like I do though so the difference will be in how we use our time. My goal is definitely to use my time as effectively as possible with lots of balance work and play. A couple of the orientation sessions yesterday were really useful, not only did I know some people's names on campus (the team building workshop) I also knew my way around campus a bit and got some better ideas for studying. It looks like I only have one evening class on Monday and Wedesday, Tuesday and Thursdays are a bit heavier but still have a three hour break in the middle of the day and Friday I only have two classes in the afternoon. I think tonight I'll try and make a meal plan, I didn't foresee how hard it was going to be to try and figure out what to cook for supper every singe night. One of the girls living on campus is asking the dean if there is some way we can get a freezer for our rooms. That would be amazing -then I could cook for the week on Sundays and freeze everything!! After this mornings run, I signed up to get internet and went to school for my only orientation event of the day, an information session on how drugs should not be consumed on campus and how it can affect your professionalism. It was interesting but kind of long and drawn out. I think I'll take a nap soon, still trying to kick this stubborn cold (I think I almost have it) and then I'm going to take some pictures of the beach (it is SO AMAZING). Tonight there is a meeting with the RA about living on campus.. it will be interesting to see what kinds of things they want to bring up. I"m so happy, Fig's been feeling really good yesterday and today (dont' want to jinx it..) but I've been feeding him only canned food lately and he seems to be having way less problems with sensitive stomach. He's also been super frisky, we actually played fetch last night for 15 minutes where I would be reading my student manual, and he'd jump up on my bed with the ball for me to throw it again. Hope this trend continues! He enjoys the "fancy feast" I'm not sure how good a quality the food is but at this point, anything he wants to eat that will make him feel good... I bought quite a few of those cans last night but offered one up to the stray dog sitting just outside the store. Broke my heart, he was sitting there chewing at his tail (he has some kind of mange/skin condition) and was nothing but a wrack of bones so I gave him the can of food, he inhaled it and tried to follow me home. Super friendly dogs... I'm going to have to think of something to fix this dog issue. There are so many strays here that people just don't take care of... Anyone want a dog? :)

Orientation 11 Jan 17/08

Still have a cold –sigh** bought vit C and cold meds I am bound and determined to get rid of it as soon as possible. The more time I am spending at school the more excited I am getting about starting classes. The faculty all seem really enthusiastic and friendly. We spent the whole morning getting to know some of our classmates and playing team building exercises. I really wish U of A had made some sort of effort to do the same kind of thing.. SGU is starting to have more of a high school feeling just because the classes aren’t as big, it’s definitely not as intimidating and you don’t feel like just a number. Making acquaintances isn’t too hard, I know I’ll have to work at making real friends though because I’ve always had the same core group of friends at home (who I miss☺ ). I guess it’s always good to extend yourself a bit and get out of your comfort zone. Tonight the plan is to figure out my class schedule, read my student manual, make some supper (or rather eat last nights leftovers) go grocery shopping and of course update my blog. I was recapping the week and I’m pretty overwhelmed at how much I’ve accomplished. In summary: I moved halfway across the world on my own, navigated around a foreign city learning how to use reggae bus public transit as well as school buses, I learned how to get around on campus, about using a foreign currency and conversion, figured out how to use transformers/adaptors for various electrical appliances, figured out where to buy groceries for cheaper, moved to a dorm, had repairs organized, figured out how to call internationally for cheap as well as about vonage and acquiring internet and lastly I learned how to scuba dive. I wonder what the next couple of weeks will bring. Miss you all and hope to talk to you soon!

orientation day

Today was my first unofficial day of school also known as orientation. So far I’m really impressed with the school. Everything was really organized, we started right at 8:00 were given a package of relevant info and got to sign up for various tours and even a boat cruise! There are a few mandatory events that we have to attend (luckily because I’m 3rd yr prevet not 1st or 2nd, I got to miss all the placement exams) and lots of optional ones. I was done fairly early today and went home to buy myself a printer. I found a really good one at a small store just around the corner. It’s really awesome, a color all in one that can fax, scan, copy and print *thumbs up for being able to print of notes when necessary… I had a bit of trouble installing my printer software and enlisted the help of some friends I’ve met in my dorm, Hussein (40 ish y/o med student) and Harish (24 y/o med student). It ended up that we were all planning on making stir fry for supper so we decided to cook supper together (sure beats eating and cooking alone!) It was an excellent academic dinner, we had a pretty thorough discussion about international economics. I really surprised myself with that.. didn’t think I had an interest or knew anything about it until the subject was brought up. All in all, today was really good, the only thing that could have been better was that I woke up with a cold (I think I got it on the plane) hope it doesn’t last long.

