After the super late night and not much sleep (the pillows are so big and hard!), I didn't get out of bed until about 8:30 when I heard Allie up and moving around. I wanted to at least spend a few minutes with her before she left for work at 8:45. I got a little more of a feel for the island and more specifically, the local area, and her apartment. Made some plans for today and tomorrow, and then she was out the door.
I tried to go back to bed, but I couldn't sleep. Once I'm up, I'm up. So I ate some granola and looked at some stuff online. Just relaxed on the couch. Didn't feel like getting out and about yet. Here is what the place looks like:
Eventually, I cleaned up and made it out the door around 11. I had to lock the apartment and take the keys up to Allie at her school, which was just around the corner. She showed me the short-cut...through a drainage ditch.
Of course all the kids freaked out when another white person walked in. I tried to not be a distraction, but all the kids screamed in every single class room I passed, haha!
Dropped the keys off with Allie and went back to the main junction in Richland Park (where she lives), and caught a mini-van in to town. That is there main form of transportation here, like a local bus. It's just a van with loud music. And it gets packed, I quickly learned. There is a guy yelling out the window just shoveling people in constantly. Until you literally can't move.
KFC is everywhere!!
I was going to go all the way in to the main town on St. Vincent, Kingstown -- a 45 minute ride. But in Arnos Vale - only 30 minutes away (that's where the airport is, too) I saw a Masseys supermarket right on the side of the road. The driver was stopping to let someone else out there, so we hopped out, too. The other Massey's we went to in Trinidad was super nice and had everything we needed, and this one looked nice, too.
Got everything I needed, including a bag of chips. Which I opened immediately, while I waited for another "bus" to come back the other way.
Dropped the groceries off at the apartment (Allie was home for lunch), made a quick pbj for lunch, and started the hike up to Montreal Gardens.
The taxi driver last night said it was amazing, and since its as already getting kind of late (that's what happens when your day doesn't start until 11), it just made sense to do that. Allie said it was a 45 minute hike up. Like, straight up. I figured it wouldn't be so bad, and surely wouldn't be 45 minutes.
It was every bit of 45 minutes...and definitely was up up up and up. I was a hot sweaty mess by the time we reached the Montreal Gardens. But it was so high up that the weather changed and it was actually cool and windy up there -- which wasn't cool on the sweaty skin. Got cold quick!
A little over half way up, a guy walked out of the fields carrying a machete and was heading towards me. I just smiled and kept walking as he passed me, but then like two seconds later I was like, "Oh my goodness, that was a dude with a machete! I'm in the middle of nowhere! I should be freaking out!" - but I didn't even think twice about it. So that made me feel good. I don't want one bad incident in Grenada to affect my outlook, and apparently it didn't.
Anyways, man, the gardens were just beautiful. I mean better than some of the ones in the US. Perfectly manicured, gorgeous flowers and trees. I just couldn't believe that kind of spot was up in the middle of nowhere! (Also, I took way too many pictures that don't do it justice at all!)
The hike back down sucked. I always like the up hill better than the down hill. The constant pounding is hard! OH, and it rained. I brought my rain jacket though, so no big deal.
Allie made it back to the apartment right about the same time we did, and we decided to go out for a walk around the village and take some pictures. She is a musician and brought her guitar and ukulele for some new head shots.
I made dinner at the apartment (really, I did!): quinoa, steamed sweet potato, carrots, yellow pepper and broccoli, and fruit for dessert (apple, grape, banana, strawberry). SEE! I can cook! It was good, too! I forgot to take pictures though...so no proof. ;)
Anyways, we just sat around and talked after dinner. I think Allie really loves having another American around. It's a quiet, sleepy little village so not much to do. I would assume it gets boring and lonely.
OH and Allie has a washing machine. I got to do laundry! And I took a shower and washed my hair, too. Feels so good to be clean -- and have clean clothes!
Plan tomorrow is to take an early morning ferry (again!) to another island: Bequia. Supposed to be just gorgeous!
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