10 Ways to Look Younger

I hate to disappoint, but I have no idea how to look younger, but I might have an idea on how to feel better about yourself.

One of my Christmas gifts was a magazine. I hadn't realized I hadn't seen one in four months until this shiny glossy thing was presented to me. I was eager to tear into as it was one of my favourite magazines "Real Simple". As I flipped through the pages I began to feel a real sense of lack and at the same time desire. Oooh look at that lip gloss and I love that scarf. But then I realized my friend Erin would look much better in that scarf, I can never pull those things off. Wait a minute it is 33 degrees outside what am I thinking of?

For the past four months I have not been exposed to advertising. No one is selling me a lifestyle I can't afford, no 10 ways to do this or that. No how to make quick healthy meals in 30 or 20 or 10 minutes.There is no such thing as product placement in the stores I shop in and there are no magazines on this island so I am not constantly looking at what I don't have. It feels so much better to just focus on what you need- presently that is milk, only one store sells it and they haven't had it in for the past week, and we are officially out after this cup of tea.

The only places that do product placement and store design are the boutique hotels shops and the Port. Yesterday I went down to the Port to get a little something for my sister and everything caught my eye- bracelets, purses, dresses, dip bowls. I wanted everything. I especially wanted the clothes. I have never found my own style, but looking at these airy yachting clothes I thought this is ME! I am light, yet bold; elegant yet casual. But then my hair is crazy and my shoes don't match. Hey there is a salon here and they sell the cutest sea shell sandals...

Leaving the store was a mixture of happiness (I got my sister something) and jealousy- I want those things. But one dress was $230 USD or about a 1/3 of my salary. I had been marketed to and it worked. I had not felt that desire for things in so long I forgot that I was capable of really desiring clothes or shoes or honestly the cutest beer bottle opener that was a fish...

So if you want to look better and feel younger, stay away from magazines that convince you that you need something more to look beautiful or be happy. Also be aware of how you are being marketed to wherever you are, whether it is the convenient chocolate bars at the checkout or the windows of stores.  Most of the time we don't need stuff we come home with, we just want it. But stuff has never made us younger- maybe a little lighter in the pocket but that is about all.

What did you get?

This is a question that we all ask family and friends at Christmas. But in Grenada not one person asked us this question!! It was like a weight was lifted from me by not having to list this thing and that thing, people were interested in how I was, not what I got.

Big smiles but no big presents! Amazing.

Christmas morning in Grenada had us getting up and lighting our stove (I got it on the first match whoo-hoo) to make tea and coffee. There was no tree and no presents strewn about. There is also no wrapping paper here - well there is but you buy it by the sheet at a specialty store, same thing goes for the Christmas bags. So presents were given by just presenting them to people. Each boy got one present from us and my mom brought some gifts from back home.

It was so different however from our "normal" Christmases, where I am doing last minute wrapping until 11 or 12 p.m., ensuring the house is perfect so that when the boys come down it looks magical. The house here looked no different than it did on December 15 than it did on December 25th- maybe a titch tidier but there was no big transformation to scream "Christmas Day".

Back home once the boys are up I am frantically trying to keep track of who got what from whom, so I can attempt to make sure the proper people are thanked for the proper things. Then those people phone and you feel like shit when you forget one little thing, or someone asks about a gift they gave and you can't for the life of you think that you saw that particular thing.

I also have to hold gifts back because this person wants to see that person open a gift or we have to take these gifts somewhere else to be open. It is like coordinating an orchestra with musicians who just want to play their own tune!

Simple decorations- great friends

So this year it was amazing to have so little and then to be thankful for the things that you did get. Brent got two jars of crunchy peanut butter, I got a tube of goop for de-frizzing my hair, Owen got a puppy stuffie and Aiden got a wooden car. Of course there were other gifts but they weren't extravagant and for the first time in forever I did not feel like $50 was simply being moved around from person to person. (In fact I see this sometimes where A gives B a $50 gift card for wherever and then B gives A a $50 gift card to somewhere else.) It just all seems a little crazy and unnecessary.

