Spice Island

Goodbye!

2007-06-01T08:50:00.000-05:00

Well dear blog readers, the time has come for us to officially bid you farewell. We know we have not posted any of the promised pictures that were to come when we sorted our pictures, but rest assured that you have seen a good many of our moments in Grenada. We will be ending this blog with this post, because life in Manitoba just doesn't seem to be crazy enough to need to blog about it! Plus, for many of you out there who have read our blog regularly, you will be able to see us personally and see our pictures yourself...all 3000 of them! Well, we pared it down to just over 200 essentials. :) So...until our next adventure, farewell and God Bless!

Two Weeks Back in Canuckland

2007-05-01T16:53:00.000-05:00

Well, we've been back for two weeks now. Feels much longer. We hit the ground running with a flurry of painting, plumbing and moving. Now I am in the spring rush on the farm and Kristy is organising the house and job hunting. Feel like we hardly have time to breathe let alone post updates to our blog.

But, not to worry there will be updates with more Grenada photos in the future. As soon as we have the 2500+ photos organised and sorted. Digital cameras are a blessing and a curse, not bad though considering we pared things down from 5,000+ photos.

Later,
Jason

Cold Cold Cold

2007-04-17T15:45:00.000-05:00

Well, in case you haven't guessed by the title of this post we have made it safely back to Canada. Last night in Toronto I truly thought I might not last the two block walk from the subway to our host's house! Ultimately, I made it and managed to warm up before morning. Today we arrived in Winnipeg in the morning, had a great lunch at Jason's mom's and went to see our new house. Well, lets just say we'll keep it. There are a million little things we want/need to do with it, but we'll take it one at a time starting with painting. After a nap this afternoon we're going to go back and decide what colours we want to go with. I realise we still haven't posted about our Barbados trip, but it will come once we have uploaded our pictures. Until then stay safe and keep warm!
Kristy

Question of the day/week: What has been your favourite place to live and why?

We're Back!

2007-04-13T10:47:00.000-05:00

Well, we are back in Grenada. After six months on a tropical island we decided to have a little vacation before we head back to the thawing north, so we took the short flight over to Barbados. We will post a longer and more detailed post in a few days when we get back to Manitoba but here are a couple teaser pictures.

The view from Carlisle Bay

Waiting for a bus after visiting Harrison's Caves

Question of the week: After a long (or even short) time away from home, what did you first want to do/eat/experience when you got back?

Barbados

2007-04-07T15:49:00.000-05:00

Arrived safely in Barbados. Our gracious hostess, Sheila has extended us every courtesy including making a wonderful meal of fresh fish last night. We went to Rockley Beach yesterday and tried to bodysurf in Atlantic surge without flashing too many people. Today we went on a tour of the island with taxi driving friend of Sheila's. We are looking forward to tomorrow's dive that we have booked as they said that it would be likely that we would be able to see a lot of turtles and other sea life that we had not seen off Grenada.

Everything is expensive but that is what we expected. Weather has been nice and there is always a cool breeze from the east.

We will post with pictures from Grenada when we head back there on the 12th.

Later,
Jason & Kristy

The Simple Pleasures

2007-04-04T10:11:00.000-05:00

As we reflect on our time in Grenada we realise that it is the simple pleasures that made our stay what it was. Sharing meals with locals, trekking off into the back country and partaking of as many opportunities as possible. But before I wax too nostalgic one of the greatest treasures of Grenada is the food. Anyone who knows me knows that I like food and gastronomic adventures are par for the course. I will try anything that is put in front of me and my only regret at leaving Grenada so soon is that I missed that one opportunity to try some cow's head soup on the beach during Kristy's birthday.

We may have missed the mango season (I am told that when the mangoes peak, some roads become too slippery to drive on due to the hundreds of thousands of mangoes that drop before anyone can eat them) but we certainly enjoyed many, many fruits and vegetables that were new to us and we got to enjoy some off season favourites.

Grenada has been a blast!

Later,
Jason

Reflections

2007-03-30T08:33:00.000-05:00

As our time is drawing closer and closer to the end, we take time to reflect on what we've experienced and learned over the past six months. Here's some of our thoughts:

We've learned that:

You can buy the essentials in life right from your front door: Coke, beer and bread!
Walking slower can get you there faster.
It is important to talk to your neighbors.
The best places to go are often the hardest to get to.
Sometimes all you have to do is ask.
Cricket is more than just a noisy little bug.
Cockroaches stink when you whack them with your shoe.
Dogs are extremely resilient, surviving cars, parasites, and the stones I throw at them.
Farming is a challenge, no matter where you are.
The world is full of inspirations.
Sometimes my skin is a burden and a barrier.
24 C can be cold and 60 km/h can be fast.
Just because someone speaks English doesn't mean you will understand what they're saying.
Oildown is delicious.
Sometimes tourists' actions embarrass me.
Silence is a rare commodity on a Caribbean island.
Where there is passion and determination much can be done with very little.
Damage cannot be counted merely in a physical sense, it affects every aspect of a people and takes years for recovery.
Grenadians don't walk in the rain because they cannot depend on a health care system to cure their ills.
Laughter is universal.

Interact with us:
What have YOU learned recently? (Within the last 6 months)

More photos from R&D's visit

2007-03-27T08:14:00.000-05:00

For lack of inspiration and desire to do something original, I'm uploading more photos from our latest visitors. Hope you enjoy.

Kelci, Erin and Andrea had fun playing together one afternoon.

Erin and Andrea watching people jump off the Seven Sisters Waterfalls

Erin, Rita and Afi (Africa), the friendly daughter of our favourite restaurateur.

Andrea and the fruit.

Erin and Andrea taking a drink from the spring.

Well that's it for today. My brain just isn't really in for a whole lot of thought. Any suggestions from you folks out there? I am at your command!

Kristy

Big News!

2007-03-22T08:37:00.000-05:00

So it starts like this:

This Christmas, when Jason's mom was in Grenada we mentioned that we were considering home ownership when we returned to Canada. We felt like we would rather be putting money into something that will build equity for us instead of paying someone else's mortgage. So, we asked Jason's mom to keep her eyes open for us, thinking that come spring when we returned we would start hunting ourselves. She did as we asked, even going to see a few properties when they looked promising. We had not done any of the other requisites for home ownership like getting a pre-approval for a loan, so we were expecting simply to look and see what was out there, and begin the process in April. I'm sure you can all guess by now that it didn't quite work out as planned.

On Feb 19th or 20th (all the details get fuzzy after a while) we got a call from Jason's mom. She was very excited about a house she had just been to see. She told us that it had everything we were asking for (namely a large yard and kitchen!) She had been to see the house and believed that this was the house for us! The only hitch was that since the house went on display only a few days previous there had already been a number of people to see it. She wanted to know if she should put in an offer. We did a lot of talking that night. And the next. On Thursday, the 22nd we went to a nearby island of Carriacou with my brother and sis-in-law, who were visiting at the time. We had decided that the house was out of our price range, and we didn't feel right putting in an offer on a house we had never seen, regardless how highly it came recommended. On our return from Carriacou on Saturday, we read an email sent by Jason's mom informing us that she had put a preliminary offer on the house, just to buy us some time. So, again, we started thinking. I managed to call up my parents on Sunday night and I asked them if they could possibly go to the house and be another opinion. I was sure that my father would poke around the house and notice if there was anything he felt was wrong with it. There was also another third party verification of the value of the house. Both my parents and Jason's mom believed that if we purchased this house and found it too big for us we could easily sell it for a profit. In addition, the lot was already zoned for subdivision, so we could sell off 2 acres in the back and make back some money right there. Mom and Dad also took a tonne of pictures so we could actually 'see' the house.

With so much positive encouragement, plus our trust in our parent's good judgment, we decided to take the plunge. Again, things moved far more smoothly than anyone could have predicted. We went to the Legal Aid and Councilling Clinic associated with GRENCODA in St. Georges who helped us with transferring power of attorney to Jason's mother. Then we had to go to the registrar for verification (notary public). When we got to the registrar's office we were told he was in a meeting and would be back until 4:00. This was a problem because Jason had to teach an IT class at 5:00. We waited around 5-10 minutes, and all of a sudden there he was! Back early (this isn't a common thing in Grenada by the way). We got our documents signed, brought them back to the Legal Aid clinic, and were on our way back to Gouyave. We were told it could take up to a week for the formal papers to be lodged in the court, but we sent a fax of the preliminary document to Jason's mom so she could begin the process. Amazingly we received a phone call the next day telling us that our papers had been through the courts and were ready!!!! Jason went into St. Georges to pick them up and we sent them by Fed Ex the next day.

And so it happened that on March 9, 2007 on Jason's 30th birthday we became home owners. Happy birthday, here's your mortgage!!! We officially took possession of this house we have not seen on March 15th. Here's a picture of the front, and of the marvelous kitchen (sorry the photo is blurry, it's the only one I have on the computer where I'm working right now). We won't give you details as to its location, because we're selfish and want to see the house with our own two eyes before we let anyone else! Upon our return on April 17th (or shortly thereafter) we will be sure to send out more information for the bash that will follow to celebrate both our newfound house, and my dear husband's birthday! So there you have it. Our Big News.

just a couple pics

2007-03-19T12:14:00.000-05:00

Two posts in one day? Are they crazy? Probably.

The most recent Gouyave Fish Friday Festival. See the smiling faces as we try to shoehorn a Caribbean lobster into our already stuffed stomachs.

Somethings happen more quickly for children. It took about 30 seconds for our niece to go from stranger to friend with these girls.

One of the countless lizards that live in and around our house in Gouyave. This photogenic example seems to be striking a pose that says, "Here I am, don't get in my way and I will eat all the bugs in your house." Notice that he is flaring his doolap (the flap on his throat) to appear macho and impress the ladies.

A Post for Post's Sake!

2007-03-19T09:32:00.000-05:00

What have those crazy Canucks been up to for the last week? To be true we have been running around the island, trying to do many of those things that we love with our latest round of guests. It has been a blast but has left us with little energy or time for keeping up with our electronic journaling. As soon as I get a chance to upload a few more pictures from our camera I will do so but until then all our online voyeurs will have to make do with these.

A good view from our favourite beach, looking back at Gouyave. Black sand and no tourists.

I can almost see Trinidad. (Same beach as above just the opposite direction.)

Sometimes I can feel a bit guilty about having my cake...

...and eating it too! But for the most part I don't. It's been a blast to fulfill my practicum requirement in Grenada and as the days tick by on the calendar I find myself not wanting to leave my new found home. Guess I will just have to look forward to our little side trip to Barbados in a couple weeks. ;)

Beach Day

2007-03-12T09:50:00.000-05:00

We went to the beach yesterday with R & D and the girls. I would say a good time was had by all.

Just Chillin' in the waves

Those waves can give you a little push if you're not careful!

And spin you all around.

Hey Uncle Jason, guess what just happened?

This look of excitement didn't leave their faces all day!

Surprise!

2007-03-09T12:09:00.000-06:00

They got me! At 30, I have never had a surprise party thrown for me...until now. Don't they all look quite proud of themselves?

Ms. Williams and I goofing around.

Many thanks go to Kristy for doing a great job at keeping me from discovering the big secret. And even more thanks got to her from making me a little 'Death by Chocolate' for my birthday. One of those things that is hard to make in Grenada but man did it taste good! Thank you my beautiful wife!

Happy Birthday Jason!

2007-03-09T07:09:00.000-06:00

Today this wonderful man turns 30! Make sure you wish him a Happy Birthday.

Jason and the Billy Goat

2007-03-07T09:04:00.000-06:00

Once upon a time there was a goat. His name was Billy.

One day a wandering traveler came and stood on Billy's stump.

Billy didn't like that the traveler was standing on his stump and so he butted the stump.

Along came a fiery-haired princess who talked to Billy and asked why he was so ornery.
Billy told her that his rope had become tangled around the base of the stump and he couldn't get to his favourite grazing spot.

So the princess patiently untangled Billy's rope and everyone was happy.

The end.

Just for fun

2007-03-01T13:37:00.000-06:00

These are just some pictures Jason found online a while back and I saw them while looking through my photos and they struck me funny. So...I'm sharing them with you.

I hope this doesn't happen to us!!!

Here's a question for you all... What's the worst destruction story you have from your (or your kids) past?

To get you all rolling, I'll start! Although I don't know if it's the worst (in fact it probably isn't) but for one reason or another it sticks out as a childhood memory. I was in the living room with my cousin where we were listening to music (twist and shout I believe) and we got a little rambunctious. We ended up having a pillow fight (bad idea in the living room full of plants and other breakable things) and she ducked when I chucked the pillow at her. Unfortunately directly behind her was a nice big breakable lamp. It crashed, and broke all over the floor. It was one of the times I figured I've be in deep trouble but mom just came upstairs and helped us clean it up. Just goes to show kids never know what their parents will do!

