This is what happens when you put bread in your cupboard instead of your fridge here.
Nasty.
Doing Good
Over the past week I have been piecing together a mid-term report. Included inside are the small acts of service and the life-changing programs run by the Significant Others Organization.
Because these selfless people are here, children have shoes to cover their callused feet. The mentally and physically disabled have soaps, washcloths and adult diapers to restore their dignity. Little toddlers and their formerly disfigured faces are seen with new eyes. Abandoned children have a patient mentor to teach them to read. Unspeakable abuse is identified and stopped. Shivering, flea and worm-infested puppies on the brink of death are revived. A child who has known nothing other than sexual abuse can find kindness and an example. Lives and careers interrupted find solace in the listening ear of a friend.
On Saturday, the Significant Others Organization took 47 children to the beach for a swim and a pizza lunch. While the cool, blue waves are only 15 minutes away, most of these kids don’t have a parent willing to take them, or too busy to try. Others might not taste pizza again for months. It was a struggle to herd 47 rowdy kids down to the beach and into life jackets. But looking back, their smiles were worth it.
We still have a long way to go. There is so much more that we can do. But seeing what these dedicated volunteers do now is encouraging to say the least.
We are doing good.
Categories: Limes, Volunteering
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Taiwan’s Here. It Wants Its Money.
Payback can be a pain.
Grenada is having a little trouble with money these days, specifically money it owes to Taiwan. A friend sent me this interesting article Monday detailing the drama. The synopsis is this: Grenada got a lot of foreign aid loans after Hurricane Ivan wiped out half the country. The Caribbean country has slowly been paying people back, except for Taiwan. Somehow, Taiwan’s $28 million helping hand loan got ignored.
Either way, Taiwan is now essentially garnishing the country’s wages. After a successful lawsuit in US Court, the Taiwanese now get all of the landing taxes from airplanes and cruise ships that descend on Grenada. Unfortunately that’s the money that Grenada uses to keep the lights on at the airport. Oooops.
While the government has assured everyone that the airport’s operations will go on, the country is still in a sticky situation. You can read the Transportation Minister’s official press release here. He and other government officials are promising to pull the money from other places to keep the airport open. But in a country that can’t afford to feed its poor, can that money be pulled from other services long enough to conjure up $28 million?
Some have wondered if the whole mess is a result of Grenada’s buddy-buddy relationship with China, specifically those in Taiwan according to this article. Others, simply sigh and look forward to fewer airport staff, longer lines and pulsing headaches as they try to get out of Grenada for the summer break.
Categories: Grenada
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Your Love is Better Than Ice Cream
Valentines Day in medical school often finds students preoccupied with matters of the heart. You know, arrhthmias, EKGs, myocardial infarctions, etc. There is very little time nor energy for the unscientific parts of the heart.
Or is there …
I must preface this post by saying that our Valentines Day was one for the record books, at least in my humble opinion. While David spent the morning literally diagnosing irregular heartbeats, I was hocking cookies, cakes and other goodies at the SO bake sale. As a group, we set out to raise money for the Dorothy Hopkins Home for the Disabled. Our little table overflowed with pink frosted cupcakes, brownies, cookies, muffins and every other sweet concoction known to man.
(Babies not for sale)
We spent all morning and a good way into the afternoon selling our little goodies alongside mushy Valentines Day cards and a next door florist with her beautiful bouquets of tropical flowers. All morning while we worked, we all ohhh-ed and ahhh-ed over the stunning flowers and watched as men in stiff, academic suits came and bought them up.
Finally our bake sale goods were sold and our cash box overflowed with more money than we ever thought possible to raise at a bake sale. Our hearts felt good knowing we did something great for the disabled in Grenada.
Then it was time to go home so I could give David his Valentines Day gift – a goofy card and tub of his favorite Ben and Jerry’s accompanied by a kiss. What did I find when I got home?
A few vases overflowing with that stunning, coveted tropical bouquet! I had been standing right next to the woman selling them all morning … how could he have bought them without me knowing? My sweet husband recruited a friend from class to sneakily buy the flowers for him and meet David at the bus stop. The gesture melted my heart.
I am so lucky to be married to such an amazing man for time and all eternity. Happy Valentines Day!
The Love Birds
Each morning, David and I wake up to the sound of cooing outside our bedroom window. A pair of Grenadian Doves likes to perch on the telephone wire back there and remind us that it is morning.
Our love birds only live in Grenada and conversationalists estimate that fewer than 100 of them exist in the world. This pair probably comes to our window from their only national refuge – a little land across from a landfill about an hour away.
