I'm back!

After a much needed glorious six weeks in the US, I am back in warm, sunny Grenada. While I am extremely happy to be settling back in here, I definitely needed the time at home, working, to rejuvenate and feel like myself again. After typing that I realize how ironic that sounds; most people go to the Caribbean to rejuvenate. However, after a month and a half of nearly 60 hour weeks, I was ready to leave the sub zero temps of St. Paul and be reunited with my boyfriend, and our new feline addition.

Our adopted Grenadian kitten. I am pretty much obsessed with her. 

I have pretty much returned to the same routine as last term, but I think I've been a little more secluded. I am overly focused on getting into grad school; something I fear may not actually happen, and thus have been spending a large amount of time writing and rewriting essays, scouring admissions profiles, and narrowing down the schools I hope to get in to. More on this later.

I have jumped back into running, and I'm surprised how quickly my body was able to bounce back after taking nearly 8 weeks off. Since we've also started to incorporate yoga into our weekly workouts, running has been much easier this term (click the link to see Grenada's Fountain of Youth Yoga Studio!). Cayley and her husband are planning to run the Aspen Valley marathon in Colorado this summer, and I have flirted with the idea of joining them. Altitude running is not something I think I'm ready for, but hey, it will be pretty at least :)

Since I was working so much and jumping between couches, I didn't cook much while I was home. Now that I'm back in Grenada, I have become mildly obsessed with it. We have also added "supper club" to our week with our friends Courtney and Brian and Nick and Cayley. Each week one couple hosts and makes dinner for the other two couples. I made grilled cheeseburger wraps (thanks to Cayley for the recipe) and roasted potatoes during my week to cook. Aside from slightly burning some of them, they turned out pretty good! It was also my first time cooking for more than two people, so I guess that fear has been squelched.

Since I don't have much room on the scooter, I decided that meal planning was the best way to make sure I get everything we need for the week in one grocery trip. It takes some time, but I think it will help in the long run, and I am hoping to stick to it. I also want to get better about blogging the recipes we have tried so that I can remember them for the future (when I have less time to sit for hours searching the internet!).

Monday: Three bean chili- this is a modified recipe- the original one was found on our SO recipe swap facebook page, and it was fantastic- We ate it over bow-tie noodles.

Tuesday: Crispy Quinoa Bake- another one I found on the SO website. It was pretty good; Pat is not a huge fan of quinoa but he did finish the pan so it couldn't have been that bad ;)

Wednesday: This was Courtney's turn to cook and she made phenomenal chicken fajita's (I will have to get the recipe from her!)

Thursday: Crispy Tilapia and roasted potatoes.

Saturday: Mussels in White Wine Sauce: I have never cooked with mussles and I'm not even sure if we like them, but they were extremely cheap at IGA and I surprisingly had everything needed for this recipe already in my kitchen, so I look forward to trying them!

I also made Zucchini Bread this week, one of my favorite foods, and it turned out better than I ever could have expected. I subbed half a cup of white sugar for brown sugar (simply because I ran out of the former) and I think that helped make the bread even more moist and amazing.

Final updates: We started playing on a kickball team with Courtney and Brian and some other friends we met first term. So far we have won two out of three games and I really look forward to spending time with Pat in this atmosphere. He even had a home run this week! Other than that, he is pretty much study, study, study all the time. He is also facilitating DES anatomy sessions (review sessions for first term students) one day a week. I am dorkishly proud of him.

Most of our kickball team: Kickaholics Anonymous (please ignore my awkward stance..)

The Art of Negotiation

I read somewhere that financial issues is the number one reason for divorce. I’m not too sure how reliable this information is, as I tend to read things and then store it in the back of my mind until the information seems relevant again, usually coming out somewhat altered from the original version (ever played that game ‘telephone’ in grade school? That’s kind of how my brain recalls meaningless information), but if it is true, I now have a better understanding of why. Not that we have any plans of splitting up down here, but I do know that the weight of financial worry can cause one or both parties to become anxious, upset and seemingly intelligent adults turn into five year olds playing the ‘blame game’ before someone realizes that no matters whose fault it is, it won’t change the situation. I’m not going to say whose role was whose in this scenario, but overall these types of experiences can either make or break a relationship. In fact, we have been through many ‘make or break’ situations and are still pulling through, so I suppose that’s a good sign.

