Kids Day in Saint George's

Yesterday some of my new friends took me to a Kids' party where I made even more new friends.  They had a lot of fun things to do.  I liked the Bouncy Castle the most.

They also had a small pool that we cooled off in.

Here are my friends Jada and Simia.

We also played cards and games.
Lucas lost almost every game he played of UNO.

We also played basket ball.  I got the ball into the basket a couple of times, but I think I need more practice. 

After the sun set, we watched a movie outside in the back yard.  They had a projector, so we watched the movie on the side of their house.  We watched The Croods movie.

It was another fun day in Grenada!

Fred, Freddy, and Fredrick

Fred, Freddy, and Fredrick are the names of the 3 puppies that showed up at our house last night.  Their mom couldn't look after them. They are so skinny their ribs were showing and one could hardly walk. I don't think they have eaten for along time. We decided we have to look after them and try to find a home for them.

Cricket

Yesterday we had a fun games day with my friends in the Woodlands congregation in Grenada.  I learned some new games that I have never heard of.

SACK RACE
First we did a sack race.  In this race, we put a big sack around our feet and hop in it.  Ronika and I tied for first place in this race.  I can't beleive I didn't fall down.

RELAY RACE

After the sack race, we did a relay race.  A relay race is where you have a team that passes a baton from one player to the next until they get to the finish line.   





TUG OF WAR

We also did a tug of war.  This is the first time I tried a tug of war.  My team didn't win, but it was fun.

JUMP ROPE

We also did a lot of skipping.  I like jump rope.  I also learned a new kind of skipping called Chinese Jump Rope.  Chinese Jump Rope uses a stretchy rope that you twist around as you jump between it.

CRICKET
I also learned a new game like baseball called Cricket.  I had never heard of this before but they play it alot here.  At first I couldn't remember the name of the game and I called it Grasshopper instead of Cricket .  In Cricket you have a flat bat and hit a ball like a tennis ball.

Finger Prints

Today a Police officer in Grenada took my finger prints.  He had to do this because last night when we were at the meeting someone broke into our house and stole my pink iPod, pink computer, and pink suit case.  The robber also took some other computers from my family. 

At first I was very sad that some of my things were stolen.  But dad told me we will go shopping for new stuff, so I guess it will be okay. 

I was also scared that the robber might come again.  But a friend named Ricky came and borded up the broken door so that they wouldn't be able to get in again.

It is not nice when people break in and steal, but at least we didn't get hurt.

Preparing for the Memorial

The Memorial of Jesus death is tonight.  For 3 weeks we have been inviting people to the Memorial.  I am not a publisher yet, but I was able to give the Memorial Invitation to people we met in the ministry work.  I helped my mom and dad invite a lot of people.  I hope we see some of them tonight. 
In the ministry here in Grenada, we do a lot of walking and the hills are steep.  Here is a picture of me and mom in the ministry on Saturday.  We also have to drink a lot of water because it is hot.

We also helped get the
Kingdom Hall ready for the Memorial.  We met with the Woodlands congregation on Saturday to do the cleaning.  I helped mom clean the windows.  My brothers cleaned the lights and fans and chairs.  We also watered the trees and watched as they trimmed the old leaves from the Banana trees.  There are almost 100 Banana trees.

On Sunday, we went to another town called Grenville to help them paint their Kingdom Hall.  I helped mom and dad work all day on Sunday and Monday painting the Kingdom Hall in Grenville.





In Grenville, there are a lot of deaf people who speak sign language.  They have a sign language group in their congregation.  A brother named Bradley taught me some sign language.  I learned how to say "I love Dad" in sign language.  We are going to the meeting there next Saturday.  Maybe I will learn some more sign language.

Another Monkey

I saw another Monkey yesterday. This is third time I saw a monkey in Grenada. I told you about the other monkeys before.

The monkey I saw yesterday was when we were in the ministry. He lived at one of the houses we visited. When he first saw me he got really excited. He liked to hold my hand and pull my finger. He followed me as we walked along the road.

It would be fun to have a pet monkey!  Maybe I will have a pet monkey in the paradise.

Snorkeling

Yesterday we went Snorkeling again.  This is the second time I have been snorkeling in the deep ocean water.  I love snorkeling because you can just keep on swimming for a long time.  With a snorkel and face mask, I can put my head in the water and watch the fish.  There are so many fish in the ocean.  We saw fish that had black and yellow stripes, others were silver, and others were orange.  I can get so close to the fish that I can almost touch them.

Swimming at Eldred's

I love to swim. And I really love to visit friends that have a swimming pool. Yesterday we visited our friends Scott and Donna. They live here in Grenada. They moved here 12 years ago from New York state.

Donna is a very good cook. She made my favorite lunch - lasagna. And after lunch we did my favorite thing - SWIM!!

Scott and Donna also have a dog named Biwi who liked to swim with me. I pretended I was a life guard and had to save my brothers. I like swimming in a pool because the water is clear and I can see underwater.

