Flamingo Bay, Up-cycling Tires, and The Schnit

Driving/ riding in Grenada is always a fun adventure. I mean that in several different ways.

In one way, there is always something fun to see. Reggae bus and taxi vans tend to have really awesome decals. Many have little sayings or quotes.

Like so many things in Grenada, please let your imagination run wild and derive your own meaning - you're probably right.


Driving past the National Stadium.



















Driving along the west coast towards Flamingo Bay.


























I've only been to Flamingo Bay once before. It is a fun place to search for sea glass. It's a bit tougher, because unlike Pandy beach, the sea glass is all in the sea still. This means you kinda get smashed around by the surf, but it can be worth it to find some amazing pieces.

You walk down a steep path to the bay. 

Absolutely stunning!



































It's a fun little walk along the beach. We all know I have an obsession with taking pictures of boats on the beach. I love that the tarp on this boat is a carib banner. Carib is the local beer. 3 for 10 EC ($3.70 USD) man!


















Once we got down to the beach we set up camp and started to eat.

Out of no where, we turned and saw we had a little friend. He timidly talked to us for a little while and I wasn't sure if I should ignore him so he would leave, or offer him food or what. But Rissa, being the friendly person she is, struck up a conversation with him.

Since I am blogging about this about a month and a half after it happened, I can't even remember the details. I remember him talking about soccer and Messi (of course), his 6 brothers, his huge "more than good!" Christmas dinner. He explained that he lived close by and I think it is pretty apparent that his life consists of going to school and just hanging out with tourists on his beach. Oh and also, let the record show that he plays football waaay better than Messi.



Almost magically, all at once, we were swarmed with a gaggle of small children.

Seriously. There were about 9 little children, all but one were little boys. I think most of these were Keon's (was that his name?) brothers. They were kind of crazy. Taking an old oar out into the sea with reckless abandon. They almost clocked Rissa or Ross on a couple occasions. They were pretty terrified of the waves, screaming when even the smallest wave would approach. The boys really liked Rissa, they were her little shadows, and she let them play with her swimming goggles. There were pretty excited about that.

We hung out, snorkeled, and found some cool sea treasures, but had to eventually bid adieu to our little friends.

Along the way there/back there is this fun tire work of art. 



One day I asked Ross, where do they put all the leftover tires? I mean, you go through them so quickly on pot-hole ridden roads like these, but it's such a small island... where do they dump them?

Ta-da!! The work of art is pretty impressive and spans quite a bit of road.

Went went home, got scrubbed up and headed to the one and only Schnitzel Haus. I don't blog about everything, but I am 95% sure I blog about every time I go the Schnitzel Haus. The food is amazing. I will definitely miss it when I leave Grenada.


























I think this makes me gluttonous but ... I'm drooling.

We ordered a couple "Big Spezis." It's a German drink, served in a huge mug. It's half coke half orange Fanta. It's pretty good!  It's what you get a a German restaurant when you don't drink alcohol.

It was such a fun day, by the end of the day we were pretty amazing at all we had accomplished!

Feeding monkeys at Grand Etang, hanging out at the Crater Lake, Annandale Falls, Flamingo Bay, then Schnitzel Haus. Some times living on a tiny island has it's perks!

Pre-Game: Step 2 CS

Since I don't drink, I've granted myself the liberty to change the meaning of "pre-game" to mean something entirely different.

Pre-game in this context means going out to eat before med school "game time." Aka before Step 2 CS. Remember that monster exam that Ross took last summer after studying non-stop? This exam is the first part of the second set of licensing board exams and focuses on Clinical Skills. The exam is series of mock appointments with patients presenting with different symptoms. Ross has about 10-15 minutes to talk to the patient, take notes, and do a physical exam. Then he has to type it up, determine what tests he would order, and write a diagnosis. It all goes really fast. Ross has been studying really hard and I've been able to help him. I had maybe a little too much fun pretending to be patients with different symptoms.

But soon I developed a very real and life-threatening symptom- my chronic disease of hanger. We decided it was time for lunch. We both had the day off, so I figured it was the perfect time to try this German food place in San Bernardino. I've had my eye on it for months, but it has horrible hours and is never open when we are around. I kind of explained it, but Ross is so used to me dragging him to random (awesome) places that he just went with it.



And I'm glad we did! We have kinda been hooked on German food ever since Schnitzel Haus. So we were excited to give this place a try. I love their line, "Best of the Wurst." Get it?! 

We were the only ones around and it didn't take us long to order. Part hanger, part being able to navigate a German food menu. Turns out all that humiliation at awful pronunciation at Schnitzel Haus paid off. 

I've realized that I kinda really hate taking pictures with or of my food. Like I'm some social media celebrity. But then again, I can't seem to stop myself. 

