I am in the middle of my billeting period at the moment which is why I haven't posted anything in a bit. I haven't had a computer for a few days because I was really busy getting all packed up to go and then also the wireless at the house here is being a little screwy. But now I've got the internet and I've got the time and the planets have all aligned. It's time to write!
Sarah and I are living together with the Quinton family which consists of Sandy, Tom, Bonnie and Diesel. Also, their daughter Patty drops by a lot with her kids Kenny, Arora (also known as Rory!) and the baby girl Casey. The kids are all very blond and cute. The two oldest go to Schreiber Pulic where I work so I've seen them before and I didn't even realize it. Bonnie and Diesel are very cute as well, but they are a little hairy. Of course that could be because they are dogs...Bonnie is a mid sized brown and white something dog and Diesel is a small little dauschand! I'm living with a little weiner dog! He is so cute and so naughty. He likes to steal everything. He was chewing on my shoes on Thursday night and on my socks this morning. When I was unpacking on Thursday he was trying to get to my underwear and bras. The little bugger. And he jumps around everywhere, which you wouldn't expect from a weiner dog, but he is the exception I guess. These dogs are spoiled rotten. They have Sandy and Tom wrapped around their...tail? Sandy and Tom are their Mommy and Daddy and it's really sweet just how much they love their dogs.
Oh, you should all know, Tom is the man that owns the Schreiber Diesels! OMG! He is a very well liked here because he apparently saved the team from being disbanded or something like that. Right now he is on the road with the team to Sioux Lookout for a game with their team. And maybe...just maybe...we will get to meet some of the team! That would be fun. Seeing people our own age is always very exciting. Apparently two of the boys are from California and one is from Nevada. I didn't know that Junior A Hockey was so serious that you moved countries for it.
We were warned before hand by Terri that we would be working a lot and that this is a busy house. Last night, Sandy put Sarah and I to work making these delicious looking walnut and maraschino cherry bars. We didn't get to try any this morning though because they went to the Legion for their penny auction. I think I'm going to have to copy the recipe down and bring it with me to the Katima-house and then home after because it smelt delicious. I also made another cracker cake (since the last one went over VERY well with everyone) for tomorrow's dinner. I think we are going to be doing a lot of baking and eating in this house which is just fine by me.
Sarah and I are very happy here and happy to be living together even if we are the only two people living in Schreiber. Rosie and Cassie are by a lake (in a very large house we have been told) about 15 minutes west of Schreiber, and everyone else lives in Terrace Bay. At least we don't have to shovel any of the snow at the Katima-house. That is Maddy and Jessy's job since they live the closest. We are getting a pretty sweet deal at the Quinton's. Good food, our own beds, two cute dogs and some really awesome people. Also they have a piano! I haven't played in such a long time. Now I just have to remember all the music I've half memorized from home.
That's all I've got to report right now. Love you all and miss you!
Sara
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
Today we woke up to winter white! It's so beautiful. A blanket of white on every surface and small flakes falling down from the sky. However beautiful it is, snow can be annoying when you live 15 kms from your work. However, before admitting defeat to the roads and snow, we had to atleast try to get up the two hills on East Grove Court. The roads were plowed, but there had been some more snow falling since then, so we were not sure if we would be able to get to the highway (which we hoped would be well plowed, or else we were turning around). It was not to be. We motored our way up the first hill, pressing down on the gas and yet traveling at a snail's pace. Oh dear. This was going to be harder than we thought. When we approached the second hill Alyssanne pressed down on the gas but to no effect. We were going backwards, and into the side of the road! Umm...uh oh. Alyssanne jumped out of the car to see what was wrong and promptly hit an ice patch and fell! It was pretty funny. She is so short that it just looked like she was in the window one second, and gone the next! When we understood that the truck was stuck Sarah, Rosie and I ended up getting out of the truck. Sarah ran down the hill (and fell fantastically, feet up in the air and everthing) and went back to the house, while Rosie and I got behind the truck and started pushing it forward so Alyssanne could turn the wheels and get straightened out. She drove backwards, back down the hill to a place where she could turn around and go back home. We were well and truely defeated by a slippery hill. Four season tires are not meant for the partially cleared streets of East Grove Court.