Carriacou

2007-02-26T08:05:00.000-06:00

We had a lovely vacation in Carriacou. The weather was perfect and the sea was lovely. Don, Jason and myself managed to go for a dive and although the visibility was not great I think we all enjoyed ourselves. Over our 3 day stay we took a tour of the island, did a dive, and otherwise walked the beach, relaxed and played Settlers of Catan. Here's some of my favourite pictures from the weekend.

The view under the pier. I loved the light.

Thomas, our taxi driver, took this picture of us from the hospital up on the hill. The water behind us is the Caribbean sea, if you turned around 180 degrees you'd see the Atlantic.

Jason and Don checking out a ship in progress.

Finally, we manage to get a picture of me where I'm smiling with my eyes open!

Just a beautiful view of the ocean. If you squint you can see a reef in the middle of the picture and a ship that got stuck on it!

Well, that's our quick Carriacou overview. I hope you have enjoyed it!

Kristy

Weekend activities

2007-02-19T08:54:00.000-06:00

My brother and sister-in-law are in Grenada visiting us since last week sunday. As we didn't have much time to visit throughout the week, we spent the weekend with a rented car touring the island. One of our first stops was to the farm of Hugh Currie, a Canadian farming in Grenada. He has developed an extensive fruit farm and he allowed us to walk around the farm and eat ourselves silly. We were some tired sticky people, but man did we have happy mouths and stomachs. No chances of scurvy here! I think everyone's favourite was the kingfruit (also known as uglyfruit) which had a delicious lemony flavour, sort of like a cross between a sweet navel orange and a lemon.

Needing to clean up we headed off to Bathway beach (after a brief stop at a sulpher spring. There's a reason there are no pictures of it here.) Don and Jay went for a swim while Ang and I tried to have a nap on the beach. The rain sent us scurrying back to the car after a while and we headed back to their hotel in Grand Anse for a much needed meal and sleep. I think we tired them out on friday!

Saturday we went to the southern part of the island, an area that Jason and I have not really seen until now. We tried to find the La Sagesse Nature Reserve, and although we found the hotel and a chinese run greenhouse, we couldn't figure out where the 'nature reserve' part came in. Nonetheless we had a lovely walk on the beach and on the rocks, and later drove the car up on top of a tall ridge where we had a fabulous view of the Atlantic.

Is there any question which direction the prevailing winds are coming from?

Sunday we packed don and ang's bags into the car and headed into the interior. From this view point in Grand Etang you can see all the way to the southern tip of the island. We had a nice hike down to seven sisters falls where Jason and Don climbed up to jump down 6 waterfalls. Ang and I went for a swim at the base of the biggest fall. Afterwards we unpacked our picnic lunch and had a nice meal. Then we went to try and find the honeymoon falls. We found some falls, but never found out if they were in fact the ones we were searching for! On the way back to Gouyave we took another road through the interior where we passed by many banana plantations and other farms. We stopped to let Jason and Don talk to a farmer who was planting papayas for the regional market. After a while Ang and I were able to drag them away and we made it back to Gouyave. We got them settled in their house and made a simple supper after which we let them get some well deserved rest.

Next weekend we are off to Carriacou so ta ta for now!

Kristy

p.s. Thanks to all those who participated in our survey both in voting and in leaving comments. We enjoyed hearing from you!

The results are in!

2007-02-12T14:58:00.000-06:00

The results of the poll are in and the majority have it. Jason did indeed write sample A while Kristy was masterful in her sample B submission. Our question for the voters is why you voted the way you did? Was it the pictures, the language, the format? Indulge our interactive needs!

Later,
Jason & Kristy

P.S.
Yes, for all those concerned, our latest group of visitors have arrived safe and sound. As they unwind, relax and Don finishes his Open-Water SCUBA certification we will be working away. However, the coming weekends will be very busy with many exciting activities.

Sample A

2007-02-08T11:50:00.000-06:00

For my highlight post, that this, the review of some of the best or most meaningful pictures that we have taken in Grenada thus far I have chosen these five. You may notice that none of these photos include people and there could be many reasons for this occurrence. For me, however, I have chosen to lump these pictures together as a highlight of some of the natural scenes or products of Grenada.

This first one highlights one of the many beautiful scenes that we witness as the sun sets over the Caribbean Sea.

Gouyave as viewed from the ruins of a 17th century French Fort.

Nutmeg in drying racks. Nutmeg, cocoa and banana were the three agricultural products that brought colonial powers to the island. Banana has ceased to be an export crop but nutmeg and cocoa are still very much a part of the Grenadian image and psyche.

Seven Sisters Falls, just another reason that Grenada is one of the most beautiful countries in the Caribbean and the world.

In Grenada you can really see where the efforts of human beings meet those of nature. While there are myriad arguments regarding the meeting of people and the natural world, I won't get into them here. This photo highlights what can be seen as a struggle between dichotomous wills.

Of course I have many more favourite photos but these are the ones that popped out at me today. I hope that they convey the meaning that I hope they do.

Sample B

2007-02-08T07:38:00.000-06:00

I choose my five pictures to highlight some of the things that stand out in my mind about Grenada as a place, and Grenadians as a people. I hope that I will be able to convey them to you at least a little bit!

1. Grenada is a place of extraordinary beauty. The reality that I live within a few minutes walk of the Caribbean sea still escapes me from time to time. The natural world in Grenada is green and blue and is such an integrated part of peoples lives. Everyone has plants growing in their 'yard', such as it is. From Pigeon peas to banana plants it is not enough for Grenadians to have the jungle growing on the hillside behind their house, they plant decorative plants in pots and place them on their railings. I love the beauty of Grenada.

2. Although the natural world may be blue and green, the population of Grenada is NOT afraid of colours. Namely red, green and yellow! On the 7th of February Grenada celebrated 33 years of independance. Every person in Grenada not only wore their national colours but went out and painted walls, curbs and even rocks to celebrate their country's birthday! It was truly an inspirational sight. I can't remember ever experiencing such celebrations for Canada day. I love the spirit of Grenada.

3. Although it always takes time to truly get to know people in a new place, context and culture, Grenadians make it easy to feel welcomed. As we walk the streets we are always greeted and in fact, the longer we are here, the more people recognise us and associate us with Gouyave, even when we're somewhere else, like St. Georges. We have made many aquaintences, as well as friends. Some have started to feel like family, like the little girl Kelci in the picture below. The same age as our niece Andrea, she brings spirit and laughter to our house. Laughter is infectious here and Grenadians love to let loose and have fun. I love the friendliness of Grenada.

4. I included this picture because it places us within our work here in Grenada. Although we do not always know the politics of a given situation, or the background, we are always ready to lift a hand and help wherever we can. GRENCODA works hard in is work and we feel honoured to be a part of their work.

5. Finally, Grenadians know when it is time to stop working and soak up the famous Caribbean sun. Called 'liming' it is an important part of a Grenadian lifestyle. We were once told that the reason Grenadians take things slowly and don't walk in the rain is because they can't depend on good health care to restore them to health if they fall ill or have a heart attack. Here some young men are liming on the beach after a regatta. They were probably on the water in the morning racing their boat and now deserve some rest on the beach. I love the easy going attitude of Grenada.

Gifts

2007-02-02T07:18:00.000-06:00

One of the joys of travelling are the people you meet. Recently, my brother Al came to Grenada to visit and met a little girl named Kelci. Jason and I have gotten to know her well over the last number of months, especially during the time when she stayed with her grand mother and great grandmother, almost across the road from us while her mom was gone to Trinidad to have a baby. Kelci was on our porch almost daily, in fact it was hard to send her home when we wanted to go have supper or go to bed!

While Al was here he got to meet Kelci and humored her for a long time goofing around with pillows and playing frisbee. Kelci also enjoyed 'helping' us with a puzzle that my mother-in-law gave as a christmas gift. Al told Kelci he would send a puzzle along for her with my parents when they came to visit. And that's what he did.

She's pleased as punch (though didn't like it that i suggested she work on the puzzle in our house so I could help her with it!) 500 pieces is just a little daunting when you haven't done many puzzles! I'll be sure to post a picture when we have finished the puzzle.

So, here's my question for all of you. What is the best gift you have ever given, or received? I'd love to hear from all of you folks who have been lurking out there but never leave comments!

What to do when you cannot find a coffee maker.

2007-01-31T14:48:00.000-06:00

As some of you may know, I like coffee. Grenadians, by and large, do not seem to share my love of a good cup of jo. Thus there are very few coffee makers to be found on the island and in Gouyave particularly. Having made do with instant coffee for the first few months, I thought that I would continue in that vein until April, when I can use my programmable wonder again. In fact, I was okay with that, I could handle instant coffee, I could even begin to like instant coffee. My plans changed when my wonderful in-laws sent some of Tim's finest down for Christmas. Once I opened that tin and inhaled that wonderful aroma (instant doesn't really seem to have any odour at all) I knew that I had to create my own percolator. The following pictures are the result of a little experimentation and a little collaboration with Kristy and Andrew. It brews a wonderful and quick cup of coffee, plus it can be affixed to almost any size of container.

Step One: Punch some holes in the lid of a can and one hole in the bottom of said can.

Step Two: Bend down the sides of the lid so as to raise the perforated lid off the bottom of your percolator.

Step Three: Insert coffee filter, fill with favourite blend and fill with hot water. Enjoy!

Mom and Dad Enns...part 2

2007-01-31T12:44:00.000-06:00

During Mom and Dad's visit, although we/they did plenty of resting, we also managed to make it out to see a few sites. This first picture is from Anandale Falls. It is a very pretty location with some nice landscaping around the area and it is very easy to access from the parking lot. This means that when the cruise ships are in port it is pretty busy, but we were lucky enough to have the place to ourselves for our visit. We took a 'shortcut' back down a narrow, bumpy and occasionally dirt road through the interior. We actually quite enjoyed the ride and were again grateful that we made the decision to rent a vehicle instead of depending on public transportation. There are, as always a lot of scenic places in Grenada that we could show you photos of, but we will have to save something for when we return! By the way, that will be on April 17, our flight will arrive around 9:50 AM I think.

We were also invited to the GRENCODA staff party where mom and dad got to see first hand how much work it is to make Grenada's national dish Oildown. Dad even pitched in and peeled those tricky green bananas with the rest of the men.

Dad also picked up the Cricket bat and learned a few of the basics of Cricket, Grenada's most popular sport with football (soccer in North America) coming a close second. It helps that Grenada is one of the West Indian countries hosting the Cricket World Cup from April 10 - 20, so Cricket fever is running high.

Of course, that meant that he deservedly got a nice full plate of Oildown.

Most evenings, we sat down at the table to play some games. We seem to have gotten the "Settlers of Catan" bug well and fully instilled in mom and dad. For those of you who don't know the game, give us a call when we're back and we'll be glad to introduce you!

Enns' in Grenada

2007-01-29T08:12:00.000-06:00

Mom sleeping in the sun. She didn't believe me that her legs would burn... Well, I guess she learned!

This is what mom and dad Enns looked like most mornings of their vacations! From the looks of it they hadn't slept at all during the last month! Someone back in Manitoba needs to make them take it easy once in a while.

We also did some beaching...checking out Grand Anse beach (shown here), Bathway Beach, and a beach at the south end of the island

Lobster at Fish Friday

All in all we had a very nice time with mom and dad. We played lots of games (Settlers of Catan), ate lots of food, slept, and saw a variety of parts of the island. We will post some pictures soon of the GRENCODA staff party that they got to attend. Dad played some cricket and we ate Grenada's national dish, Oildown.

Yep, they made it.

2007-01-22T08:30:00.000-06:00

Dad popped by the GRENCODA office early on Monday morning. Mom took the opportunity to move into vacation mode and stay in bed.

Dad says, "Come to Grenada and lose your sinus headache." It seems that the warm humid air in Grenada is just the thing to counteract the effects of dry Manitoban winter air. It only took 1.5 hours after arrival for any sinus discomfort to clear up, that's pretty quick.

So now we are embarking on the activities for the rest of the week and of course photos will ensue.

Later for now,
Jason

Picture Time

2007-01-19T12:30:00.000-06:00

Here are some random pictures for your viewing pleasure. I didn't feel like writing a post today, so this is what you get!

My sister Rita sent me a package with a variety of items, and included was this beautiful painting done by my niece Erin. Thanks Erin! (We got this package almost two months after it was sent. We were waiting for our notice to arrive from the post office that it was here, but finally just went to the office to inquire. Lo and Behold, the package was there...and it had been for almost a month and a half!!! It actually only took 9 days to arrive, but for some reason we never got the notice. The day after we picked it up we received a notice from the post office telling us that this was the second notice and any packages left unclaimed after 2 months would be returned to sender.)

Jason in his frog suit
The sign he is making means everything is O.K. A thumbs up isn't recommended to use as an O.K. because it means that it is time to ascend.

Al made a new friend in Kelci. She and Al played frisbee for a long time on our porch on the morning he was due to leave. She also really enjoyed working on a puzzle with us. She often asks me if I can't bring it out again so she can work on it!

