Dear Oblivious Student,
I know you didn't intentionally pick the only computer in the print lab that hooks up to the scanner. But when I ask you how long you think you will be, don't tell me two minutes and then show me your peace-sign "two minutes" fingers. Don't tell me that unless you mean it. And while I wait around for 5 minutes, I read all the signs that say time limit of 10 minutes... I gather you've been there longer based on your set-up of your personal laptop next to the print lab's pc. No worries, though, I decided I was wasting my valuable time by reading all the rules to the print lab, so I used the empty computer right next to you that also works as a print station, but sadly does not connect to the scanner. After I could no longer occupy my time on the internet next to you, I decided I would explore the library. I have never seen the second floor, so I thought I'd take a look and hoped to stumble upon another scanner (though I asked the student worker who said that was the only one and that I should have asked you to use a different computer, but instead I asked how much time you needed). After exploring the library, the deserted journal section in the quiet area, the bridge connecting the two sides and discovering the third floor is an exit only and I would have to go all the way down the stairs to see what was on the third floor, I decided that your 15 minutes surely would cover your projected 2 minutes. But, they did not. You were nonchalantly watching your prints come off the printer, making sure you should still have your print job open in case one was slightly faltered. So I went back outside and waited. And checked my wifi, and my album still hadn't completely downloaded. And then about, oh, two minutes later, there you are emerging from the print lab, not a clue to how inconsiderate you were or how it seems that your time would sell for more than mine because it is clearly more precious. But alas, I had the computer I needed, connected to the lone (I think) scanner. And then I got to scan my document for my class project, and it took me at most, 2 minutes. (I upped the resolution, or else it would have been less.)
Many would tell me to just calm down because that's island time or the Grenadian way. But no, the Grenadian way is to flat out tell you. Or let you know when it's going to take longer than you expected. A friend of mine said that they were hoping to go to a restaurant for dinner. Well, when they arrived, the "hostess" said things were full. When they asked how long it would be, the hostess said they should just come back another day. That's the Grenadian way; inconvenient, yes, but deceptive: no. Oh, and this wasn't a Grenadian student. My guess is American. The American way would be to tell you a time less than the actual time so that you will be suckered into staying, and then show some sympathy, apologize for the delay, and acknowledge the person standing next to you that your initial 2 minutes accidentally turned into 25 minutes. Yes, to my poor-time-estimating, ex-hostess, oblivious American student, show some remorse or consideration next time. Gah.
With moderate sincerity,
Myra
I'm Starting with the Man in the Mirror
Another Myraism; the good, bad, empowering, disgruntling and satisfactory insight to a subject.
I have heard MJ's "Man in the Mirror" 3 times today... once when I was on the bus coming home from the LIMES Afterschool Program, a second time when Mark was singing it because it was stuck in his head from an Urban Humanitarian Video they watched in class today, and third when he played it on his new computer which has all his music from his old one (yay for backups) and the two of us sang along!
I don't think I even knew this song until I went to Sweden and it was the song my cooperating teacher had picked out for us to teach in the popular music class that week! (They have an awesome system composed of music theory, popular/singing music, keyboard and guitar--music four times a week, super jealous!) I had the sheet music in front of me (which, for my visual-minded self, is a must) and pecked along on the piano so the students (equivalent of 8th graders) could learn it. However, they knew the song all too well. I feel they were more up to date on American culture than I was. The movies, the fashion, the music, even the food. They wanted to know every detail of life because they idolize popular American culture, yet hold true to certain wonderful, Swedish ideals. And like I said; they knew what was popular back in the states better than I did... Oh smarty pants 8th graders...
Today's hearings are just a reminder of the emotional tool of music--it's power to take me back to a place and time and remember my exact feelings for the day. It's also a contagious tool, spreading messages with meaning.
