QW # 11

Just another Manic Monday!

Except... not really. I remember with vagueness the awful nature of that first "real" day of the week when the world starts turning again and it is the nose to the grind stone.

That was post-Caribbean living. When I had a job and school and a million other things to do. Life sometimes gets busy here, but never does it ever hold a candle to the chaotic mess I always seemed to get myself into back in the States.

http://life-love-laughter.tumblr.com/post/10837834843

"You're off to great places. Today is your day. Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way."

-Dr. Seuss-

On this not-so-manic Monday I am reflecting on what will become of me in the upcoming months. What are some projects I will throw myself at what mountains do I have to climb? Last term I did a lot with PAM. But now that is over, I will find another way to volunteer.

Think of a mountain. Climbing a mountain is tough! The path might get steep, the trail may narrow and be rocky. There might be times when you think you can't go on and you just want to stop and catch your breath -just like life. But when you get to the top of that mountain think of how proud you will be, and just imagine the view!

And best of all, think of all the mountains you can see from the top, you can save those for another day. ;)

I think of what metaphorical mountains I have in my life. They are great opportunities and learning experiences that require work and effort. And oh yes, you can bet that they are scary. But when you get to the top you have a fulfilling sense of accomplishment.

So wake up and put on your hiking shoes. Today is the day to climb your mountain. No more standing at the bottom looking up, get on your way!

Holiday Break Wrap-up

Well, it has taken me long enough to catch up on posts of all the adventures the Petersens Beyond the Sea had over the month break from medical school.

Still I can't believe all the things I didn't write about in the blog. I realize that I have been blessed with amazing friends that can make anything and everything fun. Flexible friends, spontaneous friends, friends who always have space in their car no matter how many children and adults are already in there!

One of our first adventures after midterms was to hike to Hog Island. We went with some friends and just explored. It was great to finally get out! The island is just  small with some fun hiking trails and a cool little beach. It is kinda funny because during break I ended up hiking to Hog Island 3 TIMES. The second time with some SOs on a morning walk, and the third time on a New Year's Day hash with some other med students.

Photo compliments of the talented Brandon

On the way home from Seven Sisters with the Fergusons we saw my favorite guy.

Brandon pulled up beside him and asked him if he was selling. 

SNOW CONE MAAAAAN!

Of course! So we both pulled to the side of the road and he whipped us up some snow cones. We got to talking with him and he made this contraption and brought it over from Guyana, where he is originally from. This time I got my snow cone "Grenada Style" = half yellow, half red with a green strip going across it. Haha. 

Photo compliments of Brandon, yet again!

When Brandon went to turn the car back on the brakes were out. Someone was looking out for us though, because we were right across the street from a gas station and we maneuvered in to figure out what needed to be done. A guy saw us struggling and he came over and helped the Fergusons bleed the brakes. It was just the thing because we were able to get back on the road and pick up their son from school in time. Thank goodness for the Brakes Samaritan!

Break also involved one or two trips to one of my favorite places... The Merry Baker!
It is a neat little bakery located in the ever fancy Port Louis.

The owners moved here not too long ago from South Africa. They are super friendly and they always recognize me and Patty. I guess you could say we are regulars. Haha.

Anyways, on Fridays around lunch time they do a $10EC burger bar! You can get a ground beef patty or a fish patty and Nigel, the owner, has a tiny BBQ grill and cooks up a patty for you. Then, inside, you can layer on the toppings! The best part is the homemade bakery style bun. :)

Last time I was putting some pineapple on my burger and this chap comes up to me and exclaims, " I have NEVER seen anyone put pineapple on a burger!" *laughs and walks away*
Us silly Americans will layer anything on a pile of meat! What a spectacle to see!

Break was awesome! It was so much fun to hang out with friends and play games and eat desserts and just be lazy. Ross had the great opportunity of going to the beach multiple times! How often do you get to swim in warm crystal clear waters at this time of year?
The weather has cooled down so much from when I first arrived in August. It is more temperate and there is a nice breeze. I can actually see myself enjoying living here. :) I wish it was like this all year! 