Anyway, back to the point. After analyzing our situation, we realized just how much our insane electric bill, multiple bike repairs and countless other unplanned events had put us in over our heads, leaving us essentially without food for the months of November and December. So we conjured up a few plans. 1) argue the utility bill because of it’s ridiculousness and end up not paying it, 2) pack up and leave in the middle of the night and find somewhere else to live 3) negotiate with our landlord to let us use our last months rent (December) in November, move to a muuuuch cheaper place in December and use our deposit money from the current apartment to get us through December- this plan also involved finding a new landlord to negotiate with, and whom would essentially allow us to move in on only one rent payment, because that is all we could afford unless we lived on ramen for two months.

Plan 1 was out the window almost immediately after a few short, snippy emails to our landlord and back. Plan 2 was rather dishonest, and really just thrown in there as a last resort. So that left us with plan 3, which meant I was the one who had to face Miss Marlena and somehow appeal to her in a way that she would let us out of the lease early- all in a mix of French and minimal English. So I finally got up the courage to confront her, and after a very stressful, hour long conversation, we were out of our lease. Yay! But now it was time to apartment search. Which meant more negotiations.

As luck would have it, I ended up running into a friend who happened to be friends with one of the SO’s and landlords of a nearby apartment. I told her about our situation, and what we were looking for, and we finally secured the PERFECT apartment. We move in on Friday, but I have been counting the days all month. It not only has free washer and dryer, but all utilities, including internet and cable (I will finally have a TV!) are included in the rent. And I was sure to ask about the electricity bill, which should be on average, a very doable 200EC (about 80 US) per month.

Here is the link to Our new apartment! I will update with more pictures when we are all moved in. Not only do we have a washer and dryer, but we will have an oven, a real refrigerator AND a television, and its also right on the bus route. No more 15 minute long and panicked walks to catch the bus.

So now that the apartment situation was out of the way, it was time to figure out how to get our bike fixed and back on the road. It had broken down in mid October, and was in the “shop” for nearly 3 weeks before they finally called and said they had to send it out to get repaired elsewhere. I had spent the past few weeks calling and dropping in to check up on the bike and every time I was given the runaround by a man who looked eerily similar to snoop dog and was guaranteed to have a joint hanging out of his mouth. So when it came time to pick up the bike, I brought along Courtney and my game face. I refused to be taken advantage of again. After a two hour debacle, we left, and made a deal with the third party mechanic who had ultimately fixed the bike. He is letting us pay him weekly, and about 180 EC less than the ‘original’ cost.

So all of that has pretty much occupied the past month. I am thankful to learn that with all the setbacks of living in a developing country, at least you can negotiate your way out of a situation when you’re in a pinch. I have been through my fair share of ups and downs throughout college and I am used to making a little go a long way. At the end of the day, I get to be with my boyfriend on a gorgeous island and that makes all the other ‘stuff’ worth it.

Westerhall, Grenada

Marathon Training: 11.50 miles, 1:52:57.

One of my goals before moving here was to run across Grenada. Being approximately 15 miles wide and 28 miles from top to bottom, I thought this was completely reasonable, I mean come on, what else do I have to do now? Then I got here. And after my first three mile run, I put that dream aside. The hills, the heat, the incessant humidty and sun that never seem to give up, squashed my goals. However, after over two months of dedicated training, we nearly did just that. Cayley's husband, Nick, drove us directly east, up and down the mountains, and deserted us in the rainforest miles away from what we now call home. You can see our route here: Our Cross-Island Route, it really is almost across the island!

Cayley, Tee and I (taking the picture) about to start 11 miles!

Nick had run the route the day before us and described his experience as nearly deathly as the hills are treacherous and the sun, inescapable. After hearing that, I began to dread 4:00pm Sunday. So I did what I do and I over prepared- even going so far as to make a huge bowel of pasta at 4 am with Pat (it’s not unusual for us to be up that late..). After completing the run essentially ache free and with energy to spare, I’m thankful for Nick for psyching me out.

