Iguanas, Airplanes & Oil Down

   It's been a little over a year now since we stood on the brink of the unknown, shivering from a mixture of excitement and cold, as we waited for our plane to whisk us far away, to a land we had only seen in pictures. Alot of unknowns, which was probably just as good that way, awaited us. It has been a year we will never forget. I think God must have known I like adventure and excitement, 'cause He gave us plenty of both! There were times though, where I thought, "Ok, God, I think I'll take my boring little life back again now. Enough of all these new stretching experiences."
 I have lots to learn yet, but here are a few things I learned....most of them the hard way...

Be careful around a fan with no shield, it will leave scars.

The orneriness of a chicken withholding its egg from me, is in direct correlation to how badly I need it to complete a baking project.  Kinda along the same line as 'a watched pot will never boil'....'a watched chicken will not lay an egg.'

The law of Confucius says...if you leave for a walk without an umbrella, it will rain....BUT if you carry an umbrella it will probably stay dry.

Do not sleep with your head up against the headboard. It creates a super highway for big unidentifiable critters to cruise down through your hair, on to your cheek and into the great unknown, while you wildly swat and eventually give up because you're so tired that you don't even care if you get eaten alive by big gigantic critters.

Yes, a sparkling shower head is a beautiful thing to behold, but the painful truth remains...water is a good conductor of electricity. (Faulty wiring on the little heater in the shower head)

If you have greasy dishes from baking, save them to wash until the afternoon. Since the water pipes are exposed, the hot sun warms the water, therefore giving you HOT water to wash dishes!

Likewise with a shower...except sometimes it can get too hot and you can't turn on the cold water.

Give your clothes a shake before putting them on....unless you enjoy the crunchy sensation of termite turds against your skin.

No fish compares to fish freshly caught from the sea.

Slippers are not some bunny-eared fuzzy footwear. It's what they call flip flops.

The mosquitoes love the cozy nook at our headboard and appreciate when you expose your arm to them for a convenient smorgasbord.

Grenadians will share their last morsel of food with you.

As soon as the wash is dry, bring it in...or you might regret it as it hangs out for the next few days till the rain stops.

Curry seasoning makes everything good.

Don't expect to get everything on your list when you go to the grocery store.

Fresh mangoes, lemons and bananas make me happy...and make good smoothies. Add 'sweet milk' (sweetened condensed milk) for a deliciously creamy smoothie.

 If I let God be the driver instead of the co-pilot, I can sit back, relax with my feet propped up on the dash and enjoy the wind in my hair. (ps. learning in progress on that one)

  And now, for our month of February. What is it about a tropical island that attracts people this time of year? Haha....whatever it is, we sure loved all the visitors it brought! Starting with our long awaited family members! We talked about this for months and could hardly believe the time had actually come! My sister and her family came for a short visit of four days. Four days that were packed! I was getting a little worried before they arrived, afraid we weren't going to get everything in that we wanted to do with them, in addition to extra church and staff activities that were planned since it was over the same time a board member was visiting. On the other hand, we didn't want to pack it too full  for fear that all we would do is dash from one place to the next, never really having down time and time to just sit and chat. It went well though, although, of course, way too fast!

               The long awaited guests! Glenn & Jolene Martin, Brianna, Stephanie and Anthony.

                                            The boy cousins...Carter, Anthony and Collin

                           Kaylah and Stephanie are only half a year apart and are best of friends

                    A quickly snapped pic while bouncing down the road on the back of the truck

                                             A Sunday evening playing games after church

There are not too many places in this world where you can get so close to the end of a runway. It's 

about a 20 minute hike through the brush and the brambles in the darkest of night to get to there....

but it's so worth it! There is nothing quite like having an airplane fly so low over your head that 

you feel like you could reach up and touch it! We waited for about an hour between the two 

planes that landed and the children were quite tired...looks like Brianna made a good pillow!:)

                                          
                                          It's finally coming!! The lights reflect off the ocean....

To market, to market, to buy a fat pig....or spice necklaces, or vanilla, or curry, or cabbage....whatever it is...mine is the best! And the cheapest! Come! Come! Touch and see and smell! No cost for looking! And today I'll give you a special deal....yup! homemade! All by myself.......