We had worked it out that if the Schreiber people were not able to get to work due to snow, we would go with the Terrace Bay people to their jobs. I ended up calling everyone's work to tell them that we wouldn't be able to come into work today and then went and put on my winter boots. I went with Rosie and Alyssanne back up the slippery hill, and walked very slowly in fear of falling. I really hate it when I slip on ice. I'm so tall that I have much longer to fall down and it always hurts so much. Rosie and I went to the Family Place and Terrace Bay Public School for the day while Alyssanne went to the Senior Center. Simon and Sarah also went to the Senior Center, but they had a ride and actually passed us on their way there.
It was very quiet today. Since the Family Place is a drop in center there weren't very many people. The only child in the place was actually the daughter of the only employee there besides Rosie and I. And in the school I worked with the Gr. 3/4 class. It was much like Schreiber, and actually the two schools share a principal, french teacher, and a few other teachers as well.
It was a pretty standard day if you don't include the snow, but fun all the same.
Sara
We had worked it out that if the Schreiber people were not able to get to work due to snow, we would go with the Terrace Bay people to their jobs. I ended up calling everyone's work to tell them that we wouldn't be able to come into work today and then went and put on my winter boots. I went with Rosie and Alyssanne back up the slippery hill, and walked very slowly in fear of falling. I really hate it when I slip on ice. I'm so tall that I have much longer to fall down and it always hurts so much. Rosie and I went to the Family Place and Terrace Bay Public School for the day while Alyssanne went to the Senior Center. Simon and Sarah also went to the Senior Center, but they had a ride and actually passed us on their way there.
It was very quiet today. Since the Family Place is a drop in center there weren't very many people. The only child in the place was actually the daughter of the only employee there besides Rosie and I. And in the school I worked with the Gr. 3/4 class. It was much like Schreiber, and actually the two schools share a principal, french teacher, and a few other teachers as well.
It was a pretty standard day if you don't include the snow, but fun all the same.
Sara
Monday, November 17, 2008
Your mission should you choose to accept it...
One house. Thirty people. Two House Managers. Stirred, not shaken...because Bond had it wrong. You get chaos and exhaustion!
No, there was no chaos. Controlled chaos maybe, but utter chaos? Not when Maddy and Sara are house managers. It actually went really well considering that we both only have so much experience cooking and never for 30 hungery teenagers. We made the same thing for dinner as Pieday Friday. Shepards pie, quiche and pie again for dessert.
Everything went really well. We couldn't get everything out on the table when everyone came back from playing dodge ball because we were playing as well. Having to participate kinda infringes on your timing. So there were people hanging out in the kitchen while we were trying to get everything in the oven and cooked or warmed up. Actually there were so many people in the kitchen that Maddy had to draw a red line on the floor with dry erase and have Kwaku stand there and be our bouncer. He wasn't all that effective though. He kinda just stood around and watched people mill around our space. Actually they were dancing in our space too until Maddy physically picked Alyssanne up and put her behind the red line. And then later there were people literally sitting and lying down in our kitchen space, but by that time so were we so it was cool.
We had so much food when everything was said and done though. We actually had two leftover shepards pies and almost a whole sweet pie. There was only a bit less of a quarter of a quiche left but that was only because we didn't know that one of the new participants in Marathon is vegetarian (or doesn't eat beef maybe) and Manitouwadge's PL, John, nearly ate a whole quiche to himself. It was impressive. He would just wander into the kitchen and look at the oven and we would ask him, 'John, do you want some more?' and he would hesitate then answer 'Uh...yes.' I still can't believe that we have leftovers from that. Two whole shepard pies and that is after people at seconds and thirds. And then the dessert pies, though it's true that a bunch of people were feeling kinda flu-ish/cold-sick and Cassie was actually throwing up from the night before (poor Cassie, she's feeling a better now)...But still! People hadn't had breakfast that morning. That is how hungry people were and we STILL HAD LEFTOVERS! I don't think I can stretch this enough. And Maddy also made muffins and I made a cracker cake (thanks Zia Silv!) but people were so full that they only had one or two pieces of pie, meaning we got to save the rest for ourselves.
