A Trip to Amerijet

Another Grenadian adventure!

Today was a really rainy day in Grenada. It's funny, because I don't remember it looking grey and overcast out when I went to lab, but when we left we were met by dark storm clouds and lots of rain. I think it was all there this morning but I was still half asleep on my walk to class.

Anyhow, I shipped a box to a friend today. Not something I would normally do, but she wanted a few of the things she's currently storing here on the island mailed to her, so I discovered how the process works. Let's make it clear that I still feel totally clueless when it comes to all things Grenada. I was really hoping to just pay someone to drop the box off, but unfortunately because of how the process works, I needed to be present to take care of the paperwork and such.

The very nice man at the campus bookstore arranged for an SGU worker to take me to where the shipping stuff occurs. I really imagined having to drive about 20 or 30 minutes to get to where ever this whole process happens, but I often forget that I live in St. George's, the city where all of the action happens. It was about a 5 minute drive to the first building where shipping stuff is normally taken care of, but they asked us to head over to the airport to do things directly.

Another 5 minutes down a different road in another direction gets you the airport. We needed to get a pass and visitor tags before we could proceed around back to where the Amerijet hanger is. Here is a little snapshot of what the airport looks like.

Once we had our pass, we drove all the way around back of the airport (which is really quite small) to a little road with a gate. My driver warned me a few times that when we arrived at this gate we would have to go through a security check. Behind the chain link gate is a little building no bigger than a shed. Out pops an umbrella followed by a very disapproving security guard. It is still pouring rain. He comes over to the window, sizes us up, and asks to see the pass. After a brief look, he hands it back and waves us through, and then hurries back into the shed to be dry again. My driver found this amusing (apparently they are supposed to give you a full pat down and then accompany you to the hanger).

We proceeded down what is probably the most narrow and overgrown road I have ever been on for a short ways before reaching the hanger. The process of weighing and measuring the box and then filling out the paperwork was very easy. My driver seemed to know everyone in the room with us (which always surprises and amuses me, but I've never lived anywhere small enough to know all of the people in the area) so they chatted while I took care of the paperwork. They were very nice and friendly to me (again, although I shouldn't be surprised at all, I was a bit surprised not to be harassed at all because I was expecting them to not be nice for some reason!). Yet another Grenadian encounter that has left me smiling and speechless because the people here are so incredibly kind and friendly. They are not out to get you and they are not all about themselves like a lot of people in the US are.

We went back out the way we came, turned in our passes, and headed back to campus just in time for me to grab some lunch and head to class!