The Carenage At Night

Monday, December 23rd, 2013 (cont'd, cont'd)

It has officially taken me three separate blog posts to write about Rissa's first day here. It was really pretty to see the lights on the Carenage at night, even prettier with pretty people there!



The Carenage is a pretty interesting place. From the looks of it, Hurricane Ivan hit it pretty hard.
























From my understanding (which could be totally wrong) the Carenage was the cruise ship hub before the Hurricane. So I imagine pre-2004 it was much different.

Nevertheless, it is a beautiful place. And even more fun to stroll when the sun isn't beating down on your poor little body. Oh, and it houses Schnitzel Haus. Which I probably haven't blogged enough about yet. ;)
























We just sat for a bit and enjoyed watching the soft lull of the water, the dancing lights, and gentle rock of the boats.
























Whilst we were sitting we had a man come up to us and serenade Ross on a little (broken) plastic recorder.
Although pretty astute when it comes to a person's daily fashion choices, I would be lying if I told you I could remember all that our friend was wearing. I remember two different colored shoes, broken. A shiny hat, sunglasses, and a reflective/ glowy sash.

He "played" the recorder while staring at Ross, and before he left he taped each of our knees and thrice declared "Happy New Year!" I was, for some reason a little in awe and therefore tardy in trying to snap a picture. Also because as he was leaving, he looked back at us and let us know that be would be preforming downtown shortly.
































Honestly, I'm still a little sad I missed his likely Grammy award winning performance.

After, we decided nothing could top the Ghost of New Year's Future, so we called it quits and rode home in this awesome reggae bus. It was a huge bus and we were the only ones in it. Well, us, the driver, and airbrushed Jesus on the ceiling.

It was a fun day, and before we headed home for Christmas Eve Eve, Ross snapped this picture of a cool Nativity scene on top of the Spiceland Mall/ IGA in Grand Anse.
















Christmas is everywhere in Grenada. In America I think we are more concerned about being politically correct and cautious about beliefs, so you don't usually see Baby Jesus on top of the grocery store in December. But I think it is kind of fun.

Between Pandy, Downtown, and the Carenage, it was a fun and fun first day for Rissa.

Grenada's Independence Day!

February 7th is Grenada's Independence Day!

This year the country celebrated 39 years of independence. I'm sure many people here can remember it!

Ross had the day off from school but studied for a little bit anyways. I stayed at home sewing a skirt for the occasion which I will blog about later.

Late in the afternoon when Ross was done we headed downtown for the celebration at the national stadium. The streets were absolutely deserted. That is one difference from America's Independence Day! The streets would be packed with cars and people hustling and bustling.

I was surprised we found a reggage bus so fast but we hoped on and were on our way. The driver was serenading us with some pretty sweet tunes like Karma Chameleon and the Macarena. Another bus patron was surely lovin' it because he knew all the words to every song. Haha.

When the bus was driving through the Carenage we got stuck behind a truck with a steel pan band! I thought it was awesome, the bus driver was less amused and sped passed. Fortunately I saw the truck again at the stadium and got a picture.

Ross and I arrived to the Stadium pretty late and I think we missed the more exciting parts of the celebration. First we saw Grenada's military... I think? There was the Special Services, Police Force, Coast Guard, Prison Services, Cadets, then I forget who was next, the boy scouts or something?

They had these cute little Red Cross kids.

The crowd adored them! But do you blame them?
Love that little boy, front and center marching.

There was also an address from the Prime Minister, Tillman Thomas. It was a little depressing, him talking about how the economy is failing etc. but he threw in some hope too.

It has been an exciting year for Grenada because the country produced their first ever Olympic Gold Medalist -Kirani James! We got to hear (kinda-the quality was pretty poor) a recorded message from him on the Jumbotron.

I loved this dog running around on the field, I am sure he/she will go home and tell all his/her doggy friends that he/she met Prime Minister Tillman Thomas.

It was fun to go to the stadium and see all the Grenadians so proud of their country. Everyone was draped in yellows, greens, and reds. Lots of folks had homemade outfits.

Some other highlights were the effervescent smell of weed during the national anthem.

And this guy, dancing and balancing a soccer ball on his head for a reaaally looong time in the corner of the stadium.

Before we headed back to our apartment we stopped at the church building because our branch was supposed to be having a celebration with Oil Down, the national dish. But upon arriving we found a empty parking lot and no one in sight! Oh well. The sun was setting so we took the rare opportunity to walk along the beach together. Here is a picture from right by the church building.

Along our beach walk we got offered and heavily persuaded that we wanted to buy some weed. We declined and decided to instead celebrate independence with some Ting.

I absolutely LOVE Ting, a popular grapefruit soda here. To me it tastes a lot like Squirt but with more grapefruit flavor. Also it has little bits of grapefruit pulp. I was determined to find some to celebrate and luckily I found some at a restaurant that happened to be open. As Ross and I walked back home we sipped our Tings and almost got accosted by a very angry, very drunk, soaking shirtless man. It was a little scary. Haha. Oh Grenada!

It was a fun day! It may not have been the most exciting or exhilarating day, but it was definitely something new to try. I feel like the past couple of months have flown by so quickly. I know we still have roughly a year and a half but Ross and I are really trying to make the most of our time here. I feel like before we know it we will be on a plane headed back to the States for good.

Just Call Me Conductor

Sometimes I wonder how people here perceive me.
I am a white girl living in a country that is:

"82% black, 13% mixed black and European, 5% European and East Indian, and trace of Arawak/Carib"

What I am saying is, I stand out. It isn't so unusual in the corner of the country where I live by the University, there are lots of students there. And it isn't even very unusual downtown in St. Geroge's because there are always white tourists coming in on cruise ships and docking their million dollar yacht in the Port.

But for example when I volunteer at PAM which is much off the beaten path, I sometimes wonder what people must think about who this little white girl thinks she is chillin' in the back of a reggage bus. 

Maybe people don't wonder at all.

But on Tuesday I got to be conductor of the reggae bus!
The reggae buses, or city buses are 16/20/24+ passenger vans. The size depends and depending on how many people are willing to pay $2.50, they will cram all customers in nooks and crannies in the van. 

As I got into the bus I took the second to last seat which is where the conductor usually sits. The conductor is the one who makes change, opens and closes the door, yells at people to get in, and sometimes tells the driver where the next passenger wants to get off.

(And as the conductor got out to give me his seat he saw a girl needing to get on, some how conjured a squishy seat pad, and threw it in a cranny between the wall and a chair and that was her seat!)

So when we got going I realized that being next to the door, it was my obligation to figure out how to open the door (sometimes a complicated process) and get out so whoever wanted off could get out. I got the hang of it and it didn't take me long to want to start making change and calling to passerbys!

Unfortunately as the bus emptied I no longer needed to open the door but it was fun while it lasted. Maybe next time I can prove myself worthy to take a bigger role in the reggage bus. And people can scratch their head at the white girl reggage bus conductor.