08/02/2008, Grenada
Today I put on pants. Long pants. For some this is an every day occurrence but my legs haven't felt fabric since Florida, maybe even Georgia. That makes for about 9 months without pants which is of course a personal best. (Gary, still no real shoes!)
So why the heck am I going on about pants? Today, 28 July is the court proceeding against 'da tiefs' that broke into our boat and into High 5 back at the beginning of July. We were told that long pants are required in Grenadian court. Of course we should have known that but court etiquette has been far from our minds.
Rennie and I had to get up at 6am so she would dinghy me in to Woburn where I could catch a series of buses up to Gouyave. Way too early, which of course got me to Gouyave about an hour ahead of schedule. Well it gave me a chance to wander around the deserted streets looking for something to do.
Once the 9am court date came around there sure was plenty to do. Watching the two young tiefs out on bail hang out waiting for court to start. Seeing the other two who were in the big house arrive via police escort and change from Jail duds into Court duds that had been delivered via tearful family members. All while I sat outside the small jail cell trying to be invisible. However, as the only white guy I sure was not invisible. But that was OK as the whole town knew what I was doing there and was glad to see justice served. Even the family members nodded to me in a courteous manner. Firm but courteous.
Just before court started I was called out of the room by the Court Officer to speak with the prosecutor, Inspector Joseph. His nickname among the police is 'Big Joe'. Appropriate as he looked like he could have played offensive line for the Seahawks. Inspector Joseph pulled me aside to first say that no proceeding would occur until the next day as the two younger defendants were young enough to require a social worker. Said social worker would not be able to be in Gouyave until Tuesday. I stewed that I had wasted a day traveling up here and would have to do it all again the next day. Then he mentioned that all four defendants would be pleading guilty. Great News! Not really a surprise as they had all four admitted to being on our boats and had identified which for us, and the police, which items they stole. It seems that since I was present to testify they had no defense. Had I not made the trip the prosecution would have had no case and the case would have likely been tossed out. Anyway, as they would be pleading guilty I would not be needed the next day and was free to take the last of our items and go! Praise the Lord!
While I was quite pleased, the family members were not. The Caribbean people are not shy with their emotions and the full wailing was in force as the moms learned that their sons were admitting guilt. One mom even managed to go for the full swoon and faint into the lap of another while the rest fanned and comforted her. It was a scene straight out of Hollywood -but all too real. Lest some family member start venting at me I collected our goods and hit the road.
A long trip back to the boat brought our wide range of experiences in Gouyave to a close. We learned that petty thievery is everywhere - no surprise there. More importantly we learned that the people of Gouyave, actually all of Grenada, have a very low tolerance for ripping off tourists. Steal from each other, but don't mess with tourism. We were told several times that in addition to whatever the courts dish out the 'tiefs' can expect to meet with a little extra local justice. Of a rougher brand. So be it.
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07/30/2008, Grenada
Well the fun continues here in Grenada. We still have to wait for the 28th for our court date. Seems they moved up the date from the 14th to the 11th without anyone notifying us. As we were not present in court the case was held over to the 28th. Would have been nice if they had told us that as well! The only way we found out was when we went court on the 14th as planned, and they were all wondering why we weren't there Friday the 11th and what in the heck we were doing there the 14th! Needless to say we were bit peeved about them allowing the case to be presented and delayed without us even knowing about it, especially since High Five will have flown home by then and won't be able to make it to court. As the defense attorney knows, this will weaken our case with only one boat showing up to prosecute instead of the two of us. However the Prosecutor feels hopeful as they have confessed and the Judge knows they robbed two boats not one. Matter of fact, the whole community knows!
