Happy New Year to all! After a wonderful trip back to New York for the Christmas holiday I returned to Grenada in time for Old Year's Night. Prior to leaving for the states, I met a nice lady (and a couple government officials) in a rum shop in St. George's, two of whom amazingly live in St. Patrick's fairly close to my home. After drinking quite a bit of 'flanka', this lady, Ruby, told me that I must spend the new year at her house. I left saying I would keep in touch, super excited at the possibility of participating in a secret, traditional Grenadian celebration for the new year in the heart of the rainforest. Unfortunately, when I returned, I could not get in contact with Ruby quickly enough :( In an effort to find a New Year's celebration in my area, I spoke to several friends who all recommended going to the capital or Grand Anse (the southern touristy/ex-pat section of the country) for any festivities as many people in the country spend the time at church or home during that night. Or I could spend $110 for admission to the Rex Hotel that requires formal dress (not the the PC packing list).
So, after spending an embarrassing amount of hours making a homemade New Year hat with random scraps of things in my home, I attended a celebration at the Prickly Bay Marina in Lance Aux Epines near Grand Anse with some other PCVs and friends. I recklessly tossed aside my grandma tendencies to have fun and stay up PAST midnight! And fun it was, with friends, live and DJ music, dancing (it was good to dance with people more on my level than with Grenadian ladies who dislocate their hips and 'wine' them around at rapid-fire speed), accidental glass-breaking, fireworks, and knitting! Yes, I couldn't suppress the grandma alter-ego for too long and out came the knitting needles. Knitting while sleep deprived and full of beer proved to be quite ineffective, but it was still my kind of party!
The night ended predictably with a marriage proposal from an elderly Rastaman in attendance who was impressed with my knitting techinique. It's good to be back.