As I was contemplating how wonderful and stress free this was Christmas was I started thinking about why it was so stressful in Canada. This is my "Grown Up Christmas List" of why Christmas is stressful back home:

1. We spend months (some people start right after Christmas) looking for the "perfect" gifts for people who we love, but in reality we are trying to impress others with our cleverness at how well we know them. The gift then becomes a reflection of the giver and deep feelings are held about how good a job they have done, which can then lead to hurt feelings or a sense of rejection when the gift isn't deemed as perfect by the receiver.
2. We over spend- a lot. I remember when the boys were 2 and 4 a woman at work telling me she spent $500 per child. I thought she was off her rocker. We have never spent that much. But if you adding in time looking, and all the filler gifts, trying to balance gifts so that Aiden didn't get more or less than Owen, it starts to add up. I usually have a gift budget that I start in January $100 a month get put away for $1200 in December. I am quite sure no one remembers what I got them last year for Christmas or for birthdays therefore in essence I have thrown away $1200 to make someone happy for a day or two and prove that I care for them through consumption.
3. We spend hours decorating our homes inside and out. I believe I have no less than six Rubbermaid buckets of decorations that get dragged out and heaved up stairs. Then I have to find places for all these nick knacks (many of which I absolutely hate but must keep out of obligation) and yet somehow make it all feel like Martha Stewart has blessed my house. Instead I always feel I have pulled up short of the magical look my house should have for Christmas.
4. We spend hours baking and cooking and fussing in kitchens so that we can present to our family and friends dinners and teas that look like they came out of Home and Garden magazine. We need runners and placemats and name cards all to make things look just so, as we fall into sofas exhausted from the effort. Only to tell people "it was nothing".
5. We send cards to friends and it sometimes feels like a competition as to who has the most cards displayed- see people really do like us they sent us cards! And again if you don't get your cards out in time you feel guilty about your inability to manage your time and your contact lists.
6. We have not only taken Christ out of Christmas we have definitely put the "I am" in it.
• I am a good parent because my child got everything they wanted
• I am a good hostess because my home looks like a Victorian Christmas card
• I am a good friend because I got my cards out
• I am a good cook or baker
• I am a good family member because I drive all over the place rather than take time to just relax and reflect showing what a dutiful son/daughter, niece/nephew I am

For me a Grenadian Christmas is way more normal than what we are doing. $20 in decorations thrown up the night before and a meal that doesn't take hours in the kitchen. Although I will note that most Grenadians will make a ham that they cook for hours usually over an outdoor fire- but this is a very social time and there is no cook to compliment it is a group effort with no fancy serving platters or dishes, just good food served with good friends and family.

So if you are like me and find the "holidays" a little overwhelming, see what you can do less of instead of trying to do more. Set limits and stick to them (I knew everyone needed to be gone by three to get a good swim in on Christmas day and out the door the guests went!). Appreciate friends and family throughout the year and realize that the Little Drummer Boy had it right; no one needs more gifts and it is not a competition, just bring yourself. If people aren't happy because there is nothing in it for them, then maybe your time should be spent elsewhere.

Pass by Me

One of my favourite Grenadian turns of phrase is "pass by me"

meaning come and stop to see me on your way.

Today was Christmas and my neighbour had asked me to host some of the neighbours for lunch. So I invited my Cuso colleagues, Mr. Campbell from NEWLO and of course our neighbours. Everyone was going to bring something to put lunch together.

At 10:00 a.m. Meena arrived to say "What was it I was bringing?" That would be a Grenadian fish dish, rice and peas and drinks. Oh! I don't have that. Hmmm. My two tourtieres were in the oven, potatoes were on for a huge mashed potatoes and I had made a soup with the green bananas that Mrs. Douglas had given me on Tuesday. I was totally unconcerned about this turn of events. I am really learning to let go of everything that I cannot control . My mom was concerned. But I reminded her the worst that would happen is people might be hungry and that they would go home and eat a little more! Oh well.