I wish I had a swimming pool at my house.

Bath at the Beach

Many of the local people who live near the beach in Grenada don't have a bath tub in their house, so they bath at the beach.  Some people get up early, about 5:00 AM, to have an early morning bath.  Others go to the ocean after they are done work for the day at about 6:00 PM to have a bath. 

A bath in the ocean means more than just a swim.  It includes scrubing with sand and ocean rocks.  Mom says the ocean rocks are like a pumice stone that we could buy at the store in Canada.  It is great for cleaning the skin and getting rid of dead skin. 
I wish I had an ocean at home to bath in everyday.

Tropical Fruit

One thing I like about Grenada is there is fruit growing on the trees everywhere we go.  The fruit here is different than the fruit that grows in Canada.  Let me tell you about the fruits that I saw yesterday.

Mangos
There is a Mango tree in our yard.  Mangos are about the size of a small orange.  Sometimes I find them on the ground outside our house after they fell off the tree.  I pick them up and bring them in to my mom.  She peals the Mango and cuts out the large seed in the middle.  Sometimes she puts the Mango in a salad or in a dessert.  My brothers like to eat the Mango fruit but I don't really like it.

Golden Apple
Yesterday when we were in the Ministry, Brother Burk showed me the Golden Apples.  They don't look like apples and they don't taste like apples, but they call them Golden Apples here in Grenada. We found some while we walked in the Ministry. When we got home my dad pealed one for me so I could try it.  It was orange and very sweet inside.  I didn't think I would like it but it taste pretty good.

Bananas

I like Bananas, but I had never seen them grow on trees before.  We see them on trees all over the place here in Grenada.  They always grow in a big bunch with a huge flower hanging below the bananas.  The bananas are still green when they are growing on the tree.  After we pick them, we have to wait until they turn yellow before we can eat them.
I also tried the small bananas.  They are cute.  They look like a banana but are really short.  The people here call them rock figs.  They kind of taste like a regular banana, but they are harder.  I like regular bananas better.

Passion Fruit
I have seen Passion Fruit juice before, but I had never seen a Passion Fruit.  Yesterday, Brother Burk found a Passion Fruit tree and gave me a Passion Fruit.  It was perfectly round, but is very light weight.  If kind of feels like a styrofoam ball.  The inside of it is full of seeds so it is hard to eat, but the juice from it is very good.

Sapodilla
Sapodilla is another fruit that we saw growing on trees.  It is also round but has a hairy skin on it.  I haven't tasted it yet so I don't know what they taste like.  Here is a video of them picking Sapodilla for us:

Monkeys of Grenada

Today we went to see the Monkeys - and I mean the real monkeys, not just my brothers.  They are in the center part of Grenada in a area called Grand Etang. 

When we first got to the area, we stopped the car and called the monkeys.  They didn't come at first, but after a while they started to come to us.  We brought bananas to feed them.  The monkeys really liked the bananas.  After our bananas were all gone, they still wanted more.  One monkey pulled on Tyler's shirt because he wanted more food. 

Here is a video of us feeding the Monkeys.

New Grenada Friends

I have made alot of new friends here in Grenada.  I still miss my friends back home, but it is nice to have so many friends here too.

Last week some new friends came over to play a game of Catan with us.  Their names are Roydon, Ronika, and Rondika.  Ronika is just a little older them me. They had never played Catan before so we taught them how.  Rondika and I almost won, but Roydon was the final winner even though it was his first time playing.

Yesterday, some other new friends came over - Ricky and Elen.  Ricky is an elder in the congregation.  They had lots of stories to tell.  Ricky likes to tease me and I like to hide on him.  Mom made a delicious supper with coffee rub Pork and mango salad. 

For lunch today we went to a very nice restaurant on the beach that is run by another friend in the congregation named Mark.  He was the one who did the cooking.  Their french fries were the best.  The restaurant was very fancy and had palm trees growing all around it.

Tonight we went to a party at another friends home (Mike and Valerie).  It was a going away party for Ryan, Shelly, Liam, and Chase, because they are going back to Canada on Wednesday.  We swam in the pool and danced.  It was a really fun party and I made many more new friends.

It is nice to have so many friends.  When I go home I will be happy to see my friends in Canada again, but then I will miss my friends from Grenada.

Animals of Grenada

One thing that is fun about being here in Grenada is I am learning about different types of animals that I have never seen before.  Let me tell you what I learned:

 

1) Lizards

There are lots of little lizards running through the grass and crawling up the walls.  They are cute and most are small.  They are called Geckos and Whiptails.  One day when I was walking to the beach, I saw a tiny lizard that was so cute.  They don't scare me because they are tiny and cute.  My brother Jamin tries to catch them but they are too fast for him.