Today, I connected on a new level with the older group of kids at our afterschool program. I have "taught" music for the past 3 weeks. And when I say "taught," I probably mean shared. It's not like my classroom at home where I was bounded by the TEKS and regulations of non-music educators who want to highlight the amount of education we can address. Yes, in my classroom, my kids knew what a whole note was and how to write and read rhythms, they knew where on the map all the countries were that we listened, sang, and played games to. They knew the names and classifications of band and orchestra instruments. (And we usually found some time to have fun in there, too!) Here, I don't have my same resources, my countless books, large display boards, or individual whiteboards, nor my awesome risers (I miss teaching quite a bit if you can't tell--and most of you know, I was in an underfunded district and lucky to have what I had...). My kids had the highest expectations to succeed, to participate, and to excel in everything they did in my classroom. My first graders were treated like 3rd graders, and consequently were just as smart as such! My fifth graders acted like adults and I brought them back to the wonderful world of youthfulness (though there were times where they thought we were being too corny, but they secretly loved it and enjoyed watching me act like a goofball.)
I believe the children here are inherently more musical. As we wait for all the kids to trickle onto the field after coming from their different schools, one girl waited with me, eager for music. She wanted to learn a song on the lyric sheet she had seen from the week before. I accidentally played the backgound track for her (no vocals), no indication or anything, and she came in right on beat, right on pitch. I had to help her past that, never seeing a rhythm and only hearing the long 32 bar intro, but still, that is something even my older kids would have trouble doing. Another thing is singing up high. I don't know if the boys just go through voice changes later here or what, but they sing up high like it's nobody's business. Yet again, not embarrased. They hear the form. They feel the beat. And they learn lyrics way quicker than my kiddos at home! I love it!
Could you imagine singing outside the comfort zone of your car back at home? No, because society says that only good singers should sing. Lamesauce (Mark's and I's new phrase: lame sauce or awesome sauce; they're really fun to say and came from our new-found obsession with Parks and Rec!). All people should sing. It's a natural gift from God. Whether you are good or bad only deals with your training and your perceptions. The fact that you can sing is what counts. I had non-verbal students last year, and they may not have sung words, but they could sing music. I had a mostly deaf student whose favorite thing was feeling the speaker box or the piano for vibration. He could sing. It's not about pitch, it's about feelings, expression, emotion, verbalizing these abstract words, performing and letting go of societal pretenses and enjoying a God-given ability. And where is that in my mandated TEKS?!?
Back to LIMES...yet again...they aren't embarrassed to sing and consequently sounded wonderful on our new ballad. Children's voices are so pure and amazing. The same kids that get in trouble for hitting each other or sometimes throw rocks and the good ones that are little angles; we sang together, an ensemble, a unified choir of pure, beautiful voices. The enjoyment that lit up in their eyes... the calmness and sincerity, with a dash sadness, we shared as we felt what the music was saying... It's all enough to tempt the water from your body to sit alongside your eyes to see the performance or make the hairs on your arms applaud.
I put an extra line break in there so that you could take a moment to reflect. And figure out that "arm hairs applauding" is me saying that it gave me goosebumps. :)
"If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place, Take A Look At Yourself And Then Make The Change"
You can listen to the whole song here.
I think I might have to indent my tangents from here on out, just so that I can realize how off subject I get when I have tangents inside of tangents inside of rambles.
I have heard MJ's "Man in the Mirror" 3 times today... once when I was on the bus coming home from the LIMES Afterschool Program, a second time when Mark was singing it because it was stuck in his head from an Urban Humanitarian Video they watched in class today, and third when he played it on his new computer which has all his music from his old one (yay for backups) and the two of us sang along!
I don't think I even knew this song until I went to Sweden and it was the song my cooperating teacher had picked out for us to teach in the popular music class that week! (They have an awesome system composed of music theory, popular/singing music, keyboard and guitar--music four times a week, super jealous!) I had the sheet music in front of me (which, for my visual-minded self, is a must) and pecked along on the piano so the students (equivalent of 8th graders) could learn it. However, they knew the song all too well. I feel they were more up to date on American culture than I was. The movies, the fashion, the music, even the food. They wanted to know every detail of life because they idolize popular American culture, yet hold true to certain wonderful, Swedish ideals. And like I said; they knew what was popular back in the states better than I did... Oh smarty pants 8th graders...
