The importance of community

The Grenadian National Anthem "Hail Grenada" is a beautiful anthem, however when I first heard it I was a bit confused by this line "...As one people, one family...". That is until I lived there.

In Grenada it is like you are part of one big family. With a population of 110,000 it isn't hard to be able to make connections quickly.



A view of Belmont from Fort George (Port Louis foreground)

The longer I stayed the more I valued the sense of community that Grenadians shared. The area where we lived, Belmont, had been know in the past for some undesirable behaviours and criminal elements. So when we would tell people we lived in Belmont eyebrows would get raised. However we would quickly defend our community and point out that it had changed.

Not only did we embrace our community but our community embraced us. We knew almost everyone's names on our street and they knew ours. "Morning, morning" was called out across the street and down the hill. Coming back to Canada that sense of community is an element I miss from my childhood and from living in Grenada.

I grew up in a town in rural Ontario of 6,000 and it felt like I knew everyone and everyone knew me. I knew whose corn field I was playing hide and seek in; I knew all the store owners and all the members of our church. We were all connected one way or another.

While I doubt that many Grenadians knew me, a few hundred definitely did. I would get stopped on the street and hugged by girls from PAM, yelled at from a passing car by someone from NEWLO, meet my friends shopping at the grocery store or get a wave from a fellow hasher as they cycled by. Everywhere I went I felt connected to people. I never felt far from someone I knew and was always excited when I bumped into someone in downtown St. George's or rural St. Andrew's. Even the street vendors eventually came to recognize our family as a part of the community and stopped inviting us to shop at their store but would instead offer a word of greeting. It felt like being back in my childhood. It felt safe.


Me with the NEWLO school family

But now that I am back in the land of two vehicle households, properties separated by fences, and workplaces with very clear lines of communication, I notice how all these boxes we put ourselves in are breaking down our communities. And it feels dysfunctional.

A few years ago I tried to establish a learning community of practice, and I am big enough to admit it failed miserably. I tried to sell it all kinds of different ways and as a Learning Advisor I found myself so frustrated that people didn't want to learn. But now I am wondering if it wasn't that people didn't want to learn but rather that the notion of building a community- relying on others, trusting them with your successes and failures, and the work that goes into creating and maintaining a sense of community that was the problem.

I have lived in Brighton a town of about 10,000 people for nine years now and, a part from the people on my crescent, have made very few connections and yet in Grenada I made them in less than 10 months. So what is the difference?

I am not sure yet, but I am thinking about. And in the meantime I am going to try again to create a learning community of practice because learning is best when it is shared. People are also at their best when they are connected. I have no doubt it is going to be just as hard as the last time, but this time  I am different. I recognize what a community is and what it isn't; it is not a networking tool, a platform or a resume booster; it is an feeling created through connection.

And I want to build my community where I live as well as where I work. I am hoping the hashes we are organizing will be a place where everyone can get together each week and take in the beauty of our country and connect with each other.

I will always feel apart of the Grenadian community, because I love the country and the people- and I have a sneaky suspicion we will always be tied to each other. Grenadians are great at letting go of small inconsequential things, but I don't think they easily let go of their "family".

It won't be easy but I am hoping that I will be able to take what is so special about Grenada and translate it into action.

A welcome voice

When I came back to work two weeks ago my colleague, and partner in crime, of nine years was off - which was disappointing as I was excited to talk to her. But luckily I had so many other great women around me (Erin, Brigitte, & Amy) that the week flew by.

However on Monday I came into the office and I couldn't wait to hear from Joyce. So much so that I phoned her office and listened to her voicemail just to hear her voice! I called back later and got her in person and I was flooded with this overwhelming happiness, like connecting with a long lost loved one. One of the many things I learned in Grenada was how important our female friends are.

Before I left Grenada I consciously decided not to pursue any promotions at work.  As much as I love the thinking and planning that goes into being a manager or a team leader, it meant I always kept my colleagues at a bit of a distance. In my mind you need to do this when you could be (or are) the supervisor, be friendly but not friends.

Now without that baggage impeding the relationship, upon hearing Joyce's voice I could finally just be me; just be so grateful to have her back,  and just love her dearly without holding back. It was probably the happiest I have felt at work in a long, long time.

