Finally feeling settled

We've been here almost three weeks and I think it's just kicking in that this isn't a vacation. Even though we have been busy doing not very 'vacationy' things, the funny thing about moving is it always feels like that until a month goes by and you're still there. Moving here was a little different then my past 'big' moves because I can't just pick up the phone and call someone back home. We also don't have a TV yet (still working on that one..) so unless I am actively looking for information, US current events is pretty much a mystery to me (but I will definitely be keeping tabs on the RNC in Florida this week and how the RP delegates are faring..). However, the Internet is an amazing place, and because of it I have still been able to chat with and see my friends and family. :)

So, week #3 re-cap: On Saturday I attempted a new running sport known as Hashing (new to me, not to the world apparently..). I was introduced to it by another SO whose husband is an absolute fanatic. It’s basically trail running- we ran through parts of the rainforest, along a beach and through some local neighborhoods- except the twist is that you are following “clues” that tell you which way to go and sometimes lead you on fake trails, in which case you have to turn around and find your way again. If you make it the 5+ miles and are still able to walk at the end, you are rewarded with beer and socializing. Our hash this weekend was 5.5 miles up and down some incredibly steep, long hills (that gave us some amazing views of the island!) and took us approximately an hour and 45 minutes. Now the real challenge will be convincing Pat to come along this weekend… 

If you're curious about what I'm talking about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_House_Harriers 

The rest of our weekend was spent on a 'date night' getting some very good, but expensive sushi, meeting up with a few friends at the bar in our neighborhood, and Pat studying for hours and hours in the library. 

Monday I started my new volunteer nursing position at St. Augustine's. Although there were differences, it was surprisingly comforting to be back in a 'nursing' role. I learned that nursing is still nursing even in a third world country. I work along side Brian, the RN, in an outpatient emergency clinic. The clinic is small and consists of Brian, two receptionists/administrators, the MD (who is very laid back and easy to get along with) an x-ray technologist and three lab technicians. Everyone is friendly and goofy and so far, easy to be around. We had about 25 patients and my designate duties were vital signs. We mostly saw follow up visits and a few wounds, and one woman with diabetic foot ulcers that came in tri-weekly for dressing changes. I did learn a few new things. I had never done an EKG and we did two of them this week. I was actually quite surprised that I recognized and felt comfortable doing most of the things necessary.

Brian, during some down time. He likes to teach me Grenadian history with tourism books when we aren't busy.

Tuesday I went on another walk with Katie, started my 1/2 marathon training with Cayley, and Wednesday I went back to the hospital, ran with Cayley and met up with some girls for BINGO; although I didn't win anything, thanks to Katie, we all got a free afternoon boat ride out of the deal! 

We are finally falling into a routine. Pat goes to school until about 10pm every day. I fill my time at the hospital, marathon training, running errands, doing laundry or working on grad school apps. We eat dinner together and wind down watching movies in bed. Although we're both still getting used to this living together thing (plleeaasseee all I'm asking for is an updated ETA....) so far, I like this new life.
 

The main bus terminal, downtown St. Georges

More of downtown St. Georges, Grenada

Facing my fear of public transportation.. head on.

I am happy to say I am exhausted. I'm also happy to say that it's been over-cast for two whole days and we have finally had a break from the relentless, equatorial sun.  Back to my original thought: I wasn't quite sure how I was going to keep myself busy here, but I have not had a problem yet this week and there are still some application essays I need to write that I can fill up at least half of tomorrow with.

The day started off with an adventurous morning! Pat and I both woke up early so we could catch the 7:45 bus to campus. Because we still have to walk a ways to the stop, we have to be out the door at least 20 minuets before the scheduled pick-up time (we're finally figuring this bus thing out..!). Although we were both just barely awake, I was happy to spend even that short time with Pat before he disappears into classes and books for the rest of the day. His morning started off with an 8 am lab, and I was attempting to make way across town and into the heart of Grenada to speak with someone about a volunteer nursing position(!).

Over the weekend the school hosted a bazaar where students and SO's could sign up for different clubs and organizations. I spoke with a woman at the student health services booth about potential jobs and she directed me to a man who runs a private hospital about twenty minutes north west of SGU.

We live in the very south-western tip in an area called L'ance Aux Epines (pronounced lance a-peens). Pat's school is to the east of us in the area called True Blue. The hospital is located directly west of the city of St. Georges.