Today's hearings are just a reminder of the emotional tool of music--it's power to take me back to a place and time and remember my exact feelings for the day. It's also a contagious tool, spreading messages with meaning.
Today, I connected on a new level with the older group of kids at our afterschool program. I have "taught" music for the past 3 weeks. And when I say "taught," I probably mean shared. It's not like my classroom at home where I was bounded by the TEKS and regulations of non-music educators who want to highlight the amount of education we can address. Yes, in my classroom, my kids knew what a whole note was and how to write and read rhythms, they knew where on the map all the countries were that we listened, sang, and played games to. They knew the names and classifications of band and orchestra instruments. (And we usually found some time to have fun in there, too!) Here, I don't have my same resources, my countless books, large display boards, or individual whiteboards, nor my awesome risers (I miss teaching quite a bit if you can't tell--and most of you know, I was in an underfunded district and lucky to have what I had...). My kids had the highest expectations to succeed, to participate, and to excel in everything they did in my classroom. My first graders were treated like 3rd graders, and consequently were just as smart as such! My fifth graders acted like adults and I brought them back to the wonderful world of youthfulness (though there were times where they thought we were being too corny, but they secretly loved it and enjoyed watching me act like a goofball.)
I believe the children here are inherently more musical. As we wait for all the kids to trickle onto the field after coming from their different schools, one girl waited with me, eager for music. She wanted to learn a song on the lyric sheet she had seen from the week before. I accidentally played the backgound track for her (no vocals), no indication or anything, and she came in right on beat, right on pitch. I had to help her past that, never seeing a rhythm and only hearing the long 32 bar intro, but still, that is something even my older kids would have trouble doing. Another thing is singing up high. I don't know if the boys just go through voice changes later here or what, but they sing up high like it's nobody's business. Yet again, not embarrased. They hear the form. They feel the beat. And they learn lyrics way quicker than my kiddos at home! I love it!
Anyway, in LIMES, we sit outside, as close to the sun as I've ever been, on a concrete basketball court and use a little iPod player that Jessie lets me borrow (oh how I miss my gigantic white speaker box/iPhone player!), and I teach songs by rote and, in the case of the older kids, provide them with a lyric sheet. This was a big no-no for me personally back in the states. I mean, you sort of have to with the younger kids, or only teach really easy songs. But my older kids, I didn't want to teach them a song, I wanted to teach them a tool that they could then use to learn all songs! I wanted them to see music reading as a skill and music performance as an art. But here, it is nice to not have the same pressure, nor all the resources, because you are left with music as an art. We (my helper today was Mrs. Emily--who is another first term SO and was trained in singing from early on!) sang two songs with the older kids today; "In the Jungle," something they have heard and can relate to and another song that is completely new to them. I do this for many reason; kids love to sing along with songs they've heard (heck, adults, too!), especially when they have the words in front of them. But singing a new song causes them to listen, train their voices, and learn new rhythms and melodies. New songs make you better. Our new song is a ballad and they sound amazing!! Unlike my 4th and 5th graders back at home, my older kids (these are 5th and 6th graders) aren't predisposed to embarrassment. I can tell music is a past time for them--it's a bonding art. Even on the buses here, you'll here locals sing along to songs!
Could you imagine singing outside the comfort zone of your car back at home? No, because society says that only good singers should sing. Lamesauce (Mark's and I's new phrase: lame sauce or awesome sauce; they're really fun to say and came from our new-found obsession with Parks and Rec!). All people should sing. It's a natural gift from God. Whether you are good or bad only deals with your training and your perceptions. The fact that you can sing is what counts. I had non-verbal students last year, and they may not have sung words, but they could sing music. I had a mostly deaf student whose favorite thing was feeling the speaker box or the piano for vibration. He could sing. It's not about pitch, it's about feelings, expression, emotion, verbalizing these abstract words, performing and letting go of societal pretenses and enjoying a God-given ability. And where is that in my mandated TEKS?!?
