Welcome!

Hey Everyone!

Some of you have already arrived and most of you should be arriving within the next few days so I just wanted to take a second and say Welcome! You made it! Hopefully with all of your bags and your sanity intact.

It's hot here eh? Even I'm readjusting. Don't worry, I promise you won't be sweating buckets forever every time you step outside your room. Your body adjusts eventually.

In my last post I promised to discuss 4 more things so here goes-

Bus Routes- SGU runs free buses for all students throughout neighboring towns. Right now the route that is probably most important to your life is the True Blue/Grand Anse bus route. This will take you to IGA [the American-esque supermarket] which is located within Spiceland mall as well as Grand Anse beach [last stop on the route]. If you're craving American food, Subway and KFC [the only two fast food chains in Grenada] are along the bus route as well. You can catch the bus at the top of the hill at the bus stop. There are signs in all the windows telling you exactly what route the bus takes. Buses usually run about every 15-20 minutes and it's about a 15 minute ride to the beach. If you're a newbie and don't know exactly where to ring the bell to get off, just ask the bus driver to let you off at the stop you want to go to.

Cell Phones- Digicel and BMobile have set up their booths. Digicel at the library and BMobile closer to the bus stop. Check out both places and see what deals they have before you decide on a company. The only reason I went with Digicel is because they were the first people I saw when I walked out of the library after registration. So be wise, look for the best deals and go with that one! Typically you'll buy X amount of credit and get the phone for free. Grenadian cell phones work on a pay as you go system so everytime you run out of credit you can just top up at the D store on campus.

Registration- In the East wing of the library, the times should be in your Orientation schedule. Bring your registration voucher with you! And any/all SGU documents. Financial aid stuff can also get cleared up here although they most likely will direct you elsewhere depending on what your problem is. Once you're registered you'll get your ID card, class schedule, SGU handbook, mailbox #/address, and a couple of other things that escape me right now. It also marks you as an official SGU student so don't delay on that!

Banking- RBTT is on campus in the student center. They have extended hours this week for people opening up new accounts. You'll need to bring your SGU ID, acceptance letter, and two forms of ID- a passport and something else (driver's license). There's a sheaf of forms to fill out and I warn you now that the entire process will take awhile because there's a lot of you guys and not a whole lot of the RBTT employees.

I think that's it. Enjoy your orientation week! Go on all the tours, get to meet as many people as you can, definitely check out the Welcome Back Party @ Aquarium on Friday night. It's a 20 EC cover but there will be drink specials and free shuttles running back and forth between campus. No better way to get to know your new classmates than to party with them! Make sure you don't miss the Booze Cruise on Saturday morning and definitely check out the Orientation Bazaar on Sunday.

If anything's amiss or you have a particular question about stuff- feel free to comment here or just call me- 473.420.6997. My Internet access is a little shady right now so if you need something quick- just call, otherwise just comment and I'll try to get back to you within the day.

Cheers!
Srav