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...
After my hike to
Grand Etang, I had the most scratched up, beaten and bruised legs/butt ever. And I bruise easily so that's saying a lot! Kat captured some photos, but they don't even scratch the surface of the damage I faced!
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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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Moving on...
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| Mark sitting in the Sugar Shack (me sneakily getting a picture of the window). |
Mark and I wanted to try the Sugar Shack on campus. We heard it was a great place to get a burger! And there's something about not being able to get burgers everywhere here that suddenly make me want them! We don't go out very often here: 0-1 times a week (which is probably better than our 5+ times a week back when we lived by an Arby's, Taco Bell, and oh yeah, everything!). But first, we needed to go by the ATM. Well, the one ATM on campus is guaranteed to be out of money on a Sunday, but no worries, this was a Saturday. We didn't count on it being out of service altogether though. I believe the message was, "I'm sorry. This machine needs to be serviced." Very informational, right?! So, we were suddenly on a tight budget--$40 ec in my wallet, nothing in Mark's. We went to the Sugar Shack which is actually pretty close to our dorm, just down about a 2.5 story hill. They had lunch specials posted but no prices. We waited around at the window for a few minutes before the lady opened it and embarrased us with the information that we were supposed to go in the other door to place our order (missing the "entrance" sign that looks like it goes somewhere else entirely--you can see it through the door in the picture above). We walked out of the eating area and into the ordering area, and still there were no prices. But since she already knew we were new, I didn't feel so bad asking how much everything was!
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)! |
And more about our lifestyle: how about that time we had a cow in our front yard. That's right, just chatting with a neighbor when she says, "Hey that cow is back!" What?! Yeah, apparently our Sept 11 memorial came to us in the form of walking beef. She was a tad bit scary--I would say she beat me 3 times in a staring contest. :)
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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) |
I'm not sure where our pet ended up, but it's definitely different than back home. Yes, we have cows that wonder off occasionally, but they aren't usually dragging a chain tied to a frayed rope. And they are usually claimed quickly or ushered back home. I feel like the security guards that sit across from our dorm were just watching in anticipation that the cow would do something (when they probably should have been the ones doing something...I guess cows won't steal laptops so leave them be. TIG) And now, every day when I walk past the big pile of present she left us, I remember our pet-for-the-day. :)
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!