Diving anyone? Jan 15/08

Overcast morning, took off early to do my first dive off the beach. Had a bit of trouble finding the place so I was a couple of minutes late. The dive was actually really helpful because we took off from the beach just next to my dorms. It was primarily a skills dive where we practiced all of our exercises for becoming certified. The toughest for me is definitely the mask clearing –not because I am claustrophobic but mostly because the salty water burns your eyes a bit when you try to open them again. I am glad they make you practice these things though.. it would be scary to be on a deeper dive and not be able to get along without your mask until it can be replaced. Although there wasn’t a whole lot to see except for sand it was neat to see what the beach front looks like. It’s actually a very gradual slope as opposed to a big drop off as I had been suspecting. Now I know what to expect when I go swimming in the morning! After a quick lunch break, Alexandria and a new diving friend Tanya met me at the scuba shop and we got to do two boat dives. The first was the best diving I’ve done so far. We went to a small cove about 10 minutes away from Grand Anse beach where a local artist has sunk a museum of sculptures about 35 feet below the surface. We swam for a good 35 minutes taking pictures and enjoying all the neat figures –will try to post picts when I get them back from Alexandria. After diving had supper and went back to the church I had attended on Sunday to watch David preach (he’s an ordained minister). He is an awesome public speaker and had some good points. Still not sure that organized religion is for me but some of it (the contributing to the community aspects) have relevance I think… Also, it seems like people in the church community are very generous and giving as a whole –I even got a free ride home by some of the local ladies. Off to bed, I’m now a certified diver –yeehaw!

My very first place

Here is a picture tour of my very first dorm room:)


My sink area


Posters:


Bathroom


My "Pantry"


My enormous desk err. study partner


A view of the corner of the room, aka my exercise space:)

First Dorm night… Jan 14/08

In keeping with my nightly routine of writing my blog before bed, here is a summary of today’s events. Had a horrible sleep last night. After I moved in yesterday night, my A/C was still not working. I thought that with it blowing hot air and having the doors flung open I’d have enough air to make it through the night but that was not so. I ended up having to move me and Fig next door to a vacant room just for the night and because of my inexperience with A/C set it way too cold. I woke up in the middle of the night freezing and then woke again later to try and skuttle fig off to the bathroom (he wasn’t feeling well.) So I preceeded to have alternating nightmares of freezing to death and dealing with a sick cat on a foreign island. In the morning, I had no choice but to move fig back to my oven room because our cooler room was about to be occupied by the lucky student who has working air conditioning. I was beginning to worry how I would keep him cool enough while I went for my scuba class this morning when I got a call that I wouldn’t have a class until the afternoon –thank goodness! I purchased a small fan for fig which made the room somewhat decent and while I was “scuba-ing” some wonderful technician made the room livable again. Unlike candleglow, there is no airflow between the concrete apartments so although it was quite doable before to use no a/c or little a/c on a regular basis, here it is not an option.
Scuba diving was fantastic. I was a little apprehensive the first moment I stepped into the water just because I’d never dove in the ocean before but it was a fantastic experience. I think Mike and I definitely lucked out with the instruction we received in Edmonton because I felt fairly confident with all of the material, putting the equipment together and maintaining proper buoyancy. The water here is just incredible, it’s this beautiful teal color and the fish are spectacular. Within the first 10 minutes of getting in the water, I saw a ray go gliding past, a 8 inch long puffer fish and coolest of all, an octopus!
Because I only got one dive in today, I’ll get to do three tomorrow. I’m extra excited because Alexandria is going to come dive for one of the afternoon dives!!
In the evening I finished up all of my laundry for the past week, unpacked all of my bags, bought groceries and utensils etc. The hope is that I’ll be able to eat real food tomorrow a.m.:) Officially “settled in” to my place, complete with functioning A/C. Now if only I can get my internet installed I will have the perfect accommodation.

New digs

So today was the big moving day into my new dorm. Woke up early to experience church Grenadian style with Alexandria and David. It was a really interesting experience. We were the only caucasians in the pews and the service was at least 3 hrs long (we left at that point, not sure how much longer it lasted). The first solid hour resembled an aerobic workout, there was a band up front playing techno music to backup the hymns and all of the Grenadians in really beautiful colored outfits lept up and down or side to side in time for the music. The thing that surprised me most was how emotional some of them get during the service. There was a time where the minister asked that we all join hands and sing. The lady next to me sobbed the entire time, flailing madly (resulting in me being flailed around like a ragdoll) until some other members of the congregation calmed her down.
Rita and Neville had me up to the house for a parting dinner -delicious homemade pizza, split pea soup and homemade icecream-yumm!! Their friend Roger drove me to campus in his little Geo (all my stuff barely squished into the back) and I am just about to start unpacking. The room is great, the only thing is my A/C is broken and so I will have to put a work order in to get it fixed and I'm allowed to sleep in another room until it is fixed. I'll try and post some pictures soon...

pictures of the trip down

well this post is behind the times... but since my computer and the internet are both cooperating here are some pictures from the journey down to Grenada.

