Samantha’s visit




My daughter's visit - GREAT BIRTHDAY PRESENT
I skipped posting the last two weeks because my daughter came to visit. We had a great time, seeing the island – mainly the beaches and spending time talking and catching up on things.

She arrived on Saturday July 12th so she could be here for my birthday, on the 16th and for her mom’s birthday on the 18th.

Arriving flight
Don't see her, but she is getting off
The buses don’t run on Sunday buses. So after church and lunch we walked down to Mt. Carmel falls.



Didn't get a picture, but she climbed a good way up the rocks under the falls
The rest of the time we took the buses and she became an expert. We managed to see Grand Etang, take a hike and see one of the monkeys. Too many people around for the monkey to climb on her, but we did get in some muddy hiking around the lake.



They sort of have wifi here for a phone home


A bag of guinep / chenet / skinip



And of course we made it to the beaches – La Sagesse, Grand Anse, and BBC (Morne Rouge). She did much better with the sun screen and lotions as I’m now peeling – also no pictures of that, but some of the beaches.



Goodbye rainbow for our last beach day



Boats in the harbor
As I previously mentioned dogs are fairly common on Grenada. The dogs are mostly free roaming. Some are “loosely owned”. One by my house is tied on a short leash all the time. A few are well cared for by owners. 

A few years in Ghana and Grenada has left me desensitized to the strays. My daughter is a dog lover and took a lot of pictures of the dogs and scratched a few bellies.



Another picture from our last walk


The only small issue of the visit was that I lost my wallet on a local bus. It would have been nice if the wallet and my ids were returned – even without the money. I’m a little surprised and disappointed, but things happen. It must be part of some plan that I don’t understand….

Missed her immediately and hope to see her soon.

She's leaving on a jet plane


Peace Corps


If a volunteer extends for a full year they can take a month “special leave” to fly back and visit family. My original plan to was to fly out with my daughter and start my leave so I could get back in time for school. After waiting a month to try to get the leave approved and for several other reasons I decided that the universe had a different plan as I mentioned in my last post.

My life has been a sort of “man plans and God laughs” thing. And yet to keep the universe entertained I still plan. My short term plan is to complete this service in a few weeks and spend time with my mom and family in Arkansas and do a bit of traveling. 

 I’ll be leaving in less than 3 weeks. So I’m deciding what to pack, what to give away, and what to toss.  My first bag, a repaired duffel from my daughter's 5th grade camp is now packed with 45 lbs.  I hope it makes it one more trip before retirement.

Stuff I can start packing now

45 pounds.  Luggage handlers and inspectors have ripped it and broken a zipper or two...

I’ll have more information about my next step, next week. Right now I need to get back to cleaning the house for the next volunteer.

Love always,
John

Comments

  1. ginnyAugust 4, 2019 at 1:15 PM

    Hi John, so glad your daughter got to visit you. What a beautiful place. I can't believe this is your second completed service. Great job!!!! I'm sure you'll miss Granada very much.

    ReplyDelete

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