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!