Felix Who?

Nothing like a tropical storm to screw up your Fish Friday. Had fun anyway, so take that weather and Tropical Storm/Depression/Whatever Felix.

I was planning on going to Fish Friday in Gouyave with David and some other people yesterday, but when we called a friend who was organizing the taxi, apparently all the Fish Friday people were canceling due to nasty weather on the other side of the island (to be honest, the weather on this side of the island wasn't too hot). The taxi driver, who was not, incidentally, Robert DeNiro, said he'd still take us, but didn't recommend it, as there was some sort of tropical depression. Apparently, Felix essentially formed ON Grenada. Thanks, weather gods.

(For the uninitiated, Fish Friday is a really cool weekly giant feast/giant party in Gouyave, aka, to Grenada, the town that doesn't sleep (or at least, doesn't roll up the sidewalks at 9 PM). It features tons of fresh fish, alcohol, music, alcohol, and more fish... and alcohol. It's way over on the other side of the island, hence the slightly different weather conditions, which makes it a really Grenadian affair rather than being completely dominated by and catering to students as a lot of stuff in True Blue and Grand Anse is Fun, right?)

So after much waffling, punctuated by the weather over here going nuts and providing sporadic bits of torrential downpour and thunder that sounded like the upstairs neighbors were dropping anvils, we decided on not going. Le sigh. But two weeks, baby! Two weeks! We will go!!

David and I were determining whether we'd be up for simply staying in, maybe renting some movies, or going out to do something. Since we were both kind of disappointed by the Fish Friday thing, we decided to not only go out to dinner but go someplace a bit farther away that we hadn't been to. Since Dave's only been to St. George's proper once before, we grabbed the school bus, then the reggae bus out to the Carenage in search of a place I'd seen before (but hadn't been to) that literally juts out onto the water, detained a bit by a soaked child that first asked for clothes, and then asked to get on the bus with us. Argh. What is it with Grenadian children that want me to kidnap them? I'm not taking an unknown young child into town on the bus and abandoning him on a Friday night when he's already in grand Anse, indicating that he in some way belongs there. Hard though, because I never know what exactly to do.

Anyway, Dave and I grabbed the reggae bus and made it into town, where they dropped us off almost on top of the restaurant. Sweet! And there was a pause in the rain where it was only sort of half drizzling, so we even got in without being drenched to the skin. I don't remember the name of the place exactly, but it's the place on the Carenage ON the water, so you can't miss it, but we had a wonderful meal that made us feel like we were on vacation rather than in med school (atmosphere's good) and watched the boats (probably full of really relieved sailors) come in and the lighting flash on the hills. That was some *serious* lightning going on last night.

After our meal, we grabbed another bus back to Grand Anse, with the bus driver stopping on the way for what was either weed or a sandwich, and there was a break in the music just long enough to hear the TROPICAL STORM warning for Grenada. Looks like we made the right call! Caught the campus bus almost immediately and headed back...

And what a scene that was... I was on Skype while opening my mom-presents (which are awesome, and I now have pots, pans, a water filter, and a thousand New Englandy memorabilia items, including (gasp!) maple sugar candy), when I heard HOWLING from outside and opened to the door to a scene straight off the weather channel. Sideways rain, sideways palm trees, grass and dirt flying, deafening winds, yeesh!

For reference, growing up in California, even with a stint in (inland) North Carolina did not expose me to weather like that, thus yes, to me a tropical storm is pretty damn impressive, though I'm sure I'll catch it from all the people that have been through a real hurricane, which I fortunately have not.

They've been expanding the harbor (I think) in back, so there was some flooding, but none in my apartment, fortunately, though as the water levels rose, it was starting to be a little nerveracking, so I pulled all my electronics off the ground before going to sleep.

So no Fish Friday for me, but a great little evening in St. George's... oh, followed by music comparison and the ceremonial watching of youtube videos, which brings me to some of the funniest stuff I've seen this year. Have I mentioned I have a sick sense of humor?

Warning: do not click this link if you are easily offended... or not so easily offended... or don't want your childhood innocence regarding Kermit the Frog ruined. Don't say I didn't warn you. Oh, and may not be appropriate... okay DEFINITELY not appropriate for children under... oh, probably 30.