In Grenada I have so many amazing female friends and I know it is because we approached each other as equals, as partners (and sometimes editor) that I could just be me. And in return I always got to see the real them too. I also think it is why we became such fast friends is they could feel my honesty. When you are holding back parts of yourself people sense it and they too hold back. Although in Grenada people don't hold back too much!! We could learn a thing or two from them.

Most importantly my friends in Grenada have taught me a lot about letting go and giving yourself permission to be you. I hope I can honor all the women in my life (Grenadian, Canadian & American) by being a better person, a better friend and a better leader. 

When it rains in your home

Last Tuesday morning everyone was still sick so I opted to quietly leave for work. I was searching for my purse (story of my life) when I heard a drip, drip, drip. I thought weird and then looked around. I had somehow managed to miss the giant puddle in the front hall. Then I looked up and there was a bubble the size of a balloon on the ceiling.

Well that was a deal breaker, Brent needed to be woken, sniffly or not. Somehow everyone woke up and wanted to see. I believe the boys were the only ones who thought it was "cool", we thought "costly" and since the money is still in cyberspace it was an unwelcome surprise.

We have a contractor we have used since he graduated college about six years ago. He advised to pull down the ceiling to try to isolate where the problem is. These are the photos I got at work.

Wait are those feet up behind Aiden?

Yup that's Owen

Yikes

In a good news/ bad news story... It has not leaked since, which is good because in theory there isn't something to fix. Owen thinks it may be because he is having trouble adjusting to showers with curtains and since he is having about 3 baths and a couple of showers every day (we're hoping the novelty wears off soon) this may actually be the cause. But it is what it is, he has learned his lesson. The bad news is since we can't find what went wrong it may also mean we still have a problem. However in more good news, now that the ceiling is opened we can finally put a light in our hallway so in the winter I can actually see where my boots are! 

We are almost a week out and no more leaks. Today an electrician  installed the wiring for a light, hooray. Now we just have to wait one more week before we close up the ceiling and put in a light. Hopefully the money comes in from RBTT so we can pay our trades people!

Lost in (Cyber) Space

When we were selling our little CRV we discovered how difficult it could be to move money across international borders. For the car, our buyer was American and he had wanted to send a bank draft to us. It was easy on his end, but on the Grenadian end it would not clear our bank for six weeks! We would have been home by then. Thank goodness for Mrs. Douglas, whose husband works for the Republic Bank, she told me to try a wire transfer. That worked really well and we had our money within days.

When deciding how to get our money from the sale of the vehicle back to Canada there were numerous reasons we thought it unwise to get bank drafts or cash and try and bring the money through Trinidad or Canada customs.

While Grenada is not a "hot spot" for drug trafficking the region is and $9,000 would raise eyebrows. So we opted to close our account and wire the money back to Canada. We did this the Friday before we left and it was supposed to be in our account on Monday.

The trouble started because our "home" account is still in Carleton Place, but the bank we do business with is in Brighton where we live. Unfortunately the transit numbers are very similar. Brighton is 182 and Carleton Place is something like 812... you see where this is going. So the money was supposed to go to 812 account 123456 instead it went to 182 account 123456. Which, if that account actually existed in Brighton, would have been fine- Brighton would have removed it from the wrong account and put it into the right account. The problem? The account doesn't exist in Brighton and the money was "deposited" into the non-existent account- ergo it has vanished.

So Royal Bank Canada confirmed they did have it (past tense), Brighton can confirm they don't and Carleton Place doesn't even know there is a problem.

Next problem, in order to fix the error RBC somehow found the money and returned it to our closed account in Grenada. So the question becomes how do you take money out of an account that doesn't exist and put money into another account that doesn't exist? Hmmmm.

RBC Brighton is being awesome after having to deal with a call-centre who wanted us to call Grenada and sort it out... only we don't have an account with the Royal Bank Trinidad & Tobago anymore so not sure what that call would have been like.

The latest news is first thing Monday morning Brent and the RBC manager are calling Grenada and trying to sort it out! The good news is everyone agrees we have the money and it should be deposited into our account, just making that happen has been way more difficult than we ever expected.

What a week

By about 11:00 p.m. everyone in our house was tucked into warm beds, Brent and I had thrown on a down duvet and the kids were under coverlets. Everyone was happy to tuck in. Just as we were going to sleep two cats started fighting. Brent laughed out loud and said "You go for it cats- you've got nothing on Grenadian dogs!" and with that we fell fast asleep.

