'Good Morning', in Grenadian

After two days of classes, everyone in our class is already behind. Living on an island in the Caribbean, though it has its advantages (some pictures), also has some disadvantages. The first one being that sometimes the jet carrying your course companions for anatomy and histology haven't yet arrived. So, we're a little behind on our studying until they arrive and are distributed!

I did, however, have a definitively 'island' experience this morning. Here in Grenada, the 1st termers are required to live 'on campus'. Our dorms are very little different than dorms at most major colleges, with the minor exceptions that we have a full-size 'fridge, our own bathroom with shower, a stove-top and some cupboard space in the kitchenette. Additionally, along with the price of our housing comes a cleaning service twice per week.

This is not nearly as glamorous as it sounds. The cleaning ladies will mop the floor, give a wipe-down to the exposed surfaces and give a small cleaning to the bathroom. This is pretty lavish for most of us since we have lived in slum-housing for the past years and paid out the nose for our own selves to clean and then get charged after one year for the things we apparently did not clean well enough, e.g., scrubbing the oven.

So, in my dorm, the ladies clean half the rooms every Monday and Wednesday, and the other half every Tuesday and Thursday. Not having class until 1.00pm today, I thought a little late sleep would then accompany my running some errands (my phone is now back!), some light review before lecture and then class.

So, when my alarm when off this morning, one can imagine my surprise when the cleaning lady was standing at the foot of my bed mopping the floor! She said, "Good morning," and I responded in kind, but was unsure where our interaction would next proceed. At the risk of offending some readers, I will reveal that I wear boxers to bed. In Grenada, when men and women attend any function together, the men generally have to wear pants and the women wear formal slacks or dress pants. Generally, it is a religious country and you need to show the proper respect when addressing, or socializing with, the opposite sex. It turns out I was no longer appropriately dressed in my own room.

Despite my morning not going exactly as planned, I made it into town to retrieve my phone (and it actually works . . . one can e-mail me for the number as I don't want to publish it), went to the 'hardware' store for a plate, mug, silverware and binders, bought some Calamine Lotion at the pharmacy (how could I have forgotten that?!) and made it to the bank. After this, its back to Anatomy for more fun.

As an aside, for those who are curious, my classes are: Gross Anatomy (meaning learn the entirety of the body), Biochemistry, Histology (cells and cellular structures), Embryology (the embryo and its development) and Clinical Skills (this term we study ethics & learn the proper patient interview).