Don't play with it

I got treated to sushi lunch...

Sushi and sashimi

First time having saki

Green tea ice cream

Went to dinner with my boyfriend at Rooftop... Food was yummy (but expensive), service was rush rush. I don't even think we got a chance to look at the menu properly.. *frown* Hence, I don't feel motivated to go back.

Mahi Mahi & shrimp creamy cheesy pasta...

..with gifts of cake and a party popper thingy (that fortunate malfunctioned and didn't stream ribbons all over the office for me to clean up haha)

smiles!

Check out my new shorts from Sher! And my new hair! lol

The end!

 All in all, 'twas all good.

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?

~ ~ ~

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.

~ ~ ~

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!

Yes, this shall be another backlogged post finally getting typed up. However, until I get these out of the way I'd feel too guilty to post the new stuff. The good news is though, I'm just going to put everything in this one post.


Our tiny little isle received its first Olympic gold medal with Kirani James in the 400-metre race. It was an extremely proud moment for the country. The day he won, I swear it was as if the country temporarily shut down as everyone awaited the race to happen. This was also the same day as the annual Beachfest leading up to Carnival. After he won, there were vehicles upon vehicles on the road, tooting their horns happily, waving flags patriotically and mostly headed towards Guoyave, Kirani's hometown, to celebrate. I think that was the most vehicles I've ever seen parked in Guoyave. Traffic was so heavy that the route going in and out had to be diverted. There were vehicles parked 'til outside of Guoyave on byroads and even that road that's been closed off a while now. The streets were filled with people.

And he's coming in today. More celebrations to be had. There would be a live stream by Lime shown on GIS as well as several re-broadcasts over the weekend. Does this mean tomorrow will be a holiday?

Now, while I could do a write-up on Kirani I found this wonderful blog-post that outlines everything I'd want to say in a manner that I couldn't say better without plagarizing so take a peak --- I guarantee you won't regret it ---> http://dougrun365.blogspot.com/2012/08/usain-bolt-vs-kirani-james.html?spref=fb The blogger compares our two Caribbean star athletes highlights and lowlights.

In Guoyave

And it starts with Kirani James Boulevard...

Some new pretty lights went up during summer... they're still there.

And the streets of Guoyave filled with people...!




And of course, I was one of those that passed by the Beachfest first.

Maurissa and I, you may recognize her from a few posts back. Yes she's back in the country visiting.

Donald and I... Saw the post about me learning to drive a manual car and a motorbike? Here's the brave guy that's risking his life to teach me as my bike lessons initially included him holding the seat walking along yelling "Brake! Brake! Clutch clutch clutch!" when I accidentally turn the handle to accelerate rather than the clutch... hahahahaha

And the three of us..!

And then I went on a little island tour with Maurissa to show her cousin around the island. Maurissa's friend Joshua was both the cook and tour guide.

He made a yummy lambie waters with okro, carrots, etc. I think this was my first time having waters with okro in it -- I'd definitely repeat.

Annadale Falls

Man jumping into the water at Annadale falls.

Sam (her cousin), Josh & Maurissa

Sam, Maurissa & myself

Then we played tourist... I mean Sam is one, but we all were for the day.

If you think I look slightly under the weather it's because I was recovering from a cold. There's an annoying story behind the cold.. I'll close of this post with it.

Grand Etang lake

Grand Etang Lake, gorgeous as per usual

 Then we passed by Pearl's airport, which was the airport used before Maurice Bishop Int'l located on the north-easterly part of the island. Maurissa was inciting lots of "You only live once" moments which I had to decline because I was sick. She wanted to dance in the rain, jump in the lake, etc. However, I did indulge her in going up close and personal to see the planes that remain on the old air strip.

The inside...

The cockpit...

Tail view of one of the planes

 And then we passed by The Grenada Chocolate Factory...! Yes, I thought it was a bit obscure myself. I had expected something far bigger since... ya know... it's a factory. This is what American television has cultured me into thinking. *sigh*


Then we passed by the Belmont Estate. This is one of my favourite places to visit on the island. It's almost like a mini-petting zoo for kids (and big kids like myself) and a nice little tour of history. The tour guide takes you to see how chocolate is made from the picking of the cocoa to the point of it being processed. Apparently, they've done it historically. They still do the 'dancing of the cocoa' and visitors are invited to join in the "dancing" with the music and rum.

I took a picture of the bell. Why? I never noticed it before I went on the tour. The bell was placed there by the French and is about 300 years old and still works..!


Some of the animals! They normally have horses and donkeys walking around as well...!

Who's a pretty birdie?

***

River Antoine Estate... where Rivers rum gets manufactured. Best & worst experience of my life.

Rivers rum is still made mostly as it was done historically. The tour was amazingly done (or we just had a really good guide) but I'd recommend visitors to take it.

The water from a river was channeled to come through the trough at the top and fall onto the water wheel which powers the churning of the cane.

On the other side of the water wheel.

The cane goes up on end...

To get crushed on the other end as it's churned...

The skin/bagasse that remains goes here. The rotting bits are taking back as manure for the fields. The dry bits are burnt as fuel for the remaining processes of making rum.

The cane juice goes from one into another... each hotter than the previous, the juice naturally thicker than the previous.

Then goes to ferment...

And heated... The vapor upon condensation is what forms the rum. And no, they're not feigning interest just for my photo, I don't even think they knew when I took the shot... hahaha

From there... it comes here to be tested for alcohol percentage. If it's sufficient (75% and higher) the thermometer will sink... if not, it will stay afloat).  If too weak, then it heads back outside into the chambers in the previous photo to be re-processed and strengthened.

 Rivers rum, the one that can't be exported because of the alcohol strength, is anywhere between 75-86% alcohol. At the end, you get to pour your own sample. Yours truly and Maurissa decided we were expert alcoholics and took a huge shot of the strongest rum available. It was awful. As it went into my mouth, so it went back into my cup. I drank half of my shot to prove a point afterwards. Everything burned. I felt sick for the rest of the day. I thought I was going to die. Not me again. Ever. In life. This life and the next.


And lastly, Levera.

Magnificent Frigate Bird

Levera pond... the other end

The tower at Levera Pond... I have one too many posts at this place. I do think it's truly beautiful... In fact, Josh, it was his first time visit to this particular locale, said when he decides he wants to get married, he thinks this is the spot where he'd propose.

Ladies Night Out...!

So, about that cold... This year I actually stayed home from Carnival and still managed to catch the post-Carnival cold.

C'est tout!
Deuces