Squirrel...

It’s amazing how your entertainment needs can adapt, when away from the comforts of home. About a year before we started this adventure, I finally broke down and bought my first flat screen LCD TV. It’s what was then considered an average size and maybe to some considered small at 47”, but it was much larger than the 36” tube we had been watching. We had access to satellite broadcast and internet including a Netflix subscription.  The boys had a Wii and an Xbox One and each boy had a Nintendo DS. Of course we also had a range of DVD’s to watch as well.

In Grenada, where it gets dark every day by 6:30 regardless of the season and the fact that we do not regularly venture out after dark for both safety and monetary reasons we tend to still rely on electronics for entertainment.  But I am surprised at how satisfied we are with the little we have compared to home. There is no TV connected in the house and the boys left all of their gaming entertainment in Brighton. Sara and I both have our laptops with a 15” screens for the internet and our Netflix subscription. Netflix using the local DNS codes have connected us to Venezuela and does not allow us to turn off Spanish subtitles and does not have the title selection we are used to in Canada. We had purchased 4 Kobo Vox’s on Kijiji before we left and had connected them to the Quinte library before leaving. There is also an IPod with a cheap Bluetooth Speaker which we can listen to music, podcasts, and the CBC/other hometown radio on.  Other than a deck of cards, a Skip-Bo deck, some Lego and a couple board games that a local lent us, that is it.  Oh, and once every couple of months we will head to the local theatre to catch a newly released movie, and that screen is maybe a third of our local Cineplex back home.

When on a vacation before, being away from all the distractions for a week or two was quite pleasant, but as this adventure is 2 months shy of a year, I wasn’t so sure I/we could live without them. But the kids have been very resilient and have not talked too much of their game machines and toys collecting dust back home. What I am most surprised about is that I am just as happy watching Netflix on a 15” screen as I am a 47”.  We all cuddle up together on a couch with a laptop on the coffee table, with a set of external speakers my Mom brought us to boost the sound and were good to watch a movie or binge on some Netflix.   

I find it odd to say, but I have just as much…with less.  I most likely have too many distractions at home and wonder what I could accomplish if I didn’t have so many. Would I spend more time with the kids, learn an instrument, read more, or pursue more real estate investments.  

I would have to acknowledge that I have not changed much even after more than half a year being away when it comes being distracted by a wireless internet connection, as access here is just as convenient. I was hoping at the beginning of this adventure that I would become less addicted to the internet’s allure, but this hasn’t happened.  I only hope that when I go home, I can make a conscious decision to take advantage of what I can accomplish using the internet as a tool, instead of as pure entertainment and distraction. 

A Boatload of Books...

Wendy and me before she departs on the cruise ship.

Today I had a visit from travel agents from the Ottawa Valley who have been following our
adventures.

Instead of making bookings for others, today they were bringing books for the Mt. Zion Library!!







And what amazing books they brought for the children's library. "Love You Forever", "Red is Best", Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" to name a few!



The alley to the library is directly behind us!
(L-R Karen, Me, Kathy and Wayne)

A great selection of books!

 The library is directly across from where the cruise ships dock! Hopefully this will be the start of a trend where those visiting Grenada bring a good book or two either for the children's library or the regular library. Magazines would be great too as there is no place here that sells them and they are great for people who don't want to read a whole book!





For more information on the Mt. Zion Library  please see their website. http://mtzionlibrary.com/

 

More money/banking tips...

My suggestion to anyone needing funds immediately upon arrival in a country is to use travelers checks and depositing them in your new bank account upon arrival. The only problem with the travelers checks is they are cumbersome, come in low denominations (RBC only had them in $100 denominations), they take a long time for the bank to create and they require many signatures. I would have needed to carry about 150 of these travelers checks to accomplish what I needed. My local bank did not even have that many in stock. So if you are planning a long trip and need cash fast upon arrival, prepare way in advance of your departure.

If you plan on opening a bank account in a foreign country, check what the requirements are for a foreigner to open an account well before your trip. Call the banks in the country you are going to. All the banks in Grenada wanted different items, but some of the things they required were: Passport, a second form of photo ID, a utility bill from home, a letter of introduction from your bank, a letter of reference from your employer, and a letter of reference from a professional in your community. I'm sure there are others that I forgot.

