Orientating

I can't even believe it has been four days! The school is keeping us ridiculously busy so time is flying by! We are required to be in MANDATORY orientation from 8:15 in the morning until about 6 or 7 at night. They made sure to drill it in our heads that these lectures are MAN-DA-TOR-Y. I'll say it again just because I want you to read it as many times as I have had to hear it... MANDATORY. For those of you geeky enough to care, here is a picture of one of the larger lecture halls.

The largest lecture hall on campus fits up to 300 students.

All the same bells and whistles as a US school except all lectures are recorded on video for student recall. Also, they are more than generous with the AC. I learned quickly to bring a sweatshirt with me to class because hypothermia is not conducive an efficient learning environment. I'll admit that, at first, I judged the people walking around with hoodies hardcore. Now, I empathize.

Fortunately, I have been enjoying many of the amenities that I thought I would be without. The school is in the process of converting the entire campus to wireless internet so I can text people in the US on my iPhone using iMessage almost everywhere. I can send pictures and videos instantly to let my friends and family back home know what I am doing and where I am. The best part about this, though, is that I can FaceTime with my dog! :) Yes, my wonderful Step-Mother, without whom I would be lost, actually holds the phone up to Levi so that I can coo him from afar. Ok, proud mama time. Quick tribute to Leviathan.

As a puppy on Fisherman's Wharf in SF.

First haircut. Such a handsome man.

After climbing horse tooth.

I know, right? The cutest.

My parents' Goldens and his new roomies while I'm in Grenada.

So emo...
(But, beautiful photo taken by my beautiful little sister, Tori.)

Apologies for the random doglet tangent. Moving on. Island life has proven to have it's advantages and disadvantages. For example, there is no such thing as 'fast' down here. Everything takes time, because they seem to have more of it than the rest of the world. Ok... maybe just the US. There is at LEAST a 30 minute line for EVERYTHING. Food, registration, the bathroom, the bookstore, the bus... you get the point. I consider myself to be a person with a lot of patience, yet somehow this place snatches every single one.

The Grenadian culture is both fascinating and endearing to me. They are extremely friendly and polite especially for a country with so much tourism. They consider it to be VERY offensive if you do not acknowledge them with a genuine greeting. The Grenadian students at SGU ask the professors if they may enter the classroom each time and always dress their absolute best making all of the Americans look like schmucks. All the bus drivers get to know you by name and everyone says hi to everyone all the time. Such an honest and fun-loving people. They are also extremely proud of their very first Olympic medal which also happens to be a GOLD medal.

Still front page news.

At the airport.

The sunsets here are weak.

They make up their own names for fruit.

I couldn't resist.

The electrical situation has proven to be not only a pain but also life-threatening. I can't tell you how many times I have plugged something in and almost died. Look at the size of this converter! It weighs legitimately 10 pounds and I had to hike this mother up the campus mountain. I am going to have killer legs by the time I'm done here.

Really? Modern technology can't come up with anything better than this?
Come on people.

At least the scenery is above average.

I definitely lucked out with the dorm situation in more ways than one. It's a beautiful building right on Black Sand Beach, one of the few beaches on campus since most of it is on a 30 foot cliff. Our dorm room is the only one in our Suite that has WiFi. Winning!

This is the view from my dorm room.

The beach in front of my dorm.

My adorable roommate, Emma, from Dominica.

This is my desk. My BFF, Dinger, made me that jar before I left. It has
365 handwritten slips of paper with positive thoughts, love and happiness.
I'm supposed to read one everyday to start my day  :)

Yesterday was a big day. I finally got my bags and was able to unpack! Had to wait in the customs line AGAIN. 

At the airport to get my bags!

But, sadly, my Daddy left. He could not get off this island fast enough. I would be surprised if he ever vacations on a Caribbean island again. He was not blessed with the same amount of patience that I was. But I was grateful to have him here to help me get settled in. This is a picture he took of the island on the plane ride home. 

The red blotches at the top of the picture is my school. :)

Again with the drama... yeesh!

That's all for now. Looking forward to waking up everyday in the most beautiful place on earth!