Life goes on...

And so, life continues to move on in the tiny, little island of Grenada. Moment by moment, day by day, till the days turn into weeks and the weeks into months. The first week we were here, it seemed like a year should have passed, with all the new sights, smells & experiences. New faces, new roads, new grocery stores, new school, new church, new food, different temperatures, new house & new neighbors. Each new day that passed brought so many new things that, sometimes I could hardly fathom it was only a few days since we had left home. As we adjusted to life in Grenada though, it seemed like time picked up speed. Now I look back and think, has it really been 4 months already? Of course, winter is a busier time down here, with more visitors and 2 high school groups coming down. Maybe time will slow down when the hot summer months hit. We shall see. Temperatures are climbing and I've accepted the fact that I will be sweating more hours out of the day than I'm not. So far evenings have cooled down somewhat but it remains muggy most nights. We are in the middle of dry season so that means there are times they turn the water off for a few hours at a time. It also means that the water we do get is from the bottom of the reservoir, consequently it is cloudy and sometimes brown. After some stomach issues we started boiling our drinking water, as many people on the island are doing as well.

 How are we adjusting? Depends when you ask:) I don't think the longing for home will ever completely go away but most times it's bearable. Of course, there are the exceptions when you just really wish you could see everyone again! Last night I dreamed I was on a plane headed home and I was so excited that I forgot to take any luggage with me:) Hopefully that never happens! It definitely helps if I keep myself busy. Chris has not a chance to be bored yet and he usually always has something on his agenda. It doesn't help that everything that needs done takes twice as long. He'd much rather have it that way though than not have enough to do! Between fixing houses, vehicles & appliances and endless paper work, he has plenty to do.
  I am kept busy with normal housewife duties...washing, cooking, cleaning, ironing and then starting all over again.:) Really, not much different than what my life used to be. Wednesdays find me at the hospital and after meeting a lovely, elderly couple there, if all goes as planned, I will be helping the lady take care of her husband 1 morning a week. They would come into the hospital every Wednesday morning for medical care and I always so admired the cheerful, selfless way she took care of him! They are such a sweet couple! He recently broke his leg, so after he's discharged I plan to go help with his care. 

 Kaylah has made tremendous strides in adjusting! So thankful for that! She still really misses her friends though. Of course, it helped that she had her grandparents visit to look forward to! Also, her constant shadow, Diamond has brightened many of her days! That mutt is well worth the $25 she cost. 

 Collin & Christi have adjusted well and enjoy school for the most part. Their teacher Ryan Horst, has an excellent way of captivating their attention and making learning sound like the most fun thing in the world! 

 Collin's arm still is crooked and after endless phone calls, countless messages left & emailing x-rays, we have finally reached a decision. We got differing opinions from 2 different doctors, so for awhile, we weren't sure what we were gonna do. The one doctor, that thought we shouldn't wait till November to get it fixed, emailed the x rays to a pediatric surgeon at Hershey for his opinion. That doctor said if it would have been right after we discovered it had healed wrong he would say to get it fixed immediately, but now that it's considered an "old" injury, waiting 6 months won't make any difference. So on our visit home in November we will get it evaluated, so we know what to do about it. Most likely rebreaking & resetting.

Carter took to Grenada like a fish to water and he even sounds like one! (A Grenadian, not a fish:)) It is definitely true that the younger they are, the easier they adjust. He usually always has a smile on his face and makes friends wherever he goes. Ok, he can be a world class whiner sometimes too!

   Alright, now for a picture update of our lives:) 

Below is a set of steps that has been filling Chris's spare moments. They belong to Thaddeus, a member at our church, who plans to get married in June. His bride-to-be is in her 50's, so for her sake he decided to put in a flight of steps down to his house instead of making her use the steep, turny path he previously used. Very thoughtful of him, but they will still both be building lots of leg muscles going up & down all those steps!

Chris, Collin & Carter shoveling off sand to be used for the steps. They 

(not just Chris, others have been helping, too) have been framing the steps one

 section at a  time and many, many buckets of cement were carried down that hill!

                              Who needs monkey bars? We had a meal & church service on
                                        May Day, a holiday similar to our Labor Day

James & Chris putting barb wire around the teacher's house in hopes to discourage uninvited visitors.
It is a sight to see and with the added wire mesh to the windows, I do believe they feel like they are living in a jail.