Westerhall, Grenada, West Indies

In other news, I have a semi-job now! A busy and overwhelmed med-student was looking for someone to help with his laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, and taking care of his two huge, but adorable Labradors. Basically I’m doing everything I already do at home, but for money. It’s not much in pay, but it will bring in enough to help with groceries and my student loans bills. Which is a HUGE relief.

I also visited Calivigny Island for some potential income. The man who owns the island is a French billionaire who put 400 million dollars into renovating his own play ground just off the coast of Grenada. My land lord is his sister. I’ll update if this one pans out. At least I got dog walking and laundry for now..

Other than that, the past two weeks have been slightly uneventful. Pat has been almost stress free now that he’s over the midterm hump and aside from our monetary issues, we’re not doing too bad down here. But lets back up here to the ‘monetary issues’ part. We did some minor budgeting before coming down here, but we did not take into account the insane cost of electricity. Insane as in $700.00 USD electricity bill. After first receiving it, I immediately assumed we were being taken advantage of (paranoid a bit?). So I did my research and learned everything I could about the cost of electricity and wattage usage so I would have an arsenal of facts to present my land lord with, and thus, she would realize she was wrong and take away our bill. That did not happen. She says we use too much air conditioning and that she “warned us to keep an eye on it!”. Too much air conditioning as in we only run it for the 8 hours we are sleeping (and suffer the rest of the day in our mosquito filled hot box), and after some ‘careful monitoring for three days’ she says we are still responsible for the bill. Fail.

So our next adventure is finding a new apartment. We have some appointments tomorrow to go out with a landlord and find a new home. Since we are locked into our lease until December, we will not move until second term. But I have budgeted our entire life, and with a much more affordable apartment, and electricity bill, we should make it through next term just fine.

And since I can’t have a blog without some careful reflection, here is a small look into what’s been on my mind lately: I’m still trying to figure out the whole “live life in the moment” thing. Sometimes I step back, usually while running, and think “wow! I live here, this is amazing and not many people can say they lived in the Caribbean, much less in a third world country!” I look around and think about how this experience has already shaped me so much. Not just me, but my relationship, and how I view relationships in general. I have met so many amazing, warm, friendly, helpful people, that are now my friends. I have encountered cultural barriers and misunderstandings from a foreigners view- something I believe everyone should experience at some point in life. And not just while you’re on vacation, I mean really try to live and go about life as an outsider. It is immensely confusing, wonderfully entertaining, and incredibly frustrating at times. I now know prejudice more than ever. This is an experience I would not give up for anything. But at times, I am still antsy. I still need to know that I will go to school, work full time again, and be able to succeed in life. I wish it were easier for me to just sit back and soak in this experience. Maybe, with time, I will be able to do just that- cause I also never thought I would nearly run across Grenada.

Dengue fever...or not.

Marathon Training: 9.26 miles, 1:31:45. (holy cow!)

So it's been a few days.....err, weeks since I last posted, but apparently I've been busy! Not to mention exhausted after even a half-day spent out-n-about, so most of my nights have ended up with me, face down in a pillow, half watching Greys Anatomy until Pat gets home around 1 am. And about that.. My boyfriend is an extremely hard worker. I did not realize how much he could focus until I moved here with him. He had midterms last week, and he was studying 18 hours a day, every day leading up until exams. Thankfully he saw the fruits of his labors in his grades, as he did great, and I am extremely proud of him.

So with midterms behind us, we actually got to spend a few days together during his break this weekend!

For the past few weeks, the girls and I had been thinking of all the things we wanted to do with our men after midterms were over. We had a big weekend planned, but quite honestly I didn't have high expectations as I knew the boys would be tired from studying all week. Surprisingly, we actually did quite a few things on our list AND... Patrick came on a Hash! Trust me, I was just as surprised as you all. But he did it, and although he might of suffered through it, I do give him props for putting on his game face and doing this with me and our friends- especially since one of our good "couple friends" are the ones who set the hash (basically that means they created the trails through the jungle that we all later hiked through).

Pat and his 'study buddy' Brian 

Me, Cayley and Courtney after the hash

The rest of our weekend was relaxing. We met up for cigars at the University Club on Friday night, and smoked hookah (just tobacco, promise!) on a patio after the Hash. Sunday we did brunch with our friends and then spent the rest of the day in bed watching football and movies. Not a bad weekend, minus the Patriots losing which set us back for a few hours.. On that note, I'll give a little update on the fantasy football situation: With zero real knowledge about football... I am number one in our SO league (knock on wood!), and frankly that is the only reason I like it so far.

