Welcome to Grenada.

My church sent me off so well last Sunday. I am very thankful for a church family that truly loves and cares. I was very touched. I don't think it truly hit me that I was leaving till my dad was praying for me in the evening on Monday and Tuesday nights. There is nothing like a prayer of a parent. My parents have given me everything and I am very thankful. My pastor blessed me/my education at Grenada thought his prayers! So I was leaving with full peace in my heart.

I flew Minneapolis,MN - Miami,FL - Grenada

The coast line of Miami! MN is green..Miami..not so much.

I saw God's hand in absolutely everything related to my travels to Grenada. Fist, my church and my families support and help. The night before, my mom and Alina suggested I take two bags instead of one, even though it was going to cost money to check another bag. But at the airport, the man who registered me said two free bags were allowed. I was very confused and told him a few times about # of bags restriction and every time he told me to give him the bags and that everything was fine. So, that was a nice surprise. Some students who flew in on Monday did not get their bags till today. The students that flew in on Tuesday, had to stay behind (about 15 of them) because the flight was overbooked. The Wednesday flight was perfect. In Miami, I met a Med student in the airport and got to ask questions. He explained how customs would work, shared him first term experience, and gave good advice.

The plane landed in Grenada and right away you can tell it is not America :) There were very few people working and they did not care at all about being fast. The people at Customs (well, there was only one lady doing the RED line customs, which was the longest line) really took their time, talked to each other, did everything nice and slow. In the US, there are usually 10 lines, and they do everything really fast and say "NEXT". When i was flying into US from Ukraine last year, the customs took about 5 min total and the guy asked me 100 questions at the speed of light. So, very different. :)

A taxi took the new student to our dooms. They drive on the left side of the road here and the driver sits on the right side of the car. My brain kept getting confused about the fact that this was OK.

After getting to our dorms, my RA (the person who oversees the dorm) told me that I probably will not get to meet my roommate because many people from my floor went to the bar that night. That was a little bit of a disappointing moment. First of all, by this time i've been up for more than 20 hours, so I was kind of getting tired. So, I was thinking of how hard it would be to live with someone who would drink all the time and possibly be loud and immature. My friends at the U have had horrible experiences and three vet students I've talked to also said that they did not get along with their 1st term roommates. Then I was thinking that maybe it would be ok, cause I could be an example for them and that I should not complain and just be happy with whoever I room with. Then I remembered that my prayer was for a good, stable, healthy living situation and that I was still sure that God will provide a perfect answer for that prayer. I prayed one more time that God give me a good roommate and was peaceful again. I got my key (i live on the ground floor of St. Andrew's btw, come and visit ;) and right after I opened the door, the first thing I noticed was a Bible on a desk!!!! That was so amazing! Thank you Lord. My roommate is a VERY nice, Christian girl from a nearly island. YAY!!!

Thursday 8/11
The campus is beautiful!

View from the front door of my building. :)

-The library

-The was a lunch for the MPH students. :) It was very good!

There are some funny things about the campus and my room. There is only one plug-in under the desk :) for each student. (In my room at least.) So today, I boiled some water under my desk. :) The lights are in funny places so it always takes a while to find them and my brain still "tells" my hand to turn on/off lights in places where it thinks the lights are. Things here remind me of Ukraine! The way the buildings are, the way rooms are build...little things here and there. So I like it "extra much". The will miss the UofM, but i'm excited and privileged to have this different experience.

Ok :) I hope everyone is doing well. :) Thank you!!!