Back to LIMES...yet again...they aren't embarrassed to sing and consequently sounded wonderful on our new ballad. Children's voices are so pure and amazing. The same kids that get in trouble for hitting each other or sometimes throw rocks and the good ones that are little angles; we sang together, an ensemble, a unified choir of pure, beautiful voices. The enjoyment that lit up in their eyes... the calmness and sincerity, with a dash sadness, we shared as we felt what the music was saying... It's all enough to tempt the water from your body to sit alongside your eyes to see the performance or make the hairs on your arms applaud.
I put an extra line break in there so that you could take a moment to reflect. And figure out that "arm hairs applauding" is me saying that it gave me goosebumps. :)
"If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place, Take A Look At Yourself And Then Make The Change"
You can listen to the whole song here.
I think I might have to indent my tangents from here on out, just so that I can realize how off subject I get when I have tangents inside of tangents inside of rambles.
New Table
We finally got a table! I had seen a couple other married housing rooms with a small round table (like what we were expecting to see in our room when we arrived based on some pictures). Well, we didn't have any such thing and were getting by without it. But when you cook on 1.5 sq ft of counter space, (including the stove), you have to use other surfaces, like the desks and top of the trashcan and sink to make meals. Last week, we put in a request for a table and a shelf for my desk (found out we were missing that too). They came by on Monday to "see" our missing furniture. And today, they brought me not 1, but 2 tables!! At 9:00, someone brought this perfect sized dinning table (slightly bigger than the round tables everyone else has!). At 10:00, someone else knocked on our door carrying a really large round table, that just wouldn't fit with our new one. They asked me which I preferred, and I chose the small one so we could still navigate our tiny dorm apartment. Mark says I should have taken both and put one on the patio--that would have be awesome but I doubt they would have allowed it. Anyway, we are so excited because now we can stop working on school work to eat without having to push everything aside, eat at a desk, clean up our mess I made on the desk, and reposition our school work to focus again. Or, as it sometimes happens, set my cheese on Mark's desk, while the veggies and other sides are on my desk so that I can finish cooking the main dish and chopping the ingredients on the "counter space".
Well, we ate at our table tonight and it is so nice to sit together, facing each other, and not think about the school work that we left behind at our desks! Who knew a dinning room table would bring such sanity to our lives!
Well, we ate at our table tonight and it is so nice to sit together, facing each other, and not think about the school work that we left behind at our desks! Who knew a dinning room table would bring such sanity to our lives!
The Ali Baba's Adventure
Ok, I promised a story, and I'm going to tell it! Last Monday, yes, like 10 days ago... Mark had his unified quiz, meaning he had the afternoon off! We spent that afternoon finding a computer for him to buy, buying it, booking our term 2 flights, catching up on e-mail, etc. Then we decided we had the time to finally go out for my birthday dinner (yes, 12 days after the fact--Island time!). I didn't care where we went as long as I got to go with Mark! We decided we'd try a sit down restaurant. We took the Grand View Inn bus and contemplated going all the way to the Grand View Inn (I've never been there; it's a new bus route and I was curious, but we were also hungry). We instead got off at the Round Houses and decided to look into what they have there. The fancy Italian place is closed on Mondays and the other place is more of a cafe than a sit down restaurant. And they weren't serving dinner until 6:30--it wasn't even 5:30 yet. So we walked toward the hotel side of the street, passing the tempting smell of a KFC along the way. We went to a restaurant that I had heard about as recently opening their pool up to people who purchased a meal. Though we weren't dressed for a swim, we thought it'd be good to scope out anyway. Well, they also don't serve dinner until 6:30, so we made our way to the hotel bar. Mark got a happy hour special of 3 for $10 Carib beers, and I got an $17 pina colada... We took our time, enjoying the little bit of relaxing that we get together, looking at a pool that over looks the beach. We played some billiards (which we both love) while the boom box played a wide variety of American songs. It is just nice to hear songs that remind you of home sometimes. Especially because reggae music is generally annoying and definitely exhausting. It started raining at some point in there, but we were still enjoying our time together under a covered patio.