This is what happens when you take out braids that have been in for over a week. Go 80's go!

20 points for anyone who can figure out what I'm holding. (Excluding Rita and Al of course, since you already know)

New Year Resolutions?

2007-01-16T13:50:00.000-06:00

Just wondering if all our readers out there gave up commenting on blogs for their New Years Resolutions, or are your fingers just too frozen to type?

Finally...Off the Island for a bit

2007-01-11T13:40:00.000-06:00

As part of our tour guiding activities we took our family members off the island of Grenada and onto the nearby island of Carriacou, though it is still within Grenada's governing boundary. Heading out on the Saturday morning of Dec 30 we boarded the Osprey ferry, a high-speed shuttle to cross the 45 miles from southern Grenada to Carriacou. Carriacou is only 13 sq miles and not that far from Grenada but it has a very different feel to the place. Though we find Grenada to be quite laid back, Carriacou is much more laid back than Grenada. Grenadians describe it as one of the places in the Caribbean to experience the real West Indian lifestyle. Though we were on the island for just over 28 hours we did a lot of walking around and took in a two hour guided taxi tour of the northern half of the island. The scenery was great and the people were quite friendly though it seemed to me that many of them were more reserved and less gregarious than Grenadians. I would recommend the journey to all those that are interested but be warned that the ferry ride can be a little wild as the small ship braves some rather large waves during its voyage. (If you are riding on the open top of the ferry, you may get wet as the waves break over the front of the vessel.)

Al & Kristy enjoying the view and fresh air

Black-bellied sheep are raised all over Carriacou for meat.

Ship-building, though not as popular as it once was, still functions as a small industry. The wood is locally grown white cedar.

Just because you can build a boat doesn't mean you can move it. I don't know what these guys were thinking as they moved the boat down the road, sideways. Though, at the point in time when this picture was taken their progress was halted as they tried to untangle their engine (left side) from the trees and bushes.

We came upon these guys as we were headed back to our guest house. Our taxi driver bought two pounds of fish from them for fish broth. The guys said that they caught all those fish in two hours of spear-fishing.

Kristy's magic 28th

2007-01-10T15:29:00.000-06:00

My magic birthday (turning 28 on the 28^th of Dec) took place on the magical isle of Grenada, complete with family, food and a beautiful beach. What more could a girl ask for? Jason amazed a number of Grenadians by taking onto his shoulders the preparation of Grenada’s National dish Oildown. He even traded in a few favours for one of the coveted breadfruit from the tree behind GRENCODA. If you had seen Ms. Williams when she talked about those breadfruit prior to Christmas (it was rumoured that she counted them daily!), you would understand the lengths Jason went through to make an authentic Oildown for my birthday. He borrowed a pot from a friend of our neighbours, since ours was too small. He got all the spices and supplies and put it all together. I didn’t have to do a thing! (Though I helped with the dumplings) After everything was prepared we went to the Chocolate Factory in Hermitage, and then down to Bathway Beach where we built a fire and cooked our huge pot full of food! The word spread all the way down the beach that there were some crazy foreigners cooking Oildown at the end of the beach. We met up with someone Jason works with from the cocoa association who told us that he, too, had heard about it. Had he realized that it was us there he would have come by, but as it was he just stopped by our neighbours fire to see if there was any cow head left! There wasn’t. He did probably get some under the counter rum, which our friendly neighbours brought over for us to try. Think rum filled with berrys and herbs and marinated for a good length of time. Personally I liked it, but I’m sure it wasn’t everyone’s favourite flavour. It was a slightly cooler, overcast day but I think we all had a good time. Thanks Jason for all you did to make this a special day!

Walking to the north end of bathway. Nice black sand.

Al & I beside the road broken by Hurricane Ivan, still not rebuilt.

Al eating watermelon while waiting for the fire to get going so we can put on the pot.

Delicious Yellow Watermelon we bought from a roadside vender on the way down to Bathway.

Just a quick note

2007-01-05T09:40:00.000-06:00

I did it, I finally did it. After a few months of running in the hills of Grenada, I have managed to convince myself that I can actually run. I have never really considered myself a runner before but rather a cyclist who runs for cross-training in the off-season. But I realise that I like both activities and so this June, on consecutive weekends I will participate in the MCC Bike The Interlake (my fifth year of MCC rides), followed on the next weekend by the Manitoba Marathon (I will do a half-marathon for my first attempt).

The registrations are in and paid for and so I am committed to the task. Though I am feeling strong in the fact that I can run 9 miles with over half a mile of elevation change in Grenada. So the flat 13.1 miles in Winnipeg should be no problem.

Now the challenge goes out to all those out there, get active and enjoy some physical activity. And for those of you who are man enough or woman enough to rise to the challenge I encourage you to sign up for either the MCC Bike the Interlake or the Manitoba Marathon or both. The more the merrier and I would love to see you out.

Jason

Christmas in the Caribbean

2007-01-04T08:50:00.000-06:00

Christmas was a blast. I have had the pleasure of playing in the surf once before on Christmas but that was a long time ago in Brazil. After opening a couple presents from home (Thanks to my parents-in-law for the thoughtful gift of Tim Hortons coffee, it is a great thing to get when the stores in Gouyave tend to have only instant coffee). We headed out to the beach for a bit of playing in the waves. Some of us stayed out a little too long and got sunburnt but we were not too worse for wear.

Steel Pan Procession during Gouyave Fish Friday Festival

Christmas Morning

Al Checking out the Surf on Christmas Day

Steel Pan Band (The Pan Wizards) Christmas Evening
They were excellent!

A barrage of photos - be prepared

2007-01-04T07:28:00.000-06:00

Whew! That was a very busy holiday season with many, many interesting things to report. The first order of business will be to organize the multitude of photos we took (a curse/bless of the digital camera) and type some reports of our excellent times over the holidays.

So, hang tight and we will be producing some wonderful posts over the next few days and weeks to let all of you know happened during our nearly 3 week blogging hiatus.

Jason

Can't Escape the Urge to make a snow(sand)man!

Don't Give a Cutlass to a Crazyman!

Morne Rouge Beach

2006-12-15T08:46:00.000-06:00

Well, this post will serve whet the appetite of Jason's mom, sister and brother, as well as my brother who will be visiting in a short while. The first picture is taken of Grand Anse beach from the Flamboyant hotel where they will be staying. The building at the bottom of the picture is the dining facilities that are located on the beach. We will have to walk up and down the hillside to get to our hotel rooms from the beach, but it isn't far, and the additional height of the buildings means a really nice view.

Also, from the hotel, it is just a short walk to the next bay over, the much quieter and rustic Morne Rouge beach. This beach must have weathered Hurricane Ivan better, because there are a lot more shade trees available to lounge under. The sand isn't as nice as the sand on Grand Anse, and there are a lot more bits of shell and dead coral underfoot when you enter the water, but we enjoyed the quiet setting.

The only thing that sometimes marred the peace and quiet was this boat in the picture below. The Rhum Runner...well I'm sure you can imagine what the people on this boat are up to. That's right, hordes of drunken tourists spewed onto the beach from this boat. The thing that caught Jason and I off guard was the general age of these rowdies. For some reason, we had imagined that it would be the youngish tourists that would participate in this drunken voyage, but to our astonishment the average age seemed to be in their sixties. I had to laugh at this group of tourists in the water, giggling like kids, waving their swimsuits in the air! It seemed pretty harmless, but we were glad when they piled back onto the boat and moved on.

Kristy and the Chocolate Factory

2006-12-11T08:16:00.000-06:00

Last Tuesday, I tagged along with Jason as he went into the field to look at cocoa farmers’ fields. Now, while I was interested in seeing what he did when he was out with the cocoa extension officers, I had an ulterior motive. It was to go to this place:

Yes, it is the Grenada Chocolate Company. I’ve been disappointed that considering that Grenadian cocoa is supposed to be some of the most fine flavoured in the world, there was little chocolate to be found in the grocery stores other than the typical imported chocolate bars. The factory was a small affair. It had a roaster, a cracker and sifter, a masher

an emulsifier to make the chocolate smooth, an area for pouring and packing the bars, and two hydrolic presses to extract the cocoa butter used in the bars. They make both 60% and 71% cocoa, and it is the smoothest dark chocolate I have ever eaten. It is smoother than those Lindt dark chocolate squares we always get at Christmas. The chocolate just melts on your tongue and fingers. Needless to say, it’s wonderful! I think that Jason and I know what we’ll be bringing home for gifts. Any arguments?

At home we also tasted what the cocoa is like in the pod. Jason is holding a cocoa seed. Before it can be used to make cocoa it has to be sweated (fermented in a way), dried and roasted. In its raw form it is a slimy seed that you can suck. Andrew discovered that they aren’t particularly good to chew. In fact, the seed itself turns your tongue purple!

That’s it for our cocoa adventure. Stay tuned for our next post about the Morne Rouge beach and the Rhum Runner from our weekend adventures.

River Walk

2006-12-04T07:21:00.000-06:00

You cannot wait for adventure to come and find you, you have to go out and find it. I think that was Kristy’s motto when she suggested that we go for a walk upstream along our local river. On Sunday afternoon, we struck out on our expedition, walking down to the river where it crosses under the road a few hundred metres from our house. After a little bit of rock-hopping we realised that we were going to get our feet wet eventually, so we waded into the cool, rushing water, still wearing our shoes of course. Though our expedition only lasted a couple of hours, as we picked our way upstream, over rocks and boulders, under vines and overhanging trees, we saw a part of Grenada that we hadn’t seen thus far. Though some properties have access to the river, there is very little development along its banks, creating the feeling of unspoiled exploration along a river through a tropical rainforest. A very awe-inspiring experience indeed! I think that we surprised a few local children when we rounded a bend in the river and came upon them washing and playing in the river. I don’t think that very many people do the sort of thing that Kristy and I did today. Especially a couple crazy foreigners.

We realise that our continuing adventure in Grenada has had some ups and downs, as we reflect on our first two months. (Has it really been that long? Time may travel in a straight line but it definitely doesn’t travel at a constant speed.) Though we love the small town feel of Gouyave, especially seeing familiar faces and knowing many of our neighbours on a first name basis, we do feel a bit trapped at times. Grenadian buses don’t travel very frequently after 6 pm, thereby limiting our evening excursions. Though we had the option to rent a car on a long term basis, we opted for public transit and saved ourselves a fair bit of money but limited our mobility. Sometimes this leaves us feeling a little stir-crazy in the evenings and on weekends. So it was with great eagerness that we accepted an invitation to a co-worker’s house on Saturday for a late evening meal and some good conversation. We also got to sample a few more local delicacies such as curried carrot patties with tuna (very good), some good homemade bread and boiled breadnuts. It was a pleasant meal and it felt good to get out of the house for a while. We have found it somewhat difficult to find people our age with similar interests. For many, partying and clubbing are their only extra-curricular activities. So it was great to meet some people that also like to get out into the outdoors and explore their surrounding environment. We hope to go and explore some of Grenada’s south eastern coast with them in the near future.

We know that the Christmas season is in full swing in North America but it seems a little quieter in Grenada. We hear the Christmas songs, often as dancehall remixes on the stereos in the buses and on the radio, and there is a 50ft fake Christmas tree in front of the cruise ship pier in St. George’s, but Christmas still feels a little distant. But we know that we have only two more weeks of work before the GRENCODA office closes down for the Christmas season, as they close their doors for about three weeks during the holidays each year. So before our first round of visitors arrive, Kristy and I will be finishing up our Open Water Certificates for SCUBA and relaxing on the beach. Life is so hard.

Question of the week: How do you keep yourselves entertained when you find yourself with an abundance of free time? What’s the strangest thing you have done out of boredom?

Field Walk

2006-11-30T07:37:00.000-06:00

Here is a short video clip showing what some of my farm visits are like. This just a very short walk as this farm is close to the road. Some fields are a twenty minute walk through dense rainforest, over rivers and through steep valleys. I usually travel those longer walks with the digital camera wrapped in plastic so that if I fall or it starts to rain suddenly, the electronics are safe.

Click Here

Jason

Video time

2006-11-24T13:13:00.000-06:00

click here to see a video of Kristy jumping off a waterfall at seven sisters! It's a short video, and Jason only started the camera when I had started jumping, but it gives you the proof that I did indeed jump off. (And didn't even lose any parts of my swimwear in the process!)

Jacques Cousteau Eat Your Heart Out

2006-11-24T09:24:00.000-06:00

November 18, 2006

The week has just flown by. Things are really happening at GRENCODA and my plate seems to become more filled with projects and tasks as the weeks seem to slip by faster and faster.

