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Grenada, Day 2
Feb. 19th, 2007 05:45 pmBreakfast, and then on the tour bus to St. George's (SGU), which was, after all, the reason I was able to visit Grenada. We were greeted by a bunch of important folks, and learned about research opportunities, academic support services (which are made mandatory for some students - there's quite a bit of hand-holding done for those who aren't doing well), financial aid, and a couple of other more student servicey stuff. Lunch was some fish-based thing, some rice, and probably some meat thing, with a salad and some dessert. I'm actually not sure if this was lunch on Monday, but lunch every day was about the same, with a bit of variation, so this is probably vaguely accurate. There was a giant palmetto bug who hung out in the presentation space, which made for paying better attention than might have been the case if it had just been speakers - we were all watching the bug to make sure it didn't end up stowing away in our bags. The day was a bit rainy here and there, but still breathtaking, with views of the ocean from many points on campus.
During the afternoon, we had a couple of hours' break time before we had to be back on campus for a welcome reception with faculty, staff and students. I have no recollection of what I did during that time, other than make sure my feet made it into the ocean. The beach was steps from the hotel, and reserved for hotel guests, so it remained fairly quiet the whole time that we were there.
Welcome reception was catered from a local restaurant, and included tasty finger sandwiches, melt-in-your-mouth salmon carpaccio, satay skewers, meatballs, lots of bite-sized desserts, and an open bar. I chatted with a number of faculty, as well as a bunch of students. Everyone was very friendly (of course, they only parade about the friendly ones). The students were well-spoken (a bunch of campus leaders from student groups), and glad to answer any and all questions. The rum and pineapple juice made conversation flow more easily for me, but I was still dead tired by the time we left two hours later. Had more food at the hotel (all meals were included on our trip), and eventually ended up in the bubbly pools (like hot tubs, except without the hot part) for an hour or so with a few of the other advisors, who became my little cohort for the trip. Always better to have a group of like minded co-conspirator types on this kind of trip. We played in the water well into darkness hours, and then maybe ended up with drinks at the bar? Can't remember. Fun was had. I was almost always the first one up to bed, though. I'm old.
During the afternoon, we had a couple of hours' break time before we had to be back on campus for a welcome reception with faculty, staff and students. I have no recollection of what I did during that time, other than make sure my feet made it into the ocean. The beach was steps from the hotel, and reserved for hotel guests, so it remained fairly quiet the whole time that we were there.
Welcome reception was catered from a local restaurant, and included tasty finger sandwiches, melt-in-your-mouth salmon carpaccio, satay skewers, meatballs, lots of bite-sized desserts, and an open bar. I chatted with a number of faculty, as well as a bunch of students. Everyone was very friendly (of course, they only parade about the friendly ones). The students were well-spoken (a bunch of campus leaders from student groups), and glad to answer any and all questions. The rum and pineapple juice made conversation flow more easily for me, but I was still dead tired by the time we left two hours later. Had more food at the hotel (all meals were included on our trip), and eventually ended up in the bubbly pools (like hot tubs, except without the hot part) for an hour or so with a few of the other advisors, who became my little cohort for the trip. Always better to have a group of like minded co-conspirator types on this kind of trip. We played in the water well into darkness hours, and then maybe ended up with drinks at the bar? Can't remember. Fun was had. I was almost always the first one up to bed, though. I'm old.
