I have a confession: My friends are crazy. No, like realllllllllllly crazy. I was expecting my best friend Tressa to arrive on June 15th for a week of debauchery. Instead, I received a Skype message from my other friend Ali that stated, "Need to get out of Kansas, see you in the morning". Ummmm, excuse me? You live 2,000 miles away and you are going to be here in the morning? CRAZY! Told you...
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| Fort George with the beautiful view of the Carenage in the background. |
I was pleasantly surprised by two of my best friends that day, something that I so greatly needed after a month of madness around Grenada. Tressa has been planning her trip since March, eager to see my new life here in the Spice Isle, while if you remember reading here, Ali visited last September. Apparently she couldn't get enough of the Spice and had to return. Or maybe it was because she missed me? I'm going to go with that.
The first day we walked around St. George's where I exposed them to the heckling from market ladies, sexual remarks from liming men and some delicious food. We ventured up to Fort George, seeing the beautiful Carenage and capital from a birds eye view. That trip never gets old.
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| Waiting under the mango tree for a bus. |
I think I can safely say the highlight of their trip was getting to see my students at St. Paul's Government School. As we walked up the hill Ali asks "They will let us take their picture right?" ha! Two seconds later we had a swarm of children running down the hill yelling "MISS MISS, you brought friends from America!!!" It didn't take long until the kids had the hearts of Ali and Tressa and were busy taking photos, posing and chatting. It was amazing to see my kids embrace diversity, as I am the first white person many of these children have ever met.
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| Expert painters. |
Tressa and Ali also got the opportunity to help with the school mural project I have been working on. They jumped right in and were excited to leave their mark on the project. I have to say, they were pretty good painters, I might hire them to finish it.
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| Some of my students from last year. |
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| They LOVED Ali. I think the feeling is mutual. |
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| Rum and friends, all you need for a good birthday. |
The official reason they came to Grenada (besides to bring me American food) was to celebrate my birthday that was June 18th. We organized a beach lime/burritos on the beach party which was a huge success. I invited some of my local friends and of course the other volunteers were there. The weather was beautiful and I had a great time with my friends. It was a memorable 24th birthday, one I will never forget.
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| I asked where the girls were and my friends pointed out there. They had found the tubing man. ha! |
Ali left on Monday and it was just Tressa and I until Wednesday, so we did a little hiking up to Concord Waterfall, one of my favorite on the island. The 45 minute walk up the mountain wasn't as fun as getting to bathe in the beautiful waterfall. I even convinced Tressa to jump off the cliffs near the falls. I will post a video later on that. The first 15 seconds consist of her saying "oh shit, oh shit, oh shit". HA! Good times.
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| Finally! We made it! |
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| Concord Waterfall |
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| The walk down the mountain was much easier. |
Overall, having Tressa and Ali here was a great time. I enjoyed having friends from home here so I could still feel connected to back home. Since the tornado hit, that was the one thing that was missing, my sense of closeness to the ones back home, and I received that with the arrival of my friends. I can't wait til my mom and sister visit, but until then....I must return to saving the world!
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| AMERICAN FOOD!!!!!!!!! |
