Sunday December 30

HAPPY THIRD BIRTHDAY FINN!!!!!!

The only way I even know what day of the week it is anymore is because I count the days before or after an event. Today I knew it was Sunday because today was the day that the rest of the guests arrived. While I’m happy for them to finally be here, I’m also sad because it means my time here is coming to an end. One week left then its off to St. Vincent and Barbados before heading home. I’m kicking myself for that plan, I would love to just stay here, not just for those extra 3 days but for a long time. Jill and I have been trying to concoct business plans so that we can live that dream but its going to take some time :)

The guests weren’t coming in until mid and late afternoon so we had several hours to kill. The original plan was to go to Lower Bay for the Sunday fun, but mother nature interfered. Last night and today were similar to the storm that came through when I got here, and hopefully it will pass before New Year’s Eve (Old Year’s Night) as we plan to spend the evening outdoors. We gave De Bistro the third and final chance and I have to say it gets the thumbs down. I know that the staff is shy and things move at a slower pace here but the service is just ridiculously slow, and the food is mediocre. Oh well. As much as I wanted to order the French toast again, I refrained and just got an average omelet and a really, really fatty piece of bacon. Boo.

After an unnecessarily long breakfast we ran some errands and witnessed something that disturbed me all day and probably will continue to haunt me for a while. I realize the whole cycle of life thing, but those of you who know me know that I am a big-time animal lover. I even save bugs that I find in my house by setting them free outside rather than kill them. We saw a pickup truck pull up to one of the stores with 2 cute goats in the back with ropes around their necks tied to the bed of the truck. The ropes around their necks aren’t unusual, most of the goats here are tied to a very small area and seem perfectly happy grazing and napping in a 3 square foot area. We kind of guessed why the goats were there as goat is a popular meat here (I did enjoy a fantastic goat water soup at Fernanado’s last night…) but I chose to keep that out of my head. Later in the day when we drove by that same store, we saw large pieces of raw meat (for lack of a better description) being butchered on a table outside the store. I know it wasn’t THOSE 2 goats but it still made me sick to my stomach. Maybe I’ll become a vegetarian in the new year.

All four guests arrived without incident and luckily without the tour of every island in the Grenadines that Jill had. We had a great authentic local dinner of chicken curry at Captain Mack’s which was arranged by our gracious villa host Patriece and we of course then went to the Frangi for drinks. It was odd to be reminded of the stress from home that Suzanne unfortunately had to bring with her from work and unrealistic expectations that everyone had of what life on this island would be like. No Walgreens, no Whole Foods, no DirectTV package. We are lucky to have a road to our villa, the rest is all a bonus. I felt like a local, actually taking it a little too personally that people didn’t immediately find this to be the same paradise that I have come to know. Hopefully within a few days they will love it here as much as I do and realize that the inconveniences of being here is what makes this island the unique escape that it is.