I've been in Grenada since late Wednesday night! A decent day of traveling with a slight delay in Miami got Lucy and me here safe and sound and even customs wasn't bad! We pulled up to an empty apartment with everything put away for the summer. I can't remember why that seemed like such a good idea back in May!
Thursday morning, I headed off to EcoDive for a dive! Couldn't resist getting back in the water as soon as possible! We dove a reef called Southern Comfort, which was a beautiful reef at a moderate depth. My camera worked perfectly in its new diving housing! I took lots of great shots and enjoyed being back in the water.
Next stop Thursday was a brief grocery store trip to pick up a few essential items. I didn't want to get much without having a good way to carry it home, but with popcorn and granola being the only food in the house, I needed at least some milk to wash it down! I went to dinner that night with a friend and her family and then got lucky as they needed a grocery store run as well! I picked up the rest of the heavy items and things I needed, but for some reason, looking in the fridge it looks like I'm missing a ton of food.
Friday morning I woke up early and decided it was probably time to start unpacking everything! I ran a few errands on campus and then headed off for an afternoon dive. This time we went to Northern Exposure to enjoy ourselves. Another beautiful dive with a bunch more lovely pictures! I am tickled to finally be back in the water! I managed to get about 90% of my apartment put back in order that evening which felt really good. I still need to wash all my bedding because it has a dank summer smell to it. Good thing the apartment bed came with clean linens.
Saturday was an adventure day. My friend and I took her parents to town to explore the spice market and the mall. We treated them to a Reggae bus ride (although they were pretty mild rides) and her parents enjoyed walking around and browsing the items for sale. Her mother particularly enjoyed how cheap the essences are here on the island. I picked up some mangoes and passion fruit to bring home and a passion fruit smoothie to snack on. Later in the afternoon, a few friends and I went for a swim in the pool before one of my friends and I went to The Beach House restaurant for a yummy dinner. Stuffed chicken, potatoes, veggies, and chocolate mousse cake - delicious!
Today I did a two tank dive in the morning. We went to a "new" reef site that they haven't been to before. It turned out to be a real winner! I even got to see my first shark! My breathing was well controlled and I enjoyed idly moving along looking around at all of the beauty. I look forward to return to the same site sometime in the future. After a generous surface interval and stop in-shore to pick up fresh tanks (we had a lot of people on the boat!), we headed off to Northern Exposure for dive number 2. The visibility wasn't quite as pristine on this reef, but there was still plenty to see. This time I had a harder time keeping up with the group. I really prefer to just idly move along without swimming much but this group was full of speed demons! Pair that with a decreased visibility and a camera and I felt like I spent the entire dive chasing the group trying to keep up. I was quite tired by the end of the dive for sure! I got some really pretty pictures on that dive as well and had the pleasure of seeing my first leopard flatworm. What a beautiful creature. I stopped by our school's welcome back bazaar briefly this afternoon and have been hanging out with Lucy for the rest of the day. It's been raining on and off all day so it was a good day to laze around with the dog.
Tomorrow starts the first day of year 3! Hard to believe I'm already saying that - it really feels like just yesterday I was starting term 1 as a weary, terrified, but excited student. The rush of emotions associated with that time still hits me 2 years later and I find myself envious of all of the happy-go-lucy new students who didn't face the painful challenges that I did. Regardless, here I am now as a happy and successful 5th termer! We don't start class until 1:30p tomorrow afternoon so I will be taking advantage of the opportunity to sleep in and relax in the morning. I'm also planning to make our apartment perfectly clean and organized before leaving for class. Our schedule for the afternoon includes large animal surgery, small animal surgery, small animal medicine, and clinical practice classes. Really starting to sound like an actual doctor's curriculum now!
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