Mom and Dad Meet My Babies

I think that one of the things I was looking forward to most about my family coming to visit Grenada was them meeting my Limes babies.  Mom has heard me talk on and on over the phone about how much I adore these children and how much of an impact they have had on my life over the past year that I just couldn't wait for her to meet all of them and fall in love with them the way I have.  I was a little nervous that the kids might be intimidated by so many new faces but of course, they quickly latched on to anyone that would give them a hug or a "jockey" and my family was no exception.  I just wish we could have spent a few more days with the kids, but I had so much on our itinerary that there was only room for one day at Limes.

Dad and Chad

Rachel with Deanna and Shawnte

Mom giving Kyla a "jockey"!

Dad teaching Adriel math.

Working on pen pal letters with Samira.

Chad is such a lover.

Kyla in Miss Laura's shades.

Mom and Rachel at "school" being taught by two 3 year olds and a 1 year old.

I don't think Dad remembers the last time he colored. :)

Just looking at these pictures makes me smile because my family loved on these kids like I love on these kids even though this was the first day they had ever met them.


Earlier in the day, I took Mom, Dad, and Rach to Magazine Beach for some snorkeling and lunch at Aquarium.  It was the perfect day for snorkeling with very little waves and crystal clear water.

Can you guess which girl lives in the Caribbean?

I will never get tired of this.

Ready to go!

Sipping Pina Coladas

Lunch at Aquarium

After a long day in the sun, we kept things simple for dinner and made cheeseburgers at home.  It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

A Day In Town

On Monday, I had my weekly SO board meeting at the University Club, so we spent the morning poolside.

University Club

Dad was excited to do some kayaking around Prickly Bay.

Apparently that wore him out.  Then it was time for a snooze.  Hey, he's on vacation.  It's allowed.

After lunch at the pool, we headed into St. George's to show the rents the spice market, the old churchs, and Fort George.

Downtown St. George's

Spice Market

This church was all but destroyed by Hurrican Ivan in 2004.

Mom, Me, Rach, Dad

Fort George

View of St. George's from Fort George.

After seeing the sights of St. George's, we came home, showered off, and headed to the crab races at the Owl Bar.  Julie's mom Phyllis has been in town as well and we all enjoyed betting on the crabs.  Mom even won a race! 

Me, Julie, Rachel, and Phyllis

Mom and I with our crabs (Mooshoe and Shelby)

We all had so much fun and I think they felt like they were getting to enjoy a very "Grenadian" experience!

A Whirlwind Week...

...while my family was in town.

Dad, Mom, and Rachel flew in a week ago today and just as quickly as they got here, they left.  We had a great week together on my island.  And my lack of blogging has been due to the fact that we have been packing every moment of their time here in Grenada with island adventures.  I think it's going to take a few posts to catch you up on all of our fun.

So let's start from the beginning.

On Sunday, we took them on a tour of SGU's campus.

My sister Rachel and I!

And then headed over to Grand Anse Beach where we enjoyed lots of sunshine and some cool drinks.

 When it was time for lunch, I took the family over to Umbrellas for some burgers and fries.

And to round out day #1, we went to watch Josh play flag football on campus.  In case you were wondering, they won.

Sunday was the most low-key day of the week.  Check back soon to see the rest of the weeks adventures!

"An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth...

... But I tell you not to resist an evil person.  But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also." - Matthew 5:38-39

This has to be one of the hardest things to teach my kids at Limes.  Whether they are two, ten, or sixteen, their natural reaction to EVERYTHING is retaliation. 

Someone hits you, you hit them back.

Someone says something mean to you, you bite them.

Someone takes something of yours, you choke them.

Someone looks at you funny, you throw a stone at them.

I can't tell you how many times a day one of the other volunteers or myself have to break up a fight between kids.  Half the time, it's a 15 year old kid pounding on another child half their size.  Many times, moments after we have gone over class rules, someone is already breaking them.  I think to myself, why is this not getting through to them!

Then I witness things like today and it all becomes clear.

Soon after dismissing the kids from class today, Jessie and I could tell that there was some commotion going on between a handful of kids and someones mother (Mom was most likely younger than me).  Apparently, the mom's little girl had had a stone thrown at her by another boy.  That boy had been defending his younger brother who the first little girl had hit, but perhaps said younger brother had prevoked her by doing something (that wouldn't be surprising).  Either way, lots of retaliation had been going on between the kids.

What was the mom's way of dealing with this you might ask?

She wanted the boy who threw the stone at her daughter to find the stone he threw, give it to her daughter, and let her throw it at him.  Even the scoreboard.  An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.  That's the fair thing to do right?

I guess I'm not surprised by this, but I am saddened.  How can we expect these kids to follow our class rules when the rules outside of class are the polar opposite?  It's so hard for me to imagine a mother who not only WANTS her child to hit back, but she encourages it! 

I know I can't change this culture.  This is how these people live.  This is how these children are raised.  But hopefully one or maybe a few of these kids will get the message we teach in class.  Turn the other cheek. 

Frangipani

That's the official name of this little guy.

There was one of these on just about every branch of one specific tree in our front yard last week.

Now there are none. 

Where did they all go you might ask?

I have not a clue.

As long as they aren't INSIDE my apartment, I really don't care where they went.

I like the name better than I like the caterpillar.

Big bugs gross me out.

But, if you say Frangipani five times fast, I promise if will put a smile on your face.

Following My Own Advice...

...is easier said than done.

This past month, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity for the 2nd time to write a guest post for the blog The Graduate Wife.  Yesterday, my post went up on the blog.  You can read it HERE. 

Though it has only been a few weeks since I actually wrote this post, I couldn't help but reread it yesterday and realize that I need to do a better job of following my own advice.

Josh and I are in the process of selecting our top choices for clinical rotations.  Can you believe it's almost time to move again?  We will be back in the states for good in May and though I have been looking forward to this moment since we started this journey and left California on August 3, 2010, I can't help but be a little anxious/nervous for the road ahead.

I think my concern is stemming from the fact that we are once again entering an "unknown zone."  We KNOW we will be in the United States for the next two years.  But, we don't know where we will be and Josh will be entering a new phase of medical school, the clinical years.  I am so excited for him to progress forward, but I have gotten extremely comfortable with our current routine.  I've finally gotten used to Josh's study schedule and of course, now it's almost time to leave.  On top of that, I am going to miss Grenada so very much.  And oh yea, there's that itty bitty thing called the Step I looming in the near future. 

However, God has a plan for me, for us.  He has taken us on this journey around the world and of course, there have been ups and downs, but I trust that we are following His plan, His blueprints.  He knows what is to come for us and that, in and of itself, should be comforting enough. 

Please pray that as this medical school journey continues to unwind, that I can be at peace while going through this phase of uncertainty.  And of course, prayers for Josh's continued success in school are always welcome.

I'm Married to a ROCKSTAR

This past weekend, we celebrated Josh finishing his first set of 5th term midterms by going to dinner at Carib Sushi on Friday night. 

Now that the grades are all in, apparently we should have been celebrating him ROCKING his midterms. :)

Pharmacology, Pathophysiology, ICM, and BSFCR ain't got nothing on my hubs!