Eventually it was close enough to 6:30 for them to seat us (since we were sitting in the dinner area anyway). We looked at the menu and ordered pita bread and hummus for an appetizer and I couldn't even tell you what Turkish dish Mark got for dinner, but I got the fish of the day. Our food was so tasty and filling, and we still had half to take home for left overs! And the rain had picked up about half way through dinner, so we grabbed our utensils and headed for a table further under cover (the whole restaurant (all 15 tables or so) are under a covered patio; the only thing indoors is the kitchen! It continued to rain, and though we were stuffed, we stayed to try and wait it out. It usually rains for at most 30 minutes. It had gone from drizzle to rain to downpour and been going for 1.5hours at least. We finally decided we weren't going to wait anymore; it was 8:00 and we were ready to get home. I took off my flip-flops (my favorite rain gear because I have an excuse to run barefoot through the rain!), we pulled out our umbrella and made a run back towards the hotel. We had to walk through an ankle deep puddle to get into the lobby to exit the property, but the lobby is open to the outside anyway. We figured we could wait there, or we were already pretty wet so we might as well keep going--and we did. We got all the way out to the street and saw that cars were in water up to the wheel-wells, and we were going to have to run past the KFC to get back on the bus route. The IGA would be a covered place to wait. Well, while we were waiting for a car to pass, the owner/acting delivery man (TIG) pulled up next to us and offered us a ride. We were headed back to campus and he had to make a delivery out that way. We hopped in the back seat (the front seat was filled by some very smart students' food). He drove a little cautious, but not as cautious as most people on the roads. When we got to the main stretch to get back to campus (just off the "highway"), we had to slow down because there were two cars stuck in the middle of the road, trapped due to the flood of water. We saw cars from the other direction pulled off to the side of the road and an SGU bus (I was beginning to wonder if they were still running) turn onto a side street--either taking an alternate route to get out to the highway or to turn around and head back to campus. Our driver, a Grenadian resident for 16 years, just drove half the car up on the curb, which we could not see, and powered through the puddle...full speed, nothing to it. He offered to drive us all the way up to our building, but we were just grateful to have made it this far! We got out at the bus stop/huddled-student cover and walked up to our dorm; up a steep hill with water rushing down it (tad bit scary), made it home with our dry left overs and soaked everything else! Wouldn't have wanted my adventure any other way!
Eventually it was close enough to 6:30 for them to seat us (since we were sitting in the dinner area anyway). We looked at the menu and ordered pita bread and hummus for an appetizer and I couldn't even tell you what Turkish dish Mark got for dinner, but I got the fish of the day. Our food was so tasty and filling, and we still had half to take home for left overs! And the rain had picked up about half way through dinner, so we grabbed our utensils and headed for a table further under cover (the whole restaurant (all 15 tables or so) are under a covered patio; the only thing indoors is the kitchen! It continued to rain, and though we were stuffed, we stayed to try and wait it out. It usually rains for at most 30 minutes. It had gone from drizzle to rain to downpour and been going for 1.5hours at least. We finally decided we weren't going to wait anymore; it was 8:00 and we were ready to get home. I took off my flip-flops (my favorite rain gear because I have an excuse to run barefoot through the rain!), we pulled out our umbrella and made a run back towards the hotel. We had to walk through an ankle deep puddle to get into the lobby to exit the property, but the lobby is open to the outside anyway. We figured we could wait there, or we were already pretty wet so we might as well keep going--and we did. We got all the way out to the street and saw that cars were in water up to the wheel-wells, and we were going to have to run past the KFC to get back on the bus route. The IGA would be a covered place to wait. Well, while we were waiting for a car to pass, the owner/acting delivery man (TIG) pulled up next to us and offered us a ride. We were headed back to campus and he had to make a delivery out that way. We hopped in the back seat (the front seat was filled by some very smart students' food). He drove a little cautious, but not as cautious as most people on the roads. When we got to the main stretch to get back to campus (just off the "highway"), we had to slow down because there were two cars stuck in the middle of the road, trapped due to the flood of water. We saw cars from the other direction pulled off to the side of the road and an SGU bus (I was beginning to wonder if they were still running) turn onto a side street--either taking an alternate route to get out to the highway or to turn around and head back to campus. Our driver, a Grenadian resident for 16 years, just drove half the car up on the curb, which we could not see, and powered through the puddle...full speed, nothing to it. He offered to drive us all the way up to our building, but we were just grateful to have made it this far! We got out at the bus stop/huddled-student cover and walked up to our dorm; up a steep hill with water rushing down it (tad bit scary), made it home with our dry left overs and soaked everything else! Wouldn't have wanted my adventure any other way!