My handsome boyfriend and I

Mom and Dad during supper before I left

Tom and I at the Edmonton airport before leaving

Tired traveller -first stop in Toronto Airport

All of my junk in Toronto airport

The view from my sleeping sport in Toronto airport


view from plane over San Juan

My first view of SGU campus


View from campus

First trip on a reggae bus with friends Alexandria, baby Annabella and David


Fig on his bed at Candleglow

Goats or the "Grenadian lawnmowers"

Candleglow apartment

Here's a quick pictorial tour of my lovely Candleglow apartment...
The livingroom
My Kitchen
My Bedroom
My Bathroom
front of the apartment
the view out of my candleglow apartment

Kayyteee

Got up late today. Last night we had Grenadas first thunder storm. I didn’t check the clock but it was early this morning (2-3 a.m.?) and I woke up to rain on the tin roof and howling winds. I had to get up quickly and shut all the windows (Neville has warned me that when it rains, the rain goes sideways and after looking out the window last night he is right!! The trees were bent at 45 degree angles and were whipping around violently. I’m kind of looking forward to moving into my dorm, I think I will feel a bit safer in an apartment on the bottom floor with cement apartments all around me rather then up in the hills in a small cottage with a tin roof. The whole thing was kind of scary, hope we don’t have too many thunder storms like that. As a result it was hard to sleep and even though I had every intention to get up early, it didn’t happen. I finally got around to leaving the apartment by about 8:45. I headed straight to the CK grocery store to pick up cleaning supplies and a mop to clean my new dorm room and was just rounding the corner when I heard “Kaytteeeee” little Annabella and Alexandria were already there! Annabella has just learned my name the last couple of names and she uses it frequently not only to refer to me but kitties and doggies too lol. It was super nice of Alexandria, she tagged along and helped me scrub the mold out of my dorm room top to bottom. It doesn’t even look like the same room anymore and it smells completely different. We did notice that the A/C is not working dependably, might have to get it repaired… Lucky we got it all cleaned –moving day is tomorrow and I am excited. We had a short break after all the cleaning and went to the little spiceland mall across the street to get smoothies. These are honestly the best smoothies I think I’ve had in my life! So far I’ve been there 3 times. The first two I had bananna but today I tried bananna with chocolate –It was heavenly and good value for only 3$ Can!! We took one of the school buses back to the apartment, and headed straight back to the beach after I got my diving referral. I’m officially signed up now to take SCUBA on Monday morning at 8:30 and Tuesday morning at 8:30 for two dives per day. I’m a bit nervous to dive for the first time but it is definitely outweighed by excitement to see all the cool fish!! I’ve got this apprehension sometimes with the ocean but I’m figuring out its more to do with not being able to see the bottom. I noticed with the dive course that I’m much more confident and have a blast when it comes to actually being in the water, able to see what is going on as opposed to water sports where I’m on top of the water. After a quick dip and a tour up and down the entire beach I’m so excited to be living so close to it.
Tomorrow is looking like it will be a really interesting day. One of the men working on candleglows expansion invited the four of us to go to church with him. I’m going to go and see what a carribean church is like and we’ll be back sometime around 1pm. Then Rita and Neville have invited me over for lunch tomorrow afternoon and have graciously offered their gardners assistance in transporting all of my junk to the dorm rooms for tomorrow afternoon. It seems like my bags have multiplied since I arrived so I hope all of it fits in whichever car we end up taking!! The dorms are supposed to have wireless internet in the study rooms so I am super psyched that I will soon be in touch with everyone again. By Friday I will have all the paperwork to order my own internet and I’ll be able to get the vonage set up as well –can’t wait!!

