Ross: "Reaching Out, Saving Souls"

That is the creedo of my driver, Peter. Peter is a local bus driver who drove my mom, Jihan and I one day and who we ran into again yesterday downtown. He recognized us, I think possibly even remembered our names, but I had a vague recollection of him myself. Peter is just another example of Bahamian hospitality.



We had a number of errands to run downtown yesterday and on top of that, had been desperately trying to get to this "cheaper" grocery store we'd been hearing about from the locals, on the edge of town. The problem with that has been transportation: buses don't go out that far. But Peter does! Not only did he offer to drive us to do our other errands, but waited for us for almost 45 minutes when one errand took much longer than we anticipated (as most everything does here).



He then drove us to the grocery store, or food store as it is called here, Sawyer's, then promised to pick us up when we were done. Sure enough, the manager called him for us and he arrived ten minutes later and we arrived at home shortly after that. An entire afternoon of taxiing cost us only $7 a piece! Perhaps this means nothing to you but allow me to put it into perspective for you. A roundtrip taxi ride to the airport (roughly the same distance as Sawyer's; perhaps a mile or two further) the day before cost $45. Bear in mind the airport is at most 7 or 8 miles from my apartment. So we are very thrilled to have our driver now who we can call and who loves our school and its students! The Lord continues to provide...



On another note, I am finishing up my first full week of classes tomorrow. It has been, well, interesting. Getting used to new professors, new styles of learning (all of our lectures are videotaped for our viewing pleasure later on), new classmates, new schedules...It can all be a bit overwhelming at times, especially trying to stay on top of the material without falling behind. On the one hand it is only the first week so I am trying to not expect too much from myself. But on the other hand, it is only the first week! I still have many more to go but am trying to take it all in stride; one week at a time, one day at a time. I am enjoying most of the material and our evening group study sessions at the apartment that we've started have so far (I've only been to one!) been extremely helpful. I think I may survive this yet. :-)

To keep our sanity, we have many outlets for blowing off steam. Every Wednesday here is Fish Fry. Smith's Point, just several miles from here, is a beach that hosts fresh and I mean FRESH seafood of all kinds each week. Not only that, but the PLANTAINS are outta this world! I asked our waitress why theirs taste so much better than mine. She shared their secret: canola oil, not olive oil. Figures. I use olive oil cause it's less fattening. And doesn't taste as good apparently. Below is a picture of my entree: barracuda steaks! Those of you who know me well know I'm fairly adventurous when it comes to food. Not a lot scares me. I was confident in my selection. And it wasn't bad, just very very fishy; kinda that seawater taste. But when in Rome right!



Below is the the place we ate at. On the beach, at sunset, with tons of locals; just livin the life!

Here is my new number for you to call!! 734-217-2709. It's a skype online number so it acts as a landline. Please don't hesitate to call. I'd love to hear from you! Even though I have to be in my apartment to receive your call, I can see missed calls so will call you back.

Also, remember that my skype name is srgraham8.

Going snorkeling now!!

"Go with the flow and ride with the tide"

Those are the very wise words of our campus driver, Leonard. And that is exactly what I've been trying to do and I think it's paying off. Jihan hadn't been to the store since we got here so today, rather than snorkeling (postponing that to tomorrow) we decided to explore the other side of the island: downtown Freeport. So glad we did as we found much more affordable places there than at the beach in Lucaya. We found the same chain of supermarket but with a better selection and better prices. I mean, we're talking $5.99 for the oreos instead of $7! Can't beat that! (Yes, that was sarcasm.)

All kidding aside, collectively we spent half of what I spent alone the other day and got a lot more stuff. There was only a couple of things we needed that they didn't have so we later walked to the market close to our apartment to get those. While in the ice cream aisle, drooling over the $12.59 half gallons of ice cream, (which we ended up buying thanks to my Mom's cash and permission to splurge!) we got some advice from a Bahamian woman not much older than me. She too was drooling over the ice cream and said she commutes to Fort Lauderdale by boat and buys her groceries there. She doesn't know how families live on the islands with the cost of everything cause being single, she finds it difficult. She told us where we could find some cheaper food stores, Cosco-like. So that was interesting to get a local's perspective on the groceries cause I've sure had some serious sticker shock since I got here. I am encouraged after today though as we also found a "dollar" store. It's more like, everything in the store is at most $2.99. I can do that!

On the way to the Towne Centre, we were dropped off at the International Bazaar. And let me tell you, that Bazaar was bizarre!




There is a Chinatown, Africa, India, Scandinavia, supposedly a Paris section which I'm not sure where that was. None of it was open though. It was rundown and not any people anywhere. Jihan's description of it was apt. I believe her word was "creepy." Just a few vendors selling souvenirs and junk, semi-aggressively soliciting you. I don't think we will be going back there.

We did find a reasonable cell phone store. The student handbook says you'll pay $70 for a phone, $50 for activation, then however much for pre-paid minutes after that. The store was willing to sell me a phone for $50, $15 for activation. After some thought though, I think I'm gonna see how long I can last without one. I don't even really have anyone to call here right now anyway. I mean, this could be a little experiment. See how long I can go without a phone! It might be good for me! It's a little freeing, I have to admit, but in that scary, exhilarating kind of way. Like skydiving without a parachute. Okay, maybe not that extreme. But I haven't been without a cell phone since high school! I know at one time I lived without it, I just don't remember that time. I remember it was a dark time...no laughter or sunshine...I cried myself to sleep at night during that time...