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| The outdoor lobby! |
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| Our umbrellas just weren't cutting it! |
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| That's a waterfall in the background! Run off from our building above! |
Working Hard or Hardly Working!
Definitely working hard in this household! Mark and I are staying busy. Here are some pictures from my photoshop class!
I have 2 other classes that I'm taking as well. They are not quite as fun, but still interesting (well, one is just boring right now as we are getting a run down of art history touching on all the same time periods I took three semesters of in relation to music history; same terms, slightly different application).
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| The assignment was to take a blue sky (provided) and make it appear more like a sunset with a tool called feathering. It's amazing how different everyone's assignments looked. |
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| This assignment was to pull these impalas out of a winter scene and place them in this giraffe scene. Later we'll learn how to adjust the lighting better. |
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| This is a picture of Mark's desk lamp we bought at Target. The assignment was to pull a piece of furniture out of a picture we take or scan and practice putting it on a white background (to show how well you really cleaned the edges when pulling it out) and creating an IKEA ad. Below is my attempt! This is right up my ally. I love the attention to detail and could spend/did spend hours make it as smooth as possible! Then I played with some of the shadow features and manipulated the layers to get this! |
I'm beginning to understand TIG
TIG is the in-term for us Americans. It's like the "oh well" or the "that's life" to our specific region. T.I.G. is simply "This is Grenada."
Grenada really showed up this week...
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| you can almost see the scratches (through the mud) on my ankles |
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| This one stung the most! How did plants tear up my leg like a carpet burn? No idea. |
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| This big one was on the back of my leg--I don't remember that one even hurting! |
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| Group shot! (Still smiling, even through the pain, it was totally worth it!) (Photo Credit: Kat) |
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| On top of the world!!! Or at least the boulder on top of Mt. Qua Qua. :) (Photo credit: Kat) |
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| Mark sitting in the Sugar Shack (me sneakily getting a picture of the window). |
I got the lunch special: jerk chicken and fries $21, Mark got a Chicken (questionable, since we didn't see any chicken...) Roti for $12, and we each got a drink totaling $42 ec. No worries, I had change in my change pocket (their dollars are coins). That is about $16US, so not terrible! Mark's meal was actually more than we were expecting (it was huge; like a chipotle burrito, indian style). My food was insanely spicy. We had jerk chicken in Jamaica that was tolerably spicy. This made my lips cry! Mark had to finish it off and he was sweating. I ate more than I thought was imaginble (probably about 1/3), but at the expense of tingly lips, an insatiable irritated mouth, and a drink that went too quickly!
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| Our drinks--Mark really likes the Ting. They have it everywhere; it's just a citrus soda. |
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| My jerk chicken, our fries, and my relief bread that helped take out some of the spice! |
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| Mark's "chicken" roti--whatever that is. It basically tasted like curry sauce (spicy, but mildly spicy in comparison), veggies, and a really good thin tortilla. |
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| wearing our TCU gear, eating our game day meal! |
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| Our 4 different silverware patterns...my theory is they just take dishes that are left behind by students and put them to use at the Sugar Shack (forever called Spicy Shack to me)! |
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| Looking down from out entrance way--she's drinking out of the puddle that I believe is from the air conditioning run-off. We have lots of puddles and dripping, so it's always hard to tell! |
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| Me backing away. She did not want to take her picture with me! |
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| *Notice: Unlocked laundry door!!! We were already all done with our 2 loads on Friday! |
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| Oh yeah, back to the cow in our yard; this is me losing a staring contest. (Photo credit: Jessie) |
So what is TIG? TIG is attack plants; expectations for the ATM to fail you; mysterious restaurant layouts; if the humidity doesn't make you sweat, the jerk chicken will; 2 knives, 2 forks, and 4 different silverware patterns; celebrations when the laundry room is unlocked; and roaming cows.