At 5:00 a.m. I woke up with a burning sore throat. I figured it must be the dryness of the plane and house so got up to get a glass of water. However the water only exacerbated the pain, and I crawled back into bed praying for a miracle, I couldn't be sick just 8 hours into being home. However by 5:30 it was obvious I was not feeling well and I was not going to get back to sleep. I got up knowing all my friends in Grenada would also be up and getting ready for their day; so while my house slept I started to unpack our bags.

Aiden was up by 6:30 and I put coffee on for Brent while sipping my first cup of tea from a tea pot in ten months. My sister and mom (with assistance from my mother-in-law) had stocked our fridge with strawberries, cherries, blueberries, mushrooms, sausages, cream and many other yummy foods. I cooked up some breakfast sausages and Aiden scarfed them down while getting dressed so he could run over to Ama's. Owen didn't even bother to eat he just threw on clothes and chased Aiden out the door.

By 9:00 a.m. my mom, sister and brother-in-law (Ken) had come over, but I was feeling progressively worse. My mom had bought me flannel pyjamas with feet and a hood as a joke, but by 9:30 I was snuggled into it. In Grenada I would have been able to grate some ginger and turmeric and make a soothing tea but here I had no turmeric and only powdered ginger- it just isn't the same!

Ken and Brent got our van running and the pool cover off. The pool was (and sadly still is) a very unpleasant colour of green. With those tasks done, Ceilidh and Ken headed away and I headed back to bed.

After being so excited to be home for Canada Day I spent most of it in bed.

That doesn't mean a lot didn't happen. Mckayla and Mackenzie brought over jam and fresh rhubarb from their mom and dad. Max sent an urgent note via Facebook for Aiden to come over and play and Ceilidh dropped Aiden off at the Tobey household on her way out of town. Owen went looking all over town for his friends, brothers Braden and Carter. Aiden ran into his friend Yana and neighbours came out and over to welcome us back. I had my bedroom window open and got to hear all the well wishes and it made me feel as warm in my heart as the duvet was keeping my feet.

I had really hoped the cold would just be a 24 hour thing, but as the days progressed it became clear
that being up a few hours and then going back to bed was what was needed. Anyone who knows me knows I love being busy, so I think this was natures way of slowing me down. I would however like Mother Nature to know I got the point but I need to get better because napping at work is not an option!

Slowly everyone in the house (and my sister and mom) have come down with cold like symptoms. No doubt our family has little immunity to colds viruses that are here in Ontario. Happily kids don't let sniffles stop them and they have been biking and hiking around the neighbourhood.

I had to start work on Monday and even though I was feeling miserable the warm welcome I got from Brigitte, Amy, Arlene and Erin, as well as countless emails wishing me well helped me get through the day. However when I got home I went straight to bed.

So with one  week under our belt in Canada we are slowly getting back to normal. Well except for the missing $9,000 and tearing the ceiling out of our foyer... more on that in a later post!

Welcome Home

A five and a half hour flight is going to be long and boring, there is just not much to be done about it. Since we had no internet we couldn't pre-book our seats, so the Caribbean Airline counter attendant found 2 seats and 2 seats in rows 17 and 18. Fabulous, the kids would have the window seat and we would sit in the isle seats.

When we arrived a woman in her 50s was in the window seat, so I showed her that the boys were there (as they wanted to see the islands go by). She moved to her seat and within a minute was complaining to the woman behind her about wanting to move. At this point the boys hadn't even spoken to each other! I thought oh no. She was making such a fuss the cabin attendant came over to see the problem. She advised once we were in the air she could move to a vacant seat. Which is exactly what she did and we never saw her again. In our row the window seat was never sold so both of us had lots of room to stretch out.

Something I thought Caribbean did really well was feed the children first. All the kids on the plane got their meal a half hour before the adults. Kids do tend to eat slower and if you need to help feed a child it would mean that you could do that and then "enjoy" your meal.

