Grand Etang and Annadale Falls

I have been having more and more fun since last time I blogged. Last night, some vetschool friends and I went to a bar called Bananas that is just down the road from the school. Everybody was in a great mood. We laughed and had some drinks... and some shots... and before I realized, I was horribly, embarrassingly drunk. I only had 2 shots, and 2 drinks during the entire night... but I seriously underestimated the amount of alcohol that they give you in each drink. Normally, 4 drinks over a few hours would get me a nice happy buzz which would wear off before it was time to go home. But no. Last night when we left I could barely see, and I was slurring my words so badly that I just stopped talking because it was easier. pathetic! We took a cab back to campus, and when I got to my room I ate the entire bag of dried banana chips that I had sitting on my desk. They were so good. Then I forced myself to drink a giant jug of water so I wouldn't feel like death in the morning. good times

This morning, I got up to use the bathroom at 7am. We all have locks on our room doors to prevent theft, and apparently in my drunken retardedness the night before I forgot to pop the lock on mine. While I was in the bathroom, my door closed on its own and when I went to stumble back to my bed, I realized that I was locked out. awesome. I was wearing a little pair of booty shorts and a tank top so I didn't really want to go parading around the building looking for security to let me back into my room. Also, if I left the apartment to look for security, I would end up hungover, and half naked in the hallway with no key. I didn't know what to do. Luckily, after a minute another student walked by my door. He let me use his cell phone to call security and they came after about 5 minutes. I felt like a complete tard and went back to bed for a while so i could forget my ordeal.

I got up a few hours later and a bunch of us who went out the night before met up and ate some lunch. Then we all piled into the SGU busses for a tour of the Grand Etang Forest and Annandale Waterfall. We had a fantastic time. At the waterfall there was this group of locals who would climb up the rocks and jump off the falls. We watched them for a bit and then headed back to the busses to continue to Grand Etang Lake. On the way back there was a local man with a mona monkey on his shoulder. Everybody hollered to me to come over (cause I am the monkey girl) and they took my photo with the little monkey. I was really excited to see a mona monkey for the first time. they are quite a bit smaller than I expected... about the same size as a capuchin. I also felt really sad for the monkey cause it was quite young and the man had a leash around its little waist. :( monkeys should never be pets. ever.

After the falls, we went to Grand Etang Lake which is a dead volcano crater filled with water, way up high in the hills. The guy who was giving the tour says that the lake has no bottom... and I kind of believe him. I looked it up online and apparently when a different underwater volcano north of Grenada was actively bubbling, the waters in Grand Etang Lake were bubbling too. Maybe they are connected. creepy! After checking out the lake, we hiked up this crazy trail to the top of what felt like a mountain. I was so happy. I felt just like I was trekking through the jungles of Costa Rica again....except that there were about 100 people there with me, and there were none of my monkey friends. :( Many of the other students who came on the hike didn't have as much fun as I did. I overheard people complaining that it was the worst hike ever because the trail was muddy and slippery and people were falling all over the place. I guess they just aren't awesome jungle badasses like me. heh. When we got to the top of the hill, the view was incredible. I could see the ocean, and the misty forest, and all of the cute little houses of the city below. I will post photos tomorrow. Now, I am in my bed. All the mud has been washed off my feet, and I am looking forward to having a nice sleep and waking up refreshed and not hungover. There is a welcome party tomorrow at a bar called Aquarium. I am going to go, but I am not going to drink. Once is enough for this old lady.

In conclusion, here is a little movie I took today. It is one of the locals jumping off the falls. It looks like the video has been sped up, but it hasn't. Enjoy!

Grande-Anse!

So here are the photos that I took at Grande Anse beach yesterday. This place is literally a 5 minute bus ride from my school. Pretty sweet huh?

Today I took some photos from around campus, but I need to get a few more before the slideshow will be ready. Enjoy!
<3 Dayna

also, if you want to see a close up, just click the "view all" button to get to the full-size version!

Day One on the Island

What a day.

I got to Grenada safe and sound last night.... and after dealing with filling out a couple of forms for the baggage that was flying standby, me and a few other students were driven to school. I was given my room assignment by a student rep at the airport but when I got to my building, the room number that I was given didn't actually exist. To make matters worse, the RA (residential adviser) was not answering her door so I couldn't confirm my room or get any keys. She had a sign on her door that said "If I am not here, call security to let you into your room". However, having just stepped off a plane, I didn't have a cell phone. Thankfully a kind student came across me sitting in the hall waiting for the RA and let me use his cell. After about 2 hours of waiting, security was able to find my correct room and let me in so I could get some rest. By that time it was 1am and I was so wired I couldn't fall asleep for a long time.

Today, I got up and went to a meeting that I had with the Dean.... because my interview for school was over the phone, I had to meet with him in person to confirm that I am really me. After that, I went to find coffee and ran into a bunch of my vet school classmates. We all recognized each other through facebook and it was awesome to finally meet.

After breakfast and coffee, we all went to the student bookstore on campus and then took the school shuttle to the mall which is about a 5 minute drive away. A few people bought some groceries, but at that point I didn't have my room key yet so I just tagged along so I wouldn't be totally lost the next time. We then came back to campus so the others could put their things away, I got my room key, and then 5 of us took the shuttle to the Grand Anse beach. OMG is the beach ever beautiful. Don't worry, I took a ton of photos... i'm just too tired to resize them right now.

We swam for a bit, then walked along the beach and found this little hole in the wall beach restaurant. I got a rum punch to drink and a chicken roti to eat. The roti was this curried potato and chicken mixture all wrapped up in some kind of squishy indian tortilla. It was delicious. We then went back to campus all sandy and pink from the sun.