Pictured here are the very popular spice necklaces...an assortment of nutmeg, turmeric, ginger,
 bay leaves and cinnamon strung on a string. They do smell good! Other spices pictured are cinnamon, saffron, (different than the States saffron), curry, nutmeg, peppercorns, bay leaf...it
IS the aisle of spice after all! My favorites are curry and cinnamon. Their curry is the best! It is different than the curry at home and has more of a Jamaican flare, slightly sweet and a tab
 bit spicy.  Delicious in chicken and rice dishes!

 This iguana caused quite the excitement in our back yard. The children and the dog went wild
 and I had to shudder wondering what the neighbors are thinking! My kind hearted husband
didn't allow the dog to rip it to shreds, although it badly wanted to! We could have kept it and
ate it, as it is a popular Grenadian dish, but butchering and preparing iguana cuisine is not my specialty, although I did eat some already. In the end, Chris put the stunned and dazed iguana
 back in the bush and prodded it and pushed it till it lumbered clumsily away. I have a feeling
he's still suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder!

             The half tailed iguana....an iguana sighting is a rarity and worth standing in the rain to see!

          

On this video you can see how they can shed their tail. Frisky bit it and the iguana just

 nicely shed it...it lay there twitching for a good long while though! Excuse all the hysterical

 noise in the background...Like I said, it caused some excitement!:)

A typical Sunday morning scene...walking home from LaBorie Mennonite Church.

 Sometimes I wonder how it will feel again to just jump in a vehicle and drive home from

 church and not arrive home all sweated from the walk. We do get to drive once a month 

when its Chris's turn for picking up church attendees, but that route is over

 45 minutes long, so sometimes I'll opt to walk home instead so I can get lunch started.

Walking in the drive after church

                                           
When we were in town one morning, we stopped to hear these children practicing their steel band.

                                We always have a staff picnic when a board member is
                               here for deputation. This one was held at Quarantine Point.

                                   Picnic supper....Grande Ans beach is in the background

       It was great getting to know Daryl & Andrea Martin better while they were here. We had both      send our children to Shalom Mennonite School, so we did know them as school patrons previously.

                  We stopped at the block plant one day while Glenn and Jolene were here. Glenn
                   owns a block plant, so this was very interesting to him! Lots of hard manual labor!

                                                                Stacking the dried blocks

                        Using a machine to pack the wet concrete and form it into concrete blocks

This picture was taken the day before Independence Day. All the school children

had on their brightly colored clothing, the colors of the Grenadian flag.

                                          We had a Sunday afternoon service at this mental hospital

         Visiting with the residents after the service

                                      After the service at the mental hospital, we stopped at this
                                         look out point. This is overlooking Grande Anse Valley

This is the Limes area. You can see our 'turnpike' from here...well, not really a turnpike but the only stretch of two lane highway in Grenada...hence its nick name...'the stretch'

                                            This is another view overlooking Mt. Hartman Bay

               Cottage Meeting at Miss Veronica. (Pictures are courtesy of Joe and Esther Brubacher)

             Lori, James and his mother Esther having Bible Clubs with the children from Peterfield.

                                                   Jumping rope with the Bible Club kids

We really enjoyed getting to know Joe and Esther Brubacher, from Canada. They

are James' parents and some very nice folks! They spend 10 days in Grenada.

                                                   Christi and her friend Teja from school...

                                                       We have a monkey in our midst!

                                                 Playing volleyball for Senior Youth Night

                   Church Picnic...this was for Limes and LaBorie church and included members
                    and attendees. Sammy Mapson serving a delicious pot of oil down. Many hands
                    helped make this pot. Lots of chopping vegetables for so many people!

