OK, I have to admit that I didn't keep my promise to write more often and therefore my sincere apologies!
A lot has happened since. We finally managed to get everything straight for the workshop, a lot of the people that were invited actually showed up and it was a huge success. We all were very satisfied with the outcome and the in- and output of the workshop itself! The report is completed and now we can focus on the next steps. There was even the idea of implementing a post for me here for a bit longer, but so far it's just an idea. Wish me luck that it comes through, though! I would love to stay longer and it feels amazing to be part of such a big thing (although Grenada is that small, the process really makes some waves and the international support is big)!
Apart from that, I spent some time with our international guests, one of them my "boss" from Germany and we had a lot of fun. I drove almost all of them around on my scooter and they are all still alive. Quite proud of that achievement.
On the weekend after the workshop, we convinced my boss to go hiking and since he didn't bring any appropriate footwear, he walked in my hashing-shoes, while I slided behind in some other trainers. Never expected them to be that slippery. But I made it up Mt. Qua Qua and back without any serious injuries, razor grass cuts don't count as such... We made it just back right in time before the heavens opened and it started pourig down for over half an hour which is a really long shower here. Usually its just a few minutes and the sun is out again... While we were waiting to mount our scooters again, we met a chinese single-travellig lady (!) who was on her own adventure and who made the wait very enjoyable. Seems her task was to gather as many bragging rights as possible and to fulfill the chinese stereotype of just eating anything. Hope she crossed out many more points off her list and enjoys her holiday! While it was pouring dwn, we decided it's probably ways too muddy to drag my boss to the hash and so we "just" wanted to visit one of the waterfalls here and head back. Well, that was a hash of its own and we (at least me) were covered in mud and sweat afterwards like after every real hash too. To get there, we had to follow a guide whose first impression was rather unpleasant, because he didn't let me choose my parking spot, was carrying a machete (cutlass) and chose whistling as way of communication, which really pissed my off... It got even scarier, when he plcked me a flower, gave my some nutmegs he had in his pocket, cut me two walking sticks out of the bush and commanded the guys to offer me a hand on the slippery parts. When I tried to refuse it, my boss just hissed at me "Did you see how he handled his big knife??? When he tells me to help you, I sure as hell will help you!" and I think he had a point. It all seems very gallant now, but at the time I was a bit worried if I would be allowed to leave the forest, especially after Richard announced that he would settle the deal for a six-pack of beer... After a while he (Kenny) told us, that he was pretty much deaf, so that explained the strange communication and we all got a bit calmer. The forest was beautiful and especially after the rain very lush and oh-so-green. Eventually we made it to the waterfall which was very pretty and we had the plan of going in there, after taking a few pictures. Thank god we took those first, because when I turned around, the water in the pond has risen already and was still going. So we grabbed all our stuff right in time and jumed out on to the trail again, when the water really started gushing down the waterfall. It seems we were just a bit ahead of the rainwater, we just witnessed coming down before. It looked as if the amountof water coming down just doubled all of a sudden and it carried a lot of mud with it too. There was a smaller waterfall underneath and on a nice day, you could have just sit in the pond under the big one. At this time, the chances were good of just being washed down the other waterfall by the mere force of the water. It was a great sight, though! Kenny was a bit afraid and looked at the thing from a safe distance up the trail. After that experience we refused to hike to another fall and made our way back to the scooters. We all were allowed to leave and afterwards we agreed that Kenny was actually a very sweet guy, although he gave me a very tight hug for a picture of us two, but I guess he earned that much ;)