I'm going to end this post for today (it's time consuming, cut me some slack!), but I will give you a preview to the next one: out for dinner, it starts raining and doesn't stop. This sure ain't Texas, y'all! If you can't get enough TIG, another SO does a weekly post of them and Mark found this website already compiled! Enjoy!
Mark!
Some pictures for Mark's familia! He's still alive, no worries!
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| Making a sandwich after lab! (he still can make his own food, even though he doesn't most of the time) |
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| Mark should not be allowed to study in bed... |
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| Mark's loaner computer for the week. Now we are down to 1. |
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| He's still goofy! |
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| Mark on departure day, Aug 9, talking to his dad. |
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| Mark and I walked to the end of the peninsula. Mark was fascinated by the crabs (it was his study break--he would have been fascinated by anything!) |
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| Mark thinking I'm silly for taking his picture. He doesn't just roll his eyes; he rolls his whole head! |
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| Texting, but it looks like he's studying. |
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| Playing with flash cards... |
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| Trying to make fried cucumbers. I wouldn't feed him because he's been eating too much (seriously, we eat for four twice a day, with snacks in between). I told him he'd have to make his own snack, thinking he'd just wait until dinner, forgetting he always wants an excuse to stop studying! |
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| Mark belongs to a club with a cool shirt! I had to get a picture of that! :) |
Fun Friday!
Today is a great day for so many reasons! Today marks the one month anniversary of Mark and I moving to Grenada! And what a difference a month makes! I can now do laundry in my building, I know the best places and days to buy groceries, I can navigate the SGU and reggae buses, and I can cook just about anything in a frying pan!
Today is also our two month wedding anniversary! It hardly seems like two months have gone by, but it feels like it has been two years at the same time! Mark and I continue to be an unbeatable couple. Throw anything at us and we'll show you what we're talking about... Hey newly weds, move to a foreign country; one of you will lose all free time and the other will gain an abundance of it; live in a tiny (210 sq ft) studio apartment, with one working computer while you both are taking classes, take away hot water a few days, add in a hungry Mark all the time, and what do you get: the healthiest relationship EVER! We now have to work to make time together, and even when it's only 10 minutes a day, it's the most focused and fascinating 10 minutes of our day!
Today is also my dad's __th birthday! (censored) He isn't the best about making a big deal about his birthday (that must be where I get it...), but as long as he knows he is loved and appreciated and that today marks a day where we can measure his worldly wisdom, then all is well. But the cake and ice cream help, too! I'm very sad I can't be there, but I'm happy I got to be his last phone call at work today. at 5:38 today. on a Friday. on his BIRTHDAY! But I was glad to hear that he's not going to be out doing handyman work tonight; I guess that is treating himself! Make this year a great one, daddy!
Today was also a hike day! It started entirely too early (well, actually about the time I normally wake up, but it's always more difficult when I try to wake up at that time) by leaving to catch the 7:30 bus to the Texaco, but I actually grabbed a ride from Laura who had just dropped off her hubby for school and was headed back home! At the Texaco, I grabbed breakfast (a bread/muffin thing that lacked flavor, but Mark ate just a few minutes ago without any complaints!) and a few snacks for the trip (cheese-its, white cheddar cheese-its, and a chocolate rice crispy treat, all for less than $5ec or $2usd--maybe I should do my grocery shopping there!). Kat texted me and said she was coming, and we hopped on a bus to St. George's around 8:15. We arrived at the bus hub and preceded to find Amit, a guy neither of us had met before in the chaos that is Friday morning rush hour, but luckily, all us outsiders look like foreigners so it wasn't difficult... We got on the #6 bus, waited about 15 minutes for it to be full, and then took off to Grand Etang for some adventure time. I took note of the time as 9am. From there on, the time just sort of runs together!
At some point, we stepped off at the Grand Etang Forest Reserve!
