La Sagesse

Friday morning Josh had his first midterm of term 3.  It went well.  Yay!  And to celebrate the test being over, we went with a bunch of our friends to La Sagesse beach (pronounced La Sa Jess).  It's basically a private cove lined with palm trees about a 25 minute drive from where we live.  Besides the drive (which makes Josh a little car sick), it is a GREAT beach.  The water was super warm, shallow for a quite a while, and with enough waves to keep it interesting.  It was an amazing day with some awesome friends.

La Sagesse

The kids were having a blast all day!  There sure are some water babies here. :)

Austin and Luke

And I finally got a picture of a lizard.  They are all over the place, but man those things run fast.  I've tried to take a picture multiple times!

The big boys played some football.

While the girls and the kids enjoyed the water and each other.

Allison with Austin, Me, Michelle with Harper, Sara, and Rachel

Allison and Austin playing in the waves.

Rachel and I

We will definitely be making more trips over to La Sagesse.  We are so thankful to our friends who went with us and showed us how to get there!

Limes

In Grenada, the term "liming" is a slang phrase meaning to hang around with friends, usually in a public place, and enjoy the scene or surroundings.  And let me tell you, in Grenada, people are ALWAYS liming around.  I think the term really refers to a way of life that IS Grenada.  Grenadians are just much more laid back than most people.  They do things on their own time and in their own way.  Sometimes it can be frustrating.  But then I find myself thinking, "What's the big rush?"  I don't have anything extremely pressing to do.  As Americans, we are just used to a fast pace of life, but here, there's no rush, no event that is so important that we can't take some time and just lime.

Anyway, my friend Kelsey voluntarily runs an after school program for local children called "Limes."  Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday during the school year, the 20-40 kids ranging from age two to teens (and most of them barefoot), flock to the grass field to see what Miss Kelsey has planned for the afternoon.  One day it might be baseball with plastic bats and plastic balls.  For the little ones there are crayons and blank paper and story books.  There might be a worn out soccer ball, a dollar store frisbee, or a new favorite, BUBBLES!  These kids don't really care what there is to play with, they are just thrilled to have the attention of Miss Kelsey and some new things to play with.

Even though school is not currently in session, Kelsey and her husband Lee decided to make a couple visits out to the Limes field to see the kids this week.  I joined them on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon.  It was SO fun to play with these kids.  They are all very sweet and have such big personalities, even the very little ones!  I can see how very easily you can fall in love with these kids.  I look forward to helping out with Limes on a regular basis this next year and getting to know these children a lot better.

Blowing Bubbles

They Love Miss Kelsey

Snack Time

They REALLY like to do hair.

Don't they just melt your heart??

Sunset Swims

When you live in Grenada, things like sunset swims can be a daily occurrence if you want them to be...and I think I might have to incorporate that into our day on a regular basis.  Because really, how many other opportunities in my life will I have to walk out my door, down the road, and jump into something this picturesque?  It's like in Mary Poppins where they jump into the chalk picture.  Only instead of green countryside and a county fair, it's crystal clear water, white sand, and a blue sky with the sun kissing the tree line.  It just doesn't get any better.

We enjoyed having the beach basically all to ourselves.  We did a little snorkeling.

And a little monkeying around.

Monkey See.



Monkey Do.

And we watched as the sun went down over the Grenadian paradise.

And as Mary Poppins would say, "It was practically perfect in every way."



Random Happenings This Week

This past week has been full of lots of fun things, some of which don't necessarily warrant their own individual blog post.  So I'm lumping them all together in one big post.

On Wednesday night, Josh and I went to Dodgy Dock for the second time because they have 5e.c. for 5 chicken wings and 3 for 10e.c. Carib's.  For all who aren't aware, an "e.c" stands for "Eastern Caribbean Dollar" and 1 US dollar = 2.67 e.c.'s.  So basically, you can get 5 chicken wings for $2.00 US and 3 beers for $4.00 US which means Josh was all for it.  And any night I don't have to cook dinner means I'm all for it.  Josh got his fill of wings and beers and even with the great deals on wings and beer on Wednesday nights, I ordered a chicken cesar salad and a Diet Coke.  Josh said he may have to leave me at home next time.  I guess I'm just not a wings and beer kinda girl.

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We have had a little visitor in our house the last two nights.  Our friends Rachel and Brain have family in town and went off to Carriacou for a few days and needed someone to dogsit their child Marley.  Being the dog lover that I am, I of course agreed to take the little guy for a couple days.  I was sad to see him go today and plan on trying to convince Josh that we might need a "Marley" too.

I obviously didn't know that SOMEONE was rudely taking a picture of Marley and I napping!

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The University Club is a place where apparently, many of the SGU professors stay when they are guest teaching in Grenada.  It has a pool, a private beach, hammocks, kayaks, and a cafe.  The SO's are lucky enough to be able to use it on Mondays and Thursdays for free.  I have now been there a few times.  Based on the pictures, I don't think I need to elaborate on why I like to spend time there.

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Josh and I went to Prickley Bay last Friday to see the steel drum band that plays live music every Friday night. Lots of students were there and the pizza was good.

***

I just finished reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  If you haven't read it yet, go get it. Fast.

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One of my BFF's Alexa just got engaged to Micah a couple of weeks ago.  Right before we left to come to Grenada.  Josh and I are SO completely happy for the two of them who plan to get married in June 2012.  And guess what!?!? This week she sent me this!

To which I of course said YES!

***
And lastly, today I went to Grand Anse Beach again with Ryan, Allison, and Austin.  I took Marley with me and spent most of my time trying to keep that spaz of a dog under control.  :)  But it was a beautiful afternoon and I couldn't help but snap yet ANOTHER picture of this fabulous beach.

Home Sweet Home

As promised, now that we I have unpacked and I have had time to put my own little touches on our apartment in Grenada, I am doing an "after" post.  Like our place in Newcastle, this apartment started out very very plain.  It had little color, but I liked it for it's cleanliness, newness, and the fact that I could see myself making it my own.  After all the packing and unpacking that I've done in the last couple of months, I am SO completely happy to be done with suitcases and boxes for awhile. 

Our place is fairly small, kind of like one big square with every room coming off the main room.  But we like it. It works for the two of us just fine. 

Our Kitchen.  Notice the normal size fridge!

Laundry Area



Living Area.  Trying to save on electric by using a drying rack.



Still working on something for that corner wall.

Next we have our bedroom.


The curtains were here already.  They don't match at all.



Big Closets. Yipee!

My desk, kinda messy at the moment.

Bedroom 2, also known as Josh's Man Cave, available to anyone and everyone that would like to visit!

Can't forget the "Man Cave" sign.

Bathroom.  And me, Hi!

No tub, but big shower.  We like!

A couple random decorations.

Views from our balcony.

So yup, this is the place where we will be living for the next year!  We welcome all who would like to come have a Grenadian holiday.  That means you, Moms, Dads, brothers, sisters, Liz, Alexa, Micah, Katie, Natalie, Tristen, Travis, Nicole, Andrea, Josh and anyone else who said they might come! AND anyone else who didn't say they would come but would like to!!!