Knock, Knock, who’s there

So I woke up to knocking again this morning, surprise it was Alexandria with two steaming hot whole grain pancakes with fruit on top –delicious. I’m being so spoiled here, I hope I can repay all of this kindness somehow… After feeding Fig and playing fetch for eons… I returned the plate next door and went to see the phone company. They were so helpful, I explained that my minutes had not been added and they promptly gave me the full 199$ ec credit (on top of the bonus $10 they gave me last night!). Having a phone has definitely helped me to feel more connected to home, hope that once the phone deal runs out at the end of the month I’ll have internet etc…
Next I went back to the apartments, changed into a swimsuit and walked down to the beach with David’s family or as Neville has started saying “my candleglow family” (candleglow is the name of the apartments.) The beach is even better then the last –absolutely spectacular. It looks just like all the beaches on the cover of travel magazines, white sand with turquoise/lighter blue water. The water is surprisingly warm to, it’s a bit chilly when you first step in (only because the air is so warm) but after less then a minute you don’t ever want to get out again. The only thing I would have done differently is I stepped on a crap –it didn’t grab me but is squirmed ick! Definitely recommend a mask of some sort to watch where you’re going, or snorkeling preferably. I also checked out two dive shops. I thought for sure I would go with the first one –ecotours, the owner was nice and seemed knoweledgeable but as soon as I entered the second shop –aquanauts I new it was the one. It’s a brand new little dive shop, state of the art boats and equipment with really helpful staff. Better yet, both shops have SGU student discounts. Unbelievably I found out that my dorm room is right next door to the aquanauts dive shop (the dorm building is not even 15 feet away!!) –more on the dorms in a minute. I foresee lots of diving, with it being so close, hopefully every week. I’m going tomorrow morning to book my open water dives on Monday and Tuesday so that I will be certified and then we’ll just have to see.
While we were so close, I went to the security guard at the entrance to the dorm (it’s very secure there with a guard at every entrance) and asked him who I would talk to about seeing my room. I was told that some people were moving in today and after going to the main security booth was connected with one of the SGU Housing reps. I got all outfitted with keys to the building and my room –my very first apartment of my own I am SOOOO EXCITED!! It took awhile to find the room #49 because they had told me it was in the wrong building but it turns out that it is on the ground floor in one of the two three floor buildings they have (poorly written sentence –sorry!). The room is really cool. When you first walk in, on the right hand side there is a bathroom. It has a normal tub surrounded by pale blue tiles and the toilet (which is right in front of you when you stand in the doorway) is on a pedestal –to account for the trap in the back of the toilet I am told. If you continue walking past the bathroom on the right hand side there is a sink with a really retro framed mirror over top. Then there is a wicket wall separator thing… only a picture can describe it and then there are two twin beds and a fridge. Once you enter the apartment on the left hand side there are massive cubby holes for clothes and storage followed by two full sized desks. At the far end of the room there is glass patio doors leading onto a fully screened (with wire, bug mesh and lattice) patio. The whole room is really retro but with a little cleaning it is going to look great. That will be tomorrow’s project I think. The only downfall to carribean weather is that it is conducive to “stuff” growing on the walls. The floor is purple fake marble lino so at least it will be easy to wash. I’ll try to post some pictures after it has been cleaned☺ Things I’m most excited about with this dorm room are: It has non stop as much as you want air conditioning controlled with a remote, it is huge so Fig has tons of room and with a screened patio he can sit outside if he wants, it is right on the beach ** so cool!!
Also met my RA, his name is Christian and he’s in his 3rd year of the med program. He seems really reasonable, I think he’ll be good at his job so that’s a relief.
The absolute most exciting thing that happened today though, is that I got to try out the new cell phone. First I tried to call mom at home but no one answered so I called dad at work and bothered him for awhile, then I called mom at home and bothered her for awhile and then after supper tonight I called both of them again just because I could! I’ve really missed everyone at home, it’s really nice to hear how everyone is doing and to hear their voices again! I’ve been pretty bad at keeping in touch since I left so I feel bad that mom was worrying how I’m getting along. I think it’ll be better from now on. I still wasn’t done with my phone yet so I called Keith. We’ve been chatting a bit but this was the first really conversation since I left almost a week ago. It meant a lot to finally be able to talk. Sounds like he’s got a good schedule with school and I am so jealous that he is taking some of the classes he is. His gross anatomy class sounds sooo cool! His class learns anatomy then dissects to see it in person. It’s so generous of people to donate their bodies to science like that so others can learn. He’s also going to Calgary this weekend to visit and I wish I could go too!
It’s noisier here tonight, someone moved into the apartment next door and with everyone’s windows open you can hear showers going, talking and sneezing! One of the little shops at the bottom of the hill around the corner has decided to play their music really loud, good thing its good music or it might be annoying;)

Thank Goodness for Italian food

Mmm supper was good, spaghetti with sauce, steamed bauk choy (hope I’m spelling this right, I LOVE this vegetable, must find more!!)… and fruit salad for desert. I am super frusterated with my phone because the company didn’t put the right number of minutes on the phone. I’m going to have to go and see them tomorrow… I’ve figured out that if you actually shut the window by my head (closest to the frogs in all the long grass behind the apartments it is a lot quieter (less chirping!!) Also, if you talk out the window they stop for a few minutes and if you yell at them, shut the window and turn on the fan, with some ear plugs it’s almost like home☺ I’m not quite ready for bed yet so I’m about to start up my “blue planet dvd” for those who haven’t heard of it, you should see it –it’s amazing videography (is that a word?) for all kinds of underwater animals… G’night!