Nancy and Myriam from Cuso arrived with veggies and crackers and cheese as well as cupcakes and the most heavenly dessert that Myriam had made. They were followed closely by Mr.Campbell and a friend of his daughter. Brent let us know Janice and Meena would be late so we started with the crackers and veggies and then on to soup. Just before I got my bowl a steel pan band on a flat bed came rolling by playing "Feliz Navidad". Everyone agreed that just made the day!

Then after Meena and Janice had arrived, I had a special visitor- Mrs. Douglas and her daughter, who had come to pick up her daughter's fiancé! I was so happy she passed by me, and stayed for some Sorel, the soup I had made with her bananas and some tourtiere. It was so lovely to sit out on the deck and be surrounded by all these new friends.

Me & Mrs Douglas at the far end

Meena did bring drinks and a rice dish and in the end there was plenty for everyone, including a plate for Mr. Douglas back in Grenville. Mr. Campbell held court, telling story after story of Grenada and thoroughly entertaining my guests. The poor man is lucky he is a vegetarian or his food would have gone cold, lucky for him it was already cold!

In the end 19 plates of food were consumed, although only 12 at our home, the rest were brought to others. And yet it was no stress, with everyone relaxed and comfortably fed.

At 3:00 p.m. we shooed everyone but our Cuso friends out and then we all headed to the beach for a swim.

It was lovely to have such good company, with laughter and hugs all around.

So when I get back there will need to be more people passing by me, as an unexpected friend is the best Christmas gift. (Although the soft plush slippers my sister gave me are a close second!)

A White Nativity

Sadly on Monday night we had to go to the IGA and get milk (one of the few places you can buy fresh milk). Lo and behold there was a live nativity play going on being hosted by the Mennonite church!

We got there just as Caesar was declaring a tax on the world- hooray the beginning. I thought my mom would LOVE to stay and watch it. After all there were carols, and bible readings, right up my mom's alley.

No absolutely not! She did not want to stay to see "this"!! What was the problem? There were even live animals, it was awesome! She did not want to see white people leading a service or a choir. Now Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus were all Grenadian, so I was a bit shocked by her response. As we were walking away I asked my mom what exactly her United Church missionaries were doing that was so different than this?

Mom stopped to think about it. Really not much. It is funny how when you are back home missionary work seems noble and valuable and then when you see it in another country it seems really colonizing and patronizing. I am not saying it always is but it just looks and feels that way when you see it.

I am actually really surprised the Mennonites are here, because I have trouble imagining a more Christian country than Grenada. Meetings start and often end in prayer. Religion is openly and warmly discussed in the workplace, on the street and in the news and radio. So there is really no need to convert anyone here- mission accomplished.

If anything Grenadians should be coming to Canada to convert our population back. But I think that ship has sailed, but the idea that they have more to offer us in this department is perhaps a wake up call about who has the moral authority to be missionaries.

Of course most Grenadians are also very humble and would never consider doing such a thing. They are content to praise their Lord Jesus Christ and are very tolerant of the various denominations and to a large extent other faiths.

I really admire their faith and I have learned so much about Catholicism and the Pope  since moving here  I feel like a more rounded person for my time here. I had not realized how separate Protestants and Catholics are in Canada, mainly because we don't discuss our faith. Apart from some Quebecois friends I have almost no Catholic friends and I really didn't realize it. I can only think of one of my mom's friends who is Catholic (love you Rosemary), so it runs in the family. In fact my grandfather once told my mom she could not marry a Catholic!!

Mrs. Douglas, Sister MaryAnn and Sister Margret have made me realize that I am really missing out, so when I get back to Canada I am going to try to expand my social circle a bit, as these three women are three of the most amazing women I know.

I also know they would have stayed to watch the nativity because God is good no matter what colour your skin or who is singing in the choir.