And now to get off the subfect of food. It was nice seeing all three groups together again. It's been a month since we were all in one place at the same time and having everyone in one house was nice. It kinda felt big and empty after they all left though so that was odd. But I didn't stay awake to much longer after they left. Only long enough to clean everything up and then Rosie gave me a shoulder massage on her bed and I ended up falling asleep there. Then Simon came in and started calling me Rosie and talking to me in french about 20 minutes later and I had to wake up and tell him I'm Sara, not Rosie. Then I ended up climbing into my own bed, checking the time (9:08 pm) and falling asleep until whispering voices woke me up (12:00 am-ish) and falling asleep again until Maddy got up to go to work (7:00 am) and drifting for another hour until I had to wake up (8:00 am).
And that was about it. We went to the train museum in Schreiber, the waterfall in Terrace Bay and played dodge ball at the Senior's Center. Then everyone danced, talked, vegged and ate at our place.
I hope your Sunday was just as exciting!
Sara
No, there was no chaos. Controlled chaos maybe, but utter chaos? Not when Maddy and Sara are house managers. It actually went really well considering that we both only have so much experience cooking and never for 30 hungery teenagers. We made the same thing for dinner as Pieday Friday. Shepards pie, quiche and pie again for dessert.
Everything went really well. We couldn't get everything out on the table when everyone came back from playing dodge ball because we were playing as well. Having to participate kinda infringes on your timing. So there were people hanging out in the kitchen while we were trying to get everything in the oven and cooked or warmed up. Actually there were so many people in the kitchen that Maddy had to draw a red line on the floor with dry erase and have Kwaku stand there and be our bouncer. He wasn't all that effective though. He kinda just stood around and watched people mill around our space. Actually they were dancing in our space too until Maddy physically picked Alyssanne up and put her behind the red line. And then later there were people literally sitting and lying down in our kitchen space, but by that time so were we so it was cool.
We had so much food when everything was said and done though. We actually had two leftover shepards pies and almost a whole sweet pie. There was only a bit less of a quarter of a quiche left but that was only because we didn't know that one of the new participants in Marathon is vegetarian (or doesn't eat beef maybe) and Manitouwadge's PL, John, nearly ate a whole quiche to himself. It was impressive. He would just wander into the kitchen and look at the oven and we would ask him, 'John, do you want some more?' and he would hesitate then answer 'Uh...yes.' I still can't believe that we have leftovers from that. Two whole shepard pies and that is after people at seconds and thirds. And then the dessert pies, though it's true that a bunch of people were feeling kinda flu-ish/cold-sick and Cassie was actually throwing up from the night before (poor Cassie, she's feeling a better now)...But still! People hadn't had breakfast that morning. That is how hungry people were and we STILL HAD LEFTOVERS! I don't think I can stretch this enough. And Maddy also made muffins and I made a cracker cake (thanks Zia Silv!) but people were so full that they only had one or two pieces of pie, meaning we got to save the rest for ourselves.
And now to get off the subfect of food. It was nice seeing all three groups together again. It's been a month since we were all in one place at the same time and having everyone in one house was nice. It kinda felt big and empty after they all left though so that was odd. But I didn't stay awake to much longer after they left. Only long enough to clean everything up and then Rosie gave me a shoulder massage on her bed and I ended up falling asleep there. Then Simon came in and started calling me Rosie and talking to me in french about 20 minutes later and I had to wake up and tell him I'm Sara, not Rosie. Then I ended up climbing into my own bed, checking the time (9:08 pm) and falling asleep until whispering voices woke me up (12:00 am-ish) and falling asleep again until Maddy got up to go to work (7:00 am) and drifting for another hour until I had to wake up (8:00 am).