It is also important to remember to declare when departing your country of origin if you are carrying more than $10,000. You do not want your funds confiscated if you get caught with it at your destination or going through the security check. This includes cash in all currency types and or forms (Travellers checks/bank drafts). This would also apply to driving into other countries.

Let your Credit and debit card companies know that you will be travelling to another country and how long you will be gone. Also check the strips on these cards for condition well before you leave so you can order new ones if they are needed. I have not encountered a chip card reader here yet. I also contacted all the credit card companies of cards I would not be using to let them know that these cards should not used while I am away. I put those cards in my safe deposit box.

While visiting my home bank, I had a power of attorney applied to my accounts in case I needed something done while I was away. Banks prefer their form to one from a lawyer, which they will accept but there are more hoops to jump through. I also told the branch to put a note on my account not to accept any applications for credit during the period we were to be away.

I use my credit card to make many purchases here as well, as the exchange rate offered is not that bad compared to what the banks give you and it allows you to carry less cash.

I would like to give a shout out here as well to all the staff of my home RBC Branch in Brighton as they have been outstanding!

Buying a car and banking in Grenada

A couple of weeks ago I purchased a Honda CRV to get around in Grenada. Finding the car was relatively easy, completing the deal with the banks was much harder.

Note the turned in mirror so you can squeeze by parked traffic when meeting other cars #narrow roads

Before leaving for Grenada, I knew that I would be purchasing a vehicle to get around. I inquired about setting up bank accounts in Grenada and decided to open one with RBTT when arriving as they are associated with RBC in Canada whom I also currently bank with. Electronic transfers of funds are not available, and that probably has something to do with taxes on funds in other countries. But after speaking with both banks I was basically told that bank drafts were the way to go so my money would be available right away. After arriving in Grenada this changed. They wanted to hold my money for 30 days to let it clear. This was not good as I could not afford to rent a car for a month while waiting for my money. After pestering the RBTT daily, I was able to get the funds after 2 weeks, they were reluctant though.

If you can, try to befriend a local in the community to help you with your car search. Thank you Tim Morris for introducing me to Sylvester here in Grenada. Tim is a coworker of mine at CFB Trenton who is also Grenadian. After arrival in Grenada I contacted Sylvester and he took me around to see some of the vehicles I had seen on the internet and to some local dealers as well. Sylvester was also able to negotiate a better price for the CRV I bought, as he knew the local market.

My main concern with my purchase was resale value and how quickly I could sell the car when we leave. This caused me to spend a little more than I intended, but as long as I get around 75% of my purchase price back, I will be happy as that would have been the equivalent to my bus and taxi transportation costs while we are here. Champ, the owner of the dealership is interested in purchasing the car back from us when we leave, so this will allow us to keep the car up until our departure date.

As I bought from a dealer, he took care of the transfer of ownership for me and set me up with insurance for the year. $750 XCD or about $300ish CDN. This does not include repairs to my car if I cause the accident. Cars are inspected annually (Green sticker on Windshield) in Grenada and it transfers to new owners, so I do not need a Safety until March 2015.

Note: Cars in Grenada are right hand drive and you drive on the left side of the road. Link to driverabroad.com, a great resource regarding Driving in other countries. Just over 30% of Countries do this.

Getting settled...

We woke up on day 2 and ushered the boys off to school. My goal was to get a drivers license and make contact with home. The day before we had seen a wifi hotspot in a children's park between our house and downtown. Success, I sent quick email and facebook post to the outside world to let everyone know we were ok.

While walking along the harbour lagoon, I got to see many different types of fish and crabs. I also met many friendly street vendors along the way. It seems that  if you have wares but no permanent spot, then you can just carry your items and offer them as you go along.  I even saw a lady selling SIM card top ups from a lawn chair by the side of the road, she just moved to wherever the shade was.

I am so happy I have brought my camel packs. They are great for staying hydrated and carrying small items that you may need. I have a pocket knife for cutting fruit and a handkerchief to help with the perspiration. I have drank at least 3 liters of water every day since getting here. I also find it solves my snack cravings.

In the afternoon we had an orientation with a local poet/historian Francis Peters, a high ranking police officer for a safety brief and the heads of NEWLO and PAM, the organizations Sara will be volunteering with.

After a quick late lunch, we met the boys at the end of their school day and headed to the beach as we had promised them their first swim at Grande Anse Beach. We also went to the beachside restaurant, Umbrella's for supper.