We then proceeded to the grill/cafe/bar right at the bus stop so Kat could get a grilled ham sandwich as her breakfast, and Amit got a grilled cheese sandwich (they looked amazing and were fairly cheap!). I just snacked on some cheese-its. Kat and I then lead the way to the crater lake that we had gone to before; it was Amit's first time. On the way, we stopped to take photos of the flowers that we already had photos of from the first time. They are just so pretty!
Then we started our hike! What we did with the Grand Etang hike the first time, doesn't compare. Actually the previous hour-long hike to the breath-taking view, took us at most 10 minutes because it was just the three of us, not 200+. But then it was on to Mt. Qua Qua! This hike was difficult! Kat and Amit are more experienced hikers (Kat even had legit shoes!) and they agreed it was difficult! We went through lots of mud, some overgrown parts of the trail, and some really steep parts with foot-holes or make-shift steps.
When we finally got to the top, it was all worth it! The view was so pretty! We took some pictures, then tried to take it all in! The whole way up was misty and breezy and the top felt just as rewarding!
Today is also our two month wedding anniversary! It hardly seems like two months have gone by, but it feels like it has been two years at the same time! Mark and I continue to be an unbeatable couple. Throw anything at us and we'll show you what we're talking about... Hey newly weds, move to a foreign country; one of you will lose all free time and the other will gain an abundance of it; live in a tiny (210 sq ft) studio apartment, with one working computer while you both are taking classes, take away hot water a few days, add in a hungry Mark all the time, and what do you get: the healthiest relationship EVER! We now have to work to make time together, and even when it's only 10 minutes a day, it's the most focused and fascinating 10 minutes of our day!
Today is also my dad's __th birthday! (censored) He isn't the best about making a big deal about his birthday (that must be where I get it...), but as long as he knows he is loved and appreciated and that today marks a day where we can measure his worldly wisdom, then all is well. But the cake and ice cream help, too! I'm very sad I can't be there, but I'm happy I got to be his last phone call at work today. at 5:38 today. on a Friday. on his BIRTHDAY! But I was glad to hear that he's not going to be out doing handyman work tonight; I guess that is treating himself! Make this year a great one, daddy!
Today was also a hike day! It started entirely too early (well, actually about the time I normally wake up, but it's always more difficult when I try to wake up at that time) by leaving to catch the 7:30 bus to the Texaco, but I actually grabbed a ride from Laura who had just dropped off her hubby for school and was headed back home! At the Texaco, I grabbed breakfast (a bread/muffin thing that lacked flavor, but Mark ate just a few minutes ago without any complaints!) and a few snacks for the trip (cheese-its, white cheddar cheese-its, and a chocolate rice crispy treat, all for less than $5ec or $2usd--maybe I should do my grocery shopping there!). Kat texted me and said she was coming, and we hopped on a bus to St. George's around 8:15. We arrived at the bus hub and preceded to find Amit, a guy neither of us had met before in the chaos that is Friday morning rush hour, but luckily, all us outsiders look like foreigners so it wasn't difficult... We got on the #6 bus, waited about 15 minutes for it to be full, and then took off to Grand Etang for some adventure time. I took note of the time as 9am. From there on, the time just sort of runs together!
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| The roof of our reggae bus had a spiffy paint job that almost made it feel like a convertible (but not really...luckily I had a window seat and thus I at least had an occasional breeze! |
We then proceeded to the grill/cafe/bar right at the bus stop so Kat could get a grilled ham sandwich as her breakfast, and Amit got a grilled cheese sandwich (they looked amazing and were fairly cheap!). I just snacked on some cheese-its. Kat and I then lead the way to the crater lake that we had gone to before; it was Amit's first time. On the way, we stopped to take photos of the flowers that we already had photos of from the first time. They are just so pretty! |
| Such a simple dock for such an ominous lake! |
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| "Mt. Qua Qua 1.5 hours each way" ...we think |
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| Metal statue at the top (we called it the victory statue...) |
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| A large rock, which is just cool by itself, but blocking most of our view... |
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| The view was better on the other side of the boulders, but the drop was straight down and quite scary! |
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Pushing the boulder off was not going to work.
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When Amit spotted the monkeys!
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