One Week In Paradise

So I've been in Grenada for one week this evening, and it seems like it's been a true vacation. I've hiked up a waterfall, toured the capital city and of course, gone to the beach, but today is the true testament that it is in fact not a vacation. I begin classes this afternoon with an introduction to biochemistry, anatomy, histology and bioethics. As a great suprise last night, I found out that bioethics only lasts four weeks; thus, leaving me with three classes the remainder of the term. Those three classes are definitely going to be enough to keep me busy. So back to the fun adventures I've had the last few days. This photo is of two of my closest friends in Grenada. Casey is on the left and Lauren is closest to me. We had dinner with a girl that Casey knew who is a third term student here at the Prickley Bay Marina in Lance Epines, a small community on the island. They are both from New Jersey and met each other this summer. Upon meeting, they decided to be roommates and took me on as a third wheel. My roommate, whom I will have to show you later, brought some friends with her when she arrived on the island and has only been staying in the room for two nights now. Her friends are leaving tomorrow and then two of our family members arrive on the island Friday night in preparation for Parent's Weekend and the White Coat Ceremony.

The picture to the left is of the Fish Market in St. George's city. This was one of the stops on the tour of the capital, but Lauren and I went back on Saturday morning for her to buy some fish. She got a little over two pounds of red snapper for 18 EC, which is about $7 US. EC is the Eastern Carribean currency which is the money system used by the Grenadians and six other islands in the West Indies. One EC is approximately 2.67 US dollars. Lauren also had to tip a gentleman to filet the fish for her, but that only cost $1. So all in all she got two nice snapper filets for $8. What a deal! We were going to buy some local produce, but as usual in Grenada, or from what we have seen, it began to rain for a little while. Then, a little while turned into a little bit longer and before we knew it we were completely soaked in rain. This picture is from the top of Fort George which is the place where the prime minister Maurice Bishop was killed execution style during the Grenada revolution in 1983. I was taken there during my capital city tour. Grenada became an independent state after this war with the help of the United States government. Yes, I know you are wondering about the medical

school. It was here during the revolution, but the students were taken from the island by US Navy Seals and none were injured in the fighting. So just in case there is a hurricane, earthquake or another war, I will be perfectly safe here. The picture on the left is of the Concord Waterfalls. We took a bus about 30 minutes from campus to get to the waterfalls. It was a beautiful site and several of us, including my friends and me, got in the water and swam under the waterfall. It was a great end to a hot day in Grenada. We have had several fun nights in the city as well. The SGA put on a party at the Aquarium, which is a nice restaurant on the beach. I never thought I'd been at a medical school party dancing on the beach. They also had a BBQ and Bazaar on campus. The bazaar was by far my favorite thing I've done on the island so far. It was filled with all different types of Grenadian and American foods, a bongo drum band and several merchants with homemade goods from the island. I bought a mango candle made out of a half coconut. The picture to the right of my other close friend Meredith. She lives off campus with her two cats. The bunny ears are from Lauren. What a jokester. So as you can see, I haven't done much studying yet, but as of this afternoon, the fun times have to come to an end...well at least somewhat. I'm so glad to have such close friends already, and look forward to making many more as time passes. I guess I'll let you know how classes go in a few days and tell you all about the visit from my mommy.

I made it!!

Man was it a long day yesterday. I left home around 7 AM to drive to New Orleans for my flight to Miami at 11:55 AM. I arrived in Miami, after gaining an hour, just to wait two and a half hours for my jam packed flight to Grenada. It took about three hours to fly into Grenada (I gained an hour here too), but I sat next to Jenna, a returning vet student, who gave me LOTS of advice and suggestions for life and school in Grenada. Upon arrival, we had to go through immigration, baggage claim and customs all before we could get a taxi to campus. At immigration, we had to present our passport and immigration letter from SGU. Silly me printed a copy of the immigration letter from an e-mail the school sent me. I left the original at home. The immigration officer was not happy with the letter and threatened to send me home. After a little coaxing and almost tears, he said he would accept it, but I'd better be glad he was letting me through. After that mix up, all I could think about was what am I going to do if my bags aren't here..which I was sure they weren't. I stood around and watched other people grab their bags and go to customs, but I was still searching. After about fifteen minutes and hundreds of bags I found all three, they made me valet one of my bags because it was too big for a carry-on. Then I noticed the line for baggage claims was longer than the customs line. I later found out that the plane can only weigh a certain amount to be able to land on the runway. Once they reach their baggage limit, they leave whatever is left in Miami to be brought the next available flight. So I paid my $30 (US) fee for my laptop, stacked my bags on a cart and walked outside to be greeted by SGU students and jumped in a cab. The cab ride was interesting...it was really fast, curvy and a little bumpy too, but I was glad to make it to campus. It was hard to see what beauty surrounded me last night, but this morning, it was apparent that I am living in paradise. You will see some gorgeous pictures of the campus below. This is on the route to my classes each morning. Won't it be hard to go all the way to class instead of stopping at the beach.

I have also gotten my room together as much as possible with what I have here so far. My mom is bringing some more stuff with her in a week and a half for the White Coat Ceremony. You will notice how small my bed is, yes, I'm back in college with a twin size bed..and it's not even and XL. My closet space is also extremely tiny. You can only fit about 10-15 items in each section. The bathroom has no storage whatsoever. It's just a counter top with an actually decent sized shower, no baths though.

I have made several new friends already. We have a cruise to go on Saturday, a tour of the capital city Thursday and several other adventures to take this week. I am actually supposed to meeting a few other people to go to the beach today. I'd better get ready. Talk to you all soon! I'll keep taking lots of pictures and maybe even some videos next time.