As I sit here, merely days away from kissing this all goodbye, I decided it was time for:
The Grenada Experience in GIFs
Term 1:
You are totally excited to get to Grenada! It is Paradise after all right?! You've heard about lots of volunteering experiences, the beautiful beach, and maybe you can even try your hand at all things domestic! So you get settled in, maybe start making friends, and your anxiety of the unknown subsides.
But if you are anything like me, the dream fades. You start to realize that Grenada is a hot, sweaty, lonely experience filled with frustrations that you are doing pretty okay shaking off.
Three months in you hit a brick wall:
All of a sudden "We aren't going home at all in the two years!" or "We aren't going home til next summer." Is obviously the wrong. You break the piggy bank, and find ways to sell your soul to get home to the U.S.A. just to set foot inside a Super Target.
Term 2:
When Term 2 starts, you start to feel like you have a handle on things, that has to mean things will be easier right?! You've heard that Term 2 isn't as bad as Term 1. And you will buy in to that lie all you want. People from home are noticing that you are still gone. Maybe they chat with you about what Grenada is like and how lucky you are.
"You live in the Caribbean?! You live in Paradise"
And you're like:
Once the first month is over and the easy courses finish for your spouse, things start getting tough again. The groceries at IGA are still sparse, you are still missing buses, and your $6 USD bunch of cilantro is still somehow always rotten when you go to use it. You may find yourself indoors more often, less likely to have the motivation to do all those super awesome volunteer projects you were so excited for just months earlier. Because, you know, they require pants:
SUMMER:
You some how, as if by magic, make it to the glorious summer. Summer summer summer! In America. The land of capitalism, cheap goods, burgers, and customer service. At some point though, you have to call American Airlines. You may not even know why. A changed itinerary? A cancelled flight? Bringing a pet? Bringing extra bags? It is inevitable. So you call, and after transfers, holds and talking to the next available agent, you might just hang up fuming"
Term 3:
Maybe you come back late for Term 3/4, like a sane human being. I had a lot of friends saying how much they missed the island. How happy they were to be coming back. I didn't get it. I remember riding home from the airport with Ross and his friend. It was this weird feeling. It was dark outside, and the hot sticky air was settling in on my skin. Like it or not, I was back. The 10 month countdown silently began.
Term 3 isn't too bad. But the whole time you just have this dark storm cloud of Hellacious 4th term looming over you:
Term 4:
Term 4 starts and you are totally psyched in to the evil. That is when a bunch of brand new smiling people enter the island for the first time. Your already entropic trip to IGA has been interrupted by everyone else who needs the same bread, milk, cereal, and chicken:
Term 4 is some how not as terrible as you thought - it is a hundred times worse.
It's like you can see this Titanic headed straight for the iceberg. Being a Leo fan, you know exaclty what is going to happen:
As 4th term is wrapping up and you are still not sure you will make it, you realize that the relief of summer after 2nd term was nothing.
Term 5:
You have a wonderful break. Maybe in Grenada, maybe in the U.S. Term 5 is next. You never thought you would see the day. But you leave the island in just a few months now! Somehow time drags on. You remember that although nothing could be as bad as Term 4. This is still medical school, and not that much ever really changes:
The talk always seems to turn to the next step. That is, studying for The Step and where you move next. Everyone is all abuzz with the most important question:
"Where do you want to go for rotations?":
And then the countdown begins:
#5daysforme!
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