Daily update…

Tired after a buy day☺ Slowly but surely I am getting more confident talking to the locals and more confident in my surroundings. Today started off early again, I swear it must be the time change but I can’t seem to sleep in even though I have every opportunity to. Unfortunately I learned that you can’t keep any food out on the counters, even if it’s sealed in a plastic bag. I had the misfortune of leaving some buns in a bag on the counter and woke up to ants swarming all over. I was also surprised to find out that since I’m only staying at the apartments short term I get maid service (so cool!!). It’s a good thing I woke up when I did because 5 minutes later, Mary was knocking at my door wanting to come in. She was slightly older then me so I took the opportunity to swamp her with questions ie: where’s the best grocery store. She also got some raid to get rid of the ants –bonus!
Todays mission was to go and find myself a cellular phone and get to campus to look around a bit. Luckily, my transformer I purchased yesterday works wonderfully and I had a charged camera to work with. I also managed to find all the cords needed to download photos and my flash drive so that I could download all my entries to take to school and post. I was just heading down the driveway when I heard someone calling my name. Alexandria and David offered to come with me and so after a great breakfast of peanut butter toast and fresh bananas –yumm (they taste completely different down here, thick and creamy like you wouldn’t believe) we set off down the street. The apartment has an amazing location, it’s far enough away from the main towns to feel rural and yet it’s only a block away from urban Grand Anse (for those looking on a map, the apartments are right between Lanse Epigne and Grand Anse areas. I bought a cell phone from B-mobile, it’s actually a pretty great deal. They have a student pay as you go phone where you purchase a phone (3 to choose from with increasing prices) and then you get the equivalent of the phone purchase in free minutes. So essentially, you get a free phone with as many minutes as fits into the amount that you purchased. So I got the 199ec phone so roughly 60-70 can $ but I get a rate of 20 cents ec (roughly 7-10 cents can) to call Canada or the us =almost 955 minutes for the full amount I paid for the phone. I was pretty impressed. For locals to have a phone with the same company, if they were to call the US or Canada it would be at least 90 cents a minute. I also found out a bit about internet so once I move into my dorm next week, hopefully I’ll be all dialed in!
Next on the agenda, we went to find the RTT bank in downtown St Georges. It was really neat to see the town, it’s a lot bigger than I thought it was and it has a really upbeat energy to it. The reggae bus to and through town is also really fun because the streets are super windy, bumpy and steep, add a little reggae music and a back seat =you might as well be on a roller coaster. We checked out a couple of the malls and small shops there, had subway for lunch (so far the only American fast food places I’ve seen have been Subway and KFC) we learned that you have to be really careful to watch what people charge you because if you’re a tourist they try to take advantage of you with extra costs that aern’t listed on the board.
I set off on my own halfway back to hit up the campus. It was my first afternoon officially on my own in this new place and it was a lot easier to navigate then I would have thought. The school buses are wonderful. They’re completely free, run every 15 minutes and run past a block away from the apartments right to the doorstep of the school. Everyone on campus is super friendly, I got there around 4 so I had roughly an hour to try and catch up on email, facebook and msn. Thanks to all of you that have written☺ It was so awesome to hear from you and honestly you’ve made my evening. I don’t feel nearly as lonely as last night! I’m on my way over to my new friends place two apartments over for supper… last night was the best chicken curry I’ve ever tasted and today I bought some fruit for fruit salad… yumm…