Day 3 was more of the same except this time we met with the other CUSO volunteers, Miriam and Linda who had arrived earlier in the year and they are assisting the Govt of Grenada at the Ministry of Youth. They are very nice ladies who had great information to share. We will probably meet up with them again for some social time.

On Thursday morning Sara and I ventured off downtown together after dropping the boys at school. We had a nice walk and as we were near the license office, Sara got hers too. An internet cafe had also been on our agenda, and it was nice to catch up with people and have time to send more detailed emails. I also looked for cars that were for sale in the classifieds. On the way home we signed up for wifi in the house and picked up some items our apt was lacking and tried some new fruit we had never seen before. My goal is to try something new everyday for the first couple of weeks. While putting stuff away, I found a scale in a cupboard and pulled it out. I have lost almost 10 pounds this first week. Hurray! The 220's are just around the corner. I had wanted to lose about 30 pounds while here and I have already met a third of my goal in less than a week. It is much easier when temptation is not just around the corner. The only fast food restaurants I have seen are a KFC and a SUBWAY. I also contacted a couple of sellers of used cars, who came by to show me what they had. The price was right but I was concerned about resale as they were quite rough inside.

Friday started off with a shot. Actually 2 beers before 10 am. Our neighbour Meena was at the bar across the street and as we stopped to say hello she ordered up and it was only appropriate that we stay and drink up. Then we were on our way downtown again to finalize some paperwork with the internet company. Once home I was able to make contact with a CFB Trenton co-workers friend here in Grenada who would take me to look at cars. We had a little success but were unable to meet the owner of one I was interested in. A couple more beers with my new friend Reginald to thank him for his help and I was on my way to a good evening. After Reginald left he stopped at the sellers again and found that he had come back, so off I was once again to look at a car. I think I got a slightly better deal than I could negotiate as Reginald is a local police officer. The deal was struck but it was after 4 and the banks were closed, so the car would have to wait until Monday. While all this was going on, Sara and the boys had been to Pandy Beach which is a nice walk down the road from our house. While going there they pass their school Beacon, a Rastafarian named Dan, a fantastic bakery and a street vendor named Scott. That evening, Sara decided to stay in with Owen as he had a bit of heat rash. I went across the street to try to blend with the locals. To say I was outclassed in the drinking department is an understatement, but most of my friends would know this anyway. I brought a Rum and Coke home for Sara to try. It was one of their lower alcohol blends at 40% alcohol but interestingly was considered 90 proof. Then I headed back for beers with my new neighbours. 4 for 15 XCD, or about $6 CDN and I was set for the rest of the evening.

On Saturday, we decided to take it easy. I had also made a promise to head down to the dealers to place a deposit on the car and also to go for a snorkle with Aiden at Pandy. This was only my second time into the ocean in a week, and I was really ready. We saw many fish including 2 lion fish, a sea snake, and what I call a flute fish. The reef is right on the beach so it makes it hard to enter as the bottom is also covered with Sea Urchins. On the way back in, Aiden and I found a split in the reef and we were able to come in unscathed. We looked for a landmark to make a safe entry for another time. Laundry and cleaning and final unpacking away also happened this day, but was much less interesting to describe.

Sundays are quite in Grenada. The morning music man isn't blasting at 6 am, hardly any cars are moving and the people tend to stay home. I am told that Grenadians tend to do laundry and prepare big meals and go to church on Sunday. Sara and I took advantage of this and slipped down to the park with a laptop so that she could post some blog entries. I also did some research for Aiden for his homework.That afternoon Sara took the boys to Grande Anse for a swim and beach time while I stayed behind to wait for the maintenance guy.

All through this week we have been trying to get everything working in the apartment. But Sunday was to be a day of more repairs for the local maintenance guy. You see we had not had warm showers all week. On top of this some light bulbs were out that were beyond reach without a ladder. One of the toilets would not flush and their was a 4 inch hole to the outside in the kitchen that did not have a screen in it. You had heard about the stove in an earlier post, but the fridge and freezer door are also slightly out, and they leak cold air. As we are paying utilities, we need these items fixed. Mr Dick or Vincent as some people call him as he is from St Vincent and the Grenadines and not Grenada came by again to fix the plumbing in our bathroom for our shower. The day before he had knocked an 8 inch hole through the concrete wall to replace the pipes. We now have no steady drip, drip, drip that turns to DRIP, DRIP, DRIP at night when the water pressure comes up.