Magazine Beach -Last Day of Freedom

Almost done with summary of Holiday Break Adventures! Two more posts to go.

January 12th, 2012

The last Saturday before Ross runs off and leaves me for Term 2! Aka Last Day of Freedom!

Ross and I have been meaning to go to Magazine Beach now that we both have snorkels. It is a fantastic beach for snorkeling and you can see lots of stuff. This beach does take a little bit more coordination to get to... yep. That is where Ross and I have largely failed. Haha.

On Saturday 3:00 ish pm rolled around and I was feeling lazy and sad that our last days were dwindling. We were talking about going to Magazine Beach (again) when we heard a knock on our door! It was the lovely Patty! She said her family was headed to Magazine and that we should come and squish in their car. It was such a fantastic coincidence. Ross and I hurried and got our gear together and headed out. :)

It was a really fun afternoon. I love the Donovan family, they are such amazing and fun people to hang out with.

The waves were a bit rough but it ended up providing a lot of fun for the boys who loved jumping into the waves.

I tried some snorkeling with Ross and Sean but Sean said the snorkeling wasn't very good. Probably because the rough waves stirred up so much sand so visibility wasn't the best.

Nevertheless it turned out to be a nice relaxing day and a great way to end our break from school.

The sun setting on Holiday Break:

Fort Matthew (and Frederick)

The two forts are right across from each other!

Here at Fort Matthew you can look across and see Fort Frederick.

Am I the only one that finds these Christmas decoration remnants creepy/ unsettling/ not jolly at all? 

From my understanding Fort Matthew was a fort turned asylum turned bar. Classic. Creepy. Crumbled. Perfect! There are lots of tunnels to explore. Good thing we brought flashlights. 

The bar is in the room next to this one. I guess it isn't opened in the middle of the day. Dang. 

There were several of these signs in the corridor. I wonder if this is a frequent problem here? Haha. 

Ross exploring a tiny tunnel.

I have tons of pictures from Fort Matthew because there was so much to explore and discover.

Mostly I just want to know who the lucky person is that gets this room reserved for them.

I wonder what this room was used for...

Down some dark creepy tunnels.

dun nun nun nun dun nun nun nun...

BATMAN!!!

There were a few bats flying around, hanging around, doing their thing. 

I think maybe this used to be a row of cells? Actually, I am sure it is, you gotta kind of make up stories at places like this to have a fun time. :)

Direct TV was a big hit with the prisoners, so Ross went to go check it out.

Ross trapped in a cell, afraid because I guess there wasn't Direct TV after all.

Again, absolutely beautiful views, especially after the rain cleared up a little bit.

And one more picture from the Fort!

After Ross and I went to the beach for a little bit before we got rained out. Then we headed to Rick's Cafe to hang out with some awesome friends who are also going into Term 2. It was a fun way to end the day.

Fort Frederick (and Matthew)

After my somewhat cranky experience at Fort George, I was excited to go to Fort Matthew and Fort Frederick. I had heard good things about them.

Ross and I loaded up with the Donovans and headed up to the Forts. With dark storm clouds ever-looming we decided to bite the bullet and do it anyways! Up into the winding hills we went. First up was Fort Frederick.

Patty, or maybe it was Sean, had a silver tongue and got us in free!

When we came up these guys sprung to life and started playing is some music on their steel pans.

Nice view of downtown, you can see a cruise ship and the point on which Fort George is located.

Exploring the Fort and some of the creepy nooks.

This was the last I saw of Ross as he climbed up an unstable ladder into an abyss. Please note the broken rung on the ladder and how it is not really bolted to the ground. Haha.

Inside said abyss. It is pretty deep, and has nice rusty crusty protruding pipes.

Fort Frederick had some tunnels but most of them didn't go far.