Maybe because a smile doesn't get more forced than the minutes between when your food arrives and when you scarf it down. I got the wienerschnitzel and Ross got a sausage sampler plate. The warm potato salad was to die for and even the red cabbage wasn't too bad. They also had warm rye bread and butter while we waited. 

We pre-game pretty serious so we saved room for dessert, which was black forest cake. I guess the baked goods actually come from a German bakery elsewhere. But when it tastes that amazing, I don't really care where it comes from! 

Later that evening Ross was to head out to a motel room he booked in LA for the evening. I was bored and doing nothing so I tagged along. Again we learned the valuable lesson "location, location, location." The Travelodge room was the tiniest thing ever. It was kinda dingy but is right next to LAX (and the testing center) so it cost about $120/ night. Wowzers! 

The thing with this exam, is that it is held in very select locations. We are lucky enough to live close to LA, but people fly to the United States from around the globe to take this exam. Even friends from Northern California had to drive down to take it here. 

And I always tell Ross that when it comes to medical school stuff we "spare no expense." I'll eat ramen for the next month if it means he can save himself the headache of a two and a half hour drive in traffic at 5am before his big exam. Of course, the funny part is that after all that ramen, I'll probably need a doctor to help pump my stomach or cure cancer or revive me from sodium poisoning. Cheers!

Sweetie! Schnit, and Urchel: Family Visit Day 2

I decided that Monday was a good day to get an early start and show the parents around downtown St. George's. 

It was a simple and quick trip because it can be a bit taxing to wander with deathly hot streets at your feets, "sunshine" "sweetie" "no charge for looking" in your face, and spice necklaces up your nose.

My sister and I did what we do best and made fun of all the cruisers aka 60+ers that get grabby for souvenirs. Sorry g-ma but I promise your granddaughter doesn't want that sparkle flip flop key chain, so stop stressin'.

However, Ali and I found these super neat-o souvenirs. Cass, you know which picture is for you! We made it a two fer ... or a three fer if you decide you like that cute duck face I made.

Highlights of our downtown romp include:

• Not getting ripped off
• My favorite honey roasted peanuts 
• Gelato

• Clearance fruit roll ups
• Batik fabric
• And a chocolate truffle shake that took longer to acquire than consume

and

• making my parents remember how fragile life is by walking through the Sendall Tunnel. 

We went back to the hotel and went for a little swim in the front yard. No kiddie pool required.

Highlights include: 

• looking for sea glass
• finding a pet sea urchin

Finding and playing with Urchel (whom, yes, I just named right now) was pretty fun. I honestly never thought sea urchins would be so playful. If I was a real mermaid, this would be my pet of choice. 

We made a reservation at Schnitzel Haus for dinner. I'm sure all of you know how on the fence I am about this restaurant (<-- sarcasm="">

Highlights include:

• Photo Op at dusk in the Carenage
• Everything at Schnitzel Haus

I love the way the setting sun highlights the vibrant colors of the Carenage.

Beautiful people in beautiful places, about to eat some beautiful food. 

Sisters are the best!

Who do you think is older? Me or Ali?

Downtown Part 1: Christmas Break Adventures

I have a short attention span and having no obligations just exacerbates the problem. I start to write a blog post, and get side tracked and forget about it. Haha. That's me for ya!

So I am here today to post some pictures from the awesome adventures Ross and I had during Christmas break! For the most part we stayed on our little corner of the island.

Our first trip was to go explore around downtown.
St. George is a port along the cruise ship trail and cruise ship season is in full swing! I have a hard time tolerating "cruisers." There is something about them that automatically rubs me the wrong way. Here is a HUGE cruise ship you can see from a restaurant in the mall. Ross was stunned at how big the ship was. He might have stared at it all day.

It was a pretty nice day downtown, until I took note of those looming rain clouds. Did I mention the rainy season is in full swing too? I have been downtown dozens and dozens of times. But any trip downtown I take with Ross, the weather takes note and decides to POUR rain out of the sky.

It was still a fun time though. We spent it dodging in and out of the rain.
Ross and I have very much enjoyed sampling the "local" candy bars. Local is in quotes because they aren't actually made here. Haha. But they are 1/2 the price as American candy bars. It's fun to try the different ones, some of them taste exactly like my favorite ones from the States.
This time we grabbed some Lunch. :) Probably my favorite one so far.

For a more substantial lunch we headed to the Carenage to eat at Schnitzel Haus!

Please note the German flag flying proudly.