 

Another type of lizard is the Iguana.  They are about the size of a small cat and sometimes people have them as pets.  They have really long tails.  I learned from the Awake magazine that they use their long tail to help them jump.  My mom touched the back and feet of the Iguana in this picture.  She said it was very soft.  I also learned that Iguanas have a third eye on the top of their head that looks like a pale scale.  I think i would look funy if I had a third eye.

2) Sea creatures

One type of sea creature is a turtle.  One day we saw someone who had pet turles.  They keep them in a cage.  We plan to go snorkling soon when we will probably see more turtles in the ocean.

Another type of sea creature that we see alot of is crabs.   The large rocks along the side of the ocean often have several little crabs on them.  But when I walk up to them, the crabs hide.  It is amazing how they can even walk upsidedown on the bottom side of the rock surfaces and they don't fall off.

There are also crabs that live in the sand and holes in the grass.  They dig holes that they live in.  When we walk along the beach sometimes we see several crabs that run and jump in their holes when they see us coming.  This is a picture of our pet crab that lives in a hole in our yard.  He digs his hole deaper everyday.  We often see him at the edge of his hole.

We also found a Hermit Crab.  Hermit crabs live in a shell and they live by the water.  They are also hard to see because they try to hide in their shell. 


3) Monkeys
One day we were on an adventure and a guy let me hold his monkey.  The monkey sat on my sholder.  This is the first monkey I ever saw.  I never knew it could be so light. He was eating peas.
I didn't know that monkeys would live in Grenada, but my friends told me about a place where there are lots of monkeys that like to eat your bananas.  We are going to visit those monkeys soon.

4) Dogs and cats
There are also dogs and cats here just like we have at home.  Most of the cats are shy, but one day we saw a cute kitty that wasn't shy and let us pet her.
There is also a dog that comes to visit me every night.  My dad doesn't let me have a dog at home, so I like it when I get to play with this dog that comes to visit.  He is the nicest dog I have ever met in my life.

Missing Home

We have been here for exactly three weeks and I am starting to miss home.  Even though we had a lot of fun at the beach today, I miss my friends, my kittens, and comfy bed at home. 

Precious

My cats names are Pepper and Precious.  I wonder if they miss me?

I know it is still cold and there is snow at home, but it is still home to me. (home sweet home)

I miss you all!

Waterfalls

Concord Falls

Today I learned that I love Waterfalls.  We went to three different waterfalls at three different places in Grenada:  Concord Falls, Annadale Falls, and Royal Mount Carmel Falls.

The first waterfall was called Concord Falls.  My brothers had fun diving off a 10 foot cliff into the pool of water at the bottom of the falls.  I liked swimming in the water, but I didn't jump off the cliff.  The waterfall was so beautiful because the water was so clear.  There were also lots of big rocks to sit on while the water rushed past our feet.

After swimming at the Concord falls, we went to the Annandale Falls.  When we got there, I got to hold a Monkey - he was so cute.  My friends told me there are lots of monkies in Grenada, but this is the only one I have seen so far. Then we had a picnic before we swam under the falls.  I liked these falls because the pool wasn't so deep and rocky and we could go behind the waterfall.  I would have liked to swim here all day, but we had to leave early enough to go to the next waterfall.



Royal Mount Carmel Falls

Then we traveled to the otherside of Grenada to Royal Mount Carmel Falls.  This was a very high waterfall - my mom told me it is over 70 feet high.  There were also some smaller waterfalls down the river that my brothers slid down like a waterslide.  I couldn't slide down the river waterslide because the water at the bottom was too deep.




Cocoa

We also picked some cocoa from the trees growing next to the falls.  My dad cut it in half and gave me a white cocoa bean from inside.  I tried sucking on it, but I didn't really like it.  Mom says they make chocolate by drying these cocoa beans and then griding them into powder.  I think the chocolate tastes better then sucking the juice off the beans.

WOW, what a busy day.  I never knew there were so many waterfalls in Grenada. 

The Beach

My favorate thing to do is go to the beach.  I am always asking my mom to take me to the beach.  I am glad that we are living very close to the beach so we can go everyday.
Why do I like the beach so much?

1. I like to cool down in the water on a hot day. (every day here is hot)
2. It is fun to play in the waves.
3. I can build things in the sand.
4. I can relax and sun tan.
5. I like to look for sea shells on the beach.

You should come visit us so you can go to the beach too.

Introducing Grenada

This is Arysa in Grenada.  I was so excited to finally get here after waiting and waiting.  I got here on February 5th.  I also brought along my 3 brothers, my Auntie Amy, and my mom and dad.

It was a long ride in an airplane to get here.  Plus we had to wait for a long time at the Miami airport.

We have been in Grenada for a week now and it is everything I hoped for.  Grenada is an Island in the southern part of the Caribean.  It has great beaches and great weather.

We are staying in a house that is on the ocean.  It is beautiful to watch the sun set over the ocean every night.

I have already learned many new things and plan to record some of the things I learn and do here in this blog.  So I hope you enjoy it.

- Arysa