A Stolen Birthday...

Yesterday, I celebrated my 26th birthday.  Twenty-six, gosh that seems old!  Josh has been soooo busy studying for his tests this week and thankfully, all my Grenada girlfriends stepped up to help make it a special day.  I wish I could say I had some pictures from the day but sadly, my camera was stolen.  Yes, on my birthday. 

The day started out grand.  My friend Kelsey wanted to take me up to Bathway Beach and Levera Beach on the very Northern end of the island.  And when I say "Kelsey took me," what I really mean is "I drove and she yelled out directions." :)  Our friend Sarah joined us as well.  The three of us headed off up the island in "Toby," and I told my poor studying husband that "I was headed North, be back this afternoon."  It takes around 1.5 hours to get up to the top of the island, but it went by fast because there is lots to see and the car was filled with great company.

Our first stop was Bathway Beach.  Oh how I wish I had the pictures.  This beach is stunning and it didn't hurt that the weather was just perfect.  The sky was the bluest blue and it was so clear that you could see lots of other small islands to the North.  We played in the waves and ate our lunch and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. 

Next we headed just down the road to Levera Beach.  This beach is a little more private and you can easily see Sugar Loaf Island, which is just off the coast.  We set our stuff down and headed straight for the crystal clear water.  We spent about two hours going back and forth from the water to our things and we were probably never anymore than 15 feet away from our belongings.  On top of that, we never saw a single person on the side of the beach we were on during our whole trip (which means somebody was watching us...creepy).  However, at around 3pm, we decided it was probably time to pack up and go home and when we went to grab our stuff, each of our beach bags full of our belongings were gone.

It was one of the most surreal feelings I've ever experienced when I realized that no, we did not leave our bags in the car, no we did not move them somewhere else, they were gone, and we had not a clue when it happened or who had taken them.  And almost instantly, the reality hit.  We had no money, no cell phones, and worst of all no car keys.  Poor Sarah didn't even have clothes.  All three of us had cameras in our bags, along with wallets including credit cards, drivers licenses, etc.  We were stranded over an hour and a half away on a part of the island that none of us were that familiar with.

Kelsey ran back to the car to make sure it was still there while Sarah and I collected what little belongings we still had; three beach towels, a snorkel set, some sandals, and mine and Kelsey's clothes.  The whole walk back I was just praying the car was still there and thankfully it was. 

Kelsey then enlisted the help of some locals and they went searching through the mangroves for the thieves and any belongings of ours that might have been tossed aside.  Meanwhile, I was able to borrow a local man's cellphone to call Josh and let him know what was going on.  My biggest concern being that I had no keys to my car (and no spare set).  One of the locals said he could start the car with no keys and when I asked "What about the locked doors?"  He replied with a smirk, "That's not a problem."  What a relief... (sarcasm intended). 

Thankfully, the men were able to find an obvious trail that the thieves had taken and just a short trek from our spot on the beach, they found all of our bags minus cameras, cell phones, and money.  While that was still extremely depressing, we did have my keys back and all of our credit cards, debit cards, licenses and what not.  I suppose it could have been worse.  We left the beach a little shaken and headed for the police station to file a report.  And let me just say that Grenadian Police Stations might warrant a blog post all their own.  We are not getting our things back, of that I am sure.

I'm trying to have a positive attitude about the situation.  They were just things.  It can all be replaced..eventually.  No one was injured or held at knifepoint, the car wasn't stolen, my credit cards were returned.  Things could have been worse.  But it still stinks.  Why people do that kind of stuff I will never understand.

We made it home safely by about 7pm, showered, and headed off to my birthday dinner (I was an hour late).  I was reminded of the fact that even though I lost some things on my birthday, I am so lucky to have so many amazing girlfriends here in Grenada.  They are such an integral part of making my time in Grenada and in England so great.  I am truly lucky to call them all my friends.  When you have friends like these women, no birthday can be that bad, even when you have your camera stolen.  

There's only a couple of pictures that captured my 26th birthday that actually made it back to my house.  I guess the majority of this birthday will just have to be stored in my memory bank.  Thanks to everyone who helped make it special.  And a special thanks to Sarah for the pictures from last night.

Kelsey painted me the most beautiful picture of Magazine Beach!

Josh and I will get to celebrate after his tests this week.  I'm looking forward to a more low-key day with him.