Grenada: Lori and Kelly's Big Adventure

Captain's Log: Day 9, Thursday, August 19, 2010

Got up this morning ready for a day of adventure. We were touring the chocolate factory (Belmont Estates) and the Rum Distillery (River Antwine). Instead of taking 4 public buses to get there because it is on the other side of the mountains, we opted for a cab. Kenzie called made arrangements and haggled a price and all was good. The taxi (an air conditioned van) showed up and off we went. WELL, what should have taken 45 minutes to an hour to get there took us 3 1/2 hours.........they usually drive really fast, scary fast and this guy, no lie........20 miles an hour and took us the longest route possible and took us to places we didn't ask for. Of course our price was negotiated on a per hour basis. Mackenzie was spitting mad......when we finally arrived at the chocolate factory she talked to him and negotiated a final price for the day.......it was awful. He never did speed up. He was older and watching him try to park......I think he had trouble judging distance. I'm going with that theory other than him just trying to take advantage...(although my gut tells me otherwise).

the cocoa bean drying racks

The chocolate factory was extremely interesting, they actually produce chocolate bars and have had a working estate for cocoa beans for about 300 years. They still use the old fashioned equipment and let's just say for both places we visited there is obviously no health department here. The chocolate is amazing though....because of the heat here they cannot use milk so it is all cocoa butter, cocoa beans and sugar.....and they only have three kinds. 60%  which has a somewhat bitter aftertaste and 70% which has a smoother dark chocolate taste. Their newest is called Nibs and it has little flecks of the cocoa bean in it and it was very yummy.

Our next stop was the distillery.....just like they have always done it. Smashing the sugar cane, old conveyeur belts, wood stoves......and they use recycled bottles so, they are in what most americans wouldn't ever consider a good shed, making rum, using a gott cooler to put it in the bottles and sealing them with a screw on lid......wow. Now I wanted to sample it but the smell alone caused me some discomfort, and we'll just leave it at that. : ) I still can't get over it, guys in there bare feet, bare hands, of course nothing to keep out the bugs producing a product that they can't even ship out of here because they can't keep up with production. OH - the final product.......70 % or higher of alcohol which makes it 150 proof or higher, but who's counting?

sugar cane

some sort of gadget that tests the alcohol percentage

the conveyor belt that moves the smashed cane

the one guy is stirring the molasses the other dipping by buckets to move it

yes, he's barefoot with his foot hanging over the edge of the vat

fermenting cane

Um hm, they take these bottles right out of these boxes and fill em with rum

the boiling vats

the production line

Very sophisticated bottling method

Then we took the LONNGGG trip home and went to eat.....chinese of all things...was ok. Then back to the resort for a swim.

grenadian sunset with unfortunate cloudiness

Even after the long day -
Life Is GOOD!

Grenada: Lori and Kelly's Big Adventure

The view from our balcony

pool waterfall

The view the other direction from our balcony

Captain's Log: Day 8, Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Today is the day we move from the apartment in the mountains to the resort (Grenada Grand Beach Resort) at the beach. Although it was fun getting a tast of  Kenzie’s everyday life and seeing the culture in it’s natural form, I am looking forward to being a plain old tourist for a little bit. If nothing else I have truly realized just how spoiled I am as an American. I mean I know I am accustomed to air conditioning, as well as “fast” everything, and take for granted getting in my car and driving 3 minutes to the grocery store or 7 minutes to work. But it’s the things that we don’t see everyday that are astonishing.
Just today we were talking about a new tax imposed on everything. Grenadians used to have no taxes on things now with the new tax, EVERYTHING is taxed 15% - no slight increase until they get to that point, no basis on income or product purchased.........everything and immediately. It has taken a toll on the people, people who had little to begin with have even less. Unless you are selling mangoes on the street corner and I suppose then you might slip through the cracks.

