Don't play with it

Meanwhile, back at base... St. George's University

Well life certainly has been one hell of a ricochet. If I had to say specifically, I'd say I've been walking around  inhaling deep breaths of that surrounding air of despondency. I can't even complain for myself without feeling self-centered because everyone's crying out right now really and truly. For one, government has yet to pay their workers for the month of August and although I've been crying about my school's long, tedious wait to get my summer student paychecks... and by workers I mean everyone within the various Ministries - be it teacher or tax man. It kinda seems absurd for me to complain still, no, yes, maybe?

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Then this semester while initially gave the illusion of being light with 3 classes is probably even heavier than last semester with 6. One being science and the other two upper level senior courses, my life as I know it for the next 3 months consists of sifting through endless peer-reviewed/scholarly written papers/journals, field research and when I'm not under a stack of papers or writing a paper, I'll be calculating chemistry equations. The only good part of this whole arrangement is that I actually like field work - being granted the opportunity to see the island in the way most may never see? Always sounds good to me. This semester we're going to be doing research regarding the Grenada Hook-Billed Kite. A gorgeous bird, hopefully I'll get some shots and it won't be like our elusive Mona monkey in the last project.

Also, Dr. Pilcher always blows my mind with the professors she gets to come teach us. Last year, if you recall, I had posts about the botanist Dr. Lyons who had extensive experience in Madagascar and shared many of those experiences with us that I feel relatively well versed in some of the conservation issues over there. Then Dr. Kirkley last semester, our birds expert - first time I ever got to see a wild (but dead) owl that close and be able to touch one. And there are a few others that I can't remember the names of, but the tales of their experiences have always stuck. This semester? This semester we have Dr. Eves and her husband, two mammalogists who have a lot of experience working in Africa with the largest terrestrial mammals on Earth - elephants. And yes, I know what you're thinking - I was thinking it too. Elephants? *perked eyebrows* *rolls eyes* But in just 4-5 class sessions I've heard so much about them that it's changed my perceptions and heightened my awareness as to their importance - a reminder of every organisms importance on this planet... But that's another blog post coming soon.

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Back to this posts original theme...

Thus, with the seemingly set pace for the rest of the year, I found myself trudging around campus, killing time between classes, slightly annoyed at having to be in school on a Friday... I had wanted to go to the beach so badly but I ended up taking an alternative route to school and forgot my beach stuff at home in all my haste. My thwarted plans leading to a quiet acceptance that I should just accept my fate, go home, wash some clothes or do some chores that I was planning to do on Saturday, and set some movies to stream for the night. However, Sher's been reminding me a lot these days that this is not the Shelli she knows - Shelli that she knows is a cheery, optimist and could have fun anywhere, broke or not. So I contacted her and we decided to have a beach day --- well prepared or not.  It was our first beach day in a long time - matter of fact, first time I saw her in a while too, if two weeks is considered a while...

Grand Anse beach

I decided to make a concerted effort to do this more often - after class every day if I can afford the time. When I used to teach, I used to come to the beach every weekend by myself and just enjoy the ambiance. There's something about the sea that just makes one feel at peace with the world and an inner calm with oneself. Of course, granted there isn't a million people with their children running up and down or boys looking for attention with their boomboxes parading up and down trying to display their not-so-accurate Jamaican dancehall moves. But even that provides some sort of entertainment to distract from the stresses of the outside world. It's as if all problems come to a halt as soon as your toes touch the sand and that blue-green water is within your line of vision. A few deep breaths of that clean, sea air to fill your lungs and your set for the night with a tranquil night's rest, the next day with a cheerful spirit in kinship with the shorebirds that fly freely and fishes than swim without bounds.

Honestly, who doesn't need a humbling reminder at one time or another that there's a world out there bigger than whatever we may be dealing with at the time. A world without boundaries with vast opportunities waiting to be conquered regardless of if we live on an island or not - in fact, as Dr. Eve's husband put it 'In case, you haven't realized... Earth is an island, our island" ...and the reminder that we always have the freedom to do and go beyond, lest we allow ourselves to be stopped by ourselves by the little pebbles that throw themselves in our paths.

Sher & I

Sher editing shots on her iPad.

And there's always a rainbow... if you just look for it.

Sun's about to set...

Laugh, Live, Love

And there ended the day...
Hope the photos of the beach brightened up your day a bit as being there brightened up ours.

Deuces!