After the beach, we took a different shuttle (the shuttles are all free and come to the school every 15 minutes or so) to the airport to see if our bags had arrived. I wasn't expecting them to be there BUT THEY WERE! Every single person I hung out with today had lost at least one bag during the trip here, so we were all very happy to have our bedding, undies, and toiletry items. We took a cab back to campus and almost everybody went back to their dorms to unpack. Everybody except me and one other girl. Instead, her and I took one more shuttle back to the grocery store and did our shopping trip.

Now, I am lying in my bed, all showered and in my jammies. I will finish this update, and then I will have the best sleep of all time. Tomorrow should be another busy day. I will post photos soon and i'll write all about my day! I miss you all!

xoxox
Dayna

Just a couple more things before I go.

1. I don't seem to need as much sleep when I live in the tropics. The PHD student from Costa Rica said that he was the same.


2. My new camera is frakken awesome!!! It takes amazing HD video, and the photo quality is sooo clear. Here is a picture I took of a crab today... it looks allright. But check out how the same photo looks when you zoom in! Awesome huh? I am so glad I decided to buy it. ^___^

Barbados

Well, I made it to Barbados safe and sound. I have about 3 hours until my next flight leaves so i'm just sitting in the terminal trying to overdose on caffeine. My flights went pretty well. On the one from Edmonton to Toronto I got a window seat and there was nobody sitting in the middle spot next to me. I was able to curl up in a ball and kind of lie down a little. Despite having slightly more space, I didn't get much rest. The plane was making really loud noises... it sounded kind of like that air compressor sound you hear in an auto garage. I was scared that the plane was going to fall apart while we were taking off but I kept my eyes on the flight attendants and they didn't seem to be alarmed. Eventually I just put on my iPod and drowned out the noise.

The flight from Toronto to Barbados was ok. This one was a much larger plane: window, 2 seats, aisle, 3 seats, aisle, 2 seats, window. I had an old lady sitting beside me. Actually aside from a few other student types like me, the entire plane was crammed with old people. It felt like a senior's vacation or something. Anyway, I spent the flight dozing and watching episodes of Burn Notice on my computer (it is a really good show!). Neither flight served food or drinks at all (F-you Air Canada you cheap bastards) so by the time I got to Barbados, I was dying of starvation. Thankfully my mom sent a bunch of snacks with me in my carry-on. She's the best.

When I got to Barbados, I had to claim my baggage. There were no baggage carts anywhere so I felt a little lost for a few minutes trying to figure out how to carry both of my 50 pound bags, plus my backpack all the way through the airport. Luckily, I met some other SGU students who had found a porter with a cart and had extra room. The porter wheeled all of our bags all the way to the check-in counter so I didn't have to lug them around. It also gave me a chance to make some Canadian med-student friends.

I am flying on an airline called LIAT for the last leg of my journey. They have a retarded baggage policy. Only one bag is normally allowed per person. One of my bags gets to fly with me, and the other one gets to fly standby on a later flight for an additional $60 American. huh. They were kind enough to let me choose which bag to bring but they were packed so full, I couldn't tell which one was which. Either way, I either get clothes or bedding when I get to the school. I kind of hope I picked the clothes bag because I didn't put any shorts in my carry-on. Oh well, I am not stressing about it because there were probably 20 other SGU students in the same boat. The people at the school can help us, i'm sure.

Anyway, just a few more things before I sign off for now.

• So far I have met quite a few students, but they are all attending med school. I am looking forward to meeting my vet peeps.


• One of the girls who went through the check in with me had some trouble. The people at the desk couldn't find her reservation and suggested she buy another ticket (even though she already paid for one). She told me to go on ahead so I don't miss the flight. I hope they sorted everything out. Apparently island life is a little more laid back so "we can't find your reservation" is a common thing to hear. I guess a mellow attitude helps.


• My feet are hot, and I want very badly to put on my flip flops which may or may not be flying standby.

Ok that's it for now! i'm going to go find another coffee and find my gate. I would kill for a Timmy's right now.

xoxox
Dayna

Airport Fun

Yes. It's true. Your favorite blogatrix is back. I am currently sitting in the Edmonton International Airport waiting to board the flight that will take me to my new life. For those of you who need a little update, I am super excited to announce that I got accepted to a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program at St. George's University in Grenada. Where exactly is that you ask? Right here. I know right? Isn't it awesome?

I am really excited to blog again. I love it! I even bought myself a nice new digital camera so I can take all kinds of fantastic photos to show you guys. I can't wait.

So here is my plan for today. I fly from Edmonton to Toronto. Wait 2 hours. Fly from Toronto to Barbados. Wait 6 hours. And then fly from Barbados to St. George's, Grenada where somebody from the school will be waiting for me and will take me to my new home. I will be living on campus for my first semester which is good and bad. It's good because moving to a new country can be a little crazy at first. It will be nice to have a home base which is safe and convenient. It's bad because I may or may not have to share a room with a complete stranger (I will find out when I get there), and also because I had to leave my sweet dog Neko at home. I cried a when I had to say goodbye to her, but she is staying with my parents and she LOVES them. So I know she will be ok.

Anyway, the plane is boarding soon so I should go. But I will leave you with a couple fun tidbits of info.

1. THERE ARE MONKEYS ON GRENADA! MONA MONKEYS FROM AFRICA! They look like this.



2. This is a photo of my school. And yes, its ok to be jealous. :D