We left on Friday for our roadtrip and we just got home. It was a pretty good, if not only relaxing time.

We took the scenic route most of the way which means it was beautiful and we made fun of a lot of random little town names we came across. On Saturday though, after making it to Moncton, we got SNOWED IN (WTF, mate? It's April!) on Sunday morning and we couldn't go to PEI. So, we ended up spending the day watching movies (a Shirley Temple marathon and this really hilariously horrible, must mock movie called Labyrinth starring David Bowie in tights - the perfect movie if you're high on acid - not that we were. Seriously.) Today, we woke up and drove up to the Confederation Bridge (you have to pay to cross) and one day I WILL cross and see PEI and Anne of Green Gables.

Oh and a conclusion of the road trip can be explained by our "WE HATE TIM HORTONS" rant. It was actually pretty funny because we bought Timmy's driving all across the maritimes and didn't win ANYTHING from the stupid roll up the rim thing and we found out that the odds were 1 in 9 so we were keen on getting nine and we still didn't win! (Well, we were up to 8 but that's still pretty unlucky). HOWEVER, on our Taxi ride home, our super nice driver heard us talking about it and gave us the free coffee he won. So, our faith in humanity (not Tim Hortons) is restored.

So, I haven't updated in a while because I've been away for 2 weeks billeting with another family. Jane and Earl Hodgeson - who were absolutely lovely fantastic people and I didn't want to leave. They spoiled me rotten and it was like whatever I wished for came true at their house. Jane cooked really awesome meals (I KNOW I gained at least five pounds while I was there) and she brought me to Bingo and taught me how to bake and cook (I wrote down a bunch of recipes to try!) and knit a blanket. Earl taught me how to drive a 4-wheeler! and he was super nice and thoughtful. The first night I was there, Marie-Eve (who didn't have a family until the next day) and I plugged in the Xmas lights in their basement (where my room was) and all the nights following, Earl plugged them in so I was greeted with festivity every night. AND, I mentioned loving chocolate milk one night and the next day, they bought it for me. And I mentioned loving French Toast and the next morning, guess what I had for breakfast?

I will really miss living at their house (having my own space and some peace and quiet!) but I promised to go back and visit and maybe spend some of my block offs their since Earl offered to come down and pick me up whenever I want.

Their house also had free long distance after 6 so I got to call my mom almost every night and Earl being so thoughtful (I mentioned ONE TIME that my mom had Tuesdays off) said he'd come by and pick up on Tuesday nights if I wanted.

Anyway, now that I'm back home... life is returning to normalcy which isn't very normal by real-life standards. Cayla, Lisa, Marie-Eve and I are leaving for our 72 hours off in several hours. We're taking a road trip to PEI (to see Anne of Green Gables!), Moncton, NB (to visit Marie-Eve's friend) and Antigonish, NS (to visit one of my friends). We're quite excited - they'll most definitely be some partying going on this weekend...

As for work - I've been working down at the barn with Lisa for the past couple of weeks and I really enjoy it. There's a lot of poo to shovel out (what, with 6 horses and all) but I don't mind it. I learned how to drive a tractor the other day!!! Very exciting (it's a STANDARD too! The first time I tried it, Paul - the person who works at the park and was in the tractor teaching me - said I should release the clutch slower as I kept jerking the tractor... but by the end of the day, I was a PRO!)

I love the loft where they keep all the straw and hay (Lisa and I built a fort with the bales - it was fun) adn feeding the fish in the trout pond takes two people because we have to chase away the ducks first. And hence, I've decided that I HATE DUCKS! We pelt rocks at them and the other day, Lisa ACTUALLY HIT ONE! It was hilarious, she fell over laughing. I was kind of concerned that we actually killed it but these birds are pretty durable... seeing as how Lisa hit it on the head and it flipped over in the water and all. It was struggling to flip back up and when it did, it kind of just sat there, stunned and not moving. We were pretty sure it was dead but then it started swimming away (it's neck was in an awkward position but we're sure it's fine)...

I don't really think there's much else to report except maybe the fact that we have an angry, paranoid llama named Pablo who keeps spitting at everybody (I figure he can't be too mean because he did impregnate his very nice, better half, JLo but Lisa thinks it must have been a very violent deed).