This week saw me heading out into the fields and back country of the parish of St. John’s (the parish that we are located in). These farm visitations are revealing to me a new Grenada, one that highlights the effects of hurricane Ivan as felt by the farmers. Grenada, I am told, looked quite different before hurricane Ivan made its mark on the island. Before Ivan, the most recent hurricane to visit Grenada was Janet in 1955. This translates into an almost sixty year time period where the vegetation on this tropical island was allowed to reach a maturity rarely seen on other Caribbean islands located closer to the hurricane belt. On many parts of the island, palms grew over 100ft tall, an almost unheard of feat in a hurricane region. Stands of cocoa, nutmeg, mango and other trees were large and imposing with canopies that provided cool shade for less heat tolerant plants and animals. This extensive canopy also contributed significantly to weed control by limiting the heat units that reach the ground.

Today, Grenada lacks the protection of that canopy and the weeds have over run the island in many places. Vines have grown and covered many acres of previously farmed land, suffocating the surviving trees while robbing them of precious nutrients and moisture. The major job of many farmers today is to reclaim this land, uncover the surviving trees and start the job of planting new trees. Having visited some nine farms and seeing the extensive growth of these vines firsthand, I can give testament to the enormous task that lies before many of these farmers. The Cocoa Revitalization Initiative, which is organized and dispersed by GRENCODA, supports these farmers by allowing them the opportunity to hire day labourers to help clear the land. After only a few days I have seen some of the progress that this project has supported and I am encouraged by the changes in the appearance of these farms. There are a lot of farms yet to visit and I hope that the progress goes as smoothly for rest of them. (Though I know there will be stalls and set backs along the way.) Don’t worry, those of you that love the visual reporting aspect of the blog will get to see some of the pictures I have taken of these farms when I post them in the future.

Even with all of these farm visits and progress monitoring responsibilities I guess I just can’t help heaping more work onto my plate. I spoke up at the weekly staff meeting on Monday, offering to help one of the staff with some problems she had been having with a PowerPoint presentation. Now I find myself having agreed to facilitate three workshops on various aspects of multimedia training in the upcoming weeks. Just a sucker for punishment I guess.

Kristy has also been saddled with a lot of work but I believe that she prepared her own post, describing and detailing the tasks before her. So I will only say that she has found a bundle of work that will keep her busy well past Christmas.

Enough about work, you’re probably tired of hearing the details of our workweek. You probably want to know what we did on Saturday. Yes, we did go for our first SCUBA diving lesson. For those of you that have already taken a lesson or gotten your certification, then you already know that diving is a bizarre and amazing experience. Within half an hour of Kristy and I signing our liability release forms, we were in a hotel pool, learning the basics of our equipment and taking our first breaths underwater. We were quite lucky as we were the only ones scheduled for Saturday and as such we didn’t have to wait for other people to grasp the techniques and processes before we could progress onto the next step. And what a step the next one is! It all seemed to happen very quickly; one hour after we arrived at the dive shop we were sitting on a boat and heading out for our first reef dive. After getting into the water and descending slowly to a depth of 35 feet, we swam over to a small reef. I know it is terribly cliché but words can’t really describe our experience. The abundance of life living in and around the reef was astonishing. Everywhere you looked, things were moving and vibrant. I was amazed at how close we could get to many of the fish before they darted away. Our instructor showed us many interesting things on the reef from small anemones that quickly retracted their tentacles when she touched them to some sort of water eel that glowed an iridescent blue when she fanned water over it. We are still trying to process our first reef dive experience but those 48 minutes were filled with many, many firsts. We felt like a couple kids wanting to say, “What’s that? What’s that?” all the time. I think that we are hooked and we plan to head back to the dive shop soon to finish up our certification. If anybody is curious about the dive shop that we are using, their website is: www.ecodiveandtrek.com.

I guess that’s about it for now. We are currently wondering where we can get water on a Sunday when all the stores are closed as the town water supply has been off for about 24 hours. I am not too worried about it though, as the situation doesn’t seem to bother the local residents. Now I have to go brush up on Microsoft’s Access software so that I am one step ahead of the students I will be teaching next week.

Later,

Jason

More pictures

2006-11-21T15:26:00.000-06:00

The result of not having water for 24 hours. Us women, we must wash our hair!

My Grenadian look has been completed. Hooray for not having hair in my face, but man oh man did my scalp hurt for the first day!

The winner of the 'name the caption' contest is.....
Doug Peters for his creative verbosity! Honourable mentions go to Andrea & Erin Peters for their straight forward 'tell it like it is' captions!

The question of the day is:
Have you ever had to 'make do' without a shower for a number of days? How did you cope?

school system

2006-11-21T07:47:00.000-06:00

I’m going to start a new post because I have something on my mind that I just can’t shake. It is triggered by my recent visit to Grand Roy Government school, where I am doing an after school class with six grade 5 students. I knew going in that these students were the lowest in the class and was expecting some difficulties with reading and writing but I did not expect what I found. At least two of these children have very little to no ability to read. When they asked how to spell a word and I prompted them to provide at least the initial letter, they had extreme difficulty. In other words, my grade 2 students last year were for the most part above these grade 5 students. The sad thing is that they will not really have time to do anything about it, since this is their last year of primary school. After grade 5 they are expected to take exams to gain entrance into secondary school. Now, theoretically, these children should never be able to pass this exam, but then again, they also should not have been passed every year up until grade 5! Apparently some students are taken into secondary school even without passing the exam or knowing how to read. Their English books are filled with writing that they can’t read but have diligently copied down from the blackboard. So, one has to ask how this has happened. How have these children been so completely missed? Why is there no one working with them individually? When I started to ask more questions, the answers I received have left me in deep thought. Here in Grenada, education has a somewhat bad rap. Yet, so increasingly does farming and fishing. Students who are not ‘bright’ enough to achieve the illustrious professions (lawyer, doctor, etc) do not have the motivation to continue their education, but do not want to enter the ‘lowly’ professions associated with agriculture. So, there are tonnes of young people simply sitting on their step, waiting their lives away. Or they might emigrate to England, Canada or the U.S. to find work. It seems to be an all or nothing kind of situation.

Back to the school, I wondered how these poor kids had been allowed to get to this point. Now, I’m not completely naive, and I know that kids in Canada and the U.S. experience the same things through teacher neglect, poor programming, and simple bad luck. Students have to commit to helping themselves, and must be willing to put in some hard work. I was shocked to learn that teachers in Grenada do not have to have a teaching degree to become teachers. They are essentially graduates of secondary school who have a certain amount of subject areas. They can apply to any school and be accepted as teachers if they passed enough subjects in secondary school. They go through a brief orientation prior to their start, but it is nothing like an education program. Once I heard this, I couldn’t help but wonder how much of these students failure is in fact a failure on the part of the teachers to identify at risk students. There is also no remedial system in place to help students who are dealing with learning disabilities or just generally need more help. There is one guidance councillor who meets with students, however this is not one per school, it is one per dozen or so schools. Hardly leaves time to meet and work with all the needy students. So, here I am. Teaching a group of six kids for two hours a week. To be quite honest, I don’t believe I can make much of a difference with them. My main goal is to help them achieve some self confidence. Unlike the principal who said when she introduced me to them told them that ‘you know you aren’t very bright, so Ms. Kristy is here to help you catch up”, I want them to begin so see themselves as actually having a brain that they can use. At our Monday meeting of GRENCODA staff yesterday, we were discussing this topic and it is on the radar, but it is hard to know what can be done to change it. GRENCODA is a small organization in the relative scheme of things and cannot effect policy change on a national level, which is what needs to happen. For the time being I am racking my brain for good remedial instruction for these students, if anyone has resources that could be helpful, please forward them to me. The children thank you.

Are these guys just in Grenada to have fun or what?

2006-11-13T15:25:00.000-06:00

And the winner is.....................Lori Franz! You are correct. Bakanek is indeed the back of the neck of a chicken! Grenadians seem to think that this is hilarious when they mention it to us foreigners. Your prize is five awfully silly pictures to make you laugh. Ah, Lori laughing. I can hear it from here. :) (it is one of my favourite sounds!)

Look at the size of those avocados!!

Almost as good as bakanek. Next time it goes in the oil down.

Hiking through the jungle does strange things to people! (Plus, can you all see the yellow remnants of steam down crab on Jason's chin?)

Posing in front of Sugarloaf Island off Levera Beach. Rumpus on the left, Malcolm (Short Man) is front and centre, with Drew (housemate) representing west side.

Do you really need an explanation? Let's have a contest for best caption! Place your best entries in our comments section.

I looked at our last few posts and realised that we haven’t been discussing any, or at least very little, of the work that we have had to do for GRENCODA. In truth, as indicated earlier, we have had to adjust to the significant change of pace that our volunteering has brought. But now, with over a month under our collective belts, we have begun to collect some projects and work assignments that will keep us busy for the next month or two. After waiting patiently since we got here, Kristy has work with the after-school program, tutoring students (usually Form Five or senior-level high school) in various subject areas. I believe that I outlined the subject areas in a previous blog entry and so I won’t remind everyone that I have been frantically trying to scrape the rust from my memories of high school math. Luckily, of the few students that have signed up for the after-school program, there has been little call for help with math. The after-school program is also calling Kristy over to a neighbouring community, Grand Roy, to tutor a number of younger students (between 5 and 10 5^th graders, I believe) over there on Monday. Kristy has also been engaging here creative skills while compiling and assembling a photo journal for GRENCODA. This journal highlights some of the post-Ivan building projects that Johnson & Johnson sponsored through GRENCODA and ART (Association for Rural Transformation, another NGO). The general secretary of GRENCODA has been so impressed with Kristy’s work that she is promising more projects of a similar ilk. There is also talk of Kristy applying her creative skills to the GRENCODA website (grencoda.org, I think). It’s good to see her engaged in these creative projects, as I believe they are something at which she excels.

After much patient waiting on our parts, Andrew and I are to finally begin working with the Cocoa Rehabilitation Initiative this coming week. We have been paired with two extension officers from the Cocoa Farmers’ Association and will be making trips into the farming communities three times a week from now until Christmas. After the Christmas break we may resume our work with the Cocoa Initiative but the nature of our work may change due to the onset of the dry season. The first couple of weeks of this work will consist of us getting out into the field and learning about cocoa farming, maintenance and production. Some of our job duties will involve coordinating the transport of planting materials (cocoa and banana seedlings), fertilizers and mesh shade screens to the various farm sites. In addition to these duties we will be heading out to the Maribeau Propagation Station (on the west side of Grenada), a government-run nursery that provides the vast majority of plants for Grenada’s farmers. While they produce seedlings for nutmeg, cocoa and banana, there are an abundance of other plants available from produce and vegetable plants to fruit trees of a wide variety (mangos, breadfruit, citrus, star-fruit, golden apple, etc.). All of this work will keep Andrew and I busy for some time and I am looking forward to actually having some projects that carry a little responsibility with them, it makes me look forward to going to work in the morning.

Yesterday, we took to the day off and headed into St. George’s. A Grenadian contact that I had made while we were living in Canada kindly arranged a meeting for us with two people from the ARD (Agency for Reconstruction and Development, a government organisation) who are well-versed in Grenadian agricultural issues. I guess I should explain how I made the contact that enabled me to secure some time with government officials. Earlier in the summer, my mother, while reading one of the farming publications that she subscribes to had come across an article written by a person living in Grenada. The article described the positive effects, namely the opportunity to start over and diversify, of the devastation wrought by hurricane Ivan on the farming communities in Grenada. I emailed a letter to the editor of the publication, which they then forwarded to the writer of the article. The author (a Canadian, Manitoban actually, ex-pat that has been living in Grenada since 1988) responded quickly and with enthusiasm regarding my interest in the article. After exchanging a few emails we agree on making contact once Kristy and I had settled into our routines in Grenada. When I had made plans to visit the ARD headquarters, I had envisioned a quick tour of the facilities and maybe receiving a few pamphlets describing the agency’s mandate and programming. I didn’t think that I would have the opportunity to steal an hour of their time on the questions that Andrew and I had regarding agricultural policies and aggregate trends in Grenada. I think they were impressed (and a bit surprised) by an undergrad student who managed to finagle a meeting with them. Afterwards my contact (whose privacy I am respecting because she is a government employee and I didn’t ask if I could use her name on a publicly accessible blog) extended an invitation that we should head out to Grenville for a weekend some time to visit her and her husband and try their version of ‘oil down’, that wonderful Grenadian dish.

This is my first time dealing with what some travellers call the ‘community of ex-pats’ in foreign countries. I am struck by the impression that Canadians working abroad believe themselves to be bound in inextricable ways to other ex-pats, despite having little in common but their country of origin. I didn’t come to Grenada to find Canadians but at the same time, I promised myself before arriving here, that I would meet as many people as possible. I do feel, however, that there are more commonalities with our contact than just country of origin. She grew up on a farm in McGregor, Manitoba before moving to a small farming community 25 minutes north of Saskatoon. I still don’t know how she made the move to Grenada, (though I will certainly ask) but the farming connection is familiar and comforting. I look forward to visiting with them in the future.