This ends our first week in Grenada. We are happy and enjoying all the adventure has to bring us. While everything is not perfect, and we do not have all we are used to, we do have each other and that is enough. I am glad CUSO sends families as it makes the transition for the volunteer easier.

The long Journey Part 2

Lights out at the Airport in Grenada

After entering the airport and answering some tricky questions about the length of our stay we moved into the baggage pick up area. This is easily done with the lights on. Half way through picking up our bags the lights went out and as their are no windows in this part of the airport it got very dark. A quick game of Marco Polo may have been fun, but wasn't in the cards as the lights came back on after a couple of minutes.

 

We were the last to leave so finding the last of our bags was easy and they were all accounted for. We had 8 checked bags, 4 carry on bags and 4 personal bags. The max you could take. This lead to our next problem as we had rented a van for the four of us to go to Pearson in Toronto, but now the CUSO rep was picking us up in his own vehicle. Sam made a valiant effort loading his small SUV and getting everyone in, but then I showed him my kite boarding bag and it was all over. I hired a taxi to follow Sam, and we all had an exciting ride to our new home away from home. I asked my taxi driver, Prince everything I could about how traffic works in Grenada. This is because all cars here are right hand drive and they drive on the left side of the road. I involuntarily put my foot on an imaginary brake on my side of his van many times as we approached oncoming traffic. I felt like the baby at the start of The Simpsons credits driving with Marge except I didn't have my own fake steering wheel.

The Public Library - Not open since 2004

As we left the airport and hotels behind us, I knew our daily life was going to be very interesting. Many of the homes here were damaged beyond the safety of repair when they were struck by Hurricane Ivan 10 years ago to the day as I right this. They were hit again in 2006 and that wrecked the rest of anything that was left unstable from Ivan 2 years before. Economically, Grenada is still struggling and this is seen by many building projects that have been started and not completed. Many people are still living in cinder block walled buildings with tin roofs and outhouses. The Public library has yet to be repaired as well, but the week we arrived a temporary library finally opened in St George.

We pulled up to our gated home in Belmont which looked like it had a new coat of paint. I started helping Sam unload the vehicles and brought our bags inside. Sara then worked with Sam to fill out some last minute paperwork while I explored our new place. The first thing I did was open the doors to our back deck and wow, what a view. We overlook the harbour of St George. Back into our apartment and I found that the master bedroom had an en-suite with a tub. We thought we had an apartment with only 1 bathroom and shower from the video they sent us. This was going to be pretty good. Bags were stored, keys exchanged and we were off to downtown St George. After finding a parking space, which would not be considered parking in Canada as when the passenger stepped out it was onto a 10 inch wide retaining wall that overlooked a 50 foot drop. We headed for our first place of business, the Bank.

The Royal Bank of Canada has many Franchise banks in the Caribbean, The RBTT as they are currently known. Opening an account took almost 2 hrs. But they got everything done we needed. Preparing ahead for this is very important as all the banks have different rules for foreigners opening accounts, this was made easier for us by utilizing the same bank as we do at home and having a letter of introduction from our home branch. As we left the bank, the wonderful smells of spices and lunch wafted past us. As we had yet to have breakfast and had not really eaten since 6 pm the evening before we were quite hungry. We told Sam, food was on the agenda and he took us around the corner for something to eat. A couple of Roti and some spicy noodles filled our belly’s quickly.

I should mention that the boys were trooping along very well having not eaten in 18 hours and only had about 3 hours sleep in the last 30.

The next stop across the street was local SIM cards for our phones. I still am not sure what package I bought but it seems to be working out fine so far.

Beacon School - Its way bigger than it looks.
 

Now we had a little tour on the way back to our neighbourhood to see the kids school. It is an open air concept as none of the rooms have windows or doors. We met the Principal and a couple of the teachers whom all seem very nice. We paid our fees and got a couple of school uniform shirts for Owen. One yellow and one Blue. Red and green were also available. As the school was sold out of pants for both boys and shirts and tie for Aiden we headed back to town.