So what else is new? As I mentioned, one thing I do a lot down here is cook... And I think I might be starting to really, really like it. I search the internet for easy, healthy recipes on a daily basis, and then set out to the IGA to see if we actually have any of the ingredients listed (click on the link to see where I shop for groceries in Grenada!). One thing I do use a lot here is spice. It is cheap, and can completely transform a meal.

Because we are logging more and more miles every week, and because I want to keep Pat and myself energized (read: sane) through this journey, I have done some research on what we should be eating (and I've just always had a weird obsession with nutrition and food, kind of like the blood thing..). Anyway, last weekend after my 8 mile run, I was so tired and sore I thought I had acquired dengue fever and was surely going to die in our bed hours before Pat got home from the library... apparently all I needed was some protein and gatorade (electrolytes!). Eating healthy when you're working out that hard is essential, especially when considering the heat and hills of Grenada. This article was super helpful for easy things to fit into my diet, even on a low budget.

In addition to staying fueled and ache free, I truly believe good nutrition is imperative to a healthy state of mind, and even more so now since we have undergone such dramatic changes in culture, lifestyle and medical school-related stress. These articles explained what to eat to ease stress and depression.

In summation: We eat A LOT of bananas, and I'm overly obsessed with quinoa. We should eat lots of protein often, and complex carbohydrates that take awhile to be digested by the body and I will be able to run this marathon and we both should be free of mood swings. Hopefully.

Eat me for a better run AND a better relationship. 

"Please choose your country"

Week 5; 7.15 miles 1:05:48

Musings:
It's amazing the way life can change so quickly on you. I say that as if I didn't have a choice in the matter. As if life took me by the hand and said "let's go!"- and just when I thought we were going one direction, life took a detour- possibly it preferred the more scenic route- and now I'm here: 25, in Grenada, with a man I met a mere year ago. Despite the reactions of the people around me (which ranged from "are you out of your mind?" to "Yes! Take a chance and live life!) this move was not out of character for me. For the first time in my life I am neither working nor in school. So here I am, trying to live in the moment; to really enjoy my surroundings, or as the kid at the bus stop said "you can use this time to find yourself, whatever that means" (sometimes it seems like there is a sign on my head begging people to talk to me..). But with all this working, and studying and moving, and overall 'avoiding'- how much my life has changed in the past year didn't hit me until I was filling out a survey and came upon the prompt: "please choose your country".

Alright, I guess I'll choose Grenada ;)

Before we came out here I set some goals. Maybe I needed a way to add justification to the decision I was making to move here. The plan was to use the first four months to accomplish said goals, and then I would hopefully be accepted to school beginning in January and I could study along side Pat for the remainder of our time on the island.

Goals:
Learn to cook (this has been an interesting one)
Run a marathon (on my way!)
Learn Spanish (still trying to find a cheap Rosetta Stone on amazon)
Start a blog (.....)
Apply to grad schools (in the process)
Study for the GRE again (eh)
Volunteer (SAMS, Limes)
READ!

Since arriving I have some additional Goals:
Learn about a new culture (I ate salt fish.. Trust me, you are NOT missing anything)
Immerse myself in new culture
Figure out how to stretch a dollar in another currency, in a foreign country (ugh)
Try new things (hashing!)
Learn to drive a moped (check!)
Cultivate patience and understanding in my relationship with Pat (and a million other relationship things that could take up a whole new blog but shouldn't because it would be quite revealing)

That last one is important. Apparently medical school is difficult (?!) and takes A LOT of time (huh??) and can make one, hard working student (Pat) very stressed. The difficult part here is separating what is  new in our relationship because we are living together, and what is new to the relationship simply because of school, and all the additional emotional upheavals that come with it.

Some of the recipes I have tried: Quinoa Patties, Confetti Chicken Pasta, Sauteed Chicken Chunks with Coconut Milk

Overview of weeks 6 and 7: Pat had his first exams of med school! He did well but now he is preparing for midterms and is back to heavy-duty studying.