On our way to Pearson we flew over Niagara Falls and both boys got to see them, which I am sure would have been impressive. Landing in Pearson was no problem at all and we were soon off the plane. I take the approach there is no sense hurrying up to wait in line. Our last international flight was from Costa Rica and we landed in Montreal, there is a big difference. I forgot how many international flights would be coming into Pearson, the room for customs was massive and there must have been 300-500 people waiting. The good news is the line for Canadians was smaller. But it was still 40 minutes to get to the automated check out line! Unfortunately Aiden's passport wouldn't swipe and we had to see a real person- which realistically for the time we were out of country would have happened any way.

With only two more people in front of us a couple in their 50's went to the desk, I don't know where they were coming from but they declared nothing. The Customs Agent said you've been away 2 weeks and you brought nothing back? Nope. I don't think anyone waiting believed that. She moved them on no doubt to have their bags searched. Our interview took less than 5 minutes and by the time we went to get our bags, all but ours had been claimed making it super easy to find. Perfect!

When we came through the departures gate, there were hundreds of people lined up to pick up their family or friends. There were sweet signs, men with roses, children with flowers it was such a lovely scene of reunions. I knew we would have to wait a few hours for ours but it made me smile to think of all the people getting big hugs and little kisses from their loved ones.

Anita, our angel in Trenton, had booked us transportation. We found the desk for ground transportation and the woman said "Are you Brent?", Brent said yup! And our van was there in two minutes. But then we realized we needed a tea and treats. So Brent and Aiden went off and got me steeped tea and a Boston Cream donut and the boys plain donuts. Yum.

Ceilidh and my mom were waiting for us at home so we posted on Facebook we were leaving Toronto at 8:00 so they would know when we would be home. Because of the Pan Am Games there are commuter lanes, so we whizzed right through Toronto and were home at about 10:15 p.m.

We could see the lights on and were expecting the door to fly open with Ama and Auntie Ceilidh.... nope. That's OK you aren't always waiting at a window so we knocked, the boys yelled "Ama"! Nothing. Hmmm. How to get into your house without a key! The garage. So we entered our code and let ourselves in. There were balloons and the house looked amazing. I called my mom at her house....

"Hello?"-me.
"Oh My God, You're home?! But how? OK I'll be right over!"- Ama
Click

I think she may have ran over to our house because her car was blocked in. My sister had given up and gone to bed, but we would see her in the morning.

Normally I want to change this and that about the house, but being in it after 10 months away I truly appreciated it. The grey/blue wall to wall carpet was so comfy under my feet after months of concrete and tile I wanted to roll on it! Mom had put some of Owen's stuffed animals back in his room so he went and hugged all his little buddies and introduced them to the four or five new ones picked up in Grenada and Trinidad.

We were all tuckered out so we had a little reunion and then headed off to bed with blankets for the first time in 10 months.

Our Trini Adventure

So after wheels up in Grenada we made our way to Trinidad and Tobago. This was the same way we came, but when we flew into Trinidad the last time it was early, early and I really didn't see the topography.

I was really surprised at how flat parts of it were, there were beautifully tilled fields in land that looked perfect for agriculture. There were also freeways with on ramps! Owen and I keep pointing at the four lane highway; we even saw a traffic jam! The capital had skyscrapers and you could see it was a much wealthier country than Grenada. In fact according to Wikipedia it is the third wealthiest country (per capita) in the America's after the US and Canada.

Once we landed we thought we knew the drill since we were basically retracing our steps from September. WRONG. Apparently our stop over was a bit too long and so we were required to leave the airport interior and go through customs. So I had to fill out four long forms and then present ourselves to customs. It is really too bad you were not allowed to take pictures because behind the customs officer was a sign that said "No standing and waiting" which is hysterical because that is all you do in line, but I guess once you are through waiting in line for them it is forbidden to wait for your friends.

The customs officer was great and apologetically gave me yet more paper work because now I needed to redo the paperwork I did in Grenada to go into the departures area. Yay more paperwork.



My forty pounds of sea glass and shells

The airport was quiet nice, I got a good coffee and an OK breakfast, the boys each found something they wanted and were able to play some arcade games. Brent found massage chairs and since we had some extra Trinidadian money (TTs) we all took a turn.

