I might marry gifs if I could. But for now I will just post a compilation of some of my favorites with a narrative.
When I asked my brother if he had seen the preview for "Pompeii" And he responded that that movie came out LAST YEAR in the U.S.
Maybe when I return to The Land Of Plenty I can see a movie within a few years of it coming out. Maybe in a movie theater, but I really don't want to push it.
When people ask me how I feel about leaving Greanda:
Then I break out into tears:
Except I do know what I am upset about. And that can be answered in so. many. ways.
When people invite me to playgroup (because they think I am that bored):
Or when people try to encourage me to go to another Girl's Night or SO activity.
When SOs see me daring to leave the island with only a mild tan.
But that's okay. Pretty soon I get to roll that pretty little suitcase into the airport and feel like:
Only to know the baggage handlers at American Airlines be like:
But that's okay because I'm going to be back in AMERICA:
In case you haven't noticed, Blogger has been getting on my nerves lately. My patience has been incredibly short as of late so I grounded myself from the blog until I feel ready to completely re-write some posts that didn't save.
Anyways. I decided that instead of talking about interesting happenings in my life, I will just ramble.
We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.
I talked before about this quote. Which in a way is similar. But for some reason when I saw this quote I was really drawn to it.
So... here I am sittin' in Grenada while Ross goes to medical school, watching as my life wastes away. And let me tell you, 10, 5, 3, not even 1 year ago, this was not the life that I planned for myself.
When I moved to Grenada over a year ago I left so much of me behind. Both tangible things, as well as ... less-tangible things. I sometimes joke about the things that exists in my "real life" the more stable, planned life that I left behind, willingly let go of. It's my real life that involves nice springform pans and cute comforters that match the shower curtain. It involves a grandmother's rocker carefully packed in storage. It involves color-coordinated kitchen things. It includes tubs full of the cutest shoes and bags full of warm winter sweaters.
And I left it all behind.
More than that, I packed up my plans. The nice neat plans that many girls tend to make before they decide to help someone else achieve their dream first.
But had I never (not even temporarily) let go of my perfect little plans, I would not have moved to Grenada to live the life that was waiting for me. The life that frustrates me, the life that makes all my hair fall out.The life that drives me nuts, the life that makes me plug my nose. The life that opens my eyes to all sorts of new beauty, the life that makes me pass out from heat exhaustion. The life that helps me relax.
The life that continually makes me cry, and teaches me the most important lessons in life.
Live for the future. Because there is a future. And it is a future filled with hope.
Quote Whatever Whenever today is just a bunch of thoughts thinly strung together.
However, I think this is pretty well-constructed and eloquent.
I don't really know what it is about us humans, but we always know what it is like (<-- sarcasm).
We all know what it is like to have a loved one die.
We all know what it is like to have have illness.
We all know what it is like to be heartbroken.
We all know what it is like to be lonely.
We all know what it is like to be depressed.
We all know what it is like to have a crisis of faith.
We all know what it is like to be relieved.
But. We. Don't.
We really don't. Because every situation is different.
Although YOU may have been through a similar event in your life, that doesn't mean you know how another person feels. I believe many people are well-meaning. But how many times do we diminish others in their time of need?
"It will get better." Okay. So what about now? What about right now in this moment when I am so *insert emotion here* (ill, heartbroken, lonely, depressed, frustrated, confused, hopeless)? What am I to do? Sit here until it passes? Cry until my eyeballs fall out? Stress until my hair falls out? Simply wait for things to get better (because we all know they will)?
It's like slapping a band-aid on a broken ankle and walking away. It's like showing up with cough drops when they need a cast and a good doctor. We write prescriptions for problems we don't see.
So why do we do that? Does it make us feel better about ourselves? Or do we honestly and sincerely think we are helping and uplifting? We confuse being sympathetic with being empathetic. We have devolved in that way.
Don't all of us, most of us, some of us just want a little validation? Don't we all just want someone to listen to what we have to say, without interjection or interruption?
If we ask a question, we should judge a little less, compare a little less, and listen a little more.
My first question (since I have HOARDS of readers) is, when your Significant Other was accepted into medical school, how did you respond?
Did you cry?
Did you laugh?
Did you panic?
Did you cheer?
Other (super exhaustive list, I know)!?
Or did you do all at once resulting in a crazy epileptic break-dance of joy and fear?