After our meeting with ARD, we fulfilled one of the (selfish) reasons I had for coming to a tropical island for my practicum, we went to the beach. Before coming to Grenada, I had hoped that would be the way things would work out; work hard in the morning and head to the beach in afternoon. Needless to say I felt no shame in soaking up some rays, reading a good Russian novel, and playing in the gentle surf. The beach was very un-crowded and since there were no cruise ships in port, the beach vendors weren’t out in force either. I don’t begrudge these vendors their right to make a living but it can be tiring to politely, but firmly tell them, “No, thanks”, only to have their compadres approach us two minutes later. We used to give explanations, “No, thanks, we are living in Gouyave and won’t need souvenirs” but it didn’t seem to lessen their drive, so we changed tactics and became more assertive in our approach. Grenadians, by and large, seem to really appreciate a straight forward answer, without any fancy verbal dancing, and respect honesty. I believe that is something that is true in most of the world. It seems that as a consequence, the exchanges move quickly from the retail context to conversational.

As much fun as Grand Anse beach is by itself, I had a further goal in mind. There are four dive shops located along the beach and we had parked ourselves under a small shade tree in front of one of these shops. I went in and chatted up the people working behind the counter. Before coming to Grenada, Kristy and I had talked about the possibility of obtaining our open-water certificates for SCUBA diving but the costs are quite high. Most shops, with good reputations and qualified personnel, charge over $400 US for the three to four day course. It turns out that it pays in many ways to inhabit a tropical for longer than a few days. For local people (which we are considered by the dive shops) the cost of the certification drops significantly. Needless to say Kristy and I are quite excited about the possibility of obtaining our certification (at a discount) and exploring some of the reefs around Grenada. Our only trepidation is that neither of us has done something like this before and there is always the possibility of claustrophobia when wearing all that equipment. We are planning to take an exploratory class in a couple weeks and see how things progress from there. I know that SCUBA diving is not afforded by many Grenadians. I wanted to live as closely to the locals as possible when spending time here, but the opportunity to go diving in the Caribbean Sea is a luxury that we find ourselves willing to indulge. Besides, Kristy intentionally saved her tip money from the Heritage Village Restaurant with this express purpose in mind, so it doesn’t detract from our overall budget.

I guess I can say that we find ourselves, this weekend, looking forward to the coming weeks. We have work to do, we have recreational plans and some possible social activities and we are beginning to feel quite at home here. Now, if only our landlords could get the washing machine hooked up, we would smell better, too. ;)

Much Respect and Love,

Jason (and Kristy)

Pictures for Previous Post

2006-11-09T07:35:00.000-06:00

Picture #2 - Trailhead

Picture #3 - Falls

Picture #4 - Cliffon 'Super Butterfly' Jumping

Picture #1 - Hurricane Ivan Damage at Grand Etang Lake

Picture #5 - Bathway Beach

Waterfalls

2006-11-08T13:32:00.000-06:00

It is my pleasure to share about what was, for me, the most memorable day I have had in Grenada thus far. It began with a feeling of disappointment as a GRENCODA staff member, Malcolm, called us at 8:15 to tell us that he had car trouble. We had arranged for him to pick us up at 8:00 A.M. to bring us to Grand Etang rainforest to do a little hiking. He assured us that it was still on, but he had to wait for the mechanic to pick him up at 9:30 and we should expect him around 10:00. He arrived at 10 and we hopped in, dressed in our hiking boots, pants and carrying swimwear and water in a backpack. We went first to the Grand Etang visitors centre to find out how exactly to get to the hike we wanted to take. The people there were very helpful and we found the place without difficulty. On the way down we stopped at Grand Etang Lake, which is a crater lake from one of the volcanoes that formed the island. There were still a lot of visibly damaged trees from hurricane Ivan 2 years ago.

See Picture One (for some reason blogger isn't letting me put pictures embedded into the text. I don't know why)

At the falls parking lot we were required to each pay $5 EC (or $2 U.S.) to access the trail to the falls, since it went over private property. We were reluctant to pay the fee, but forked it over. We were also approached by a young man who was certified as a guide. He really wanted to guide us to the falls, but since we were only interested in a short excursion at our own pace we declined. I informed him that we would have visitors in the future at which time we would employ his services. We started our hike down a cement road and past a few houses. We went over a bridge and then turned onto a small dirt trail past one of the houses. If we hadn’t known this was the trail we could have walked right past it without knowing. The trail led over the hill and then down into a great valley.

Picture 2

We had been told to grab hiking sticks which we all thought we wouldn’t need, but were very glad later on that we did! It had been raining a good bit the previous two days and the clay/dirt trail was VERY slippery. Although the trail has actually been maintained quite well, there is still a steep drop to one side of the trail. As we neared the waterfalls the guide, Cliffon a.k.a. Super Butterfly, caught up with us. As we were admiring the two waterfalls he told us that you could jump off the top one.

Picture 3

Since the waterfall is a good 25-30 feet high I suppose we looked a little sceptical so he promptly scaled the walls around the falls and jumped in off the top, being sure of course that we had our camera ready first!

Picture 4

He then asked if we wanted to jump off. Unsure about scaling the wall we expressed our doubt but he told us that there was a trail to the top. Not sure what we were getting into we all stripped down to our swimwear and proceeded to follow him up this narrow mud path in nothing more than our basic swim wear for protection, which in my case wasn’t much! (I was sure to tie my bikini top extra tight though!) So without all the clothing that we had worn to protect us from biting insects and poisonous plants we trekked in bare feet through some of the densest part of the rainforest! Seems a little crazy. I still have red welts from the razor grass and some sort of really itchy spots on my legs that I assume are bug bites, but have no way to be sure other than letting time do its thing! After what felt like a loooong time we arrived at the river. I promptly jumped in to wash all the mud and plant matter from my legs and drown off any insects that had their noses stuck into me! The spot on the river where we ended up didn’t seem to be the top of the big waterfall, which was were I had believed we were going. Instead we were about 5 or so waterfalls higher up than that, with only one way to get down. That’s right…jump. Cliffon was a superb guide, making sure we knew exactly where and how to jump, then demonstrating so that we knew it was safe. There were a few sketchy spots where I wasn’t sure about my ability to jump safely, but with some good advice we all made it through safely. The two places that stick out in my mind are where we had to make sure to jump and land sort of on our backsides so we didn’t go too deep (the water was about chest height and we were jumping from 7 or so feet). The other spot that had me quite nervous was a location where the water funnelled in between two huge rocks with only about 2 feet of space for the water to flow. Although the water was not higher than our knees, it was flowing very, very quickly. Again Cliffon was a great guide, showing me step by step how to get through and lending a hand and shoulder when I needed it. We made it though but I have to admit that I was somewhat worried. At least at the bottom of the chute there wasn’t an immediate waterfall so even if I fell I wouldn’t have gotten swept down anything too large. If the rocks underfoot weren’t such sharp volcanic rocks we could have slid down like a slide, but as it was that was definitely not a safe idea. Eventually we made our way to the large waterfall at the end and although I don’t have a picture of Jason jumping off (he jumped before me and went to get the camera) we do have a short video of me jumping.
Once we were all safely down we spent some time swimming around the bottom two waterfalls, jumping off to the side of the smaller one. The bottom there wasn’t super deep. Just last week a tourist dove off the rock and cracked his head open on a rock and broke his arm. For visitors who would consider this excursion, don’t be worried that this was the fault of the guide, as he warned us that the bottom was shallow and if we wanted to dive it had to be a surface dive. In the end we paid the guide for his time, as I’m sure he was hoping. It was well worth it and an experience that I will never forget.
The rest of our day was also busy as we went with Malcolm to do a little more sight seeing on the island, seeing some of the beaches on the north eastern part of the island. They have a rugged beauty not seen in Grand Anse and we enjoyed feeling like we were off of the major tourist track. It is nice in a way that the beach is not easily accessible unless you have private transportation, but it does make it problematic for us to visit using public transportation whenever we like. We had a late lunch with Malcolm and his friends, something he called ‘steam down’ since it didn’t have breadfruit and callaloo it couldn’t be called ‘oil down’, Grenada’s national dish. Their pot also contained bakanek (which they all think is terribly funny…can anyone guess what this might be??? We will look for your guesses in the comments and will let you know in our next post!), swordfish, and crab. It is flavoured with coconut milk, saffron, and other spices that I can’t at this moment recall. Needless to say, we had a great day and arrived home at 6:30 absolutely exhausted. I’ll leave you with one last photo of the beach where we had the cook up, Bathway Beach.

Picture 5 & 6

As requested...Pictures!!

2006-11-04T11:38:00.000-06:00

Gouyave Coast at Night

Our housemate Andrew teaching Kelci X's & O's

Abandoned Russian Planes at the old Pearls Airport

Kristy, Kelci and Tan (Kelci's Great-grandmother)

All Saints Day

2006-11-04T10:53:00.000-06:00

For a week that started out looking like it was going to be very boring, things have changed significantly. Monday and Tuesday were very slow at GRENCODA headquarters and it looked like the week would be similar to the previous ones. From the two previous sentences you would expect there to be a ‘but’ coming and, of course, you would be right. Things picked up for Andrew and me, as we were charged with an interesting project. We have been given the task of drawing up a business plan for three young men that are planning to enter the fishing business. It will be a small venture but very important, as these three men have had trouble with the law in the past. This fishing business represents a chance to make changes and avoid falling back in with the wrong crowd. Andrew and I know very little about the fishing industry but with a few business plan outlines from the trusty Info SuperHighway and questions put to our local fishing expert (Malcolm, GRENCODA’s accountant) we have devised a good plan that will hopefully address the various problems and potential issues that may arise from this business venture. Now we are just waiting for these guys to show up at the office.

We finished up our business plan before lunch on Wednesday and didn’t have much on the plate for the afternoon. We had heard that Ms. Williams, GRENCODA’s secretary general, was heading out for a meeting with some consultants contracted by USAID for a post-project evaluation, namely the reconstruction following hurricane Ivan. Andrew and I got ourselves invited to the evaluation meeting as neither of us had previously had the opportunity to attend a meeting such as this. I must admit that I was leery of what USAID would have to say in such a meeting. I was expecting a lot of self-directed, congratulatory style questions, and that was what I witnessed. However, I also learned that more often it is the personalities involved in these projects that enable them to be comprehensive and accountable. I am trying to keep this blog as apolitical as possible so I won’t go into the outcomes of various projects but let’s just say that their success hinged on who had supervisory control. Maybe I’ve said too much already, in any case I am glad that I attended the meeting.

On the way back to our house, Ms. Williams asked what if we had plans for the evening, to which I replied in the negative. November 1st is All Saints Day in many countries around the world, wherever the Roman Catholic Church has a good foothold. Ms. Williams invited us to join her and her brother and his wife at the gravesite of their father and two brothers at the public cemetery in Grenville. We agreed and were on our way across the island in no time. Since we had no time to pack any provisions, we stopped at a little bakery along the way. I will have to digress on Grenadian food shops and local stores for a bit here. Most local shops are quite non-descript, having no signs, hours of operation, often even lacking windows. When you walk by and you see a small counter with cakes and such behind some glass or plastic, then congratulations, you have found a store. Like anywhere else in the world, busy stores are usually an indication of good stores, but it can be very hard to distinguish a busy store in Grenada. One store may be filled with people but they are not customers, just friends of the owner and thus maybe not a good store. Another store may not have anyone in it and very little on the shelves; that can be a very good store because the owner does brisk business and sells out of the popular items. Of course, the best thing to possess when looking for a good local food shop is that most intangible of items; local knowledge. So, back to the story, on our trip across the island, Ms. Williams pulled up beside one of these anonymous-looking food stops. As soon as we stopped I understood why this was a good shop; the air was filled with fragrant smells of spices and baking. We sauntered up to the counter and looked at all the freshly baked goodie behind the glass, from soft and light butter bread to ‘meatloaf’ (which I would have called a type of pizza bun) to coconut drops (cookies). Normally I am not that much of a fan of coconut in baked goods but these drops were filled with some of the freshest spices I have ever had to pleasure to know. Grenadians always tell me that although Indonesia produces more nutmeg, Grenada’s main export is of a much higher quality. I can’t tell one nutmeg from another but these coconut drops were excellent. We hopped back into the car and continued on our winding way to Grenville. As we travelled and Ms. William answered our various questions about Grenada, she also divulged the history of the gravesite that we were going to visit. Her father and two brothers passed away within the span of a year and a half. We were therefore following the All Saints tradition of going to the cemetery and placing lit candles on the graves. This tradition is also a gathering of family to the places where loved ones have been buried, an opportunity to visit and hang out. It is not the solemn event that one might imagine; children are running around, teenagers are hanging out and trying to look cool and adults are catching up with old friends. This evening was quite nice with the wind rising only intermittently to blow out a few of the candles. As we were honoured to share in this moment of remembrance and celebration we got to observe the beautiful spectacle of seeing a large cemetery lit against the surrounding darkness by the glow of thousands of candles. I am quite sorry that I forgot the camera at home, but the images and memories are definitely etched into my brain.