Getting back through to the departure lounge however was a nightmare. In Canada and Grenada, laptops, kobos ect could go through in your bags. Not here everything had to be taken out and presented to them. It took about 20 minutes to be sure we had all electronic devices out of our carry-on. We had 8 pieces of carry on plus now all these bins of electronics, they also wanted shoes just on the conveyor belt and the lady kept barking at me to move my things along- all the while I am letting poor workers who are being tied up slip in front of us. I was getting really frustrated. Then one by one they started pulling all our carryon off for inspection.

Now we had already gone through this stage in Grenada no problems. The security agent pulled out a big sea shell Aiden had packed. Oh this was a problem. All our carry on contained sea shells, I had checked and double checked Grenada's and Caribbean Airline's policy about carrying sea shells, everything was good. In Trinidad however the guard tried to tell me that it could only be in checked bags, but I told him I had checked the airline's policy and it was fine. This frustrated him so he called his supervisor. When the supervisor came over they tried a new tactic and told me we couldn't have the shells because the waters in Trinidad were marine protected. Brent knew I was getting frustrated and told them we had never been to the sea in Trinidad in fact we had never been out of this building, we were transferring flights. 

Sea glass, nutmeg and shells in our Calabash bowls

By this point the lineup behind us was out the door and the supervisor realized we weren't backing down and he just gave an exasperated wave of his arms and let us through. After we were through we heard a number of passengers complaining about the way they were being treated. They said it was always like this when they came trough Trinidad.

As we got in the line to board the plane I was quite happy to be leaving Trinidad but apparently
not before I was pulled aside for a "random" bag check. I was the only person on our flight to have the check. When she flipped open the case she just about knocked off a box of latex gloves. I quickly reached for box to prevent it from falling and she sternly told me that I was not to touch the bag while she was inspecting it. I told her I was catching her box of gloves, I wanted to just drop them, but I pushed them back on the desk  without touching my bag.

Shockingly there was nothing in my bag and we ended up being the last people to board the plane. Even more shockingly we left exactly on time. Bye-bye Trinidad.

Goodbye Grenada

A week ago today I delivered the last of the curriculum documents to NEWLO and Sister Margret. I also handed over a USB key with the 500 documents I had created for them in 10 months. I felt really grateful to have been part of such an amazing school. The work was challenging and important and my colleagues became good friends. While I won't miss the ride to NEWLO I will miss everyone in it.

Ms Collin's -Early Childhood

Ms. Francis- Garment Making

Ms. Mitchell- Intro to Health Care & Early Childhood

Ms. Farray- Hospitality- Commercial Foods

Ms. O'Farel- Skills Coordinator

Sister Margaret- my boss and NEWLO Executive Director

Mr. Campbell- Intro to Computers

We decided to rent a car for that day because I had lots to give away. Sister said it was like my last will and testament, bequeathing this and that to various staff members. Once everything was gone, the boys, Brent and I headed up to Concord Falls one last time, then home to grab a bite and get changed for a snorkel at Dragon's Bay. Dragon's Bay also has really beautiful sea glass so Brent and I spent time picking up interesting pieces.

Beacon Primary Students at the canteen

Friday we were able to pick up both boys report cards. It turns out in Grenada that 60% of your final mark comes from your end of year exams!! Needless to say the boys were disappointed with some of their final marks after doing so well up to that point.

Saturday we rented a car with the intention to do one last hash, however because our internet had been shut off on Monday we weren't sure where it was. It turned out to be up by Gouyave and we all decided to go for a swim at La Sagesse instead. Sunday morning we again went to Dragon's Bay where we saw yet more fish we had never seen before.

I am glad we spent the weekend swimming because it took us all day Monday to pack and clean the house. Monday night we had dinner at Umbrellas on Grand Anse Beach and watched the sun go down over the ocean.


So fitting a stray dog would photo bomb my Goodbye

Grand Anse at sunset

Tuesday morning we were out the door at 5:30 and headed to the airport. After security checking every bag we were ready to go. Only somehow we forgot to count our carry on bags properly and were two over. Stuff got stuffed here and there and we prayed they would not weigh our carry-on. We breezed through security and at 7:52 we were wheels up over Grenada.

SGU from the air

It has been an amazing adventure and we are all grateful to NEWLO, CUSO and DND for supporting us.

Now it is on to working on developing my own career couselling and resume writing company. I called my company Ready2Fly because I beleive we are all capable of rising to great heights, something I am certain NEWLO is instilling in its' students.