I have continued to volunteer at the hospital; cool story of the week: A man with a constricted urethra (due to BPH) came in to the clinic unable to urinate. It was near impossible to cath the man so our doc used a large bore IV needle and inserted into his abdomen and directly into his bladder to drain the urine- problem solved (for a short while anyway).

Thought you'd all like a visual...

Giving up on our washing machine, I have resorted to doing laundry by hand. 'Nuff said.

I've since added a drying rack and clothes line, but you get the idea...

Our bike broke down and I took it to get it fixed at the local mechanic- interesting experience to say the least.

Our sweet ride

Finding solace in new friends

Marathon Training Week 3; Day 5: 5.07 miles, 49:32

Crabs in a bowl ready to race!

Before I started this I promised myself I would be totally honest in this blog. It's meant not just as a journal to remember all the fun times this adventure will bring, but also for myself- and others who can or cannot relate- to unload about the hard times too. This week has been a roller coaster of emotions (which reminds me of an awkward moment at work; as we were transporting an elderly lady in the ambulance through the twists and turns of Grenada's rainforest roadway, I said to the woman "it's like we're on a roller coaster!" not thinking that she may well have never seen one in her life...she stared back at me blankly).

The week started off busy, social and fun. A group of us SO's went to crab races at a bar on the beach; all my crabs lost (go figure) but it was fun none the less.

Tuesday I attended my first ever fantasy football draft. Don't assume I know anything about football, but the girls just thought it might be something fun to do this fall, and today I saw one of my guys kick a field goal and get me some points so that was kind of cool.

Wednesday was Katie's "Wine Night" for any SO who wanted to have a mid-week get away while their husband or boyfriend studied late into the night. The students have their first big exam tomorrow and have been stressed and studying like crazy all week, so this was a good excuse for us to get away and relax together (you're thinking "like you're the ones who need the relaxing?", trust me, we do too). I'll say ahead of time, Katie was so gracious for hosting us all. Twenty plus girls in one apartment with a bottle of wine each... things got a little messy. Needless to say, we had a fun night and I met a lot of great girls. However, come Thursday morning as the hangover was wearing off, I felt a bit nostalgic for college and my good friends back home. Moving here is a bit like moving to college; the stress of meeting a bunch of new people at once, made a bit easier with the help of some good ole' ETOH.

group picture; wine night

Now I'm not sure if this was a combination of being in a brand new country for just over a month, too much alcohol for the week, seeing less than an hour of my boyfriend every day, or just crazy hormones, but Thursday was my breakdown day. As a person who tends to hold everything in, and "bite the bullet" in stressful situations, I also tend to erupt when my jaw starts to hurt. I am someone who rarely cries or gets angry. Yes, I am an emotional person, but I am also a chronic over-thinker. When I feel strong, but undesirable emotions, I think them through, rationalize them, and push them away. But when I do this too much, everything boils over and I end up crying in a Grenadian airport when all I wanted to do was to pay the duties on my UPS package and get on with my day. The airport story is long and not something I want to retell in detail, but I will say that if you ever find yourself in a third world country, expect to be given half an answer for everything, not to be taken seriously, and for what ever you're trying to accomplish to take approximately 5 times as long as you would expect. Thankfully, I have met some AMAZING people here, and Cayley was nice enough to drive me to the airport- and wait while I was shuffled around for 30 minuets trying to figure out just how to get my package.

The weekend got a bit better, but with Pat being stuck in the library 24/7, I have to say I was starting to feel the emotional results of his absence. He is stressed, and I'm not going to pretend that is easy on me. It's not. It is easy to begin to feel under-appreciated here, but I went into this knowing this would be the case. In fact, I'm surprised it didn't hit sooner. I am trying to be supportive, bring him dinner (the few minuets we can actually spend time together!) and make him feel positive about all the hard work he is putting in, however, sometimes this effort is met with resistance. I know he will do great tomorrow, I just can't wait until he knows it too. I also can't wait until I hear back on grad school for me. I know my lack of emotional stability is due in part to limited structure and not feeling like a valued portion of society. Work was my therapy back home, and while I do some nursing here, it is not the same as feeling totally confidant and in control of ones environment like I did at my last job. Most of all, I miss my patients, and using all of my skills and knowledge.