The picnic was held on Grenada's Independence Day. Oil down is Grenada's national dish. It starts out with a layer of seasoned chicken and pig snout in the bottom. Don't turn up your snout at pig snout till you've tried it. If you can get past the thought of what it all rooted through in its life, you will find it tastes a little like bacon. The texture is far from it though. You could chew on it for days and not get anywhere with it, so you sorta have to chew it a little, then as you realize that's a fruitless effort, you take a big gulp and swallow it whole. I have to admit seeing two nose holes staring at me from the pot is a little disconcerting. The whole point of having the snout in the pot is mostly for the good flavor it gives it. Ok, now that we got past that, we add breadfruit, similar in taste and texture to a potato. It is a large green fruit that grows on trees. Then we add green fig, which is really just a skinny unripe green banana. After that is carrots and any other "provisions" that are in season. Provisions are what they call any food that is grown on the island, because, well, I guess because it provides food for them:) Add a layer of callilou, a big green leaf similar to spinach, except that it can't be eaten raw. Add LOTS of curry seasoning, chicken bullion and whatever other spices you feel the need to throw in. Pour a mixture of fresh coconut milk over all and cook till thickened, usually close to an hour. Roll some dumplings made of flour, water and salt and throw them in. Cook till thickened and ENJOY! It really is delicious!! (And Collin, pearing over my shoulder the whole time I'm typing this, said, "Really Mom! You're telling them how to make oil down??  They don't even have the stuff to make it!) That wasn't really why I gave you a run down on how to make oil down, but if you do try it, be sure to let me know! If you'd rather not bother, I guess you'll have to come visit us for some:)

   Waiting for food in the hot afternoon sun

                                          Stephanie and Kaylah enjoying their dish of oil down

                                         Thaddeus and Rose Richards....so thankful for this couple!

Stephanie, Celina and Kaylah

          Another one of their booby traps they rigged up on the path to their clubhouse. Carter
            is quickly filling the bucket of water because Glenn & Jolene are out back checking
             out their clubhouse and he wanted to give them a cold shower on their way back.

             The bucket is filled, the trap is sprung...and he waited...and waited. Oops, the trick is
             on Carter because Chris decided to show Glenn and Jolene some banana trees and took
             them on a different path out through the jungle. The children tried in vain to get them to
              circle around on this path, but somehow their eager persistence seemed suspicious.:)

If I ever have a day where I wonder what my worth in life is, I just sweep my floor and just seeing that huge pile of dirt makes me feel so needed and accomplished! haha....Actually I got so tired of getting enough dog hair that I could have made a small puppy out of it, that the dog is now banned from the house. Yes, I still get alot of dirt, but its not the hair raising experience it once had been.

This is where you'll often find this man...under a vehicle

 changing tires, oil or brakes....or who knows what...

                                              And this greasy black boy was his daddy's helper....

         Austin Smoker, school teacher at Limes, had some friends visit Grenada. They were eager
         to work and did a mighty fine job of it. Chris enjoyed being "supervisor" of this remodeling
           project. They put a new floor and a new wall on the lean to attached to this house.

             The repairs were badly needed...AND they were a fun group of guys to work with

                                                       They fixed and rehung the door

A little story to prove money doesn't buy happiness...Justin Bieber, a young Canadian pop singer-songwriter became famous after he started posting videos on YouTube of himself singing and in this way earned his way to a major label contract. In just three years he built an incredible name and fortune of more than $100 million. This is his yacht parked in Grenada...BUT he didn't stay here. He traveled to Calivigny Island, which is less than half a mile from Grenada. It is a private island which cost $20,000 a night to stay there. All this....but he's on antidepressants....

                                  This has to be the king pin of all the cock roaches in my kitchen....

                       Somebody likes playing with her hair, delaying bedtime and scaring her dad....

                            These guys extended my laundry by a few feet and it is SO nice!!
                             I can now easily fit a drying rack under the roof, which is so nice
                         for drying laundry with all the sporadic rain showers we've been having.

                                                                  Carter and his sand art

The impulsive lady is thankful for a steady man that helps

 her out of her frequent self-inflicted predicaments.....

And that's the end...my friends! Hopefully you didn't tire of all the pictures....

they came from four different sources, in addition to my own camera card:)

Prayer requests:

Scott and Yvonne and boys as they adjust to a new culture and the two oldest boys adjust

 to a new school. We are loving having them here and enjoying getting to know them!

The need for pastors

The need for school teachers for the next term

School students...good behavior, attentiveness and motivation 

That we could be effective in our work here in Grenada

Thank you again, SO very much for remembering us in prayer. We appreciate it so much!