Bless the lord

Today was amazing. It started kind of roughly but flipped around 180. What surprised me most about last night was that not only did I sleep like a stone (there are lots of noisy critters that squeak and chirp all night, and the fan I have going to keep me cool in my no A/C apartment hums loudly) I slept like a log on one of the most comfortable mattresses in the world with only a sheet! I was also surprised by the fact that after pulling an all nighter and having every reason in the world to sleep in, I woke up at 8:30 am Grenada time. I woke up with a sinking gut feeling, I was feeling completely overwhelmed at what I had to accomplish for the day and doubting myself for shipping off half way across the world from not only friends and family but places where I knew I could provide for myself (food clothes etc.) It’s surprising but in a new country you are sooo vulnerable. You know where nothing is and I am absolutely blessed to have the apartment owners and fellow students to help me out –more on them later. I was also ravenous after going for 24 hrs with no food but orange juice (stupid I know but there wasn’t anything at the airports open when I had layovers due to awkward hrs and the flights only had overpriced limp soggy sandwiches. I meandered around the apartment for a bit, found no edible items, and tried to decide what to wear (cool but not revealing –-who knows how conservative these people are?) I tried to get my camera out but the battery was dead…
Task 1: find out how to charge the batter from a 220 v plug with a crazy looking plug shape. And so I spent a good hour reading through school brochures and travel magazines and luckily pieced together that I needed a transformer that was at least 1500 W (to work hair dryers etc..) as well as a surge protector (for the islands crazy electrical currents) and lastly some adapters (apparently some NA items built for 110V will work with 220V if it says on their label that they can.) So now I know I can accomplish anything, after all, knowing nothing about transformers and having to read about them (boring!) and figuring them out is cool. Next I went up the hill to the owners (Neville and Rita) house as they had requested last night. They were so incredibly generous and offered to take me out on a tour of the city. The family I met last night accompanied us. David ( 36 y/o who is in pre-med with flow into med classes next year also a Catholic minister), Alexandria (30 y/o teacher who is now making the switch to stay at home mom, also Catholic) and their adorable little girl (1.5 yrs). We were shown the main streets around the apartment, we saw the best local place to buy fish (my empty stomach churned at that stop) and we visited the grocery store. The store is in a mall just like we have at home complete with small food court) the store itself was also surprisingly similar to a Canadian one, the only difference being that not all the products are recognizable brand names (the ones that are =usually significantly more expensive). I bought a few items to make pasta, cheese sandwiches with lettuce and tomato and yogurt. My most exciting find was a full shelf of cat litter. I’ve been warned that once the students start getting here in a week it will be nearly impossible to find. I bought 2 jugs! I was told by Alexandria and David that when they were at that store the day before several items either were or weren’t in compared to todays visit which goes to show that you should shop frequently for things you need and stockpile them when they look decent. Food can also be pretty pricey here so it is crucial that you shop around until you find where the best and cheapest of everything can be found. Weirdest grocery purchased so far: Alexandria told me about carton milk on the shelf, I have to say I was super skeptical but it actually tastes better then the stuff from home. Definitly have to stock up on that
Neville showed me where several of the banks are, I was disappointed to find that my atm card from home didn’t work to take out EC (local currency of Eastern Carribean dollars) like the school brochure said it would. Luckily the tellers could convert some of the US fund I had brought with me and assured me my card would most likely work at one of the bigger banks on the island (which coincidently is closer to wear I live). Next was a trip back to the apartment to check on fig. He is digging the island life, I have rarely seen him this content. He spends the day napping around the apartment basking in the heat and laying on the tile when he’d like to cool down a bit, eating delicious fancy canned food and getting water out of the faucet when he requests. He is also enjoying being the spoiled only child again. I am so glad that I could bring him with me, even as I type he is sleeping on the bed beside me keeping me company. That is probably one of the biggest things getting to me right now. Because I don’t have internet (and the café down the street is broken) or affordable international calling yet, I feel really isolated. Once I’m not hanging out with Alexandrias family, It can get really lonely really fast.
I went to david’s apartment and because he was going to campus to find out some information I got to tag along. We took two kinds of buses, the local reggae bus and the school bus. The roads here are variable they are either like ours or CRAZY bumpy and full of potholes. Because the roads are also windy and twisty it is super fun to go bumping down them with the (no joke!) reggae music blaring. I havent’ seen many rastefarians yet but everyone has the carribean accent and moves really slowly or on island time. The campus is better than in pictures –it is absolutely breathtaking/stunning take your pic. After a quick meet and greet with some of the vet med counselors I found out that I can register next Friday morning (Jan 18) at 8:00 and that I can move into my dorm sometime after this Friday (I’ll be moving on Jan 13). Then we explored just a bit more and there was the most gorgeous black beach I’ve been to in my life! For those of you who I’ve shown the big pict of SGU on the point, it was looking the opposite way into the horizon, the water is transparent blue, the sand was black and glistening, and you could just see the cliffs of the point with lush vegetation framing the whole thing. I will have to take my camera and post it –it makes you speechless. I can only hope I make it to Grand Anse beach tomorrow (the big tourist beach near where my dorm is supposed to be). It’s supposed to be even better… So I have accomplished a lot of what I wanted to today, taking the bus was super easy and they actually stop and ask you if you need one rather then you having to flag them down (and it’s only 2.5 EC –that’s like 1$Can), I now have a transformer, surge bar and adaptors so I am set for anything and everything electrical, I visited the bank and got my first EC and I’ve seen the campus briefly and met some people. The only pressing things left are to hit the library at school tomorrow so that I can use their internet and to organize a cellphone. Alexandria was telling me about this student deal they found yesterday where you buy a phone for 35 EC (roughly 15$ CAN) and you get a 35$credit (which basically pays for the phone.) With the package you get 200 free minutes and to call in Canada/USA it’s like super cheap (7 cents approx?) so I am going to go hunt that down and find out more about it. I was also relieved to learn that even if your dorm doesn’t come with internet (I’m suspecting it doesn’t) you can buy interenet as long as you have a phone jack (which every room has to have.) You can even get DSL which means that I should be able to use my webcam /ichat **jumps for joy. But now it is time for a shower and bed. I am so lucky to have found such amazing hosts, Neville and Rita who have taken me under their wing and given me hints and tips as well as an amazing rate on my room (anyone who comes to visit me should stay here –cheap, amazing, uber comfy) as well as David and Alexandrias family. They have all made this transition so much easier and as they would say “I’ve been blessed by the lord” to have been so fortunate. G’night!