Oh, and I also like to provoke some of the animals... like the crazy pheasant who keeps snapping at me but he's in a cage and I'm feeding him so who's the winner? Huh?

There's a cute goat that we named Mr. Tumnus (after the goat in Chronicles of Narnia!) and he's nice and stays in his corner when I enter which I think is cute, then there's a sheep (that we) named Rammy but I stay away from him.

So, that's all. Hope everybody has a nice Easter (if you celebrate) and if not, enjoy the long weekend!

So, being as there's only one computer in the house and our PL uses it most of the time, I won't be updating a lot. However, I must tell you about where I work here!

Everybody works at the Two Rivers Wildlife Park (google it and you can see more info.) and last week was my first week at work since I was House Manager with Cayla. I got to feed the outside animals with Mel and it was AWESOME. Working at this park and taking care of animals is something I've never done before and probably never will again! So, everyday we get the food for the animals which include bears, otters, deers, moose, cougars, owls, bald eagles and BIG CATS and we go into their cages, give them their food and clean up their crap. We also get to drive around a Kubota which is a cool little vehicle that we broke a door with when we backed into the turkey cage (don't worry, we fixed the door). Here's the cool part though!: We go INTO THE CAGES! Like, no fence, NOTHING with a lot of the animals. For the bears, we have a divide that we close to get them on the other side first but their super smart animals and try to pull the string up which freaks Mel out to no end (but I LOVE the bears and watching them eat - they love peanuts and little treats... my favourite animals are the otters, named Peanut Butter and Jelly and the black bears, named Yogi and Booboo). But the scariest animals are by far the Lynxes! (We go into the bobcats and the eagles' cages too but the bobcats are mostly afraid and hide in the trees and the eagles just make noises) BUT the lynxes come right up to the door and follow us around to their little hut. Last week, we had quite a scare. Usually, every day we pick up the old meat that they didn't eat with a shovel but on Wednesday we didn't have the shovel with us so Mel was saying she was just going to pick it up with her hands..

WELL, as soon as she started to pick up one (there are 2 on the floor and one on top of the hut), the lynx (there are 2) looked like it was ready to Pounce and I was calling Mel to stop but she didn't hear me but as soon as she reached for the other meat, it lept out a little and made a big hissing noise and we both hightailed it out of there with me telling Mel, "Drop the meat, Mel... DROP.THE.MEAT." Freaky as hell. But I'm alive so it's all good.

More stories later! Dinner time! (Oh yeah! And I've decided to turn vegetarian! There's been a big problem in our house against the meat and veggie eaters because half of us decided to turn after a conference we went to... don't know why it's such a big deal and it's bothering me but such is group life.)

So, my first week in Nova Scotia and Cayla and I are house managers (so, I haven't actually worked at the wildlife park yet!)

The house was a HUGE MESS when we got here and ... I don't think it was quite sanitary so it felt very therapeutic to clean up the entire house and make the washroom all pretty again and get rid of all the dust and organize all the random cupboards.

This week has been quite enjoyable with Cayla, here's a list of fun things we've done (and we have the same taste in music so it's just been a music, fun-filled week):

-We've played "What's in your mouth"?
-We've painted the garbage/recycling centre thing that we have
-We've baked an Earth cake for Lisa's 21st birthday with sprinkles as people (we populated the continents just as they're populated in real life...)
-We've baked a crapload of bread and then discovered the food colouring and made another batch of bread but this time with COLOUR!!
-We've filled the tiny washroom with balloons to make it more festive
-We switched the 1% and 2% milk to see if anybody will notice and if they don't we're just going to buy 1% milk from now on
-We decided to have a contest/try to drink a pitcher of water a day
-We've baked a LOT of stuff - cakes, marshmallow things, bread (of course)...
-We've listened to a lot of music and I've discovered some new artists!

Good times.

It is really pretty and beautiful here! Although I have yet to see the ocean but I have 3 months!

Marion Bridge is on Cape Breton Island and there is pretty much nothing in this town except for a gas station and post office that serves as a grocery store, tool shop and general store. To get anything (including House groceries, we go into the bigger town, named Sydney, which is about 30 minutes away by car.)