An oasis in paradise- Carriacou

Grenada is made up of three islands and seven parishes. Carriacou (pronounced carry-a-coo) is a small island with a population of about 6,000 and Petite Martinique with a population of about 800. To get to Carriacou you need to take a ferry from St. George's to Hillsborough.

The process of taking the ferry should be fairly simple, you can start boarding at 8:30 and it leaves at

9:00. Well it is supposed to leave at nine, but the reality is that the boarding process is a chaotic orchestra that is very out of tune. It seems that most people realize that the ferry does not indeed leave at 9:00 so people show up between 8:30 and 9:30ish. On board beside me was either a Swiss or German fellow, his wife and young travelling companions. He was looking at his watch every few minutes and at 9:00 said to me "They assured me that the ferry was the only thing on the island that did leave on time!". Looking at how many passengers and stuff needed to be boarded I knew we would be late leaving. And we were, one hour late leaving!

The voyage over was pleasant there is an air conditioned section that accommodates all passengers and for those who wish they can travel up on top and watch the coastline go by. Once you turn into the open Atlantic the seas are definitely rougher and my mom was happy she took the Gravol.

Getting off the ship took about a 1/3 of the time, although luggage is stored in a hold below, so first one on is last one off. Meaning you are punished twice for being on time, waiting the longest of anyone- now I see why people come late!

We stayed at Ade's Dream which we could see for the dock, so we just dragged our luggage to the hotel. Hotel would be giving a bit more credit than it deserves it is more of a hostel, but at about $35 a night it is a bargain. We had two rooms one with two doubles and one with just a double. Both

Ama's $10XCD lobster dinner!

rooms should have faced a nice quiet green space. But the owner came to tell us that there was going to be an event that night and that the people organizing it always went over the top. Living across from three bars I was not too worried about it as we go to sleep most nights with a couple of different bars playing music and we manage. Well this was not playing music this was blaring music to the top capacity of the subwoofers. We were in a concrete building and I felt sea sick from the sound waves hitting us. Thank God we got the boys to sleep before it started and they both managed to stay asleep. The adults on the other hand, we were up until 3:30 when it finally ceased with a shout out from the DJ to "find your shoes" since no buses were running.

Work has trained me to get up by 6:00 a.m. so, up I got and Brent and I went out to look for some bread. We found a lovely bakery off the main street. We were about to give up on finding it when a passing car yelled "They are in the back!". So down an alley and around the back we went, where the bakers were pulling fresh baked bread out of the oven. We all had hot bread, no butter, no peanut butter, just yummy warm white bread for breakfast and Brent hunted down a cup of coffee for my mom.



The #10 to Paradise Beach

We had decided to take a bus for a place called "Paradise Beach" which sounded like a good place to go. Since I take buses all the time in Grenada I was not too worried about taking buses in Carriacou  the station was easy to find because it was behind the hostel. We packed up all our snorkeling gear and headed for the station. We didn't even get to the station before a bus going where we wanted to head picked us up. It was the Christmas 10 bus, because inside it was decorated with tinsel and when the doors opened the LED lights lit up. Our driver was signing Elton John tunes and was just so friendly. He charged us exactly the right rates for each person, dropped us right at the beach and then arranged to meet us back at noon.

Once there we could see Sandy Island. It was $35XCD per person to go. This was hard because even though it is not very much, I make very little. The owners of Harwood bar said they wouldn't charge 

for the boys and we decided it was a once in a lifetime experience so lets go! Boy are we glad we did. The snorkelling was amazing. Live coral reef and all kinds of tropical fish, Owen and I even found a squid! My mom, who grew up in Saskatchewan and is not a strong swimmer, even wanted to try. Brent helped her out about 100 ft and then she was able to see the coral, but no fish- even though there were hundreds! I think a combination of fear and being full of a cold from Canada were impeding her senses. That and she never puts her head under water so this was pretty huge for her!

Poor Brent there was a guy kite boarding and we had hemmed and hawed about bringing his gear and opted not too. He had brought along the trainer kite, so while Mr. I-own-a-catermaran- and-kiteboard-in-my-unlimited-leisure-time was zipping around, Brent got to practice with his wee little kite. At noon we headed back to Ade's and all the adults fell sound asleep after a light lunch.