Bless the lord

Today was amazing. It started kind of roughly but flipped around 180. What surprised me most about last night was that not only did I sleep like a stone (there are lots of noisy critters that squeak and chirp all night, and the fan I have going to keep me cool in my no A/C apartment hums loudly) I slept like a log on one of the most comfortable mattresses in the world with only a sheet! I was also surprised by the fact that after pulling an all nighter and having every reason in the world to sleep in, I woke up at 8:30 am Grenada time. I woke up with a sinking gut feeling, I was feeling completely overwhelmed at what I had to accomplish for the day and doubting myself for shipping off half way across the world from not only friends and family but places where I knew I could provide for myself (food clothes etc.) It’s surprising but in a new country you are sooo vulnerable. You know where nothing is and I am absolutely blessed to have the apartment owners and fellow students to help me out –more on them later. I was also ravenous after going for 24 hrs with no food but orange juice (stupid I know but there wasn’t anything at the airports open when I had layovers due to awkward hrs and the flights only had overpriced limp soggy sandwiches. I meandered around the apartment for a bit, found no edible items, and tried to decide what to wear (cool but not revealing –-who knows how conservative these people are?) I tried to get my camera out but the battery was dead…
Task 1: find out how to charge the batter from a 220 v plug with a crazy looking plug shape. And so I spent a good hour reading through school brochures and travel magazines and luckily pieced together that I needed a transformer that was at least 1500 W (to work hair dryers etc..) as well as a surge protector (for the islands crazy electrical currents) and lastly some adapters (apparently some NA items built for 110V will work with 220V if it says on their label that they can.) So now I know I can accomplish anything, after all, knowing nothing about transformers and having to read about them (boring!) and figuring them out is cool. Next I went up the hill to the owners (Neville and Rita) house as they had requested last night. They were so incredibly generous and offered to take me out on a tour of the city. The family I met last night accompanied us. David ( 36 y/o who is in pre-med with flow into med classes next year also a Catholic minister), Alexandria (30 y/o teacher who is now making the switch to stay at home mom, also Catholic) and their adorable little girl (1.5 yrs). We were shown the main streets around the apartment, we saw the best local place to buy fish (my empty stomach churned at that stop) and we visited the grocery store. The store is in a mall just like we have at home complete with small food court) the store itself was also surprisingly similar to a Canadian one, the only difference being that not all the products are recognizable brand names (the ones that are =usually significantly more expensive). I bought a few items to make pasta, cheese sandwiches with lettuce and tomato and yogurt. My most exciting find was a full shelf of cat litter. I’ve been warned that once the students start getting here in a week it will be nearly impossible to find. I bought 2 jugs! I was told by Alexandria and David that when they were at that store the day before several items either were or weren’t in compared to todays visit which goes to show that you should shop frequently for things you need and stockpile them when they look decent. Food can also be pretty pricey here so it is crucial that you shop around until you find where the best and cheapest of everything can be found. Weirdest grocery purchased so far: Alexandria told me about carton milk on the shelf, I have to say I was super skeptical but it actually tastes better then the stuff from home. Definitly have to stock up on that
Neville showed me where several of the banks are, I was disappointed to find that my atm card from home didn’t work to take out EC (local currency of Eastern Carribean dollars) like the school brochure said it would. Luckily the tellers could convert some of the US fund I had brought with me and assured me my card would most likely work at one of the bigger banks on the island (which coincidently is closer to wear I live). Next was a trip back to the apartment to check on fig. He is digging the island life, I have rarely seen him this content. He spends the day napping around the apartment basking in the heat and laying on the tile when he’d like to cool down a bit, eating delicious fancy canned food and getting water out of the faucet when he requests. He is also enjoying being the spoiled only child again. I am so glad that I could bring him with me, even as I type he is sleeping on the bed beside me keeping me company. That is probably one of the biggest things getting to me right now. Because I don’t have internet (and the café down the street is broken) or affordable international calling yet, I feel really isolated. Once I’m not hanging out with Alexandrias family, It can get really lonely really fast.
I went to david’s apartment and because he was going to campus to find out some information I got to tag along. We took two kinds of buses, the local reggae bus and the school bus. The roads here are variable they are either like ours or CRAZY bumpy and full of potholes. Because the roads are also windy and twisty it is super fun to go bumping down them with the (no joke!) reggae music blaring. I havent’ seen many rastefarians yet but everyone has the carribean accent and moves really slowly or on island time. The campus is better than in pictures –it is absolutely breathtaking/stunning take your pic. After a quick meet and greet with some of the vet med counselors I found out that I can register next Friday morning (Jan 18) at 8:00 and that I can move into my dorm sometime after this Friday (I’ll be moving on Jan 13). Then we explored just a bit more and there was the most gorgeous black beach I’ve been to in my life! For those of you who I’ve shown the big pict of SGU on the point, it was looking the opposite way into the horizon, the water is transparent blue, the sand was black and glistening, and you could just see the cliffs of the point with lush vegetation framing the whole thing. I will have to take my camera and post it –it makes you speechless. I can only hope I make it to Grand Anse beach tomorrow (the big tourist beach near where my dorm is supposed to be). It’s supposed to be even better… So I have accomplished a lot of what I wanted to today, taking the bus was super easy and they actually stop and ask you if you need one rather then you having to flag them down (and it’s only 2.5 EC –that’s like 1$Can), I now have a transformer, surge bar and adaptors so I am set for anything and everything electrical, I visited the bank and got my first EC and I’ve seen the campus briefly and met some people. The only pressing things left are to hit the library at school tomorrow so that I can use their internet and to organize a cellphone. Alexandria was telling me about this student deal they found yesterday where you buy a phone for 35 EC (roughly 15$ CAN) and you get a 35$credit (which basically pays for the phone.) With the package you get 200 free minutes and to call in Canada/USA it’s like super cheap (7 cents approx?) so I am going to go hunt that down and find out more about it. I was also relieved to learn that even if your dorm doesn’t come with internet (I’m suspecting it doesn’t) you can buy interenet as long as you have a phone jack (which every room has to have.) You can even get DSL which means that I should be able to use my webcam /ichat **jumps for joy. But now it is time for a shower and bed. I am so lucky to have found such amazing hosts, Neville and Rita who have taken me under their wing and given me hints and tips as well as an amazing rate on my room (anyone who comes to visit me should stay here –cheap, amazing, uber comfy) as well as David and Alexandrias family. They have all made this transition so much easier and as they would say “I’ve been blessed by the lord” to have been so fortunate. G’night!