After such a moving and beautiful Wednesday evening, Thursday looked like it might be a bit boring. However, we, all three of the Canadian volunteers, have been handed some longer term work. We have all been recruited into GRENCODA’s after-school program to help tutor students in various subjects of their choosing. Although we will all may be call to tutor in any subject, we have also been split into three major subject areas. Kristy was handed the English and language arts core area, Andrew chose the sciences and I got Math. As we all know, Kristy will do very well with the English area. I, however, am a bit intimidated by the grade 11 math with its emphasis on algebra, trigonometry and quadratic equations. It has been 11 years since I last seriously worked with any of this stuff. For the next week or so, I will be cramming as much math into head as possible. I didn’t think that I would end up doing math homework in Grenada, but life can deal you an interesting hand sometimes.

I think that I will wrap up this post for now. Kristy and I are going to the local and very undeveloped beach after I upload this post. I have been running on a regular basis this week and it has been tough going but the hills are getting easier and the distances longer. I may not be able to find a bike to ride in Grenada but my legs will definitely be ready for the spring rides when we get back to Canada. Today I will save my legs for tomorrow as we have plans to head over to the Grand Etang National Park and Rainforest. We are being picked up by GRENCODA’s accountant, Malcolm, in the morning and plan to do one of the medium length hikes in Grand Etang. It is a hike to Grenada’s Seven Sisters Falls. Not to worry I will not forget to bring the camera, there will definitely be some excellent pictures to post next time.

Jason

Package from Canada

2006-11-02T09:36:00.000-06:00

I guess it is my turn to write a post. Usually Jason does it, mainly because it seems as though he gets to it sooner than I do. I find it somewhat difficult to write about what we experience here, and I’m not really sure why. I do remember feeling the same when I spent time in South America. I’ll do my best none the less.

I’ve been asked what I’m doing while Jason is working with GRENCODA. I am actually volunteering with GRENCODA as well, theoretically I am supposed to be helping with their after school programme, but since the after school programme is still not started (it was supposed to start last month) I have been sitting around the office learning how to just ‘be’.

Otherwise I am enjoying immensely the beauty surrounding me in the forest and green that grows wildly everywhere. The people at the office have been (for the majority) friendly and extremely willing to take time to talk with us and encourage us to come to them with questions and so on. This coming Sunday we have made plans to go with Malcolm, an accountant here at GRENCODA, to Grand Etang National Park and hike up to the Seven Sisters Falls. I am looking forward to the excursion, especially since he has his own car and we will not have to take the busses that make me motion sick!

We received a package today (Nov. 1) in the mail from Jason’s mom. It was pretty darn exciting to go to the post office to pick it up. I first had to go home from the office to get identification and then to the post office. When I got back, Cindica, the secretary, remarked that I returned very soon. I told her that I had to go home first to get my passport and her eyes got wider as she expressed her amazement at the apparent speed with which I walked home, to the post office and back to GRENCODA in the hot hot sun. This is something that we have certainly noticed in Grenada. For the most part people take their sweet time getting from place to place, and there is very little incentive to hurry or walk quickly. Some afternoons on the way home from the office when I am feeling sluggish and dehydrated I join in the slow pace and I think I just about drive Jason crazy. He wants to walk beside me but keeps pulling away as he tries to shorten his stride to match my snails pace! It is funny how easily I fit into the slow pace here when in Canada it would have driven me nuts. I realized today, however, that my quick pace is still inside, but it needed a little bit of an incentive to kick into gear.

A Poll

2006-10-30T10:40:00.000-06:00

Poll for our visitors

Kristy and I have been wondering what our regular visitors to our blog feel about the types of blog entries we have been leaving. So we are taking a very informal poll of the general feeling out there in cyberspace. Would you, as cyber voyeurs, like to read more detailed accounts of our goings-on, less detailed and more and more concise postings or just put up more pictures?

Just email us or comment on the blog, we can take criticism very well and would like to produce a blog that everyone enjoys. So let us have it.

Jason

Immigration

2006-10-30T10:38:00.000-06:00

Immigration Office

So, here’s the story. Before we left Canada, we were under the impression that we could enter Grenada without a visa and only a return ticket that showed that we were leaving within 3 months. I double-checked with the Grenadian High Commission in Ottawa to make sure that I had the facts straight. Of course, we all know that the bureaucratic machine could not possibly work that well. Upon our entry into Grenada we received entry status for 30 days, not quite the 3 months that we had anticipated. Today we rectified the situation with a visit down to the Immigration and Passport Office in St. George’s. After a lot of standing around we got to meet with the officer in charge of visa extensions. We explained our situation and showed him a letter from GRENCODA that stated formally that we are volunteers and that they have need of us for six months. I don’t think that he had any facial muscles because his expression was incredibly flat all the time. Like someone that had accidentally rubbed novocaine onto his face. Anyways, after some more standing around and waiting while the bureaucratic machinery slowly engaged we were told that our visas had been extended until the end of April. I know that many people have much more interesting stories to tell about their experiences with immigration offices around the world but this was my first experience with them and so I decided to share it with all of you.

Also, while we were in St. George’s we checked out the library. With the fact that we are still underutilized at GRENCODA and we can’t play Settlers of Catan all evening, every evening, our household reads a lot of books. There are no bookstores worth mentioning in Gouyave. We looked at one of the supposedly better book stores in St. George’s and it had very little selection and the books were overpriced. There is a library in Gouyave but apparently they can’t lend out books since they don’t have the appropriate software on their computers. I don’t know when they will fix the situation but I won’t hold my breath. The library in St. George’s is quite willing to lend books to foreigners, on the condition that they pay $10EC and get two Grenadian references. We got the appropriate forms today and look forward to getting access to St. George’s Public Library. We looked around it today while we waited for a librarian to show up and give us the forms, it is good-sized and I think that we will find enough to keep us entertained until we leave.

That’s it for now.

Much respect,

Jason

Thanksgiving in Grenada

2006-10-26T18:46:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving in Grenada

October 25^th, officially recognised as Thanksgiving on the island nation of Grenada. It is a holiday that does not receive popular support from the masses. Almost everyone I have talked to feels that this holiday is wholly artifice and placed upon by a government that is adopting an American tradition. Grenadians, although thankful for a day off of work, feel that the day has no significance for them. Some that I have talked to would prefer to have a Remembrance Day or Memorial Day for the victims of hurricanes instead of the imported Thanksgiving. You have to remember that while there is definitely a cycle of agricultural events for Grenadian farmers, it does not coincide with the autumn experienced by farmers in the northern latitudes. As a result some businesses are still open, some people purposefully find work to do as a personal sign of protest and some make a lot of food and watch movies all afternoon.

We fit into the last category, or at least, we ate a lot of food that someone else made. Our landlords that live in the apartment below us invited us down for our first taste of Grenada’s national dish, Oil Down. While I do not know the history of oil down, I do now know the basic foundation for the dish. Take a large pot, usually the biggest you can find and get some water boiling. Then make some dumplings and while they are cooking, do all the prep work for the vegetables and meat. The vegetables include but are not limited to, breadfruit, callaloo, Irish potatoes, plantains and carrots. Meat can include almost anything from pork snout and ox tail to goat and turkey to fish and chicken. If it fits into the pot, it might end up in someone’s version of oil down. Of course all of these wonderful items must be simmered in a mixture of coconut milk (fresh or processed), saffron and spice for a long time. The end result is very delicious but very filling. Clarice, our landlord, handed me a plate that was overflowing and piled high, I sense that she thinks I need to eat more. I can usually pack it away when it comes to good meals during the holidays but I struggled with that dish for nearly an hour and a half. It is a very filling dish, but so delicious I just couldn’t leave food on my plate. I am told that every person’s version of oil down is different and so I look forward to my next taste so that I will be able to increase my data set for accurate comparison and analysis. (Actually, I just want to eat some more oil down.)

So, I would say that we are slowly starting to acclimatise to Grenada. I can handle change, I even look forward to new and unexpected things, but sometimes I long for those things that I took for granted. For example, I am acclimatizing to the climate more quickly than I thought I would and some nights I even think about wearing my hoodie. Yesterday, early in the morning, half an hour after sunrise, I went for my first run in Grenada. Yes, I was drenched in sweat by the time I made it back to the house, yes, the hills are going to be more difficult than I originally thought but I felt good. I also like saying that I got up in the morning and went for a run along the coast of the Caribbean Sea. I don’t imagine too many people get to say that back in Manitoba. Some things, I suspect, won’t become familiar for a long time. Things like having to make my milk ready before I can use it for my cereal in the morning. I don’t like the taste of the long-life milk on the shelves and so we have been using condensed milk. There is something very different about spooning out a few tablespoons of thick, white syrup and diluting it with water in order to make it acceptable for cereal. I also miss real coffee but instant will have to do for the next six months. I suppose I could list others things that I miss but I, we actually, decided long before we came to Grenada that we were going to embrace local food and culture. It would be easy to go to the supermarkets in St. George’s and buy expensive imported food but then what would have been the purpose in coming to Grenada?

Tomorrow, we head into St. George’s to visit the Immigration office to get our visas extended. We have been assured that all will go well and smoothly. We will take the opportunity to do a little shopping around for items that we can’t find in Gouyave (like good flip-flops for me, mine fell apart the second day here) and do a little exploring. We are going through the books we brought from home much more quickly than I expected and soon we will be looking for more reading material. Gouyave has a new library that was dedicated in June but as of yet, it is not lending out books because they have not received the library software. After talking to the people working there, I am not holding my breath that it will be open before we leave in April. Rumour has it that we might be able to get a library card for the library in St. George’s.

Not much happened at work this week but we did get to go to the northernmost town on the island, Sauteurs. It is a nice town with relatively friendly people. We pounded the pavement for a few hours in the hot midday sun, handing out flyers for a Climate Change forum next Monday. When we first got to the town, we walked out onto the fishing jetty and took in the view. Looking north, we could see the nearby islands of Sugarloaf, Sandy and Green. In the distance, we could also see Carriacou, one of the three islands that make up the nation of Grenada. There is a ferry that runs to Carriacou every day and we plan to explore the island someday soon. I would post some pictures but I forgot to bring along the camera. At this point, I can still say, there is next time.

One last note before I sign off. On Monday we found the best restaurant in Gouyave. Finally a place that serves good roti for a reasonable price ($7EC or $2.90 Cdn) and that is not the limit of their menu. They have wonderful jerk chicken, curried fish stew, macaroni pie and cheese bread. We eat out very infrequently in order to save money but it good to know that there is a place to go with really good food.

That’s it for now, I know, nothing really exciting except getting to see some more of the island and meet more people. I guess the honeymoon stage is wearing off and we are starting to get down to living in Grenada for five more months.

Jason

Pictures

2006-10-21T13:36:00.000-05:00

Jason sitting on our porch

Our House in Gouyave

Typical Street in Gouyave

Road (Highway) near Gouyave

Food, glorious food

2006-10-21T13:28:00.000-05:00

I imagine that this will be the first of a two part post, since it is only Tuesday as I am writing this and we usually make it to the internet café on the weekends. For once I beat Jason to it and will be the lucky author of a post.

At times it is difficult not to compare my experience here to the experience I had in Paraguay 6 years ago. It is easy to believe that experiences in one foreign, hot country will be reflected in another. In this vein there are aspects of life here that remind me of life in South America, such as the weather, language difficulties, and flora & fauna being different than that of Canada. The similarities end there. In the last (especially 2) days, we have been finding how Grenadians get a wide variety of foods outside of the market days. (In Paraguay we were cooked for, or bought other items at the grocery store or on the street corner). Today we have purchased 20 mangos, a 2 lb red snapper (which the man had freshly caught and graciously offered to fillet it for us too…good thing since we don’t have an adequate knife for the task), 5 green coconuts (apparently a rich source of iron), a popo (papaya) and some spice leaves (extremely fragrant leaves from the cinnamon tree). All this was purchased for a total of $23 EC, or about $9-10 Canadian and all from our front porch! The man we bought the mangos, coconuts, spice, and popo from was going crayfish hunting after he stopped by and promised that he would bring one by so we could see it (apparently they are as long as a person’s forearm!) He also agreed to take us ‘fishing’ for them sometime, and perhaps even hunting for ??? I forget the name! He said that he has 9 trained hunting dogs. Sounds like an experience.

It feels really good to feel like we are getting access to produce acquired through social networks. You are in good shape if you know the people who can get you what you want! It makes me feel like we are becoming more of a part of the community, though we are still being overcharged on some things. We are aware of the overcharge, but trust that the prices will come down as we establish relationships and are better able to find ways to mention the ‘white tax’ in a way that is friendly and not confrontational.

That’s it for now.

Kristy

Part II

This week just seemed to fly by. We had a holiday on Thursday (Oct. 19^th to remember the execution of Maurice Bishop) and so the week was broken up and now the weekend is here. Not much planned for this weekend, just breezin’ it with a little cleaning up around the house and the usual trip down to the internet café.

