This post refers to my dengue-fever fake out after our first 8 mile run.
Tuesday of last week I picked up our new passports from the embassy, and it went a lot smoother than most things do in Grenada (did I mention we lost our passports in December..?)
I guess not.. so here is the backstory: About two weeks prior to going home for winter break, Pat and I ended our lease at Secret Harbor and moved into our current apartment. Well, sometime during the move, our passports were either stolen or thrown away in the midsts of packing and unpacking (I swear I am more responsible than this...) Even more embarrassing, I didn't notice they were gone until 10 pm the night before we were supposed to fly out of the country. I say this is my fault because Pat had finals the week leading up to our departure and I was the one in charge of packing and making sure we were ready to leave. So learn from my mistake and always check for your passports at least a week before traveling! Had I done that, I would have realized they were missing and we could have had our emergency passports before we left for our regularly scheduled flight. When it was all said and done, I realized we learned a few life lessons (after hours of intermittent crying/panicking/freaking out). I will lay out the positives we found in this seemingly terrifying situation:
1) We got to spend about 4 extra days of med-school free time in the caribbean!
2) We learned how to contact and navigate the ins and outs of utilizing the US embassy in a foreign country (yay for taxes!)- thankfully, the embassy is actually located in our neighborhood and they will answer the phone at 1 am on a Saturday morning if you call the emergency line.
3) We learned that we could simply rebook our flight out of Grenada for FREE because Pat is a student at SGU (we had to pay for any upgraded seats they could put us on, and we ended up sitting first class the entire way home for about 50$ US; I definitely utilized the free drinks after this experience!) *This is only with American Airlines that I know of, so for any SGU students traveling to Grenada, this is a huge perk!
4) We know now what to do if we lose our passports in a foreign country. While I never want to go through that again, it's nice to have that kind of random life experience.
Anyway, back to Tuesday. I ran into a friend a few weeks ago who asked if I would want to help do volunteer swim lessons for some kids on the island, and of course I jumped at the chance. So Tuesday afternoon I was picked up outside my apartment and we headed up into the hills on the west side of the island. A couple from the US is running swim lessons and also runs the local swim team. There were two groups of kids with different levels of experience coming from a variety of backgrounds. They are such a fun group of kids and I anticipate adding this to my weekly schedule.
On Wednesday we got some very sad news from our close friends Cayley and Nick. As we later found out, both of their dogs, Nyla and Elly, had been poisoned with an herbicide called paraquat; something that is apparently not unheard of in Grenada, and was most likely done maliciously. Since I cannot restate what happened nearly as eloquently as Cayley, she allowed me to provide a link to her blog: Cayley's Blog (don't read it in public as it will undoubtably bring tears to your eyes).
Aside from what was mentioned above, the rest of our week was pretty uneventful. We won our kickball game (!) and our kitten mastered the art of hunting lizards. Patrick continues to prepare for midterms and I am definitely looking forward to a few free days with him soon.
FOOD!
I guess not.. so here is the backstory: About two weeks prior to going home for winter break, Pat and I ended our lease at Secret Harbor and moved into our current apartment. Well, sometime during the move, our passports were either stolen or thrown away in the midsts of packing and unpacking (I swear I am more responsible than this...) Even more embarrassing, I didn't notice they were gone until 10 pm the night before we were supposed to fly out of the country. I say this is my fault because Pat had finals the week leading up to our departure and I was the one in charge of packing and making sure we were ready to leave. So learn from my mistake and always check for your passports at least a week before traveling! Had I done that, I would have realized they were missing and we could have had our emergency passports before we left for our regularly scheduled flight. When it was all said and done, I realized we learned a few life lessons (after hours of intermittent crying/panicking/freaking out). I will lay out the positives we found in this seemingly terrifying situation:
1) We got to spend about 4 extra days of med-school free time in the caribbean!
2) We learned how to contact and navigate the ins and outs of utilizing the US embassy in a foreign country (yay for taxes!)- thankfully, the embassy is actually located in our neighborhood and they will answer the phone at 1 am on a Saturday morning if you call the emergency line.
3) We learned that we could simply rebook our flight out of Grenada for FREE because Pat is a student at SGU (we had to pay for any upgraded seats they could put us on, and we ended up sitting first class the entire way home for about 50$ US; I definitely utilized the free drinks after this experience!) *This is only with American Airlines that I know of, so for any SGU students traveling to Grenada, this is a huge perk!
4) We know now what to do if we lose our passports in a foreign country. While I never want to go through that again, it's nice to have that kind of random life experience.
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| Thankful for Netflix during our long layovers :) |
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| First class!!! |
Anyway, back to Tuesday. I ran into a friend a few weeks ago who asked if I would want to help do volunteer swim lessons for some kids on the island, and of course I jumped at the chance. So Tuesday afternoon I was picked up outside my apartment and we headed up into the hills on the west side of the island. A couple from the US is running swim lessons and also runs the local swim team. There were two groups of kids with different levels of experience coming from a variety of backgrounds. They are such a fun group of kids and I anticipate adding this to my weekly schedule.
On Wednesday we got some very sad news from our close friends Cayley and Nick. As we later found out, both of their dogs, Nyla and Elly, had been poisoned with an herbicide called paraquat; something that is apparently not unheard of in Grenada, and was most likely done maliciously. Since I cannot restate what happened nearly as eloquently as Cayley, she allowed me to provide a link to her blog: Cayley's Blog (don't read it in public as it will undoubtably bring tears to your eyes).
Aside from what was mentioned above, the rest of our week was pretty uneventful. We won our kickball game (!) and our kitten mastered the art of hunting lizards. Patrick continues to prepare for midterms and I am definitely looking forward to a few free days with him soon.
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| yup, that's disgusting |
Sunday: Slow Cooker Chicken and Salsa: This recipe was given to me by another SO and Minnesota native, Jessica- it is super easy and we always end up with extra to eat later in the week.
Monday: Yummy Pasta: It has bacon in it; 'nuff said.
Tuesday: Honey Soy Tilapia : This ended up being so good that I made it twice this week. Thankfully neither of us is in danger of hypertension or heart disease yet because this was a lot of soy sauce!
Wednesday: Cayley hosted dinner and served some amazing chicken pot-pies!
Thursday: Spicy Thai Noodles: Incredibly spicy! If I make it again (it was still good!) I would halve the sesame oil and red pepper flakes.
Friday: More Tilapia
Sunday: Honey Dijon Chicken Tenders and garbanzo bean salad with asparagus- Courtney and I made this for Brian and Pat while they studied and it was incredibly easy and extremely tasty.
Beer Bread: The website boasted this was the best beer bread recipe in the world. I haven't eaten much beer bread, but for how freaking easy it was to make, it's pretty good.
And, thats a wrap. If you're still bored after reading this, (assuming thats why you're here in the first place), here are some of the articles that have kept me entertained when I'm procrastinating essays and applications: Overuse of Antibiotics in the US, Mummies gettin' CT scanned, and this TED talk: Ted talk on charitable giving
Great post, Katie! Thanks for linking to Nyla's story. She loved you a lot and would be happy to know you're help spreading her tale.
ReplyDeleteCan I just say how excited I am that you have food listed on your blog? So excited! I'm looking at your fancy recipes now!