So when I got to the resort I did feel a little guilty about the opulence. What made me laugh was that this was a palace for most of the people here and in countries like this around the world.....and yet, I would see things that would cause most Americans to turn up their nose at the minor inconveniences. The ice machine in our end of the resort did not work, I wanted to scream - it’s freakin’ hot out no wonder it doesn’t work! And bugs, there are ants and bugs everywhere, you just get used to it, just competing to survive, just like all of us. And the internet, we should have it in our rooms, but of course, ours wasn’t working......I found myself very out of sorts over that fact. Anyone that knows me, knows I am very internet dependent, I look up everything. I was really looking forward to having steady service in my air conditioned room to pass the evenings. I called the desk and informed them of the lacking signal. Mackenzie did not have one either so I knew it wasn’t just me. So I trotted my indignant self to the desk but somewhere between my room and the front desk I realized this is nothing more than an inconvenience, however I did not like being completely disconnected in case someone needed me. And when I got to the desk, I was very calm and smiled - genuinely smiled and discussed the situation with the night manager. I discovered I did get a signal there and the man assured me that by tomorrow night all would be good, it suddenly wasn’t that big of a deal. He got me set up in the business center area and was even going to turn on the air conditioner, but it seemed to be broken. So I got my fix and lost a few pounds in sweat and came back to my climate controlled room. Truthfully no worse for the wear.

Mackenzie taught me a new phrase they use here on the island and that it, “one time”. Now it doesn’t mean one time like a single time event, it means “right now”.  And obviously I am quite accustomed to everything being “One Time”.  Sighs........sometimes the simple things are the hardest to learn.....

So even without all the little things I think I deserve and am entitled to,
Life is good.

Adventure within the adventure 3:
Met a little girl at the pool, from London with her mum and her auntie. She is 5 and her name is Sky. Sky had great fun splashing about the pool with us and laughed and played and we discussed disney movies. At one point I had gotten out and was asleep in my chair when all of the sudden I hear a little voice in my ear shouting, “WAKE UP, wake up Miss, this is not time for sleeping, this is time to play in the pool!” After I regained my wits it made me laugh, she did get in a bit of trouble for “bothering” me, but she sure was cute.

Grenada: Lori and Kelly's Big Adventure

Captain's Log: Day 6, Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Mackenzie's neighbors- goats

Today, we went to visit Mackenzie's school, the Peace Corps office and ate a typical Grenadian lunch. We hopped the bus and went to the school first, school is not in session but the classroom teacher met us and showed us around. I was struck most by the contrast of looking the same but yet being so different. Same types of things you would see on the walls, same little desks, outwardly visible likeness. But after talking with the teacher, that is almost where similarity stops. Although like many American teachers, Grenadian teachers have to provide many of the resources and materials for their classrooms. But where in America, although limited, some things are provided. Here for instance, if a teacher wants poster board, she has to buy it, and the strangest thing to me was.......the classrooms have internet but no computers are provided, the teacher must come up with it on their own. The ministry of education provides some things, but not really per pupil aid like the US. The main thing they provide their teachers is chalk.....plenty of chalk. So the teacher copies the worksheet problems to the board and the students copy it in their saddle-stitched two staple booklets that fall apart after the first few months. It is like having one foot in the present, and one foot back 50 years ago.....very strange.
They have a copier in the office that was provided however they cannot afford to replace the toner, so it sits. They do not have a pencil sharpener, not even the crank kind, so they try to keep pencils sharp by using those little plastic sharpeners.

Mackenzie and Chantal

Mackenzie

Then there is the whole distraction of coming to school and not having eaten since yesterday. Sometimes the choice might be to pay to ride the bus (which they have to pay every day to ride) or eating....so which is more important? The teachers often cook extra to provide snacks or breakfast for some of the children. Lunch is the one meal that is provided to the students. It might be the same thing for days in a row but the children are glad to have it. While we were there the PE teacher was busy trying to freshen the paint on the outside of the school to make it more inviting when the children return. The play yard was going to be mowed and cleaned up for them also. They don't have fancy jungle gyms and soft sandy areas to land on when they fall...they play where they can using their little imaginations to think up games and I'm sure they laugh and giggle just as much as if they had the fancy equipment.

Mackenzie and Flint at Peace Corps office

Kelly and Lori wearing left over Carnival outfits

We left there and took the bus into town to visit the Peace Corps office, met the do everything girl, Marcea and rested in the air conditioning for a bit.......woo hooo.......one of the only spots we've encountered it here other than a few stores.

Then we went on further to meet another volunteer and have lunch at B's Roti Shop. Now, when they first started talking I thought they were calling them Roadies.....and I was envisioning a road kill burrito.......I was thinking cup of soup was sounding awesome. But when I saw the sign I just chuckled to myself and thought I can do this.

