Grenada first week

Grenada
the spice of the Caribbean

Campus at sunset.

The First Week
Aug. 15 - Aug. 21, 2006

We arrived in Grenada on August 15, 2006, on the last day of Carnival. We got to our apartment around 6 pm, where we met some wonderful students in the same complex. Then, we went out searching for food - which was quite a trick since everything was closed due to Carnival! We missed the Carnival event, but we were able to see some of the costumed participants near town. Our brief travels were inundated by new music, new sights, new smells, and what sometimes seemed like a new language. With the help of a taxi driver, we ultimately obtained some "street meat" for dinner, which is chicken cooked at the side of the street over homemade charcoal "grills." We had barbecued chicken, which was really very good!

We found our original apartment to be less desirable than we had hoped. The space was not exactly "homey" and, moreover, the area was not safe to travel to and from at night without an automobile. So, we set out the next day to search for other housing options. We found an acceptable new apartment right away, and we worked on the details of renting it for the next few days, as the new apartment was brand new and not quite completed.

For most of the week, Peter got registered with school, we obtained university ID cards, picked up Peter's books, and we followed through with many administrative tasks. We walked to most of our destinations and learned how to use the free university bus system. Everywhere we went and each time we got on a bus, we made an effort to meet the new people around us!

Our first official initiation into the University community occurred at Peter's "convocation" which served as an introduction to many of the professors, administrators, and services available on campus for the first term medical students.
The convocation was held at the Grand Beach Hotel on Grand Anse Beach (see below.)

On Saturday morning, we moved into our new apartment. After unpacking the necessities, we took a bus over to campus for a barbecue organized by one of the student groups, AMSA. The barbecue overlooked the ocean ... as much of campus does. We were early so we offered our services to help set up, but all was under control, so we went for a stroll. We were told that not more than a hundred yards away, the ground sloped down to a black sand beach, which we had not yet seen. Sure enough, we found a small beach with fine, soft sand as black as night. The beach sand is black, but the sand turns white again under the ocean water. Cliffs stretch out on either side of the beach - some with small water tunnels through the narrow cliffs which stretch out into the water. On one side of the beach, water-smoothed rock forms a small path along the ocean where we could see that crabs had crawled out of the water searching for food. We walked along the path as the creatures scattered in front of us - some even falling from a nearby tree in fright of us. We sat quietly and watched as the crabs bravely came forward again to continue their search. Then it was off to the barbecue, which was delicious, and where we met many new people and a vet student's dog named "Broccoli" as a student rock band played music.

The black sand beach - you can see a bit of the rock path where the crabs were at the end of the beach - to follow the path, you need to duck under the fallen tree.

In the evening, we went to a party on the Grand Anse campus, also put on by AMSA. We once again took the opportunity to meet plenty of new people making the same sort of adjustments that we were. Although the evening parties tend to play insanely loud music, it was very nice to spend time on the beach, which is directly adjacent to the campus "building," which is a large outdoor, open-air area protected by a roof and walls on two sides. As most evenings are, it was quite warm and pleasant on the beach.

On Sunday, we attended the "bazaar" on campus where new students can check out booths staffed with members of many different student organizations (see photo to the left.) We each signed up to be involved with a number of student groups (shocking, I know!) It was exciting to be surrounded by the energy of students promoting causes near to their hearts. We also broke down and finally bought cell phones ... but not before we had our fill of free food! Just as we were leaving, Peter and I approached the Dean of Students, Dr. Rao, who we found to be very accessible and we had a very nice conversation with him.

August 21, 2006, was Peter's "White Coat Ceremony." This was a time for distinguished speakers to address the incoming medical student class and to impress upon them the gravity of their chosen profession. Each student's name and country of origin was announced ... at which time the student mounted the stage, white coat in hand, shook the hand of one of seven distinguished doctors on stage, handed their coat to that doctor, and the doctor then put the coat on the student. Peter did a stupendous job, and he looked just great in his white SGU coat; Heather clapped a lot and yelled encouragements. Peter's incoming class is over 350 students, which is extremely large for SGU and enormous compared to US medical schools - and that's a lot of clapping! After the ceremony, we enjoyed fantastic food and an amazing steel drum band.

And then ... that very evening ... the studying began... ...and continues....

The Second Week

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