And a long awaited, highly anticipated, visit from my parents!! I can't quite describe the feeling of waiting outside the airport waiting for them to walk through those doors. We ran them almost ragged the week they were here in an attempt to show them as much of the island as possible. More than once Dad was heard saying, he believes we forget they are grandparents and not so young anymore...usually when we had him hiking over some rough, rocky terrain:) I believe though, every time he admitted it was worth the pain & stress of the hike:)
Mom came prepared to battle mosquitoes & heat but was pleasantly surprised that neither bothered her much. What she hadn't prepared herself for was the crazy driving and more than once she thought the Grenadians roads are gonna be the death of her. I will admit there were a few, very close calls. The one time we were headed up a hill & a very impatient driver decided to pass us and either didn't see, or didn't care, that a truck was flying down the hill. Chris slammed on the brakes so hard that we all flew toward the front of the truck. (We were sitting on the benches on the back) It was so close to being a head on collision that, quite honestly, I can't see how he manged to squeeze between the 2 trucks. About a day later I was walking up a hill and there was a slow moving truck puttering up the hill on the other side of the road from me. A bus came flying around the turn, going the same direction as the truck, and since bus drivers don't like to brake more than they have to, tried to fit between me and the truck. I was glad he erred on taking the truck too close instead of me, because he hit the truck & pieces went flying. I was thankful it was vehicle pieces and not my body pieces. So yes, there are many close calls on the road.
 And then, there was the bat attack...it was the last evening they were here and, in an effort to spend as many moments together as possible, I decided to leave my messy kitchen for the morning. After one last enjoyable evening together, we all headed for our bed rooms. I was in the shower when I heard various bumps, clumps & thumps. I roused my near sleeping husband out of bed to look out the window to see who's out there. It would certainly not be the first time there have been peeping toms around here. The coast was clear and I almost forgot about it till the next morning. That's when my dear mother admitted she wanted to surprise me and clean up the kitchen after we went to bed. She was peacefully washing dishes when a bat came flying right in at the kitchen window. She panicked and frantically swatted at it with her dish clothe. Around and around the kitchen they went. Finally, it found the window and flew out and she breathed a sigh of relief. Her relief was short lived, however. It came flying right back in another kitchen window, did a few circles around her legs while she madly swatted at the little black creature. It was all she could do to stifle her screams. Oh my! What I wouldn't have gave to see that! She did finally manage to get it chased out and my kitchen was sparkling in the morning!

                    Visiting school...Collin & Christi's new classroom...much more room
                    than the one they were in till the church/school project was complete!

      Carter showing Grandpa some of his work...I'm not sure what the mischievous look is all about!

                      Kaylah's classroom...she is more adjusted to school than she
                        had been, but is still looking forward to the end of the term

 Going for a walk one evening...it was supposed to be a girl's only walk with my mom & my daughters...I guess Diamond thinks she's one of us of us now, because we could not get her to stay back. Christi was so afraid she is gonna get hit on the road. She was telling the mutt, "'Diamond, you just can't get hit on the road, because we all just love you so much!" (my love could be described more as toleration...) She is getting too big to carry, although Christi did try it for awhile. After that she tried walking, half bending over with her fingers looped in her collar. Then she got tired of that and I guess decided if she can walk on two legs, a dog can too. Poor Diamond enjoyed the rest of the walk being half strangled. Maybe that will teach her to stay at home where she belongs...

Smile, Diamond!!

                                  We hiked my parents up to an old fort to watch the sunset

                                                          A view from the fort

                                   My dear parents...the people you love the most become
                                     all the dearer when you don't get to see much of them!

                      A lady we met in town one day...she took a real shine to the children...

All the fixings for a fresh tuna sandwich! It would be as organic, preservative free & natural as it gets! This was taken at the fish market... a very strong smelling place! (Note the sign on the wall:) )

                Or if you don't like fish, but would rather have beef, help yourself to a slab!

After seeing cow heel soup, Dad couldn't quite believe they would actually put cow heels in a soup, so I asked the lady how they make it...."Well," she began,"first you take some grated cow heel..."...
that was my answer...and, no, we didn't order any...

         Beer, candy & cigarettes...it was all offered right there along with the cow heel soup...

                   Our cheesy grinning family...and on behalf of my husband, he still has some hair
                    left on the top of his head...the bright sunlight on it makes it appear otherwise:)

If Collin had lice before, he sure doesn't anymore!

  We took my parent's to see an old unused runway...it has 2 old dilapidated planes sitting beside it

The farmer in my Dad could hardly stand to see these cows tied in the hot sun without any water...here he is trying to give one water but it wasn't too interested

                    Easter Sunrise service...thanks to clouds, we didn't get to see the sun rise

A beautiful cake one of the neighborhood shop owners made for our service...it tasted as good as it looked! We had a brunch after church...menu was fish souse...not what I would normally eat for  breakfast but was so good! Was a cold mixture of fish, cabbage, vegetables & seasonings. We ate it with bakes, a bread type pastry...also had fruit, coffee cake & cocoa tea.

                             And another kite day...this was for the church attendees. Thanks to
                           the adult:child ratio being much higher, it was a much less tiring day!:)

                      Carter was so pleased that he managed to get his kite up by himself!

This picture makes me sigh....I think they take better care of the dog than themselves! Diamond had spa treatment with MY body wash & dental care with MY toothpaste! Toothbrush was an old one or this mamma would have REALLY been fit to be tied!

I had some neighbors over for supper Easter Sunday evening...also the teachers & John & Rachel, who brought along a dish of wild meat...a delightful mixture of monkey, opossum & armadillo. I do believe most meat is edible with enough seasoning & if you can try to not think about what type of animal you are gnawing on. Below is a picture of the cooked meat and, below that, a picture of the animals in their pre-existing state...probably good I came across the picture AFTER I sampled the meat...

And so, concludes another blog post. Please pray for the work here, the church, against discouragement and that God's will could be accomplished in Grenada.