It’s back to the ol’ grind here in Grenada after an unforgettable long weekend. We hope that each of your Easter weekends overflowed with chocolate, creme eggs and the peace that comes through the Savior’s resurrection. As for us, we ate our last satanic bunny last night.
As the sugar rushes subside, this catchy little ditty came to mind. I hope you enjoy the coming week!
We all stood around the giant leatherback turtle like wide-eyed little Nemos.
The thousand-pound momma had crawled up onto Grand Anse Beach to find a quiet place to bury her egg offspring. However, she must have been using an old map for her directions because she washed up right into the center of tourist town. Poor turtle.
David and I had been doing a little post-test “beaching” with our friends and neighbors about 100 yards away, when a local man told us we could get some cool pictures just “over there.”
He wasn’t kidding.
Like a schmuck, I had forgotten to bring my camera that day. But the Fosters were there with their adorable family and they let me swipe a few of their pics from the day.
Normally each spring, the leatherbacks crawl up on the protected Lavera Beach at the very northern tip of Grenada. Conservationists run eco tours there between April and June. However, according to the vacationing conservationist (who ended up running the impromptu show) the touristy Grand Anse Beach used to be a hot spot for turtle’s to lay their eggs. That was before all the resort hotels were built.
This momma was probably about 100 years old, she said, and stuck in her ways.
As her powerful fins started flinging sand at the gathering crowd, the conservationist added that she would lay and bury more than 100 eggs, some of them empty duds used to insulate the fertilized future turtles. After one attempt at digging a hole, momma turtle discovered that the tide was too high and the hole was getting water-logged. So she moved up and started digging again – a process that looked awfully hard and time consuming.
This poor mom probably wouldn’t be able to lay a successful batch on this beach. First, while Grenada has a great Leatherback Turtle conservation effort, they do no monitor nor patrol Grand Anse Beach. If momma lands there, she is on her own up against hundreds of tourists. Also, the beachfront is too close to the water and if high tide decided to get any higher, the eggs would be completely waterlogged.
When it looked like her next hole would take a while, we all went home to clean up and come back. But in an hour all that was left of our momma turtle was a sandy imprint. She had scooted back out to sea.
Thanks for saying hi momma turtle. Seeing you was truly amazing.
We used to call them “Skillet Naps” at my house. You know, the kind of nap you take when life has whacked you over the head with something heavy? Completely comatose for an hour or so on a Sunday afternoon, you wake up with a groan.
Over the past few months I have taken my share of Sunday skillet naps. But today was different. Today was General Conference. For a full two hours, I sat curled up in a chair and felt the sweet spirit that comes with refocusing our lives on the Savior. Yes, I admittedly might have drifted out once or twice. But waking up didn’t come with a groan, it came with a smile and a sigh.
I have so much to be thankful for these days. I have a husband who adores me, a loving family, a job that (while unpaid) is extremely fulfilling and a few friends who don’t mind sharing the occasional laugh. Not the least of our blessings is a resurrected Christ who we can remember during this Easter season.
I’ll post more later about all the sweet little things that have been happening in our lives lately. But each is summed up by the simple statement,
Nobody really cares much about traffic jams in Grenada. The laid-back Caribbean attitude can be a great thing. But sometimes it makes us giggle.
Like today.
We aren’t quite sure who these people were walking down the street. But I’m pretty sure in America they would have been met with a few more honking horns and a couple fingers out the window.
For cheap thrills David and I are thinking about walking down the middle of the road when we get back. It might land us an all-inclusive night at the Big House. 😉
After three weeks of rainy Saturdays, we saw a sunny patch and chased it.
The clouds grumbled above us as we enjoyed our adventure to Mt. Caramel, the hour drive to get there and the chilly mist from the waterfall. But thankfully the heavens held back and we were able to enjoy a fun mini adventure together.
We hiked to the highest waterfall in Grenada – at least according to our trusty guide. On our way we found nutmeg trees and picked a little basil.
Then David backflipped off a waterfall. I tell him he needs to stay out of the hospital unless for professional purposes. That doesn’t keep him from tempting fate to get there any way he can.
Enjoy!
Med students can be clever. So clever that they name their hip hop dance group Cardiac Arrest.