I should mention the rooms had tvs- with cable, with HGTV so while the adults slept the boys ODed on some brothers buying and fixing houses and "Love It or List It". Living here has made it sooo hard for me to watch shows like that. All I hear is whining about everything and not being happy/grateful for what you have. One woman who was going to have her fourth baby wanted two dish washers and two washing machines! I felt ill. The boys however are very able to separate their reality from the "reality" tv they were watching. So in the end everyone was happy.

Sunday buses don't run so your options are limited. I had "investigated" getting to Petite Martinigue but the Osprey doesn't run there on weekends. And stupid me, because in Grenada you do not get information by researching on the internet, you have to talk to people. Sure enough, Monday (when we were leaving) we found out boats go everyday back and forth and it was quite easy to buy passage!! So I feel a little sheepish about not figuring that one out in time. Thus Sunday we just lounged about the hotel. Aiden, Ama and I went for a walk to a secluded, but not very nice, beach.

Later in the day Aiden and I went for a long hike around some back dirt roads and found ourselves at the oldest cemetery in Carriacou. Which was awesome because we had passed it the day before and I had wanted to take some pictures. And terrifying because it was really far from town the way we had driven, and we only had 1 litre of water between the two of us! The cemetery was completely overgrown in places by this beautiful plant very similar to a bleeding heart, only a much smaller flower and a fatter bloom. There were goats a plenty helping to trim back the grass but the vines must have been 3 feet high to cover the headstones in one section. I don't think even the goats could work their magic on that section!

Thankfully, as usual, there is always more than one way back so we hiked up a road that cut out 70% of the distance and we were able to get back with a steep hike up but then an easy walk back.

Monday we opted for a partial tour of the island, again I wish I had done this Sunday, but we didn't so que sera sera. The island is so spectacular on the Northern end of the island. the water is a shade of blue that almost hurts you it is so beautiful. We were able to see Petite Martinique and Petite St. Vincent (a playground for the rich and famous). You can only marvel at the reefs in between the bright blues of the sea. Carriacou means "isle of reefs" and we could see our missed opportunity to snorkel them! But with happy little houses everywhere you get over what you lost pretty quick and get back into the beauty that surrounds you.

One oddity in Carriacou is the "Janet" house, which you can find all over the island. Built by USAid after hurricane Janet in 1955, these wee gingerbread homes were built to withstand a hurricane and they did- surviving Ivan and Emily.

Boat building is still an enterprise here and we were able to see a boat being con
structed. Apparently it would cost about $60,000 USD to have a fishing boat built- so not an insignificant industry!

Stafford our driver took us to the round house a lovely restaurant that was closed as the owner was doing her Christmas baking. For me the best part of that stop was the Christmas tree. Here trees are decorated outside not inside the homes. Even fake Christmas trees, which yes they do have here, are placed outside. Mainly because for most homes Santa does not come and leave gifts under a tree. Christmas is still only about Jesus's birth. In fact one of my sons was told that Santa was Satan!! Well I guess if you rearrange the letters...by God they may be on to something.

Note the IV drip!

Sadly our visit had to come to an end and on the way back we travelled with a passenger from the local hospital. Similar to Canada if you can't be treated at one hospital you are moved- now it depends on the severity, if you are in critical condition I believe a place would be sent for you, but if you re stble to you are transported by ferry. With a flimsy curtain for "privacy" the stretcher s placed on the floor and the nurse sit in the seat to monitor the patients condition. I will never again complain about a trip to the hospital!!

The ride back was turbulent. The sea swells were slamming against the side of the ferry sending it rocketing from side to side. The Captain was doing his best to ride with them to avoid these collisions but I felt like the waves were the bulls running and we had a giant red flag painted on the boat!

