Grenada: The Land of Ambiguity

I booked my flight home today; a surreal moment as I realized it's almost the end of the term! I am actually leaving about two and a half weeks before Pat, but if I waited until the end of the term, the prices almost triple. It's also crucial study time for Pat so I'm not missing much here and it gives me a few extra weeks to be back on the schedule at Lynnhurst. I have been keeping in contact with my coworkers and it sounds like they are in desperate need of nurses right now, so I'm sure I'll get plenty of hours which I'm looking forward to. I am not looking forward to a quasi-long distant relationship again, but I'm hoping to get some Minnesota and Boston trips scheduled during his mini-summer break soon!

Not ready to leave this yet! 

The end of March marked the expiration of the tabs on our scooter, and our 3 month visitor drivers license. This probably shouldn't be such a hassle, but when the rules are as ambiguous as they are here, it can be a very frustrating experience. Pat and I had to first head into St. Georges to get the title of our scooter switched into our name, and then we could legally get insurance for it. This part was simple enough, and we even had time to grab lunch downtown. After doing this, I had to go back to the police station to get our bike, which goes something like this:

Me: Hi! I have the bike outside, what do I need to do have this registered?
Ms. Officer: blank stare
Me: ......patiently waiting with a smile (I have taken to live by the phrase "you catch more flys with honey" while in Grenada and have lightened my usual forthright attitude because it doesn't seem to work as well despite how blatantly rude you are treated in return)
Ms. Officer: *puts out her hand* license....
.........
.........
Ms. Officer: *staring at drivers license* is this you?
Me: ahhh yup... That's me, would you like to see another identification?
Ms. Officer: .......... *continues to write something in a big book that looks like it's been around since 1972*
........
Ms. Officer: *begins to talk to everyone else around me*
........
Ms. Officer: You have 30 minutes to get it inspected- better hurry; they close at 3.

I look at the clock and it's 2:15. After getting to the inspection building as quickly as I can, I am told that we need a new front tire (huh? it's the back one thats deflated multiple times...) and to secure our blinker light. I head back to the police station where she repeats what the inspector told me and tells me that after I get it fixed, I'll have to come back to the station to get another written "okay" to drive back to the inspection site again (Ooooh thats what the piece of paper was?! thank you for explaining that the first time...).

The next day I take it to get inspected yet again; I am crossing my fingers that I get a different inspector from the day before, which I do. Magically, it passes! (me: ?!?$%???) I then have to go back into St. Georges to prove everything I just did to another set of similarly enthusiastic police officers at the finical complex and we are finally rewarded with our sticker. It is times like these when I miss being able to simply renew my tabs with click of a button and my credit card number....

St. Georges is VERY hilly 

Planned Parenthood

Downtown St. Georges 

Lance Aux Epine beach- about a 3 minute walk from our apartment 

After nearly a month of not feeling well, Pat is finally starting to get better. From what I have heard and experienced, it takes a while to kick an infection down in the Caribbean; I would think maybe thats attributed to the high humidity and constant heat.

Cayley and I went to yoga on Sunday which has left me sore for the second week in a row! I think I am making progress though and I know it is helping my running.

And finally, we won our kickball game last night! whooop. So that's it for updates; here is what I have been up to in the kitchen:

Tuesday: Balsamic Glazed Salmon : Salmon was on sale this week, finally!

Wednesday: Charcoals take out- Yum!

Thursday: Spicy Quinoa Salad: this was amazing!

Friday: Curried Salmon

Sunday: Chicken Chili : Simple and tasty!

Monday: Pizza; I had a packet of pizza dough and a few cans of beans and left over chicken that needed to be used up. I also threw on some onions, peppers, and of course a lot of cheese. While it didn't look so much like a pizza, it turned out really good!

Tuesday: Honey-Ginger Chicken  and Cuban style Black Beans (I love beans. Cheap and healthy)