A couple final pictures before we moved on to Fort Matthew.

Mt. Carmel (Christmas Break 2012)

For an outdoors lover like me Grenada is awesome.

Like I mentioned, I remember without fondness where I have been in past Januaries. And I would rather be loving "winter" Grenada weather than scratching ice off my car in sub degree weather!

Our next adventure was to Mt. Carmel. I have also been to Mt. Carmel, earlier last term.
Mt. Carmel involves a short-ish hike, a big waterfall (not jump-able), and a natural rock water slide!

The trail was an absolute sloppy mess. It was insanely muddy and the best tactic in some portions was to give up and slide.

I took this picture from my friend Nicole. I love little Baby Leia hanging on for dear life. Sean is a trooper.



First we hiked to the huge, gorgeous waterfall.

Did I mention that it was really muddy? The water was pretty muddy too.

Next we hiked to the water slides! It was fun, the water was just a little muddier and pretty cold. Ross loved it. I think he could've stayed in all day.

To get to the top of the slides you have to hike up the trail a little bit and over. Because there were so many of us going back and forth the trail turned into such a mess. The only hope we had was to grab on to random vines and roots hoping that they wouldn't snap prematurely. Haha. I thought it was hilarious and tons of fun but others, I guess not so much.

Fortunately much of the trail got some good sun and had dried a little. The trail is that really thick clay type mud.

On this hike you can see the ocean peaking out every once and a while!

Once again I am so grateful for friends who give us rides to have fun adventures like this. Living in the Caribbean Ross and I have a once in a lifetime adventure, we just have to make the most of the short time we have.

Seven Sisters Waterfalls (Christmas Break 2012)

Holy smokes!

I think I forgot of everything I crammed into Ross's month off from school. Hang in there, we are almost there.

One day Ross and I went with some friends to the absolutely gorgeous Seven Sisters waterfalls. I have been here before, and absolutely loved the hike. It just somehow slipped through my "add this to your blog radar." I haven't been on a ton of hikes in Grenada, but of those I have been on, this is my favorite.

Here is hiking Barbie Kristen.

Due to the insane amount of rain this country has been getting the path was pretty muddy. The entrance fee you pay for the hike includes a fabulous walking stick as modeled by yours truly in the picture above. The walking stick is a must. It really helps out.

You get to hike down then back up and out. This is my favorite part of the actual hike. It involves Spiderman-esque maneuvers to scale.

Also some mud steps with bamboo supports. Ali, engineering marvel, this is for you.

The cool thing about the hike is there are open valleys with small homes and farms then all of a sudden you are in the middle of the jungle, and crossing tiny streams.

Vines galore! It never ceases to amaze me the sheer amount of green there is in this country. Flora and fauna every where you look.

The Seven Sisters Waterfalls are seven waterfalls, ranging in size with the largest one stacking up to 35 feet!

If you look for my man Super Butterfly he will take you to the top of them and help you cross/ jump them all. But don't worry your pretty little head about finding Super Butterfly, he will pop out of the jungle when you least expect it.
Some of our friends decided to jump them all and they said the hike up was pretty crazy because the water was so much faster and higher than usual (again because of the rain).

Super Butterfly tells you exactly how and where to jump in hopes that you don't kill yourself. One guess which guy is Super Butterfly...



Here is one of the guys in our group jumping the 35 footer!



The tricky thing is in order to see the first 5 waterfalls, you HAVE to jump the 35 foot one, there is no wimping out. The pictures don't do it justice. Imagine for a second how TALL 35 feet is.
...

Now how many votes do I get for me to do it next time? Eh? Eh?

While waiting I took this cool photo with my amazing zoom.

Ross and I at the last two of the Seven Sisters Waterfalls.

On our way back we saw a wild growing pineapple. I wish there were more growing here! I don't see it very often at the markets, and they don't grow very big.

And beautiful bright flowers.