God love Aiden, he wanted to go right up front, I was absolutely terrified he would go flying off the boat, so Brent went to supervise. At one point I thought the crew was going to fetch them but instead the crew member just wanted to enjoy the ride too!! Owen had a fever and I had given him two

Gravol's before we left so he slept on me the whole way back, except for a brief period when I went out to take some pictures.

Getting home required coordination. Brent had to get off first, catch a bus to the bottom of our street, hike up Gleans Rd and then get our car and return for all of us and our bags. Given the chaos of our departure I sent Ama and Owen to wait where they couldn't be bumped or knocked over. While we were waiting for our bags we saw the fellow whose girlfriend was being refused entry at the airport when Ama arrived. We went over to say hello and they had both had a fabulous time and were catching a flight home that evening! Hooray- being me I checked for a ring- no ring. I wonder if there was one but with the bumpy start he decided to opt for a better time!

So I carried most of the bags to Ama and Owen and as I was waking by a number of men commented about me being "a strong girl". Didn't know which made me happier being called strong or a girl!! It took a couple of trips but we got all our bags to the other side of the road and we only waited a minute or two for Brent to arrive!

Below are some of my favourite photos from Carriacou.

Hermit crab

Aiden had played with the setting on the camera, but this photo is amazing!

A wee bit windy!!

A sugar cane processing stack from the slave era

yes that is cactus growing in the boat!

Mams

In Grenada grandmothers or grandmother figures are called mams, our mams arrived just after sunset on Monday!

We watched her plane land on a hill overlooking the runway with a local guy who was also waiting for his mom to arrive. Once the plane had landed he let us know there was a different, faster road we could take back. Now he was in a Ford F150 so we probably should have thought twice, but getting down the hill faster seemed like a good idea.

The road was certainly more direct, however it looked like whenever they had left over concrete they just dumped it on this "road". It had the opposite of pot holes, there were large lumps of concrete everywhere that you had to navigate around! But it got us down the hill only to wait for almost a half an hour for her to finally come out the gate.

While we were waiting a lovely (and extremely handsome) Brit was waiting for someone too. Apparently he was surprising his girlfriend, but at customs you have to say where you are going, with whom, a contact number, ect. So she was escorted by security out to the waiting area to see who was picking her up and then she couldn't even hug the poor guy, since goodness knows what might get passed. Then she was taken back inside. The poor guy said "That was not how I was expecting this to go!" Poor thing. His girlfriend still wasn't out when we left with Ama.

I knew it would take a while at the airport so I had already made stewed chicken & lentils for dinner. It was just a matter of warming things up. By the time supper was done it was past 7:30 so there was only time to get Ama slightly unpacked and then the boys headed off to bed.

Tuesday NEWLO was open so we took a drive up the coast to see my work. Mom had no idea it was so far outside of St. George's. It is about a 30-40 minute drive, depending on weather or bus driver. I was really pleased she was able to see where I work and what NEWLO looks like.

Then we headed to a nutmeg factory. OMG. It was a short tour but wow! The building is huge, old and wooden. I can't even imagine how many tons of nutmeg were at various stages of preparation, and this was with 90% of the trees destroyed!

Drying racks that went on and on easily for the length of a football feild, with little chalk boards on each end telling you when the nutmeg had been placed there. Wooden rakes were strew about to rake the nutmeg to help it dry and this was all laid out as far as you could see on the second floor! Then it was moved from the racks to a cracking machine that then dropped the nutmeg down a chute. We went down some scary steep wooden stairs to find women sitting around a wooden raised circle where they could open a wooden door and nutmeg would fall out. They would then hand sort it. Once sorted it was tested in a large water tank for quality. If it floats it is high quality if it sank it would be used in perfumes, cosmetics, and medicinal creams. It is then dried again and off to be sorted by size. This is done again by hand over a screen that allows the smaller ones to drop through. Finally it is bagged in 110 pound bags and shipped out. The bags are stenciled by hand with the destination. The only bad thing about the tour was that you couldn't take pictures!