As we entered we were greeted by a very happy German with long white hair and a Hawaiian shirt. Groovy man. Guten tag!
We ended up just buying a couple appetizers and it was amazing! Ross was in love with the bratwurst and I was in love with the cheese. Yeesss. :)  A big shout out to family who helped make this meal possible via monetary funds. It has been great to have a little extra money to go do fun things like this!

Dorky tourists love to ride this little train on tours downtown. Haha.

The rain was really on and off. I heard a local once say
"Grenadians are afraid of three things.
1.) Guns
2.)Dogs
and
3.) Rain."

And sure enough, as soon as the rain started everyone who, minutes before was lounging on the street, crammed into these phone booths! That acid Caribbean rain will get ya every time! Hurry!

The rain cleared up and we headed out. The food at Schnitzel Haus was really good and I want to go back again and try spaetzle purely in honor of my father!

As Ross and I were walking we found some fun stuff.
Santa!

Lucas Street here in Grenada! Brigette, your family's legacy lives on here in the Caribbean. :)

As it turns out it was a pretty long day downtown, so I will finish up the trip in Part 2....

2014 Review in Pictures

I am a little embarrassed to say that when New Year's Eve rolls around I don't always feel particularly impressed or grateful for all that has elapsed in the past 365 days.

But this year is different. Last night I was laying in bed, thinking, "WOW! Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and then it's a whole new year!" I've been spending my time off writing and catching up on my blog posts of things that have happened months ago. It has really got me thinking of what a truly amazing year I have had. I tend to be a bit skeptical come my birthday that the next year will be as great as everyone wishes for me. But as I stand on the cusp of 2015, I feel so lucky to have had so many adventures in these past 12 months. I have a bit of a tradition to be held to on this blog. 12 pictures for 2012, 13 pictures for 2013. It feels only right that this year is 14 pictures for the year 2014.

2014 in 14 Pictures!

1) January
Okay, Okay, I already cheated, this collage counts as one photo. January 2014 might have been my favorite month in the whole time I lived in Grenada. We hiked Mt. Qua Qua, which was an exhausting but rewarding adventure. And we traveled to the northern island of Grenada called Carriacou. If you can believe it, Carriacou is 5 x more beautiful than Grenada. If you offered to give me a vacation to Grenada I would debate it, but if you offered me a vacation to Carriacou, I would go in a heartbeat. We also built this little sand-snowman to rub in the fact that we live in a beautiful, sunny, sandy place.

2) February
This might be the most cliche picture of the year: Husband love on Valentine's Day. But when your spouse is in medical school, there comes a point when you stop expecting things or, you end up picking up your own gifts or goodies on your bus trip to the store. On top of that, holiday goodies are always expensive in Grenada. You can imagine my surprise when I came home from work to find all this! My favorite chocolates, and lots of other goodies.

3) March 

In March, my parents visited Grenada. You can read about the whole trip here. It was an amazing and blissful week. It was fun to have my family here to show them the beauty and nightmare that Grenada can be. We took hundreds of photos all over Grenada but I settled on one that is a little more unconventional. An unexpected activity while they were here was hand fishing up at Grand Etang. Pretty freaky, hilarious to watch. 

4) April 

Was a pretty simple month as the pictures tell. Kind of the calm before the storm, the second to last mile in a marathon (I would suppose). I chose a picture that depicts every day life in Grenada. Not a beautiful beach picture, or a fancy dinner, but waiting at the bus stop. I would venture to say that a great part of my Grenada days were spent just waiting for the bus (well and missing the bus and walking/running to the bus). I look at the picture and am struck with fondness and horror, I can feel the sun bearing down on my face and sweat gathering on my body. But even now looking back, it still seems so far away to me. Just waiting with Ross for a bus. 

5) May 

Our favorite place to eat in Grenada was Schnitzel Haus. As I was fed up and ready to leave the island, people would ask what I would miss the most. I would usually half jokingly answer with, "Schnitzel Haus." On this occasion we went out to eat with my friend Krystle who is more likely who I will really miss when I leave Grenada. Here we are with the owners of the restaurant. The most lovely, happy Germans maybe ever.

6 & 7) June 

June might have been the most jam-packed month. And I say that now knowing that moving and securing housing would happen. June was a month of visiting friends and family. Friends in Vernal, family in Utah, family in Kentucky, family in Tennessee. How could I possibly limit the photos from that month?! I already cheated with the collage so I will try to do this with only TWO. 

Could you find two happier friends (read about my Vernal trip here)? I think we are laughing at something Larry said. Most likely.

FOUR of us in one picture. That deserves a post, or check out my entire Kentucky trip here. 

8) July 

I'm starting to sound a little insane and self-imprtant when every month is the next "big" month. But I guess July wasn't BIG so much as it was ultimate happiness when this moment came. I can almost promise that I will never get sick of this picture. The moment when after two years, Ross could finally, and completely take a deep breath. I can't remember the last time I saw him so happy. Read about that moment more here. 