However, we have been able to keep ourselves busy around the Island seeing various sites and exploring different corners. We, us and High 5, rented a van for a week so we really were able to explore. We visited the Grand Etang Forest Reserve a couple of times. We waltzed through the jungle listening to amazing sounds and experienced exotic smells as well as sighted some wild monkeys and fed a very tame one. We went to some falls and splashed and leaped into the fresh water. We met another tame monkey here who took a liking to Janine. As we were leaving he grabbed her hand and tried to pull her into the bushes with him. He was a bit smitten! We also made our own trek to Levera beach which is at the North end of the island and where the Leatherback Turtles come on shore and lay their eggs. However it is the very end of the laying season and when we had done a previous tour we hadn't seen any. So we were determined on our own to stay as long as it took to witness this grand event. When we arrived there were no Ocean Spirit volunteers so we walked the beach on our own with our eyes peeled to the ground to avoid stepping on any baby turtle. We did find a baby turtle nest with one little hatchling left and we aided and watched his trek to the ocean. It is amazing these little 3 inch baby Leatherbacks turn into huge 5-6 foot adults. It is easy to understand that out of 1000 hatchlings only 1 will make it to adulthood. Just the trek to the ocean could easily do them in! With our vigilant watch and determination we were blessed with witnessing a 5 foot 4 inch mama come ashore to lay her eggs. By this time the Ocean Spirit volunteers had arrived and they showed us what to do and where to stand so as not to bother her or scare her back into the sea. What a feat to come ashore being that large and armed with swimming fins and not feet. Our mom was ashore for about 2 hours and she dug three separate holes but all three filled with water and she was unable to lay her eggs. All that work and she went back to the sea unsuccessful, she will have to come back the next night to try again! Amazingly each mom will come ashore 5-7 different times and lay about 120 eggs each time. Our poor mom will have to come one extra time! Oh I forgot to point out they only come ashore at night so after our successfully exciting evening we got back to our boat around 3:00 AM! I also forgot to point out if you do this excursion wear pants, socks, and shoes! The sand flies and mosquitoes are tenacious and I look like I have the measles on my feet and ankles and for one who never itches I am going crazy!
Some other great treks were made to Belmont Estates where cocoa beans are collected to make Grenada's Organic Chocolate and export to other chocolate makers as well as a fun trip through River Antoine Rum Distillery. At Belmont we had a fun tour and tasted some amazing 71% and 60% chocolate. At the Rum Distillery they gave us a taste of one of their local rums which sells out. She offered it to Denny and Gary and then looked as us gals to see if we wanted any. We decided sure but she only poured us a little bit. Well, bottoms up and with that we realized why she asked and then only gave us a bit. My eyes were watering, my throat was horse, and my head was spinning. What a way to start a Friday evening!!
Our great friends on High Five have gone home for 5 months for work. This was a very sad parting as we have been together on and off since Oriental, North Carolina. We are all in a bit of a funk but we are slowly emerging. Our beer consumption is declining and our late nights are fewer but we are recovering from our great loss! Actually we are looking forward to our trip home Aug 26th and will hook up with the High Fivers at least once as they live in Vancouver, B.C. This parting was hard on all especially the kids as the High Five boys have become like brothers. However we are now anchored in Hog Cay on the south of Grenada. This has been a great place as we have met many kid boats. There are two boys Ethan's age and 5 boys 8-11 years of age for Liam to hang with. Michaela is a bit melancholy as there are no other young ladies but it is giving us a chance to have fun together! Her birthday is in two days and we should be with Migo, who has Joanna, Michaela's age. That will be a grand present!
Enough for now, as always we will try to write more often but if history repeats itself we all know the truth!
Rennie
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07/10/2008, Grenada
Man o Man are the cops here good! We went up to the police station Tuesday to get some paperwork and they had 4 punks in custody. One of who was cheeky enough to come around after the robbery and be 'helpful' as well as flirtatious. Not cool, not at all. Anyway, the police have all of our computers back as well as almost everything else, no IPODs. They expect to have the Ipods back by Monday when we go back for the trial. The way the police handled the whole episode has been phenomenal. They even lined up the punks in front of us so we could ID our stuff and berate them for stealing from our kids. Then they had to apologize. Hard to accept from them but that is what God wants us to do. Along with a 'gentle' reminder that they have to answer to what the laws of Grenada call for. Which means time in the 'big house'.
Thank God for answered prayers!
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