Teeny island seen from the Black Sand Beach.

The Fourth Week
  Sept. 4 - Sept. 10, 2006

Heather continued to work for Dr. Stanley this week in the microbiology department, following up on registration from the selective on Saturday.  This week registration was a part time effort, so the rest of the time Heather caught up on household chores ... including arranging for installation of AIR CONDITIONING in our living room!  Yeah!  Evenings used to get very hot inside the house as our apartment is rather shielded from evening tropical breezes.



We also found out that Cable and Wireless, the local telephone company, cannot install a home phone line, or therefore DSL (the only higher speed option here) because the lines in our area are now "congested."  They need to install new line and will not give a time frame when this will be done.  One professor noted that it took about three months to "uncongest" her line....  In the meantime - we wait!

In addition to his studies last week, Peter ran for student government.  He found out on Tuesday that HE WON!  Peter is now a proud representative of the Fall 2006 first term medical class.  Peter's platform was the "blank slate." He noted his recent cold which caused him to lose his voice and therefore to appreciate the importance of "having a voice" both literally and figuratively.  He pledged to listen to his peers and bring their voices to the administration.  Peter also committed, as a representative, to meet each and every one of the 350-plus students in his class.  He's getting there!

On Friday evening, the Student Government Association hosted a dinner for all representatives at a small local restaurant called Rumors.  A bus took us from campus to the restaurant, which we understand is typically a vegetarian establishment, but they served swordfish as well this evening.  We drove through a section of Grenada that we had not yet seen - the area was extremely economically depressed and reminded us of the struggles of our host country.  For our part, we had a wonderful meal and got to meet ever more people!

After the dinner, we returned to campus to plan how to spend a beautiful Caribbean evening away from the library.  We decided to head to the Black Sand Beach with a couple of new friends.  To the side of the beach opposite from where we found the crabs a few weeks ago is a path leading up to a bluff which ends in a narrow peninsula on a small cliff.  At the end of the tiny bit of land jutting out into the water are a few small rock formations that are just the right size for natural chairs.  To top it off, Peter saw a large, six foot wide ray glide by the cliff side in the evening water.  We had a fabulous evening talking by moonlight.  You can see the path and the bluff in the daylight photo below.

Friday morning, Peter continued his Friday morning tradition of snorkeling off the Black Sand Beach for an hour.  This week, he saw an octopus - what a treat!  Heather did not go as she went to campus to draw and could not take both snorkeling equipment and a large sketch pad.

On Saturday, we both went snorkeling off of Grand Anse Beach.  We had a great time and discovered a  gorgeous little private beach around the bay.  The cozy beach photos did not come out, but rest assured that we will go back and take more (in the last photo, Heather is looking at the little beach, but you see St. George's in the background)!