9) August

In August we got to road trip back to California with my grandparents. And as scary as the unknown is, how bad can it be when family is so close? I feel so honored to spend time with my grandparents. They are the coolest, funniest, most generous and caring people I know. 

10) September

As Ross and I settled in, we spent every spare moment with my sister or parents, or BOTH! One trip we took was to see a giant inflatable duck in the San Pedro harbor. We had lunch at the fish market. I still need to blog about it. Even with all the pictures we took with that duck, this one is my favorite. My mom hates pictures and I feel so happy when she agrees to be in one. I love my momma and I love getting pictures with her.

11) October 

I love doing a year review because (and as corny as this sounds) it is really humbling. I think part of that is because compared to last year, this year has been bursting at the seams with family and friends. All the stress and issues in my life fade when I can see I am so constantly surrounded by love.

In October my bestie and her fam forsook their comfortable home to stay in my tiny apartment for a night. It was a blast! I love that family with all my heart and hanging out with my godson brings so much light and life to my life. Being best friends (at least with this girl) means that we often have identical clothing. From our glasses to shirts to pants, we could swap wardrobes and not even notice. A bit ridiculous, yes.

12 & 13) November 

I could go on and on about all the fun things I've done each month, but I realize that is why I have this blog in the first place. I have to remind myself that this is just a review. November isn't often my favorite month, it tends to be filled with the mundane and stressful. But this November was the best month of the year. 

With all the pictures you take on a road trip across america, and all the family and friends you see along the way, I choose this one to represent. It was the longest day of the road trip. And pretty tiring. It takes a special kind of person to be stuck in the car with for a whole week, but lucky for me, I was "stuck" with my sister. My sister who can help me keep a smile on my face even after long stressful days. 

Even with how wonderful the month was, I choose yet another random photo. Because it embodies pure happiness. Ross bought me a large pink donut with sprinkles. My eyes are filled with joy.

14) December

The last month of it all. And on the first day of this month I started a new job. And excuse my vulgar language, but I am pretty damn proud of myself. Probably a little more proud than I should be for being a 25 year old with a full time job. I know that is simply what I am supposed to do, but sheesh it was a feat. And sheesh I am tired and exhausted at the end of the day. I will get the hang of it, but for now I am will keep this beaming smile through adversity. 

So there you have it! I can't believe this year is over. It seems like Carriacou in January was ages ago. It has been an incredible year filled with adventure and plane rides. 2015 has big shoes to fill, but I am excited to see how it can even exceed this year. Come at me bro! 

Spring Break: Go Wild!

On Friday Ross finished his last exam of the first round of midterms. It's times like this when a little candle flame of hope flickers, and you gotta take advantage while you can.

Saturday some of our friends were celebrating a belated birthday by getting day passes at a nice resort. Ross and I didn't get the day pass, but that didn't stop us from hanging out on the beach and having a nice relaxing day.

The resort is on a small beach that I have never been to, Groom's beach.

It has a mix of white and black sand with decent shade (always a plus). The snorkeling was absolutely amazing. I've always just gone to Magazine beach for snorkeling, but I have been missing out all this time. I saw bright yellow fish, iridescent fish, striped fish, corals, and a sea fan forest. It's moments like that when I really wish I had an underwater camera.

It was so nice to sit in the sun and relax. I love pina coladas, and I have been trying them wherever I go. I got one at the resort (La Luna) and it was really really good.

Mmm. I felt so fancy sitting at the tiki bar sipping my drink staring over the chic pool out towards the beautiful water.

The friends that got the day passes got access to their paddleboards, kayaks, snorkel stuff, hobie cats, etc. They had fun taking them for a spin. The birthday girl Ida had fun doing some yoga while she was out.

Our friend Ethan took a couple pictures for us, no need for selfies today!

Eventually we headed home so we could get cleaned up and go out to dinner.

One guess where we went. Here is a hint.

Yes, none other than Schnitzel Haus! It was, amazing as always. We went with Ross's friend Ethan. He was joking that this was their Spring Break, so they could go all out.



Yeap, this is how we spring break, going to the beach and eating out. Haha. Ethan got an appetizer for us to share, and we all got desserts. I liked these even better than the apple strudel last time. Ross and I got an "Ice Pancake," ice cream in a crepe with whipped cream and a cherry. Ethan got "Hot Love" which was warm raspberries with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. Since I was little I loved the combination of hot and cold in desserts (thanks dad!).

Let the record show that Ethan's shirt was not actually that tight. I honestly have no idea how the picture turned out like that. 

It was a truly unforgettable day. Lots of fun with great friends.