So we both take the bus to the University (it was packed with so many students that we had to drive right past the last two stops), where he would head to his lab and I would take the next bus toward Grand Anse, the same part of town that hosts the bank, a few grocery stores, Grenada's only mall (if you could call it that), and the Grand Anse beach. My meeting was scheduled for 9 am and I reach Grand Anse a little before 8, as I planned. None of the free buses that are run by the school go into St. George, so my plan from here is to flag down a taxi and pay the 60 or so EC (about 22 USD) that it costs to get to the hospital and back. As I look around I realize I haven't seen a taxi yet. It starts to rain and because I was too stubborn to pay for an umbrella yesterday, I hurry to find cover. I spot a bus stop. There is another man waiting with me so I decided to ask him if he knew when taxi's started working (being clueless about my surroundings has really awoken my extroverted side..). He asked where I needed to go and quickly explains that it would be much, much, cheaper if I used the city bus. I hesitate on this. He points to the next van coming toward us with a large #1 logo on the windshield and says to get in. So I follow him (apparently it also makes me naively trusting..). I've used this van before but only for short distances. It has four rows of four seats each, and three seats in the very front. We all squish together, sans seat-belts- the laws are much more lax here- and make our way towards downtown blasting a mix of American and Grenadian hip-hop music. 

He explains that I am supposed to take this bus to the main transit station and then find a #4 bus to take me to the hospital. After a twenty minute drive and many stops later, we arrive. The nice thing about these buses is that they will stop anywhere in the region they are designated to. When you near your destination you simply tap on the window and the bus driver pulls over. The transit station reminded me of miniature, sea-side Grand Central Station and it was buzzing with hundreds of people in the midst of their morning commute.
 
http://www.grenadaexplorer.com/Transport.htm

I find the #4 bus and tell the driver where I'm headed. Once the van is full, we leave the station and head up the hills and into mountainous 'suburbs' of St. Georges. The driver stops at the hospital and tells me we're here (I think he only did that for me because I clearly appeared clueless and out of place...). I thank him, pay him the 2.50 EC charge, and head in. I am extremely early. My transportation was much more reliable then I had planned.

The hospital is small. It appears to be two stories and about the size of a small apartment building (It reminds me a bit of my experience visiting hospitals in Nicaragua). After introducing myself to the receptionist, it doesn't take long before Dr. Ameschi comes to greet me. I spent about 15 minutes talking with him and I leave with a plan to come back on Monday and start working along side Brian, a nurse in the out-patient care center. While I would love to be truly employed (apparently Uncle Sam expects us to pay him back one day..) I am happy to have something to keep me busy in the career that I love. I will get to truly immerse myself in Grenadian culture, and experience the ins and outs of a health care system in a third world country--and I am SO excited!
I make my way back, stop to buy and umbrella (tropical storm Isaac is approaching), and am home drinking my coffee by ten am. I used eight different buses and spent a total of $10 EC ($3.75 USD). It might sound tedious, but I can't complain about that!

http://www.samsgrenada.com/

The rest of my day is spent getting lunch with my footsteps buddy, Emily (an SO who has been here for a year already and helped me with questions and planning before we moved), and going on a run with another SO in the L'ance Aux Epines neighborhood. Now, I wait. Pat will be at an anatomy lab most of the evening and I won't see him until late. According to Emily, getting used to this routine will take some time but thankfully we have other SO's to go through it with! I also think we need to invest in a TV.

Where are there more mosquitos than Minnesota?

Growing up surrounded by swamps and wet lands in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes, I should have been well prepared for the onslaught of mosquitoes that greeted us upon our arrival into Grenada. I was not, and I am not sure I will ever get used to their constant presence. Laughing at the thought of sleeping under a mosquito net (surely it was just there to add to the ambiance of island living..) we disregarded it the first night. Big mistake. I awoke to about 20, red, swollen welts up and down my legs. Not only were they much larger than the mosquito bites I am used to, but they itch much worse and have lasted over a week! In response, I have loaded up our house with everything anti-mosquito I could possibly find. And we use 'the net' religiously. In addition, I couldn't be more thankful to Katie (another SO), for introducing me to Odomos Mosquito Repellent Cream. It works marvels, it's not sticky and it doesn't smell like you're wearing loads of mosquito repellent. I have used it daily since last Wednesday in addition to an equal amount of hydrocortizone cream. 

My Sanity.

Because I have had such a horrible reaction to this exotic version of mosquito and Patrick seems to be bite-free, I did a little research: For starters, according to http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2891/do-mosquitoes-prefer-certain-blood-types-plus, mosquitoes prefer type O blood, and least prefer type A. I happen to be B negative. Pat doesn't know his blood type but assuming from his Western European ancestry, he is most likely A or O positive (I love blood- this is not my first time researching blood types...http://www.redcrossblood.org/learn-about-blood/blood-types). The mystery continues.

So on I read: The next site states that people with heavy secretions of cholesterol,  steroids, or uric acid on their skin may attract more mosquitoes...(http://www.webmd.com/allergies/features/are-you-mosquito-magnet). This option seems highly unlikely.

