A Day at the Beach

I will try to keep this post short but I tend to ramble, so here goes. Today we headed out to the beach and not just any beach but THE beach on the island, Grand Anse Beach. It is a beautiful stretch of white sand about three miles long. The weather was great and the water refreshing. We had excellent chicken roti at a place on the beach. We asked for a menu and the first one they brought us was in US prices. We explained that we were living in Gouyave and had only EC money. The waitress brought us the EC menu and the prices, after exchange, were about a third less than those on the US menu. Almost makes us feel local to avoid paying the cruise ship prices. Though we still had to put up with the big ugly Norwegian cruise ship docked in St. George’s Bay.

An interesting bit about Grenada to note is the bus system. I have done little travelling abroad, but in the bit that I have done I have noticed how people get around. I know that my favourite way to get around Winnipeg, any season, is on a bicycle. I know that Vancouver and Toronto are better explored on the public transit systems. Brazil has crazy, fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants taxi drivers who pay little or no attention to traffic lights or intersections. Grenada has its buses. Well, not buses but vans really, the roadways being way too narrow and twisting for a metro bus to try. These buses are colourful 15-passenger vans, pumping out reggae, dancehall and hip-hop music as they wind themselves up, down and around the roads around Grenada. While they are 15 passenger vans, they aren’t considered full until 19 people (including driver and doorman) are crammed (or rammed as the locals say) into these little sweatboxes. I should probably explain the reason that each and every bus has a doorman. These guys are an integral part of bus operation. Each bus has a sliding door on the left side (remember that it is British-style right-hand driving) which the doorman operates. More importantly the doormen coordinate who should sit where, in order to make sure as many people as possible fit inside the bus. The doormen also collect the fares, which are usually collected during the ride or after you get out at your destination. These buses and Grenadian roads are not made for those who get motion-sick easily, nor are they made for those who have a six foot-plus frame. Despite these small discomforts I had a great time flying down the roads along the coast with sheer cliffs down on one side and straight up on the other. Of course, like every thing in life, you have to experience it for yourself to truly understand. Consider that a standing invitation.

Driving back to Gouyave felt almost like coming home, if only for its greater familiarity at this point in time. People in Gouyave say that the people from Gouyave look out for one another, even if they are outside of Gouyave. We are definitely not people of Gouyave but we have been accepted to some degree. Evidence for this could be found today at the beach. A beach peddler came up to us (we didn’t recognise him) and asked us how we were doing. After a quick round of introductions, he said that he knew us from Gouyave. He wanted to know how we were doing and was just kind of checking up on us. Turns out he is the captain for the GRENCODA sponsored football (soccer) team, the SKYWALKERS. (That is a truly excellent name and I have to find out where I can get a uniform.) Next time they play in town, we are going to the local park and taking in the game. Football is very big in Grenada, as is cricket and basketball. For school-age children, swimming, and cross-country running round out some of the others sports found on the island.

That’s it for now, maybe next time I find an internet café with the capability of uploading some of the pictures we have been taking.

Jason

Since I went to sleep early yesterday to try to recover from the bus trip, I missed out on the blogging. In addition to the guy we met on the beach that was from Gouyave we have been increasinly making contact with local people in our neighbourhood from the neighbour down the street that stopped by this morning, to the street vendor at the market to the woman who we asked about bus fare. She told us that it should cost no more than 4 dollars a piece and adamently stated that we SHOULD NOT pay more than that! She also conspiratorily took us aside to issue a motherly warning not to leave our bags unattended on the beach. It makes me smile.

It also makes me smile to think of how we are getting to know at least the children of our neighborhood as we met two more today who seemed to have a good time playing on our porch. Plus I got a few hugs...it was nice.

Kristy