I met a couple more students. That makes about 7 now. All are very nice. And thank goodness for facebook! A med student's wife posted on there that they were trying to sell a bunch of their stuff before leaving. Jihan and I went downstairs to their place and checked out their loot. We made out like bandits! For $20, we got a cookie sheet, casserole dish, shaving cream, two binders with tabs, Anatomy flash cards (which were easily worth $50 or more) and 150 garbage bags. Not bad! There are people selling things around here, we just have to keep our eyes peeled. We are doing okay so far. I'm still looking for a bike though...Haven't seen any students using those. People are selling scooters for upwards of $500 but no bikes.

Tomorrow we are going snorkeling hopefully. Although, after the beach yesterday, we are a little gun-shy what with our bout with the sting rays! My mom and I were in the water two different times when one swam right by our legs. I swear the second one turned toward me. The first time I actually thought it was a dolphin. Give me a break! It was gray and moving fast, that was all I knew! My mom thought it was a jellyfish. I pointed and I believe what I said to her was, "There's an animal! Get out of the water there's an animal!" Well the second time it was obvious they were sting rays. Then we saw three more from the beach. Jihan read that there are a ton of those down here and so far, it's true! Here are a couple more pics from the beach yesterday..






(In case you've never seen a seagull before :-) )

For pics of my apartment, check out facebook. I'll continue to update you on my adventures! This is it for now...

I have arrived!

I made it safely to Freeport yesterday ahead of schedule. Customs was a breeze, and my driver was already waiting for me. My mom and I hung out in my apartment (pics to follow) most of the afternoon as I unpacked and settled myself in. So pleasantly surprised by these digs! Very nice and spacious. Everything is brand new from the microwave to my king size mattress. Oh and yes, there is cable! I got to watch all my shows last night including Lost, which, I have to say, is hitting a little close to home these days.

In the afternoon my mom and I walked to "campus" where we were almost run over by the campus driver, Leonard. He kindly introduced himself to us and pointed us in the direction of campus which I'm sorry to say, is a mini mall. Yes, that is right. I said mini mall. I don't mind in the least, honestly. It's different and different is good. Now, if I were going to school in a mini mall in say, San Bernardino or Ypsilanti, then that might have been the make-or-break point in my decision to go. But since I'm in the Bahamas...

The nice thing about going to school in a shopping center is that everything is in one place! Getting groceries was convenient though not affordable. Mayo? $7. Ice cream? $15. Getting next to nothing for a whole lot of something? Well, apparently you can put a price on that. A big one! I'm going to have to be creative with the grocery shopping like maybe stopping eating. I've given that one a try already. I'll keep you all posted on how that one goes...

That is it for now. But there is much, much more to come so stay tuned!!!

My Love/Hate Relationship with Flying

I have spent this entire day packing, and unpacking the last of my boxes I shipped from Cali. I've gone through and re-gone through my "maybe taking" piles a dozen times and finally had it honed down to what I thought were the necessities. Before throwing it all (systematically of course) into my suitcases, I thought it wise to double check weight allowances on the airline's website. Am I crazy? I KNOW that in the past you were allowed 75 lbs in your bag for an international flight. WRONG!!! Not anymore. Somewhere along the way since the last time I flew overseas which was only about 18 months ago, it changed. Again. 50 lbs. no matter where you go. Oh well, unless you're flying to the Middle East or South America. Then you're allowed 70 lbs. I'll just have to remember that the next time I plan a trip to Jordan or Paraguay.

I love traveling but boy do I hate flying! Can I get an Amen!?

Prepping

So let me just start by saying that I am totally excited to be moving to a new place and in such an exotic locale! That being said, I have no expectations. Allow me to explain. I have only ever seen pictures of the Bahamas and so have been forced to fill in the cracks with my imagination.

Based on this fuzzy (at best) knowledge of my future residence, here is how my preparations are going thus far...

First, I have attempted to research the Bahamas i.e. population, languages, currency, commerce, etc...and despite Michael Scott's oh-so insightful claim that Wikipedia is the best possible resource for any and all information, my research has been spotty. I welcome any light you can shed on the subject! E.g., who colonized this place? I can't figure it out! French, English, both???

Second, I am having a heck of a time figuring out what to do with my cell phone. So I definitely welcome any suggestions, tips...I would love to be able to use my same phone down there but with a local carrier. I'm so not techy like that!

Lastly, I've gotten the feeling that things are much slower-paced in the islands. Honestly, I welcome that. Whenever I travel I plan on everywhere but here, here being the USA, being slower-paced. I've come to realize that the rest of the world just doesn't adhere to my timetable. But again, I welcome the Jimmy Buffet-esque attitude. I'll adjust.

That is really all I have for now. I'm sure I will have much more exciting things to say and pictures to post when I am actually there. For now, I'm enjoying the good life with the fam at home in the D!

Peace out yo's...