Did you feel like you were in the movie UP?
ADVENTURE ISOUTTHEEEERRRREEE!!
^I can almost promise you watching that clip will be the best four minutes of your day!
Grenada is in the West Indies, it's like India, BUT WEST! :)
After you are done being excited about moving your clubhouse and saving blank pages for all the "Stuff I'm Going to Do" you will wonder, just like Ellie,
"Only, I just don't know how I am going to GET to Paradise Falls Grenada!"
And although it would be awesome to ride in a blimpe, or float up comfortably suspended by balloons, most of us just take an airplane.
When you are booking your airfare and looking at airlines and itineraries, here is a good expectation to have.
You have American Airlines all the way to Grenada or you might find routes that includes Liat or Caribbean Airlines.
You may get lucky and have a good experience, I hope you do, for both of us!
Caribbean Airlines: Is what I call Caribbean Luggage roulette. But instead of spinning a barrel with a bullet, you put your bags on the belt at the concierge and as it rolls away, you gamble ever seeing it again in the next week, or month.
Liat Airlines: Is where you should bust a hole in the window and dive off the plane with some awesome luggage and float to Grenada because you'd get there faster, and your luggage would be guaranteed.
And America Airlines is just a pain. They like to raise prices around when students enter and leave the island and they also like to randomly cancel legs of your flight, maybe they will tell you, maybe they won't. Also maybe they will charge you for the second bag, but also maybe not.
Delta also flies to Grenada.
Generally, I stick to American. And I avoid long layovers in the icebox Trinidad and Tobago Airport. I never thought I was so close a chilly frozen death than when I was in that airport. And that is coming from a Desert Rat who lived in Utah for a spell. Yeah.
Buying your fare is always an unfortunate ordeal. Here are some suggestions from other SOs (Significant Others) that I shamelessly took from the SOs of SGU Facebook page.
-Use sites such as these to find a good deal, and don't forget to compare different days if your dates are flexible:
Booking straight from the Airline can sometimes be the cheapest, and it also often makes it easier to make changes and adjustments.
-Try splitting up your trip by booking separately. For example, fly to New York, and from NY to Grenada. Or fly to Trinidad (Port of Spain) and from there to Grenada. Might be worth it, might not. But worth a look.
-Pay attention to travel embargoes and your luggage amounts so you can pack accordingly.
When I landed in Trinidad for my layover, I had to collect my luggage, go through customs, leave the airport, and walk back in to re-check my bags through Caribbean Airlines. Although AA allowed me to have two checked bags no problem, Caribbean Airlines kinda hassled me about it, but in the end with a smile, wink, shimmy, and wide-eyed I-barely-understand-anything-because-of-your-accent look I got the second bag on without problems.
Good luck with your travel itinerary and remember:
When my dearest husband told me that he was going to apply to a medical school in the Caribbean, I laughed. I think I was conscientous enough to laugh on the inside, and my outward manifestion of desperation was masked by wide eyes.
"Huh?"
I mean, I knew he wanted to have options... but I wasn't about to sign up for some crack-pot-voodoo-magic-med-school.
*ahem*
The days went on and I began to think, "lounging in the sun for a couple years couldn't be THAT bad!"
Then I used my debit card to pay for the application. And things got REAL.
So like any self-respecting, self-proclaimed Social Scientist would do, I got to work researching. I attacked the information with ferocity! I found the Significant Others web page, I read blogs, I took notes (nerd alert!).
And I cried.
I'm not afraid to admit that. Plus, that was in my younger and more vulnerable days.
And then came the move back in with my parents, the acceptance letter, the crappy buffer jobs, and all of a sudden, we were packed and sitting in LAX for the world's most anxiety packed trip.
I must have been in a fugue state or something. Because almost a year later, here I am!
All jokes aside (because honestly, a fugue state might've been better ha...ha...ha).
My intention is to write a series of GRENADA posts to help my fellow SOs, ex-pats, and adventure-lovers -pack, arrive, and adjust to the adventure of living in Grenada! :)
I definitely have to sneak this post in before the month of March is over!
One thing I have always loved is traditions. And lucky for me my family has a lot of them! My family always joked that we are Scottish so we love any excuse for a good party, that sits pretty well with me. So although I have no Scottish heritage, I had to find some way to bring a bit of Widdison family tradition to the 17th of March.