Friday was very slow at work and so I had time to get to know some of our co-workers a bit better. GRENCODA’s accountant is quite a fountain of local knowledge from a bit of herbal lore passed down from his grandparents to his opinions on government affairs to his fishing boat that he owns with his cousin. (Yes, I am working on trying to get him to take me out for some deep sea fishing.) I am really enjoying getting to know many different Grenadians and how their individual stories work into the thread of the Grenadian experience. I previously thought that with a smaller nation like Grenada, I might be able to discover a larger cross-section of lives and lifestyles but that is narrow-minded and erroneous. Grenada is as rich and diverse as any other nation and it will take some time to discover people’s stories. Something that really helps to draw out people’s stories are two major events of which most people have experienced at least one; the revolution in 1979 and US invasion four years later and hurricane Ivan. Most people are quite willing to share their personal stories regarding these events. I did some research on these specific events before arriving in Grenada but to hear the personal stories is powerful and everyone’s tale is different. So I try to remember the broad details of their stories and compile them into a journal when I get home every evening. That’s what has been keeping me busy this week, I am sure I will have something different to report next week.

Later,

Jason

A Day at the Beach

2006-10-15T14:35:00.000-05:00

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

Hot, Hot, Heat

2006-10-13T15:15:00.000-05:00

Our adventure on Spice Island continues. This week I have participated in gathering support for forum on Climate Change by driving around a parish north of Gouyave with a public address system tied to the roof of GRENCODA’s open-back (truck), attended a meeting between GRENCODA and IAICA’s (Inter-American Institute for Cooperation and Agriculture) Grenadian representative, helped to transport 11 weanlings to five farmers for a hog-rearing program and did a little data entry for GRENCODA’s Student Assistance Program. Even with all that I, and I think that Kristy would agree with me, we are finding ourselves with not much involvement with GRENCODA’s development work. I know that this was our first week and we will become more involved with and gain responsibilities from GRENCODA as our time here continue but we felt a little useless this week. Especially knowing that our schoolmates back home are writing papers, preparing for exams and getting stuff done. But as we step back and look at the big picture, we are aware that things will change.

One item of ongoing concern is the language barrier. Yes, English is the official language spoken in Grenada but it is a VERY different dialect. After a week, our ears are beginning to cut through the accents but the colloquialisms, grammar and guttural utterances used to communicate continue to baffle us. I find that talking to Grenadians one on one is not too difficult but trying to understand their conversations is nearly impossible. Most Grenadians are quite kind and willing to repeat until we understand.

Another item to note is the ongoing battle between myself and the sandflies. These little demons go after any exposed skin, night or day. They don’t seem to bother our housemate, Andrew, very much. Kristy is being attacked by them to an annoying degree but my legs have looked like I had a case of the measles this last week. We have been fortifying our position with bug spray and I recently purchased an ounce of pure citronella oil on the recommendation of the locals. The biggest issue is the lack of screens in the bedroom where Kristy and I sleep. There are some screens throughout the rest of the house but none of them fit into the bedroom windows. In order to cool the room off enough to get some sleep we have been opening the windows during the evening and closing them before bedtime, then turning on the light and killing all the sandflies we can find. This strategy seems to work pretty well but still but I still end up with ugly red welts. The Grenadians joke that eventually the sandflies will get tired of my taste and move on. We talked with our landlord last night and promised to put in some screens soon. (Yes, mom I know I should have brought a mosquito net.)

Since today was a very slow day at GRENCODA headquarters Kristy, Andrew and I went for a walk done to the nearest stretch of sand and finally took our first steps into the Caribbean Sea. It was barely cooler than the surrounding air. Imagine a gigantic aquamarine bathtub stretching as far as the eye can see; that is our swimming pool.

After I get this update to the blog posted we are heading back for a good swim. Then we head back to the house for a few hours and wait for Fish Friday to begin. Last Friday we went too early (6:00pm) and there were very few people around. Tonight we will head out at 9:00 and hopefully there will be more action.

Well, that’s it for now. Later,

Jason

Two Days In...

2006-10-07T13:55:00.000-05:00

Well, for those of you who haven’t heard, we made it to Grenada safely. After a short 45 minute drive from the airport by Cleetus, the amazing taxi driver, we were dropped off at our new home. I tried to enter Grenada without any preconceived notions about where we would be living or what we would be doing, I just wanted to do the best with what we were given. And I have found Gouyave (pronounced Guave, like the fruit, for those family members that kept hearing us saying gou-yah-ve) to be a very laid back kinda town. Our house is very nice, of concrete construction like many around, with all the major amenities. (Though our clothes washer is not hooked up yet.)

The people we have meet in Gouyave are, for the majority, very friendly and helpful. The official language is English but most of the people around here converse in a very rapid-fire form of Patoi and English. The accents are thick and we are finding it harder to understand than we thought. Though we ask people to repeat what they are saying often, most keep on smiling and try to speak more slowly for these slow foreigners.

Our landlords are very nice and accommodating. And we have already met one of the neighbours, John. He seems to spend much of the day sitting on his front porch railing, talking to friends as they walk by. Today he brought by a fruit we had not seen before, a sour-sup (sp?). He said you can squeeze it into juice but we don’t have a juicer so we juiced it by hand, much to the amusement of our housemate, Andrew. The flavour is very hard to describe, it’s thick and milky with an almost papaya aftertaste. The juice tasted better with a sour orange bought at the farmer’s market squeezed into it. We were also gifted with some sugarcane from a man named Chester that we had met yesterday on the street as we were exploring the town. Everyone knows our landlord, Torro (Dillon but everyone seems to have a nickname) and so Chester (aka Cat-man, I told you, many nicknames) knew where to find us. Chester invited us to a cricket match on Sunday in Grenville on the other side of the island but we are going to ask around to see if Chester is on the level, so to speak, before we hop into a bus with him.

Our cooking is an ongoing experiment with many ingredients hard-to-find or strange to us. For example, today we had plantains for lunch (also bought from the farmers’ market) that we fried up in some margarine and sprinkled a little cinnamon and sugar over them. Oh yeah, that reminds me of the FIRST margarine that we bought. Yesterday at the supermarket (small but pretty well stocked with dry goods) we bought some margarine that is made with hydrogenated fish oil. Yep, fish oil. Its this weird-looking orange margarine that smells like fish. So we don’t spread it on bread but it works well for sautéing onions and garlic.

As I write this post it is raining for the ?th time today. We don’t know how many but it is probably more than six. None of the rains are long but they come quick and hard and disappear just as quickly. It is hot, as expected, but it cools off nicely in the evenings and we have fans for comfortable sleeping at night. So the heat doesn’t keep us up but the neighbourhood dogs like to provide a bit of a sideshow at night.

It is impossible to describe all the things we are seeing and feeling without you being here to experience for yourself. So we will end this post for now and leave you yearning for more.

Jason, with lots of help from Kristy

And we're off!

2006-10-02T11:46:00.000-05:00

I was going to post a picture of all our bags sitting by the front door, but somewhere in the depths of our bags lies the cable to plug the camera into the computer! So, imagine if you will two bulging suitcases, 2 large backpacks and 2 small backpacks as carry-on. That is about what you would have seen. Nothing too exciting in and of itself, but when viewed with the potential of what is to come, they all of a sudden seem to be fairly jumping with excitement! Or maybe that is just me. Anyway we will be off to the airport in a few hours. We will be spending the night in Toronto and then will be off to Grenada bright and early tomorrow morning. We will try to post something as soon as we can when we get there to let you all know we arrived safe and sound, but we cannot guarantee how quickly that will be! So, chau for now and the next post will be from the island of spice!

Kristy

10 Days and Counting

2006-09-20T22:43:00.000-05:00

Well folks, 10 days and we leave for Grenada. I know it is coincidence but today is also the day that GRENCODA got their email service back up and running. It was good to hear that our living arrangements are secure and someone WILL actually be waiting for us at the airport.

Also included in the email was a brief list of possible duties that Kristy and I will undertake. My first duty will be involvement with a cocoa rehabilitation with the Grenada Cocoa Association and some other farmers groups. This project is somewhat contingent on approval for funding from the FAO but it looks exciting. Since the project has not yet been approved I know I will be able to see a development project from its starting point, which I think should prove extremely educational.

Kristy is most likely working with after school and parenting programmes that are a part of the Student Assistance Program. The details are somewhat blurred but she will be paired with a staff person and I think they will not run out of things for her to do.

We have also been given our house address and phone numbers but our faithful readers will have to contact us directly to get those goodies. You know what they say about private info on the internet.

So for now it is back to packing up the house and deciding what clothes I will need for six months on a tropical island. No fleece, no parka, no toque...what is a Canadian to do?

Jason

sisters? really?

2006-09-10T20:04:00.000-05:00

Jason and I went camping this past weekend with my sister from Kansas and her two daughters. Jay took this picture of us at the water's edge. Can anyone tell that we're sisters???

Anyways, as Jason and I are getting ready to travel we've been putting together mental lists of the things we want to bring along to Grenada and what we want to pack up to store here. It led me to think about what things we value. I know that there are many of you out there in blogland who have been following our blog so I thought I'd throw out this question. What is the one thing that you would just have to bring with you if you were leaving the country for an extended period of time? Leave us a comment with your thoughts, and no, you don't have to have a blog name to be able to post, just click anonymous and sign your name at the end if you want to. Anonymity is quite all right too!

We're going to Grenada!!

2006-08-30T20:53:00.000-05:00

We finally have our tickets. We will be leaving Winnipeg on October 1, staying in Toronto overnight and then will be off to Grenada first thing in the morning on October 2. We will arrive in Grenada by 8:00 pm. It finally feels real! I've been asked by so many people if I'm excited, and until today I haven't been. I guess part of me just needed to have something tangible to tell me that this is actually going to happen. I'm off to start packing up our rental house...one month till lift off!

Kristy

Ah, vacation at last!

2006-08-23T17:35:00.000-05:00

Well after a busy few weeks of harvest for Jason, and waitressing for me (15 days straight. ugh.) we finally got to attempt a canoe route that we have wanted to do for years! The route included 6 portages (one way) and covered a total of 55 km. We took three days to do it and paddled in roughly 2/3 of the way on the first day and then enjoyed our second day without our tents and packs. We returned to our first campsite for our second night and paddled out on the third day. These falls behind Jason were a lot of fun as there were portions of the falls that poured into quite deep water and we could stand on the falls and jump/dive in. They are about twice as wide as you can see in the picture. This trip was the breath of fresh air that we were both desperately needing. It also really sparked the desire to do more canoe tripping in the future, any of you out there interested in this kind of venture is more than welcome to join us!

In terms of our travels, we have started to pack up some of the things we're not using. We had decided where we were going to get our flight tickets when we discovered that we needed to be able to change our return date after arrival in Grenada. THis is because visitors to Grenada are allowed to be there for 3 months initially and have to apply for an extention in person. This means that officials will not allow you to enter the country if your return date on your ticket extends past the three month marker. We hope to purchase our tickets on friday, likely at Travel Cuts in Winnipeg. I have spoken with them and feel confident that they will be able to offer a price competitive with the one we were initially planning to buy. As my classmates are getting ready for school it is really hitting home that I won't be going back to University. I realized that I'm actually going to miss it a little bit. I didn't expect that.

Kristy

2006-07-31T20:05:00.000-05:00

Erin and Andrea
flying a kite in our back yard

2006-07-31T09:54:00.000-05:00

Our niece Andrea, practicing her model pose

2006-07-28T17:38:00.000-05:00

My niece Erin
She sat on this piece of playground equipment and told me to take a picture of her feet. I have to say, I quite like it!

2006-07-28T17:34:00.000-05:00

My niece Kaylee

Vacation

2006-07-24T17:53:00.000-05:00

This is a picture of Jason at the old Pinawa dam. We actually got to take a few days off last week and spent some time with my family at Wilderness Edge in Pinawa. The holiday was brought about by the visit of my sister and her family from Kansas. It was really good to get away, especially since Jason has begun harvesting this week and I'm working every morning at 6 am this week so we will not get a whole lot of time to spend together!

Additionally, while we were in Pinawa, Jason and I went into Winnipeg for a practicum 'orientation' of sorts. It mostly outlined the academic requirements for Jason's practicum but also gave us a reminder of some of the ways we should approach a new location to make sure that we are being culturally sensitive. All in all, it was good to spend some time thinking about what it is that we are going to Grenada to do and how we want to interact with Grenadians.

Well, that's it for now. I'm not feeling particularly verbose today, I will post again soon with some of my favourite pictures from our vacation.

Kristy

First Anniversary!!

2006-07-14T19:04:00.000-05:00

It hardly seems like a year has already passed. Just over a year ago I stuffed myself into a three-piece suit on a 34 degree summer day and got hitched to my best friend. A lot of things have happened: another school year, lots of moving, getting used to living together, planning to leave the country for six months, and juggling two busy schedules.