Don’t worry, they will get your heart pumping in no time.
Friday night the hard work of many of our friends paid off as the troupe nailed their routines in front of hundreds of cheering SGU Talent Show onlookers.
It’s all original choreography too. Find time to do that in med school folks! Not easy.
Another fun offering was a dance by the Indian Cultural Students Association, along with many other pianists, vocalists and poets.
Congratulations on a great show Cardiac Arrest. Sorry my memory card filled up before it was all over. You were great! Here’s a taste.
Grumpy storm clouds loomed over our Saturday visit with the Glenns. But we were determined to make it a day to remember.
The unfortunate people in the back seat on our bumpy drive up to Belmont Estates got a ride they would rather forget. But once we got there, we found the ghost of an old colonial plantation. Flats of drying cocoa beans lay beneath a greenhouse-style tent, their pungent, fermenting scent sheltered from the impending rain.
You can read a little about Belmont Estates here, and see the pictures from when I first went.
The Saturday we made the long drive up there, it was unfortunately closed. Apparently the people who run it are Seventh Day Adventists who observe Saturday as their Sabbath.
Our next stop on our East Coast tour was Pearls Airport, the last remnants of where people formerly came into the country. Yikes. After visiting there, I am sure glad that the Cubans came in and helped build Grenada’s current airport!
The Pearls Airport is one windy, hour-long, 23-mile ride from the south of the island (where most everything is). Wikipedia claims its derelict runway is 4,515 feet long or about the length of 13 football fields! That stretch of abandoned concrete is now used as a drag raceway and for other Grenadian driving lessons …
After Pearls, we headed to La Sagesse beach to soothe our hunger pangs and watch the waves on this beautiful beach – a great end to a long day.
From around the corner, we stealthily waited for David to emerge. In our swimsuits and sun dresses we were ready to pounce the second our student emerged victorious from his Pharmacology test.
At 3:10 the chase was on! We grabbed David and whisked him away to Magazine Beach for an afternoon of fun in the waves.
And oh what waves there were! I have never seen them so high here. Snorkeling was out, so we body surfed and jumped and played until the sun fell behind the sea.
Earlier, the Glenn parents got the grand tour of David’s beautiful campus.
Join us for a little virtual tour here!
Adventures awaited as the Glenn parents descended on Grenada.
We were lucky enough to have the best part of Utah fly out to visit us this past week. Our whirlwind week began with a morning of relaxation at the pristine University Club Pool.
But before long we were climbing the steep stairs up to the top of Fort George, where Grenada’s Prime Minister meet his bloody end in 1983. You can still see the bullet holes in the basketball court’s stone wall and the rusty pole that holds up the backboard. A weather-worn copper plaque commemorates the names of the men who died here alongside one woman – the pregnant friend of Prime Minister Bishop. I wrote a little about the day on my blog post here.
David’s stomping grounds weren’t too far away. The small Grenadian General Hospital sits right below the fort. The large room that makes up the internal medicine ward even looks out on the road where we (and all the other tourists) enter the fort.
Here are all the pictures from the day!
Ahhh winter. That time of year when you can dig out the sweaters and sit by the roaring fire.
Cold seems like such an awkward concept here.
Digging through the inbox I found a few pictures of our winter skiing adventure at Park City. It was only the second time I had strapped the “death rods” onto my feet and ya know what?
I had a blast!
The day was beautiful, the company was even better and they thankfully let me go at my own snails pace. We can’t wait for David’s parents to arrive today. Here’s to more great memories!
Sar·ah[sair-uh]
–noun
1. Wife, runner, journalist, explorer, learner, feminist, daughter, sister, mother and friend.
Origin:
≪ Hebrew śārāh princess/ Reno, Nevada
Da·vid[dey-vid]
–noun
1. Family Medicine Resident, learner, adventurer, wakeboarder, Milk drinker, husband, father, son, brother, friend.
Origin:
≪ Bay Area, California
saw·yer ˈsôyər/
–noun
1. A little bundle of joy, momma's adventure buddy, proud milkaholic and the center of mom and dad's world.
Origin:
≪ Celtic: Cuts timber/ Redlands, California
