The day we landed was the last day of Carnival in Grenada. It is a national holiday and moreover, a pretty big deal. We caught the bus into St. George's to see the festivities. Sorry, that is an under-statement. We rode, to the fullest extent of the meaning that word can have, the bus to St. George's. The local bus system is this. You see a bus, you wave, you get on. The bus blasts Caribbean music while it navigates the winding roads at top speed, honking at other drivers and pedestrians to say "hello" or ask if they need a ride. In our case, costume and glitter clad woman got on now and again. I found that like California Screamin', the music's rapid beat really adds to the intensity of the ride. There's no height restriction and it costs 2.50EC (less than $1 CAD) on a non-holiday. No fast-pass required.
The locals are very helpful. We were off the bus no more than 10 seconds before we were told where and when to get the best pictures of the parade. In Grenada the population is roughly 100,000. If I had to guess, I would say it seemed like 70% of the island was in the parade—and of course, the remaining 30% watching. It was a fantastic parade that filled the entire street from start to end. We were pretty burnt out from travel and the cumulative lack of sleep, and headed back by about 5. Had we stayed we would have seen what they call the Jab Jab: men covered in automotive oil adorned with horns (non-automotive horns).
It's fortunate we got home when we did, because by that time we were ready to hit the sack pretty hard. We were literally holding each other's eyelids open until an appropriate hour. Oh, just before that we made a quick stop at the beach just down the road—it was fantastically refreshing. This will probably be the first of many interludes that I will eventually stop mentioning. That's more for your sake and not mine; I don't want any jealous or resentful readers.
We caught the boring bus (the SGU, non-reggae, non-roller coaster, non-fun, bus). It gets you where you are going and is free for students, faculty and SOs (significant others). For the price it’s pretty great, but lacks the thrills. Day one of SGU orientation seemed rather hectic. We got the impression that everyone else already knew what was going on and where, when clearly we had no idea. We glommed on to random students and tour groups until we got up to speed. This gave us a great opportunity to scout out the amazing campus. Many of the buildings look out over the water and the entire place is very well taken care of. You can’t help but feel like you are one of the “Others” or part of the Dharma initiative.
The first lecture for orientation was about the history of Grenada. I thought this was a great way to start the program in a country other than your own. I wish this section could have been longer. The other lectures I honestly don't remember a thing about. You'll have to ask my other half. The next day we went on a group tour up Grand Etang. There is a supposed bottomless lake up there—I'm not sure how sound their reasoning for this deduction is. Basically no one has found the bottom; therefore there must be no bottom. You are also not allowed to swim in it and I find this may have an underlying motive. We also hiked a muddy hill to get a good view of the island and to visit the weather tree (this tree has the ability to more accurately predict rain than any meteorologist). Finally, we went to "Monkey Point". I think it may lack an official name, but anyway you should see monkeys here. Apparently they are quite mischievous and have stolen things such as digital cameras. I can only imagine the paparazzi shots these guys get of Oprah and other celebrities that own property on the island. We'll go up there again with some bananas and see if we can coax 'Scar' out. He has a scar on his eye and is the king of the monkey pride; no one can eat until he has finished.
The next few days were full of team building orientations. Orientations I chose not to attend. Perhaps this contributes to my feeling of being disoriented and my apparent lack of working with others. I searched for apartments instead. This was mainly a boring, uneventful venture ranging from apartments that turned out to be in the middle of nowhere, and others still in mid-construction.
Hopefully my next post will be littered with photos. I haven't taken any yet because we have been constantly on the go. If you can imagine a lush Caribbean island with beautiful beaches and an apparently large university on it, you are about 80% there. Wow, I just saved myself a cool 800 words.
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