A day on the town

Oh Canada pics

I realized that some of the pictures disappeared from previous posts, weird!

St. George's Grenada West Indies

These cannons protected St. George's natural harbor from the French.

This is one of the most picturesque places I've ever been. The Dutch/French archetecture and bright Caribbean colors dot the lush green sloped landscapes.

This is the Saturday farmers market. Grenada is nicknamed the 'island of spice' and you can find almost anything in you would ever want in a spice rack but as fresh as can be. They harvest tons of nutmed and mace and for me this place had the destinct odor of pumpkin pie. The vendors are REALLY friendly but almost to the point of annoyance. Grenadians are very aggressive sales men and without an understanding of the culture you might feel a little threatened when they get up in your face with a pitch but they are harmless and wouldn't mug you or anything. I also felt that we were the only white people for miles.

Huricane Ivan tore through the island in 2004 and ripped the roofs off several of structures like this Anglican Church which is over 200 years old. We got to go inside and see the damage but interestingly enough they still hold services here (weather permitting) and plan on restoring the roof here soon.

A day on the town

Even though I'm at a school called St. George's we are actually in a small college town called True Blue (because they used to produce indego along time ago). This was our first time getting on the city bus which ROCKS!! you just start walking and a guy will jump out of what we would call a small 15 passenger van and the bus will back up and you get on. From True Blue we traveled up to St. George's down town, where we got off and apparently looked lost enough to where an enterprising tour guide named Randy took good care of us and showed us around the town and got us in the right direction to go swim in a nearby waterfall which is on the property of an old plantation.

We later went back into town and walked around the spice market and up to old British fort sill used today for the police called Fort George, formally known as Fort Royal by the French who were the first to colonize the island. We got an excellent history lesson from our tour guide about the tragic events leading up to the US invasion "Operation Urgent Fury" where a military coup orchestrated by Cuban Marxists and high level govenment representatives killed the Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and those loyal to him. Needless to say the US military came in and conflict resolved is less than a week and the local Grenadians didn't have any problems putting the Cubans hidinig all over the island in US custody. There is a nice memorial and an even nicer view.

Janey's first trip to Oregon

Oh Canada

This is from the middle of July but hey I've been busy so lay off. Its hard to put into pictures how beautiful the Canadian Rockies actually are. They are so HUGE!! and in Banf and Jasper they are all around.

My Dad and brother Ryan accompanied by Chris and Tyler Byron had this little man trip where we returned to nature, just like Walden, only our philosphies actually make sense.

Beginning of life in Grenada

For those of you who didn't know I have recently began my graduate career at Saint George's University in Grenada, West Indies. I am currently taking my required courses for my masters in public health which is a one year program, and granting I don't get into trouble or flunk out I'll probably start Medical School exactly a year from now. I am currently wifeless and babyless while I complete my first term, after which I return back to the good ol' USA for my practicum (end of Act -January). Its been lonely not having my fan club with me, and I realized how much of a slob I am without them around. I miss them very much and hope my very busy schedule will make the time fly by.

After a 24 hour plus voyage including layovers in Newark,NJ and Port of Spain Trinidad I arrived to the beautiful tranquil island of Grenada. Lucky for me I got all my baggage in one attempt and made some friends along the way.

I felt so out of touch with the world because I haven't lived without a phone for the past 5 years and it still is kind of strange. To top that off I forgot only one thing, the power chord to my laptop, luckily for me I have a Suite Mate (we live in a 3 bedroom suite on campus) has the same chord and has been gracious enough to let me borrow his when he's around.

These are the only pictures I have taken thus far. We (my suite mates) took the campus shuttle to Grand Anse beach the other day where the view was amazing with the green hills and vibrant colored houses and rooftops scattered aound. The water is as warm as bath water (even warmer than Hawaii). I have a suite mate from Florida who is an accomplished spear fisherman and we (and by we I mean he) went out snorkling and caught some lobster and fish (one of which was a barracuda). I didn't contribute much to the excusrsion other than getting to be a spectator and carrying in some gear. We had one funny experience as we were walking down the beach and a man in a police uniform was yelling at us to stop. I thought for sure we just did something illegal and he came running up to us and asked if we were selling it. We resopnded by saying we just got here and we planned on taking it home and cooking it and he said "that's to bad, I really wanted to buy one off of you" So we cut it up and gave him some. We all had some laughs after that, and hopefully we now have a friend on the force. When we got home we had fresh sea food and that has been the highlight so far. Orientation involves standing in long lines sitting through boring lectures with little down time, its definitely getting me more exited about school starting up. I have an awesome academic adviser who was born and raised here and he talks about taking us to go play and watch soccer and cricket. The people here are super friendly and open. everyone seems to greet you by what time of day it is. There is little to no frowning, lots of laughing. Definitely a different culture but one I think I will grow to appreciate.
I can't wait to bring Ashley and Janey here I know they will love it.