On our way back we headed to Concord Falls, a place I had never been and it was absolutely beautiful. So glad we went and that the sun came out for us.

Enroute we stopped at the fish market and picked a gorgeous tuna for about $16 Canadian, it fed all  of us and a neighbour and we had sandwiches the next day.

In the afternoon we went to the library where mom donated some supplies and they gave her a tour. I love this library and Oonya who founded it. She is always giving credit to others and encouraging them to take leadership roles, inspiring to see a true leader with a positive vision for her community.

Yesterday was a quieter day with a walk down to the port and a trip to Grand Anse beach. Ama says she feels like she is on vacation, so you can't get any higher compliment than that. She is lucky in that we have time to acclimatize her to the weather, my mother in law will be visiting from Florida so she should be able to adapt more quickly to the warm, warm weather.

Today we are off to see some of the huge homes in Grenada and visit a few beaches. For now Ama and Aiden are sound asleep as it should be when you are on vacation!

Thief in the Night!

Last night we had a lovely time at the NEWLO Christmas party.  Le Phare Bleu is a magical setting
and getting to be with colleagues in an informal setting was a real treat. Even Owen who had been sick all week, after having to take course of antibiotics, was able to enjoy the evening. So at quarter to eleven we packed it in with some very tired boys and headed home.

Everyone was tired so we went straight to bed and apparently slept through a great deal of excitement.

The levels of our house

Like many homes in Grenada you build on a steep hill and the top floor is the family home and then (as you can) you develop the levels below so that you can generate income. Ours is such a home, only we occupy the top floor and below us are three apartments. Last night all three were broken into.

Homes here have bars on the windows to deter theft and we always leave our windows open but put away any attractive items like cell phones at night. The most common way thieves steal things is to cut the screen and then use a hook to drag things to the window and then pull it out. Our friends Linda and Myriam had house keys where they could be stolen and thus the thieves were able to take the keys and let themselves in.  Janice, who you may have seen in a photo at the Concord falls with the boys, has one window with no bars which had always made me nervous. Her apartment is just below ground level so the window sits on the ground making it very easy to get into her home.

Janice's windows

Well sure enough that is what happened. Thank God she woke up and scared the guy, which in turn woke up other neighbours (although we all slept through this). The thief was confronted by these men on our property and fled without the things he had attempted to steal. The police came last night and have dusted for fingerprints.

The thief never came up to our level, we know because we had let 6 pairs of shoes out to dry and they were right where we left them. Being on the top level makes it tricky to get away, and the drop out our back porch is three stories so not exactly jumping distance!

So we will remain vigilant and bring our shoes in at night. I will also not hang laundry in a way that could obstruct the view of our doors and windows. Aiden will also have to close his window at night just in case. While it is disappointing that it happened, I am really impressed with our neighbours who came to the rescue! Still love my 'hood.

Aiden's window off our front deck

Wine & Whine

Here in Grenada every once and a while you need to vent and when you do you get to call a "wine and whine".

(L-R) Nancy, me, Linda, Myriam

There are now three other Cuso volunteers here in Grenada. Linda who has been here since July and is building capacity with the Ministry of Youth, Myriam who came in August and is also working with the Ministry of Youth and now Nancy who is working with MAREP a non-profit working in agriculture.

So even though there was nothing to whine about it seemed like a good idea to check in with Nancy on her second day of work by having a whine and wine.

I had tried to prepare her for what taking a bus here is like, but there is really no amount of explaining that captures it. For some bizarre reason buses were really slow on Monday and I had to wait 30 minutes to catch one, so I figured she would have had a similar wait. Sure enough it took her two hours to get back to St. George's from Sauteurs.

darned hammock cord ruined the shot!

We hung out  on the back deck with wine, cornbread, nacho chip s and a yummy desert Myriam brought and got caught up/connected.

I am not an overly social person in general, so it has been really surprising to me how much I enjoy getting together with my colleagues from Cuso. Connecting with awesome women is something I am going to have to do more of when I get back home. We'll call it a "Tea and Tell"!