Lastly, people who are working out, or exhale a high volume of carbon dioxide may attract more mosquitoes. When we went scuba diving, I was the first one to use up all of my air in every single dive. In essence, I breathe a lot. Perhaps the mosquitoes are just trying to tell me to relax.

Secret Harbour

One of my favorite things about living here so far is where we live. We live at a marina. I'm not exactly sure what that means, but it appears that people with sail boats come here, dock their boat, and utilize the marina for food, drinks, showers, and apparently yoga, as I stumbled across yesterday.

View off of our balcony!

Our "neighborhood":
http://www.secretharbourgrenada.com/index.php#cont

I love waking up to this view. Monday morning I woke up very early, went running with another SO (significant other as we are referred to on campus), and sat at the marina drinking coffee and writing. *BLISS*

So now that I have explained where we live, I will try my best to recap the past week. Our first few days were spent trying to navigate our neighborhood (we walk A LOT), learn the bus system, signed up for cell phone service (I think we visited the LIME tent on campus about 15 times this week), lost Pats phone, walked eight miles in the middle of a parade (more on that later..) went to the beach, attended a few of the orientation seminars on campus, bought Pat a new phone, and met some awesome, new people.

Grand Anse Beach- at one point this was the 7th best beach in the world.

Patience

Grenada's only Highway: Maurice Bishop Highway

As I said in my last post, I can't believe we've already been here 10 days, but at the same time somehow it feels like much longer. Maybe that is because it takes twice as long to get anything done. Going to the bank took us two full hours this morning. That includes walking to the bus stop, taking the bus as far as it will get us, walking the rest of the way to the bank, waiting in line, processing our transfers (which also seems to take twice as long..) and waiting on the bus to take Pat back to school and me back home. This is how our week has gone. We wait for things to happen, to get processed and now that Pat's in school, I wait to see him at the end of the day. This will probably be the hardest wait for me. I am learning to be patient.

In a way, the long waits can be a blessing as they do make the day go by faster. For example, if Pat is at school for 6 hours at least it takes me about half that time to go the grocery store and back. Which is what I will attempt to do right now all by myself for the first time!

Much over-due..

I should have started writing this months ago... The journey to the journey (does that makes sense?) was worth writing about on it's own, but now we have finally arrived in Grenada, West Indies. How I got here is probably as interesting as what happens here, as I have alluded to, but that is another story and will probably unfold as we go. We have been in Grenada for exactly 6 days. It has flown by and it also feels like we've been here for weeks. Living in a new country has its own obstacles; living in a new country with ones boyfriend for the first time adds even more to the course. While this experience, in its nativity, has been an exciting learning experience, it is not without its trials. We are learning to grow both as people and as a couple. We are learning to understand, and accept each other in the best and worst of situations... I'll start with our trip here: 

We began by driving the 22 hours from St. Paul, Minnesota to Boston. This part of the trip was pretty easy aside from the occasional argument regarding Pat's relentless insistence to keep driving (he ended up driving 17 hours of the trip...). We stayed in Boston about 36 hours and then departed for our final destination: Grenada!  This is where things got a bit dicey. Assuming we were supposed to be in the international line, we waited almost 45 minutes, dragging our 6 duffel bags and two carry-on bags only to find out we were in the wrong line and would have to go to a different check-in point. Glancing at the correct line we were sure we would miss our flight (apparently this was because we were taking two separate airlines, stopping in JFK before proceeding to Grenada, and would have to collect our bags and re-check them when we got to New York). The attendant noticed our predicament and was kind enough to assist us to the front of the correct line, as well as through security. So thankful for people like her! 

We arrive in New York, navigate our way through the airport and start collecting our many bags. We manage to find 5 and we wait. And wait. And finally there are no more bags on the carousel and our next departure time is getting increasingly closer. I begin to panic. I brought everything I thought we would need- not knowing what they may or may not have on the island (now that we're here I realize I was underestimating the amount of every day goods we could easily find..) and some of it was in that bag! Pat begins to search for the 'lost bags' sign and I sit in a frustrated pile with what we managed to receive. After almost an hour and a very confusing explanation of what may or may not happen to our bag, we leave, disgruntled, for the next flight. 

-A horrible picture our plane after we finally landed in Grenada.

Four and a half hours later, we are here. We are both relieved, yet still unsure of our next move as our apartment was not 100% confirmed... Nor did we have any phone to contact a taxi, hotel, ect...  We had been in contact with our land lord for weeks, yet securing anything, and getting a final answer from anyone seemed impossible. This uncertainty only added to the stress of the day. Eventually, like everything else, it worked out just fine. We found that the school had an orientation crew waiting at the airport to help lost people like ourselves. They contacted our potential apartment, who contacted a taxi for us and we were at our new home in less than 15 minutes.

Finally relaxing in our new bed! -I'll elaborate on the importance of that mosquito net later...