St. Patrick's Day at the Widdison home involves your classic corned beef and cabbage, potatoes, and probably some carrots too. Don't forget the Irish soda bread. And we have to have lime sherbet and 7up floats. And my all time favorite pistachio inside out cake which I loved so much I would ask for it for my birthday. Also, you have to have Paddy's Potatoes. Okay, wow, I guess maybe we like to eat just a little. :)
Umm, I didn't make that.
Along with that the night before all of us kids would devise a leprechaun trap, of course to catch the leprechaun and find his pot of gold. Watching Darby O'Gil and the Little People every year left us pretty well informed about the tricky little guys.
Unfortunately we never caught one, but the idea of them being tricked always left them in a frenzy and they would totally trash the living room. The leprechauns would put chairs on the table, and any toys or clothes that didn't get cleaned up the night before would be hung on the ceiling fan. Sometimes they would take the couch cushions and make a fort. Somehow they made it into the kitchen and turned out milk green too!
The best part though, was that sometimes they would leave some of their "gold" and we would feast on the little Hershey's nuggets.
Well, trying to find any of this stuff in Grenada proved more difficult than I thought. Long story short, I settle for Paddy's Potatoes! This is a candy recipe my mom cut from the L.A. Times many moons ago. Pretty much they are these little peanut butter (I think they taste like Reese's) balls. You roll them in cinnamon, sugar, cocoa, and chopped peanuts. The peanuts kind of look like the eyes of the potato. Mine didn't turn out too photogenic, they got a little smashed.
But they were delicious nonetheless.
I also helped out with an S.O. Family Brunch for St. Patrick's Day. CeCe and Patty did an excellent job! It had a rainbow theme to it of course. I got there bright and early to help hang tons of rainbow streamers. They had a super cute back drop for family pics complete with leprechaun hats, beards, glasses, and beads! I graciously agreed to help CeCe with the test shot before the brunch started. They were really scrappin' the bottom of the barrel, I was the only one there at the time. Haha.
That's what I am looking like these days.
My favorite part of the holiday was that somehow the leprechauns found my kitchen here in Grenada and they turned the milk green! Ross told me I should pour a glass of milk for myself. I thought this was a little strange since I reserve the fresh dairy milk for his cereal but I obliged. Much to my glee I found green milk!
Much to his glee he is proudly sporting a green milk mustache in this picture. As Ali would say, "Oh Ron!"
I love the challenge of bringing little bits of "U.S. life" to our life here in Grenada.
The 31st of Halloween involved a lot of running around, being so domestic I almost puked, and baking so much I almost passed out in my heat box of a kitchen.
In the morning I dropped off some goods at the SO Bake Sale. All the proceeds go to the Limes after-school program that the SOs run for the kiddos.
Then I helped bake some sugar cookies and cut out bats for the Fall Fest that evening. CeCe and Patty are the Family Co-ordinators and you could tell that they worked really hard to put it all together for the student families. It turned out great and everyone had a lot of fun.
John and Patty making a balloon pumpkin
The chandeliers give a nice creepy Halloween feel
Patty made the awesome haunted houses & about 500,00 bats
I have learned in life that free events mainly attract two types of people 1) poor college kids, 2) families. I swear the families and kids came out of the woodwork for Fall Fest. Don't get me wrong, I don't blame them, it was an awesome event. The kids went trick-or-treating around campus and got candy then they came back and had fun going to a bunch of different booths like face painting and sugar cookie decorating all while munching on Halloween-themed treats!
CeCe, John and I did the fishing booth and couldn't stop laughing because the "curtain" was too short so the kids would just stare over at us as we clipped their prize to the fishing line. John tried to keep the kids back by telling them that if they got too close they would "scare the fish away," pretty clever John! But I think CeCe and I laughing so hard scared away the kids (thanks for taking these pics John!).
My classic crepper shot!
Later that night Ross was studying pretty late but we took some time to stuff our faces full of sugar I had bought earlier at the bake sale/made/inherited from Fall Fest.
Nicole made the "q-tips with earwax" eww! :)
My favorite was the Frankenstein pudding w/oreos cup Patty made for the bake sale
Since I couldn't find apple cider I warmed up some apple juice and threw some spices in. Ross decided to drink it out of a cinnamon stick.
I got intense as I was frosting my cookie
And we watched Nightmare Before Christmas, classic.