At the first store we were able to get 2 shirts and a tie for Aiden. No pants fit either boy. As we were about to leave we got our first taste of rain in Grenada. It is the rainy season, and apparently this means it will rain many times a day for 10 min to half an hour or so. This rainfall was torrential, but as we needed to keep going we decided to brave it when it let up a little. St George is built on a hill, and we had to climb to get to the next store. The gutters which line the roads are deep and about a foot wide. They were raging with water at this point. We made it to the other store and did not feel much wetter than when we had started out; this was probably due to the humidity and sweat. Success, sort of, pants that fit the boys at the waste but not in the leg. Grenadian boys must be built slightly different than our boys. Some tailoring was needed and this could be done on site. After another hour we were on our way home.

It was soon time to think about supper, so I checked the stove and the oven to see how it worked. I realized we were out of gas. Gas for stoves in Grenada come in a tank. Luckily the gas reseller is across the street. They also sell beer. So I bought a tank of gas $45 EC and 4 beer $15 EC ( $5 Cdn) I was on my way home. After connecting the new tank. I could smell gas. I called out the window to the landlord, and he shouted to the gas guy across the street to come look. They couldn't figure out where the leak was so they called the local maintenance guy. It turns out the stove had been repaired between the last tenants and us and when it was returned the gas line had not been connected to the stove. Problem solved and I was now cooking with gas... or so I thought. We checked the stove elements and they worked pretty good. Then it was time for the oven. No love there and the maintenance guy was stuck. So they called in an appliance expert, luckily he was drinking at the bar/shop/gas resellers place. He came over and after fiddling realized the pilot light needed electricity to operate the oven. Now all we needed was electricity for 110 at a 220 junction. A convertor was found and we could now go for the groceries. The landlord took pity on me as we had been over an hour with the stove and he gave me a ride to the grocery store. When I came out, much to my surprise he was waiting for me to take me home.

Supper was had and much like you are from reading all this, we were tired. The only problem was, it is noisy here... goats, crickets, frogs, traffic, music playing at the bar across the street and friendly neighbours chatting is not quite the same as quiet Brighton. Ear plugs were packed, so we all put them in and were off to sleep.

 

Good night...

 

A long journey...

Our day/travels began around 6 am on Sunday morning, as we got up to pack the few things you need in the morning and make a few more trips to Grandma’s house with the last of our personal items. By noon we were ready to go, only an hour later than the plan.  As our flight wasn’t until 11:30 pm from Toronto we were not too worried about the time.  A late delicious lunch and later Chinese take-out for supper with Sara’s sister Ceilidh in Oshawa which included a swim in her pool and a final CFL Riders game to pass the time until we had to head for the airport.

The trip to the airport was uneventful, but once we arrived everything we needed to do took extra time.  The car rental was overcharged and they couldn’t adjust it because I rented at another location, one of our bags was so packed it split slightly and the check in people had us get it strapped to secure it, and I had to clear security twice to properly declare the money we were bringing with us. The good news was that we had no oversized/overweight bags and had no extra fees to pay. I must say that we were right at the max for all our bags and I think the flight check in person was a little lenient. Arriving at the airport with the full 3 hours before an international flight was worth it as we only had about 45 minutes before boarding after all the extra stuff we had to do. We saw a family miss their flight because they had got lost in the airport. We took advantage of the free Wi-fi to make final contact with our families before leaving Canada and switched out the SIM cards in our cell phones. Flying from Trinidad to Tobago was pretty smooth except no movies/tv were on offer and they kept the lights on most of the time. The boys only got about 3 hours of intermittent sleep on the 6 hour flight. Owen would move from sleeping on my shoulder to the guy on the other side of him. He was very nice not to get upset at this. 

Heading to the Departure gates after arriving at T&T.

 

The Port of Spain Airport in Trinidad and Tobago is much smaller than Pearson, thus it does not have the same amenities as a larger airport.



 



 

 




Keeping calm with a vending machine coffee...waiting to fly out of T&T PoS.

  

Do not pass from the main airport through security early in the morning if you want a coffee and a snack as most shops past the guards are still not yet open. As we were next flying on a little commuter plane to Grenada we boarded on the Tarmac vice a ramp into the little plane. 

 

 

 

 

This was our first hit of the Caribbean heat during Summer time and we wished we had changed into our shorts while we were waiting and it was not yet 7 am. The plane only about half full and we were hardly at cruising altitude before we started heading down again.

Looking awake at 7 am, but only 3 hours sleep in 24 hrs.

Grenada! We had made it. But our day that started just over 24 hours ago was not over…