There are, however, 2 churches and last night Cayla, Hez (our new PL), Lisa and I went to church because it was International Prayer Day and it was pretty interesting but the BEST part was meeting other people from the community! They are SO nice (almost everybody is 50+) and they chatted with all of us and everybody made cakes and treats and then at the end of the night, they gave us all the leftovers!

I can't believe complete strangers can be so nice to people they've never met yet! I love this town! Every day we've been here so far, we've gotten treats delivered to us (our landlords make biscuits and fudge and it's so yummy).

There's a real community feeling here that I really enjoy and everybody knows everybody else's business (our PL actually gets calls at night of neighbours saying they saw her pull into the driveway and ask her how she is and people drive by our house and peer into the windows).

Speaking of our house... it's a very unique house that we have. Yeah, it's not an apartment, but it was built in the 1900s and everything is old and quirky. The washrooms are pretty much undesirable - you can't stand up to take a shower, the ceiling is too low. But I love my room (we got the big one) and the weather is nice so no real complaints - except maybe for the ant and flies problem but since we've moved in, there have been less of them buzzing around so at least there's that.

Oh yeah, and there's also a pretty cute guy who works at the gas station - a very, very, very, beautiful boy. I think all the girls are obsessed. Haha. He makes up for the washroom.

So, growing up around mostly girls (4 close cousins and an older sister), I never really had to deal and live with guys before and I have to say, it's .... different.

I know ... way too much information. It's very disturbing. Like, right now there's this guy in our group, Alex, who hasn't had a drink in a month (not allowed since he wasn't very responsible during Super Bowl Sunday) and he's very horny and is inappropriately touching and humping everything and everybody who moves including our Project Leader.

Many discussions about touching themselves, masturbation, and washroom habits that just don't need to be discussed.

And so, there it is. Thought I'd share. :)

Having a grand old time and we probably need to get a drink into our little quéquette.

You think I'm kidding don't you?

But, no. Our group decided to arrange a winter camping trip and so we left with our long underwear and wool socks yesterday morning. We had a bunch of scouts with us and two people in our group have done it several times AND we weren't really going to the middle of nowhere - just to this island where the town was holding their Winter Festival (so right beside us was the sledding hill and there was a tent with heated toilets and everything).

But STILL. Holy shit. At first it was fun because we all built a quinzee (sort of like an igloo except ... without snow blocks...) and then we put cardboard, mats and other insulation stuff on the floor... and we ate lasagna in a bag and had a bunch of hot chocolate. But then, it came to nighttime.

The scouts advised us to maybe go home (literally 5 minutes away by car) for a little while, change into our pyjamas and then come back.

When we got back, it was time to sleep... and it's just not as fun. I slept in the quinzee with 2 guys and another girl but the others had built little shelters (ie. holes in the snow with tarp over it) so I imagine that no matter how uncomfortable I was - they were probably more. But I was pretty uncomfortable.

Here's what I discovered (throughout the whole trial):
-Maneuvering in one of those things is impossible because it's squishy and snow gets everywhere and then it melts, and then you get cold
-Never sleep next to a guy unless you really like them because they make funny noises (not thinking about it)
-Putting on more layers of socks doesn't help especially if the problem is your BOOTS are frozen and you can barely stick your feet in
-My boots suck asmar. They're excellent in (as my friend put it) mostly shovelled and nicely salted roads in Toronto but not in Northern Quebec.
-Give up on things that get wet because they just freeze
-Your body has excellent survival instincts - When you go to sleep, your body temperature drops and when you get too cold, you wake up and so - last night - I didn't really sleep because my body was warning me that if I did, I would probably never wake up.
-- NO, it wasn't quite so bad, I had on a hat and a scarf on my upper half so only my nose got cold and runny --- and my feet but I was kind of crumpled up so that was okay.
-I discovered in the morning that my sleeping bag actually shrinks at the top to keep out air from the neck down - but again - this was IN THE MORNING.
and last but not least,
-You do NOT look pretty in the morning.

Most of us survived the night - except for Alex (the guy who told us not to complain about Winter Camping and he had actually done it before) and Charlotte because her sleeping bag sucks.

This morning we left before breakfast because we were way too cold (my feet were freezing). We were supposed to stay until 1 or 2 and do activities but even our PL was like, "No fucking way".