Random Updates: 
We have had some random malfuctions in our house- Pat has been awesome about trying to fix them- these include our water heater, our leaky refrigerator, our iced-over freezer...

So handy! 

We bought a scooter!

We are now semi-independent! The one bought is a bit older, and red, but otherwise the same. While I don't normally endorse this mode of transportation (head injuries, death), I am pretty addicted to this thing and love not having to always rely on the buses.

Saint Georges the "Carnage"

Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore...

Week 2: Day 4; 3.00 miles, time: 30:28

Today's route via Cayley: http://runkeeper.com/user/cayley/route

So I decided I would start tracking my progress publicly to keep me accountable. The more people I tell "I'm running a marathon in November", the more likely I am to stick to my schedule and do it. While I do consider myself to be pretty self-motivated, it would not be difficult to say "its too damn hot to run today"... September is supposed to be Grenada's hottest month, and I think both Cayley and I can attest to that truth! I do feel that in the almost-month we have been here, my endurance has drastically improved in this weather.

Our weekend: So we had another "date night" on Friday- Pat was only at school until 7pm (instead of 11 or 12) and we met up and went to dinner and a movie. With him being gone 18 hours a day during the week, I appreciate these moments immensely.

Saturday I went hashing again... I also had an emotional breakdown regarding a dog: We get to Apres Tout, about 45 minuets from where we live, and we enter a typical 'third-world-country' neighborhood- shack houses with tin roofs that may or may not have running water. While we're all standing around and getting ready to run, an English man comes up to our group and asks if anyone is looking to adopt a dog and if so we should check out the stray under the deck around the corner. Of course I jump at the chance to play with a puppy and Pat and I had already discussed that at some point we would like to get a dog, so why not now? I head around the corner of the building and a tiny, black puppy is cowering under the deck. She is completely emaciated and very, very timid. I am in love. She couldn't have been more than a few months old and I could count every rib in her body. By now there is a small crowd of us and some people are asking if anyone would take her home. Another woman introduces me to her dog and says she was found in the same condition and now she's big and healthy and so this dog deserves the same. I decide I'm taking her. I have yet to let Pat know but I know he is sensitive and wouldn't be mad once he saw her. We tie her up, go on the run and the whole time I am hoping she is still there when we get back. As we're about to leave for the evening, I head over and pick her up. She is adorably sweet and rests her head on my shoulders. I begin to stand up with her when an older, Grenadian man walks over and tries to tell me he thinks this is his sisters dog. He is very confused and I'm having a hard time understanding him, much less explaining that I was directly told "the owner dropped her off here and abandoned her". I decide to start walking and am surprised to realize he is still following me. Looking back, I should have just walked all the way to the car and left right then, but we stayed and tried to respectfully explain to this man that this was nobodies dog. Suddenly I look up and I feel like half the town is surrounding me. The same men that told me earlier she didn't belong to anyone are now siding with this confused, older man with dread locks. By now I am angry and begin arguing that clearly no one is feeding this dog, and I was told she doesn't belong to anyone. When we hear mention of the police the group decides not to push our luck (looking back I realize that was probably just a threat; the police in Grenada rarely respond to real emergencies, much less something like this) and I begrudgingly set the dog down and walk away in tears.

Things that I learned from this experience: 1) I have an irrational emotional attachment to animals I don't know, 2) Grenadians are very possessive of things even if they do not outwardly take care of them, 3) don't get involved with the police in another country (images from "locked up abroad" come to mind) 4) I should have listened to the English man and discretely hid her before we left on our run. 5) different cultures view animals differently then I was raised to view them.

Everyone about to start the Hash- photo courtesy of "Grenada Hash House Harriers"

Cayley(front) and me coming out of the forest

So Sunday I am still sulking and begin planning ways to get to Apres Tout.
Later we meet up with a two other couples so that Pat can study and I can gossip with the girls. It's a pretty decent arrangement for me :)

Not a bad Sunday

Tuesday: Limes started! Limes is an after school program for kids as young as 2 and the volunteers help with homework, playing, and giving them much needed attention. They are incredibly fun, energetic and outgoing! I went Tuesday and Thursday this week and I think I plan to be on that schedule as long as I am in Grenada. Between that and the hospital on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays, I feel pretty productive and involved.

Outside St. Augustine's Medical Clinic