Beach chairs and orange juice

It is 6:59 AB time or 8:59 Boston time. I’m now sitting in the Boston airport. My bags have been checked all the way through to Grenada so I am happily checked bag-less. It is much easier to manoever around the airport with just my carry on and the cat. This airport is really weird, small with 80’/90’s music and instead of the typical chairs to sit in in the corridor there are white beach chairs. I saw the sunrise from the plane this morning it was SPECTACULAR! We took off from Toronto, popped out of the clouds and there was this cherry glow spreading everywhere –very cool. All the airlines have reverted to a pay as you eat type of system. I had a muffin and milk for breakfast at the food court in Toronto because snack mix, cookies, and meat sandwiches wasn’t appealing. There has also been a lot of orange juice… So I am counting down, second last flight.. can’t wait to be done mostly so that I can give Figaro a break. I don’t think he’s slept a wink yet. I’m holding up ok, it was a challenging morning, when you’re tired it is super easy to get into the self doubt “what am I doing?” mode. Keeping an open mind and kind of excited to see Grenada in person.

It is now 7:28 Edmonton time or 10:28 Grenadian time and I have arrived and settled into my new apartment for the week. It is really cute, a tiny little cottage run by an older couple from Calgary if you’ll believe it. I am SOOO GLAD to be done flying and I think the cat agrees. He was such a trooper it is unbelievable, I thought he would have howled the whole way but sedation wasn’t necessary. Getting through Grenada customs was a bit harry because in Boston, the stewardess confiscated my one carry on bag. She said that I was only allowed the cat and I barely had enough time to grab my laptop out before she was sending it down to be loaded into checked luggage. As a result I didn’t have my letters from the school. Luckily, I talked my way through it and after some discussion went through customs found a porter/taxi driver. I overpaid him by Grenadian standards but I think he worked pretty hard lugging my HEAVY bags both out of the airport and into the hotel. It is gorgeous and warm out tonight –makes me a tad nervous to know what the heat of the day is like. There is also some kind of squeaky critters outside my window, I’ll have to ask Rita and Melvin about it tomorrow. They are so sweet, they offered to give me a tour tomorrow to find groceries etc. and they also let me phone home as soon as I got in to let mom know I arrived safe. They have this thing “Vonage” that I will have to research =free long distance calling –sweet! Anyhoo, cat is already asleep on the bed and I think it’s my turn… Still a little homesick but hopefully I will settle in alright.

Across the known world

So I am writing this update while sitting at the Toronto airport. It is 2:00 a.m, I have been here for 2 hours. I have sooo much luggage –I definitely look and feel like a homeless person. As we speak I am camped out waiting for the American airlines check in to open at 3 a.m. (who knew that Toronto airport closes – how inconvenient and bizarre!). I am hiding behind one of the baggage turnstiles with a grumpy cat in a pop up dog crate sitting beside his traveling cat bag, two HUGE red duffle bags (both are the absolute max of 50 lbs and sad to say I can’t lift either of them;) ) a blue rolley carry on and a yellow backpack. I am sitting on the dirty floor quite smug that I have come this far already without becoming lost or ending up in the wrong city. Once my baggage is checked through customs the worst should technically be over and I have only got to sit on a plane all day tomorrow. It was difficult saying goodbye to everyone earlier, Mom, Dad, Tom and Keith all came to see me off. I was not going to cry until my dad started giving me the “I know you can do this” speech… I was almost done for after that. I already can’t wait for mom and dad to visit in 3 weeks. Hope I can make them all proud!
Going through security was fine… everyone seemed more concerned about cuddling with the cat then all the junk I’m carrying –haha. Figaro I have to say is the best traveler. He is being absolutely awesome and has not made a peep the entire time. I was a bit concerned with bathroom breaks for him etc and have his cat bag all outfitted with absorbent liners but he has accepted that a litter liner on the floor with the tiniest pile of litter sprinkled on top is an awesome litter box –whew, what a relief! I am also extremely grateful that mom and I found the pop up dog kennel (his “playpen”) now I don’t feel so guilty that he is in a bag for 24 hrs, he can stand up, walk around or just get comfy. Only ½ hr to go and the adventure starts again. I am definitely out of my comfort zone but it’s kind of nice to stretch myself a bit and see how independent I can be. Now if only I can get me and this mountain to the next gate…

The Big Day

And so the excitement begins and after today my life will never be the same:) I'm still madly packing up last details to try and get ready for tonights flight. It's crazy insane trying to guess what I'll need and what I won't... My flight leaves at 6:20 tonight and I'll be getting into Toronto slightly before midnight. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up on some sleep during the layover...
The last couple of weeks have been absolutely amazing... I've been fortunate to catch up with mostly everyone on my list and thanks to all of you that made the extra effort to get together.