But you know what I was thinking to myself in the middle of the night in my quinzee in hilarious misery? "What the FUCK am I doing sleeping outside in the wintertime in sub-zero temperatures?!?! I'm retarded. I can't believe this is SELF-INFLICTED."

Anyway, it was an experience but probably (unless I go crazy or something), an experience I will never, never, NEVER do again.

"What the FUCK am I doing out here???"

Well, I promised pictures and here they are. En mass and ad nauseum.


This is today. At the Refuge Pageau.

A lynx. (Was not a happy camper but it was missing a leg so that's okay, I'll forgive it for hissing at me)


A wolf... look closely...


Bald eagle


Owl


Erm....cute... things...


Lookit! Ducks!


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KATIMA-APARTMENT

This is me in my lovely bed with my half finished Katima-Quilt and the pictures I coloured at work! (And the butterfly picture I painted)


This is Rachel and my side of the room and I made that dreamcatcher for Rachel for Christmas (I was her secret Santa)


This is Mel's bed with this wicked poster that we got at our Sexuality Workshop. J'capote pour toi means I'm crazy for you and yes, that's a condom. I have one too. Planning to put it up in my dormroom next year!


This is the cool shelf we made when our two person room became a three person room (when Cayla joined us and Rachel moved into our room). It's a shelf that people were going to throw out but we propped it on our dresser with books and TADA!


Our calendar of events. I did the one for January.


A painting we did as a group in Val D'Or during New Years


In Mass Orientation. This is our entire 3 town cluster. Ville-Marie, Rouyn Noranda, and Val D'Or.


A random picture of cookies and stuff I baked for everybody for Christmas morning.


My sister's package that she sent me wrapped up in many layers of tape!!!


Me hacking into it....


....All the packaging...


... And all I get is a lousy chocolate kiss!


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One weekend, we went to visit Ville-Marie. We went to an "enchanted" forest and ate at a Québecois restaurant.

Rachel, Cayla, and I in the restaurant.


Climbing to the top of a hill...


Marie-Ève and I in the snow


-------

In my billeting family! This was our room.


These are the kids (LtoR): Coralee, Maya, Césaree, Zacherie


This is Vuyani with one of the babies (3 months!!) that he babysits for


This is Marie-Josée and that is the baklava I was talking about! Yum!


In the kitchen. They had many beautiful plants and wooden furniture that I loved.


Cor, Mel, and I knitting after dinner.


The first thing I crocheted! A shawl! (For my cousin for her birthday... shh...)


A completely finished bilingual Scrabble game (Mel, Rachel and I did it last weekend at a coffee shop!)


---------------

This is the lake I cross (with Julian) every day to get to work.


This is the park beside my work.


This is the lake all cleared off for skating. It's so cool, right?! Inner rinks and outer rinks and all that jazz.




People playing hockey...


Our side of the town. See those smoke stacks? We live next to those... and trains. It's a copper mining town (started out as)...


Random picture of a very cute little girl being pulled on the ice.


And finally, me and Mel skating...


And an artsy picture of us walking away...


And finally. Because of the aforementioned lake. This is my bruise.


And a close-up.



THE END!

Hey all,

I'm back from my billeting family and it was a pretty glorious 2 weeks. Even though the family had 4 kids (and the dad, Vuyani, looks after other kids in the afternoons and all their kids have their friends who come over), it was nice to have a room almost to myself (I was with Mélissa) and our own shower and washroom and not having to do dishes for 12 and knowing everything is clean and germfree for a while. AND the meals were awesome because Vuyani is a really good cook and every meal was accompanied with an equally yummy dessert. He made baklava, which is a Greek dessert, and I am so going to try making it myself. It's little bites of heaven. I copied down the recipe. The kids were also really sweet. Zach, the smallest and only boy was always so energetic and because the family didn't have a computer or T.V., at night everybody would sit in the living room and talk and listen to music and read and knit and play board games. It was pretty cool. The mom (Marie Josée) and the youngest girl was away on vacation and only returned during our last 2 days but I've never seen such organized photo albums because Marie Josée is a really good photographer and they had albums and albums of lovely photos.