Vegetarian Roti

Roti

Roti - Rho tee -
The word 'roti' in the West Indies may also refer to a dish of stewed or curried ingredients wrapped in a 'roti skin'. In Trinidad and Tobago various rotis are served. Popular variations include chicken, conch, beef and vegetable. Shrimp and goat are available.
While common variations may include chicken, beef, or cabbage and carrot, one of the more authentic alternatives (goat) is known as Groti.
In Suriname roti refers mainly to roti dahlpuri or roti aloopuri. It is most often eaten with chicken curry. Roti can also refer to a dish of stuffed and spiced roti wraps.  It usually includes chicken curry, potatoes, boiled eggs and various vegetables, most notably the kousenband or yardlong bean. Another variation includes shrimp and aubergine. It is custom to eat the dish by hand.

We were going to order boneless chicken roti's but they were out of boneless chicken. So we ordered vegetarian, which was more than fine for me. Inside was a mixture of vegetables, potatoes, green beans, pumpkin, chick peas and curry. You have to clarify when ordering boneless because if not, you will encounter chunks of chicken on the bone, which many people pull out and bite the ends off and suck the marrow out. Yes, ick, I thought the same thing, but it is very common.

After our little lunch we shopped at this wonderful little shop called Art Fabrik that does some awesome batik dying of cloth. Then to the grocery store and home. Tired and hot but fat and happy.

Street where we shopped-easy to get "bounced"

New phrase - Just Now......in Grenadian it means.........Now as in right now up to maybe two hours. For instance, I will be there just now......means eventually. And another phrase - Just So - means around there. For instance, you go up the road just so and turn left just so. Maybe a block, maybe a mile........just so.


But never the less........Life is good.

Grenada: Lori and Kelly's Big Adventure

Captain's Log: Day 5 Monday, August 16, 2010

Mackenzie had to work today so off she went and Kelly and I stayed and hung out, got showers and read...so nice! Then we were to meet her in town a little after two. So we got our things together and prepared to take the bus ALONE! But we were very big and got the right bus, acted like we knew what we were doing and got to the terminal. Waited there for Mackenzie and then went to do a little shopping. Walking up and down hills, up and down hills........you definitely need good shoes and strong calves. It is a little like walking on the KU campus only worse and you have speeding cars flying by inches from your body. Which so many people get hit by cars here they actually have a word for it, bounced. So if you don't wanna get "bounced" you keep as close as you can to the side.

Carnage or port

Ocean Grill

The red building is the fire station

Then we went to a place called the Ocean Grill for lunch. It was a lot of seafood but they had coconut shrimp (YAY) my fav.......wait, just about the ONLY seafood I like. And I must say, it was the best I've ever had......hands down. Expensive but worth it.

Mackenzie and Kelly

THE BEST coconut shrimp

Then we hiked our butts to one of the forts on the island, Fort George. I just thought the hill on Sunday was bad.....it was the most tormenting hill ever. But the view was magnificent. It is also the place where in '93 the invasion to save the med students during Reagan, they lined up the leaders and shot them against the wall.......lots of history there.

Fort George

Looking out at town

Periwinkles growing wild at the fort

Looking down on the town

After that we were exhausted, shopped a bit more and started to head for home. We stopped by a place that makes fruit smoothies that is supposed to be one of the best anywhere. Me, not liking fruit was hesitant but decided to give something a whirl. (And mind you, they put alcohol in just about anything here). I knew I did not want anything with rum...... but then this is what they ended up making me.....Guiness mixed with milk, peanuts, and oats.......sounds gross but it was actually pretty good.....however, do not get one of those then immediately hop a crowded bus full of sweaty people for a 20 minute ride on the curvy, twisty roads back home. I could only drink about half of it, which was fine, got a taste of it anyway.

Then we just took showers and chilled the rest of the evening......another rain shower and to bed.

Yah mon..........Life IS good!

Grenada: Lori and Kelly's Big Adventure

Captain's Log: Day 4, Sunday, August 15, 2010

Sunday in Grenada, no public transportation so pretty much chilled all day. Slept late, walked to visit some peace corps friends up the hill and borrow a transformer and just hung out here.
It rained - HARD but even that was kinda pretty. The electricity here is kinda crazy, it takes forever to charge my computer, I plugged it in at night and by morning it was charged, but drains really fast too.....hope my battery isn't totally fried when I get back home.