Our first anniversary was a bit of a budget anniversary, next year it's Paris! (kidding, we have to save something for later) So we hopped in the car and went on a tour of the Whiteshell. First stop, Alfred Hole Goose Sanctuary. I know, I know there are not many geese there at this time of the year but the area is beautiful and there is a lovely path around the pond.

The next scheduled was Seven Sister Dam but we found something interesting along the way. Along the 307 highway is a sign stating simply: Petroforms. It picqued our curiousity and we jumped out of the car and down the trail, not knowing what to expect. I think I can safely say that we were both blown away by what we found. Dozens of symbols are laid out with rocks across a large (probably a couple acres) area of exposed rocks and trees. Many of the symbols are obscure and hard to discern, and some look like they have been moved. But some of the more clearly defined images are incredible. As evidenced here:

For the next 45 minutes we walked around, snapped pictures and generally were in awe of the place. We continued on the Seven Sisters but it was a let down after the Petroforms. If anyone is heading down the 307 with some time on their hands I would recommend checking out the site but it might be a good idea to bring a coloured piece of cloth and some tobacco, you'll see what I mean.

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed our first anniversary. Oh yeah and I got Kristy Cirque du Soleil tickets as a gift. I think that she likes them. She gave me a wicked awesome new canoe paddle and new jackknife. Finally, a paddle that is my size! Now we just need a little time off to do the canoe route up in Nopiming.

Later,
Jason

progress and a sidenote

2006-07-08T22:36:00.000-05:00

Well, let's see...where to begin. I am currently putting the finishing touches on my country profile paper for Grenada. It's just a short little assignment but I dislike homework during the summer.

Friday was a good day because my financial assistance from the college arrived (yep, they are paying me to leave the country) and so we are just a little bit closer to reaching our savings goal for Grenada.

Tuesday I go in for my last innoculation from the travel nurse and so that will be finished shortly.

So, little by little we are getting closer and closer to Grenada. It still feels so far away but shockingly close. (yep, I get simultaneous and mixed feelings)

On a different note Kristy and I had an interesting encounter Friday night. We went out to St. Malo, where my mother has her trailer parked for three weeks, and went for a swim and supper. We left before dark because I had a group bike ride Saturday morning. On the way back home we stopped off to snap a few pictures with the digital camera. I have this fascination with old barns and buildings, the more weathered and dilapidated, the better. So we are standing on the side of a canola field taking pictures of a small, old granary when I notice a cyclist approaching. More importantly, he is riding on a recumbent. Kristy and I yell things like, "Nice bike!", etc. and he stops. We walk up to admire his ride (recumbents aren't very common) and I say that we too, are cyclists. This guy stands up from his bike and asks me if I want to take it for a spin, just like that. I do and let me tell you, the balance needed for a recumbent is very different from a regular bike but I manage to ride around a bit. We keep talking and it turns out this guy, Tom, built this bike on his own and his shop was just a little way down the road. Tom invites us over and so we check out his shop. It's filled with crazy contraptions from a tandem bike that only has pedals for the person on the rear, a tall bike (five or six feet tall) and a couple more recumbents (one was even a three wheeled version, with two wheels up front). It's amazing the people you meet on chance encounters when you are out doing your own weird thing, like taking pictures of old buildings. Anyway, here is a picture of me sitting on the recumbent.

Thanks for tuning in, we will have more updates soon.

Jason

sore shoulders

2006-06-22T20:50:00.000-05:00

Well...Tuesday was immunization day for me. With the first round of shots done I have only one more appointment in order to protected against the tropical bugs that may be found in Grenada. It's a small step but I must say I was getting excited, sitting in the travel health nurse's office and talking about diseases found in the Caribbean. I guess that may be a little weird but discussing the medical aspects of foreign travel makes the far-off departure date seem a little more real. So I gladly put up with some mildly sore shoulders for a couple days as a reminder that Grenada is not so far away. By the way, Kristy's immunizations may be up to date but we have not confirmed that yet. If anything, she will only need a booster or two.

Currently I am processing my financial aid application for the practicum as well as registering for the course that is the practicum. Sometimes I forget that this is all for my degree and not an extended working vacation but a little homework and paperwork reminds me very quickly.

More later,
Jason

MCC Bike the Interlake

2006-06-15T17:47:00.000-05:00

Jason and I just finished the MCC Bike the Interlake this last weekend. On Saturday we rode 100 km and Sunday we rode another 93 km. I was seriously nervous before the ride, and when this picture was taken on the first leg on Saturday I was really wondering if I would be able to do it. Thankfully the first leg was the hardest of the day for me! I realized that I needed to settle into a pace that was comfortable for me, and not try to go too fast. This was my strategy for pretty much the rest of the ride and it worked out really well! I actually had a really good time. I rode with a number of different people, visited lots, and felt great about raising money for a worthy cause. I think in the future I will really step up my fundraising efforts.

On Saturday evening we had a short presentation from MCC's Global Family representative who told us more about the project that we were supporting. It brought back memories from Paraguay, since they are helping a church in Bolivia to set up a day care similar to the one I worked in when I was volunteering in Paraguay. The funds that we raised on this ride (close to 50,000) will be enough to completely support this project for the next three years!

This ride has really made me want to sign up for some other rides. I have been thinking about the MS Biking to the Viking from Stonewall to Gimli and back (over two days). The only problem is that Jason can't commit to doing it because it is in August and he will likely be harvesting. If there is anyone out there who would consider riding it with me, please send me an email, or leave a comment. Really, if you start now you have more than enough time to train, and it's not that hard. I trained for about 4 weeks before the bike-a-thon, and I didn't ride more than three times a week. The ride is at the end of August. Think of it as an opportunity to get fit! I know that I have always been much more motivated to keep active when I have a goal that I am pursuing, plus it's a great cause. Check out their website here for more information.

Kristy

Moving Forward

2006-06-06T08:53:00.000-05:00

Everything is slowly moving forward toward Grenada. Our passports should be coming sometime this week, I have submitted a letter officially requesting that my place in the Education program be held for one year, and Jason is working on the forms and research on Grenada that he has to submit to recieve credit and possible financial assistance for the practicum in Grenada. In addition we will be going to see a travel nurse/doctor in the near future so that Jason can get started on his immunizations, and I can check to see if mine are all still up to date. We have been surfing the internet trying to find the best deals on flights. We decided that we will likely fly out of Minneapolis/St.Paul because it is quite a bit cheaper than trying to fly out of Winnipeg or Grand Forks. We will hopefully be able to find something under the 1,000 mark, but that remains to be seen.

Otherwise we are still working hard. I am Nannying part time, and next week I will be starting work at the Mennonite Heritage Museum restaraunt. It's not my ideal job, but I needed more hours, so I guess I have to take what I can get. It means that unfortunately I will be working quite a few weekends. Hopefully with Jason farming we will occasionally be able to take a few days here and there during the week. When I'm not working I'm trying to keep the weeds out of our garden. We are renting a house a mile away from the farm and we took a corner of the field behind the house to plant a garden. The disadvantage is that it is just chock full of weeds. It needs a few years of TLC before it would stay clean. My poor carrots are just about choked off because I couldn't tell at first which ones were weeds and which ones were carrots. They are now big enough that I can see the difference, so I've been weeding surgically, one itty bitty weed at a time. So, it's off to it I go. Have a great week!

Kristy

A Farewell to Boots

2006-05-26T15:10:00.000-05:00

Boots 1998-2006

My dearly beloved boots have finally met their end. Purchased in 1998 they have seen me at my best and at my worst. They have walked the cobblestone roads in Asuncion and climbed the Andes in Chile. They have slipped on glaciers in British Columbia, walked the streets of San Fransisco, and carried me up a 'mountain' in Mexico. The boots were resilient, resisting fire in the fields and weathering the salt and slush of city streets without complaint. I will miss boots, but will always cherish the memories that we have created together. Goodbye boots, and well done.

A hearty welcome to the Raichle Kooteny 5 is in order! These boots are full of promise and potential for things to come. Already they have had a taste of the life in store for them as they experienced the May long weekend. The scent of adventure is in the air as the aroma of fresh leather wafts from the boots. Not yet having developed the characteristic odours of well loved boots, one can only imagine the imprint that Grenada will have on these soles. Perhaps these will be the boots that will finally take me over the pond to visit Europe, or hike the wilds of Alaska. The future is limitless!

Happy wandering!

Kristy

Oh, how I loath moving

2006-05-05T17:57:00.000-05:00

Well moving time is upon us. Over the past few days we have feverishly been trying to empty out our Winnipeg apartment, move into the house we're renting near Steinbach, paint the aforementioned house, and farm. Needless to say, the days have not been boring. If anyone has been trying to call us in Winnipeg, I would suggest calling Jason's cell phone from now on. We don't have a land line in our house yet, so the cell is the way to go. If you don't know that number, send me an email or leave a comment and I will let you know.

On the Grenada front, we recently received an email from GRENCODA giving us an approximate budget so that Jason can apply for extra funding from Menno Simons.

Looks like we will have a three bedroom, fully furnished house at a reasonable rate. Hmmm, three bedrooms?? I guess we will have to have lots of visitors to keep the house full. ;)
Local transport will most likely be the bus or bicycle. The estimated budget looks quite reasonable though we will have to pinch our pennies during the summer to last for a full 7 months.

kristy

Almost Summer

2006-04-21T20:37:00.000-05:00

Hello dear readers of our blog. The weather outside has been great and it is difficult to sit still in front of a computer.

A quick update on our lives:
-School is done!!
-Kristy has 7 more days left in her teaching practicum. (I think her students will miss her.) Kristy says that her time in the classroom has become more relaxed and she seems to be hitting her stride. Her advisor has been giving her glowing reviews and the kids are showing more respect to her in her position as an educator.
-We have a summer rental lined up for possession on May 1st. It is about a mile away from the Rempel farm so my commute will be short. My cell phone will stay on but our Winnipeg land line will no longer exist come the middle of May.
-Kristy has secured a part time gig in Lorette as a nanny for a one year old and so her commute will also be quite short.
-Nothing new from Grenada since the last update but we will be sending them a reminder of our need for a budgetary outline (so I can fill out the appropriate forms for partial funding from Menno Simons).
-Currently we are brainstorming fundraising ideas for our trip to Grenada (we will be paying our own way, volunteering our time and covering our own room and board) so any input would be greatly appreciated.

Get out and enjoy the beautiful weather because we all know that those little flying vampires will be along very shortly!! With the rising gas prices, it is a great excuse to ride your bikes more often!

Jason

99% Confirmation

2006-04-08T21:47:00.000-05:00

Well, today we received some excellent news through the ether of cyberspace. We hadn't heard from Judy, our contact at GRENCODA, in a while and we were beginning to wonder if they had forgotten about us. Today I received word from my former professor, the lovely woman who hooked us up with GRENCODA in the first place, that GRENCODA had been experiencing some computer problems and may not have been received our most recent emails. But she mentioned that she had talked to Judy directly and that GRENCODA is looking forward to our visit. Sounds like confirmation to me.

Only two more exams!!

Jason

Practicum of another sort

2006-04-07T23:46:00.000-05:00

Well, since we don't have very much to report on the Grenada front except that we have been filling out applications for funding from Menno Simons for the practicum. We are still waiting to hear again from Judy Williams, our contact in GRENCODA. We last heard from her about a week ago and answered a number of questions for her in regards to what we would like to be doing with GRENCODA and where we would rather be placed (urban or rural). We sent her our answers and are eagerly waiting for another email. In other news, Jason finished two of his exams yesterday, handed in a paper today and now has only two more exams to do on monday. yeah!

For me, practicum with my grade 2 class is going well. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed earlier in the week, since I'm teaching every day. I have also found that since I am there every day, other teachers stop my co-operating teacher for meetings when they see her in the hall, trusting that I will handle the class. This means that I am getting to make more decisions in regards to how I want to introduce new topics, or how and when to transition the students from one job to the next. Sometimes, my co-operating teacher has said that she wants to do something with the students, but when she doesn't come back to class I have to decide what to do with the students! It is fun, yet stressful, mainly because this isn't my class. Things have definately been getting easier, with the sequencing of lessons still being the place where I feel the most insecure. I worry that I am not covering the topics as well as I could, but so far I have gotten positive feedback from students, co-operating teacher, and faculty advisor. Well, I suppose that I should stop rambling about things that are completely unrelated to Grenada, we will post again as soon as we know more of what is to come.

Kristy

Our Journey Begins

2006-03-27T18:08:00.000-06:00

Jason and I are setting up this blog so that we will be able to keep you, our loyal friends and family, in the know as we both prepare for, and go to Grenada this coming fall. We have been in contact with a development agency in Grenada called GRENCODA and are waiting for final confirmation of Jason's practicum. Thus far, eveything that we have heard has been quite positive. We will be sure to post again when we have secured positions in Grenada.

Kristy