The family also travelled a lot. Vuyani is from South Africa so he visits his family and each parent takes one kid on vacation, seemingly once a year, so they've been to a lot of places. Marie Josée also did a program like Katimavik called Canada World Youth which is AWESOME and I'm thinking I might apply in the next couple of years. The program has a similar structure as Katimavik (and was started by the same people) but instead of an exchange within Canada, it's 7 months with another person from another country (you get to choose) and you spend 3.5 months in Canada and the other part in their country living with a host family. Marie Josée went to Thailand but there are other specific programs as well to go with CWY like a specific program to Africa to learn more about AIDS and another one centered around the environment.

OH YEAH! I also went skating on a real lake (I think for the first time ever). It's very cool because people clear off a section of the lake and they have separate sections for hockey and an outer rink for skating. And Maya (the second oldest daughter) took Mel and I to see Improv (which they have every Thursday at a theatre here) and it was hilarious. Kind of like "Who's Line Is It Anyway" but live... and in French.

One other random thing is that every day I cross the lake to go to work and last week, I was crossing and I slipped and slammed down on my right elbow and it hurt like hell (and I still can't bend my arm properly) but the bruise is something to be admired. It's all green and purple. (Wendles, remember the time you taught me archery and my clutziness ended in the arrow grazing my arm... yeah, it's something like that). I've taken pictures.


And next weekend I'm coming home! For 48 hours only. So I'm flying home Friday and leaving Sunday. So, Amanda, you can come over and give me whatever it is in person! Or you can send it because I love real mail. I'd give it one and a half weeks to get here. In any case, I'm here until the 28th... or more exactly the Friday before because we're leaving for debriefing that weekend and then it's straight to Nova Scotia!

And, one more thing, because my sister posted with a random comment asking what we do here (she imagines we sing Kumbaya in a circle every night) but upon reflection to that valid question, I have to say, I have no idea. We seem to pass the time and things HAPPEN but I really don't know. We have workshops and we go on trips (we went to an Animal Refuge today and it was really cool - I saw wolves and lynxes and other random animals that were hit by cars or shot by idiots and injured) and we do healthy living stuff and oh yeah, French classes. On weekdays, we come home from work, hang out, talk about our day or nap, have dinner, read, go on the computer, listen to music, knit (that's me but I've taught a bunch of people here how to knit!) and just do randomness. We go out to the downtown sometimes and go to a bar and play pool and -- OH YEAH! During my billeting family, we went out to watch a movie - "The Holiday"! - And even though it was in French, I understood most of it! And I loved it! I thought it was really sweet. Such a chick flick but it really doesn't matter because sometimes you just need a good chick flick. I highly recommend it. I have started to really like cooking since I got here and people where I work have taught me new things and ways to knit and taught me how to crochet.

So, that's it. We don't sit in a circle and sing Kumbaya and no, I haven't been chased by that bear.

So, I'm in the middle of my billeting family and they don't have a computer so I am in a bookstore right now updating this. But, I was walking home from work today (well, right now) and I just thought of how it was such a lovely day here (I mean, it's fucking freezing but it's not as bad as it was a couple of days ago when it was -40 degrees or something ridiculous like that and the kids got to stay home from school because it was too cold. Anyway, I've perfected the art of wearing my hat and placing my scarf so as to maximize coverage and minimize uncomfortableness in terms of being able to breathe).

As I was saying, it's a lovely day today - sunshiney - and I was just thinking how the winter months are the hardest months to get through (November through March). From April to October, it's pretty much good and there's sun and it's not the arctic and the days are long. But then, I had a happy thought today! I thought of how each month kind of compensates (either nature or us) for itself.

For example:
November is pretty gloomy but the beginning is still good because it's the end of autumn and it's still pretty enjoyable. December is depressing but you get through it because there's Christmas and Boxing Day and New Years to look forward to. As for January, well, after December, the days start getting longer again. Like right now, it won't be dark when I wake up or walk home from work at 5. And February is miserable but it's the shortest month so misery doesn't last very long and then March is slushy and gross but at the end of March, it's SPRING!

Anyway, this was a long post for a lot of nothing but I just wanted to share in my happiness and my plans for getting through every winter from now on.

Filled with lovely thoughts!

(Will update about my very cool billeting family when I get back to the Katima-house!)