Mac's House

Tried firing up the computers I brought from the states, no luck, one has a white screen, one can't find the internet and one we are still trying to charge. : ( but maybe we will get it figured out.

Mac with John and Steph

Papaya tree

Mango tree

Kelly and Avacado

When we went to visit the peace corps friends on the hill.......A FREAKIN HUGE HILL ALMOST VERTICAL! we saw some mango trees, banana trees and papaya trees......kinda cool.

Rain

More rain

My sunburn has calmed down a bit but my hair has gone crazy, more curls than I have ever seen and no taming them.....but that's ok. I'm learning a bit of the lingo......can't use it in context very well.....but one thing they say alot is -just so.

Adventure within the Adventure 2

huge roach!

So we are all just sitting around, reading, sleeping, whatever and all of the sudden Kenzie jumps up screaming like a little girl. We go running in there and the BIGGEST (probably 2 inches long!) cock roach I have ever seen is toting his luggage like he's moving in. Kelly grabs the bug spray and sprays him and he scurries away, unfazed. We watch him and he's simply not dying, our only recourse was to smash him, and really no one wants to do that, but Kelly mustered up the courage and splat.....omgosh, so gross, but he met his maker and we were saved.

So a day of not doing much of anything and it was good.

Life IS good!

Grenada: Lori and Kelly's Big Adventure

Captain's Log: Day 3- Saturday, August 14, 2010

Woke up and the dream lived on......looked out the window, and yep, still in paradise! Today we walked to the bakery and got some muffins and buns for tomorrow. Then we got ready and went to the beach. Not nearly as easy as loading up the car and going.....2 different buses (which really aren't buses, more on that later) and a total of about 45 minutes. Now mind you the island is only 20 miles by 12 miles.....but you cannot go anywhere as the crow flies, no sir, no indeed. But we load our bags, hop the bus and are on our way. Finally arriving down the block from the beach we hike our selves to the beach and it is beautiful. White sands, mountains in the background, crystal clear water, not a zillion tourists........wonderful.

Mackenzie had some peace corps friends there that we got to meet and they were alot of fun. They had some snacks and one of them was something they call Skinups, a grape sized fruit that has a pit inside similar to an avacado. You bite and split the skin and suck the flesh off the pit, similar to a peach. Now, considering I don't like fruit at all, I thought I was very brave to try it. But I couldn't do it, it was just gross in my mouth and I had to spit it out. But I tried, don't I get points for that?

Hung out there all day with a break in the middle for a sandwich at a local bar and grill. We all had a grilled chicken sandwich and they put tomato and cucumber on it.......ick, but picked em off. At the end of the day, we walked to the grocery store and got a few things for some meals this week and then hauled all the stuff to the bus stop and loaded up on a very full bus for the ride to the station to transfer to another bus to get back home. Kelly made very yummy chicken enchiladas for dinner and we ate chocolate from the chocolate factory here on the island. (planning on touring that later in the week). So, tired and burned......but somewhat blissful at this point.

Adventure within the adventure:1
The bus system here in Grenada. First of all the buses aren't really buses, they are like vw vans or the like. and they sit 3 across and you sit 3 across, no matter if you have big saddle bags on your body or bags from the grocery store, it's 3 across. And mind you it's hot and the person sitting next to you is hot and the air is how much is wafting through the open windows as you speed down the road. Actually speeding isn't even the word for it, it's death defying......if you have ever been on the road to Hana in Hawaii, this is crazier...... I do have to hand it to the drivers, lots of honking horns and close calls but no accidents or displays of road rage. Now being one that gets extremely car sick, I did worry a bit about the drive, but never once did i feel sick- not from the break neck speeds or hair pins turns - of which there are MANY. We did have a funny (?) experience when while driving the Grenadian version of the Daytona 500, the hatch came open with Kelly, Mackenzie and I in the very back seat. Although the breeze was nice, it was a little unnerving, but we survived, life was good.

OOOPS correction - Life IS good!

Grenada: Lori and Kelly's Big Adventure

Captain's Log: Day 1 - August 12, 2010
Going to Tulsa to catch a flight to Grenada. Using the most direct route - Tulsa -Chicago - Miami-Grenda. I mean right? through Chicago first? geez,..........anyway.......it will get us there.