While I love waking up to the sound of the doves every morning, David prefers the crickets and frogs that screech and croak us to sleep each night. I on the other hand would like to carpet bomb the crickets.
Happy Valentines Day!
Finally, An Afternoon Off!
At 4 p.m. on Saturday, David had enough. We made our way towards an evening of much-needed relaxation on the beach.
Sigh.
Ni Hao from Grenada
Recognize this flag? Look closely …
Yes my friends, those are the stars of The Peoples Republic of China. On the motorbikes of Grenadian policemen. Puzzled? You wouldn’t be if you knew the history behind the National Stadium.
China has a policy colloquially called “Stadium Diplomacy”. Over the years they have built sporting venues in more than 85 different strategic countries. Grenada is one of the countries where the stadium bears the plaque of the Chinese. The stadium’s website claims it can hold 16,000 people although I think it is closer to maybe 10,000 max. It was hard to find a total price tag for the place, but it was upwards of $28 million – incidentally some of which was given by Taiwan. They want their money back and you can read about it here.
The country is certainly thankful for the millions. It is an interesting soft power strategy. So now their police bikes and stadium show their gratitude to the People’s Republic. Grenada’s Independence Day celebration even included chinese dance performances.
This article from the University of Southern California makes some interesting points about the Chinese strategy.
Xie Xie (Thank you) for reading!
Categories: Discovering Grenada
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Grenadian Independence Day
Thirty-eight years ago, a little island in the Caribbean cut lose from its motherland and set out on its own. The following years brought a few growing pains, including a little pre-pubescent hormone flare in 1983.
But on Tuesday, the now-mature country celebrated its birthday with dancing, guns, parachuters, fireworks and a message of unity.
How does Grenada party for its Independence Day? Oh, just like you would expect … with a few twists.
The crazy costumed dancers were leaving the stadium just as we arrived. Might as well join the party, right? Although I don’t think this lilly white girl blended in too well with the decked out dancers dragging chains and bemoaning the nations ties to slavery. But “When in Rome,” right?
What came next was an afternoon of boredom punctuated by awkward mishaps. The military and its band marched into the stadium in full regalia. Then they stood there. For an hour. In the afternoon sun. And fainted.
Yes my friends, while standing at attention, waiting an hour for the arrival of the Prime Minster more than 10 fully uniformed bodies hit the floor.
I wondered what kind of country plays this awkward game of “last man standing” with their military.
We even got tired sitting in the shade, so we went out for a bite to eat. Vendors had set up their barbecues and served up some Grenadian fare. Being the unadventurous foodie I am, I ordered the chicken and french fries.
Washed down with a little coconut milk. 🙂
While eating, we saw a few paratroopers drop from the sky. Apparently one got caught in the wind and landed right in the bleachers!
Enjoy a few video clips of our afternoon out.
http://youtu.be/Hc9pIQazZrU
Categories: Adventure, Discovering Grenada
1 Comment
And the winner is …
The power company.
Well, folks, here it is. A day late and a dollar short (I’m so punny.)
The power bill for December in Grenada was $83.46 in Uncle Sam’s Good Old currency.
In case you were wondering, that is equivalent to
¢63 Euros
0.05 ounces of Gold
$1,080 Mexican Pesos
$6399.75 Japanese Yen
and
0.12 ounces of Palladium
So to those who chose correctly, congratulations. To those who are moving here, start saving your pennies.
Categories: Adapting
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Power Struggle
What you are about to hear is a cautionary, gut-wrenching tale. Hold on to your wallets – they are about to feel some sympathy pains.
We got our power bill today. I was warned that those kinds of things would be a little pricey here but I put on my big girl pants and braced for the impact.
Ouch. It hurt.
So … December (the month that we are away visiting family) would be great right? Nothing in our little 300-square-foot apartment was running except for the fridge. Ahhhh bill bliss.
Wrong. Take the little poll down below to guess how much our bill was. The answer will be revealed Sunday.
[poll id=”2″]
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Sar·ah[sair-uh]
–noun
1. Wife, runner, journalist, explorer, learner, feminist, daughter, sister, mother and friend.
Origin:
≪ Hebrew śārāh princess/ Reno, Nevada
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Da·vid[dey-vid]
–noun
1. Family Medicine Resident, learner, adventurer, wakeboarder, Milk drinker, husband, father, son, brother, friend.
Origin:
≪ Bay Area, California
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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
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