Found out there is a summer travel embargo and Grenada is on the list. What this means is that each passenger is only allowed two checked bags. The bags are to be 50 lbs and if can be up to 70 but you have to pay extra. The bags also must be suitcases, no boxes or crates.

We both have a ton of school supplies donated by very generous friends and knew we were going to encounter problems......we weighed the bags......the school supply bags - both over......hoping for the best.......ready to pay.


Captain's Log Day 2: August 13, 2010 (Friday the 13th)
Prepared for a long and grueling day, very nervous about checking these bags.

Arrive at the Tulsa airport, out of no where a guy working for American Airlines (which I love now, btw) shows up at the curb. Finds us a cart and loads all of our bags and takes them inside. No big deal, right? BUT, then he wheels them to the side and starts weighing them for us. By the time we get up to the kiosk to check in, he is standing beside us, taking our passports and we just answer questions. He even punched it all in for us! He talks to the agent and informs them two of the bags are overweight. She talks with the agent next to her and voilå, waives charges.....

We get to security and loooong line, we get to the guy checking tickets and he says, if you would like to step to that far end, you will not have any problems and will be alot quicker. And you know what? he was right, it took longer for me to empty the 3 computers out of my bag then it did to get through.

Checked in and at the gate for an international flight, in less than 30 minutes. WOW.

Flight to Chicago uneventful, then to Miami.

Flight from Miami was a hoot. Evidently there is a big vet school here in Grenada and it starts on Monday, so probably 2/3 of the plane was students. Many of these students have working dogs or cats (therapy pets) so there was probably 20-30 different pets on the plane with us.....some in carriers, some not........there was a cat behind us, and everything ranging from german shepherds to labs, to goldens, to malteses. And you know what never heard a peep out of any of them, more well behaved than the children on the flight. : )

When we arrived in Grenada the students were trying to help us by telling us what to expect at customs. When we found out that they would most likely check our bags and charge us for every piece of electronics, I was very nervous, but they said just take one computer out of the bag and show them. I did and the agent asked what we had and we told her, pencils and school supplies and she never asked another question, just smiled and waved us on. Everyone almost cheered and were amazed there were big smiles all around.

I was worried about the food......we stopped at a little place and there were lots of guys with grills cooking things.......one was a big pot of "waters" which is soup. however the soup contains everything....more like stew.......and be a variety of meats veggies,............WHATEVER. I chose the chicken on the grill with garlic bread.........It was a leg and thigh......but it was very yummy a very mild bbq sauce on top.

We slept with two fans blowing directly on us all night and life was good.

Correction..........Life IS good. : )

GOING TO GRENADA!

I am sooo excited! I leave THIS week for Grenada. My niece is in the Peace Corps (check out her blog, My Life in the Peace Corps) and my sister and I are going to visit. We will spend the first few days with her seeing the projects she is involved with and then go to the resort side of the island for a few days of r&r.

Grenada is an island country and sovereign state consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Grenada is also known as the "Island of Spice" due to the production of nutmeg and mace crops of which Grenada is one of the world's largest exporters.

I am also excited to take with me a suitcase full of school supplies. One of the jobs she is doing there is teaching in a 1st grade classroom. Supplies are limited to say the least so my office, along with others, have gotten together and were so generous in their donations! My sister and I both are dedicated one suitcase to the transportation of the supplies. We were quite surprised to find out that Grenada is one of the destinations affected by the summer embargo and we could not take under any circumstances more than 2 suitcases per person (along with our carryons) and it HAD to be suitcases, not boxes or crates or anything else and each was NOT to exceed 50 lbs each. We couldn't even pay extra to take something. So we had to get really creative. I even came up with 3 used laptops!

I'm not gonna lie, I am a little concerned with the food situation but have packed some granola bars and cup of soup. They eat alot of fruit and fish (the two f words I really don't like) but there are plenty of vegetables so it'll be fine......... I hope.

The heat and humidity are going to be a challenge as well. I am used to heat here in Kansas but I am also very accustomed to being able to into the air conditioning. And you walk ALOT, so hopefully I have good comfortable shoes and am prepared to sweat. I'm sure I will return home with a greater appreciation of the creature comforts I take for granted.