And that was about it. We went to the train museum in Schreiber, the waterfall in Terrace Bay and played dodge ball at the Senior's Center. Then everyone danced, talked, vegged and ate at our place.
I hope your Sunday was just as exciting!
Sara
Friday, November 14, 2008
J'ai Tombé, Cooking for 30 and Pieday Friday!
Today was Pieday Friday! Yay! Maddy and I decided we wanted to make shepards pie one day and then decided that we should put it on a friday since pie rhymes with fri...and then decided that the perfect dessert would be pie (obviously)!
Pieday Friday was well recieved. I started baking bread at 12:30 pm and made 10 dinner rolls and a loaf. Then we started making the first pie as a tester. Blueberry. Maddy took control of the pie and it was delicious. The crust was buttery and beautiful and crisped up just right. The pie filling...was from a can, but still delicious! We also made a cherry pie which had a criss cross top. They were so pretty. And Maddy was hilarious. Apparently she doesn't particularily like pie but she liked making them so much that she wanted to make more than the two we had filling for! Then Cassie helped us to chop up potatoes while I skinned them and Maddy made the dough for the second pie. I am so happy Cassie didn't mind helping because we would have been so late with the dinner and instead we were slightly early. We ate at 6:45 or so if I remember correctly.
Anyway, we kinda just winged it with everything we were doing this week. The pies called for shortening and butter, but since we don't have any shortening we just microwaved some butter to make it soft like shortening and used that instead. That's what we have been doing all week when the bread recipe calls for lard and we haven't had any mishaps yet. For the shepard pie meat I just seasoned at will. I really had no idea what to do so I just stuck in a bunch of pepper, oregano and basil and hoped for the best. Same with the potatoes actually. We ran out of milk because everyone used it for breakfast yesterday I didn't know what to do but Maddy's family makes potatoes with sour cream so we used the extra container we had bought at the beginning of the week. We added some cream, cheese and salt as well and the potatoes were delicious! After everything was finished cooking we layered it all in casserole dishes. I got to draw lines on top of it with a fork which made it look all pretty and professional and then we stuck it into the oven. We actually made the perfect amount for four shepard pies and after dinner we still have two left over for lunches tomorrow! Yay! We finally mastered the art of making leftovers. I am so proud. And we also erased everyone's fears of our cooking abilites after yesterday's debacle. Oh I hurt just thinking about it.
For Terri (who is a vegetarian) we made a quiche! Can you believe it Mommy. Your little girl has gone and made a quiche and pie. Actually, I think technically Maddy made the quiche and pie since I was busy cooking meat and making sure potatoes didn't boil over while the quiche and pie were being made...but still! Maddy says I supervised. And it all came out perfectly. I think it was a little bit of beginners luck and hope for success on our part. Everyone was very happy and so were we and that all that matters is that everyone had a full stomach and clean plate.
Tomorrow is going to be intersting. We are having Jessy's cousin over for a 'hair workshop'. Really she is just going to come and cut and dye everyone's hair who wants to by cut and dyed and then give us a few tips and pointers. But Maddy and I will again be busy cooking more shepard pie. We are having Marathon and Manitouwadge over for the day and we were just told by Terri tonight that we are going to be cooking for everyone! Yay! I can't believe it. There is somewhere around 30 people in our three groups. I am going to be cooking for 30 people tomorrow. I am going to be wiped. But we get to delegate which means that we get to tell people to clean things for us and watch over our simmering concoctions while we do something else. Should be...interesting. I'm not quite sure yet if cooking for 30 is going to be fun, but it is going to be interesting.
NEXT SUBJECT!
Today while cleaning I fell. On the stairs. With a bucket of dirty water and a mop. Ow. I fell on the last two steps and hurt my poor bum. I can feel the bruise forming as I type. :(
And that was my day today!
Sara
Pieday Friday was well recieved. I started baking bread at 12:30 pm and made 10 dinner rolls and a loaf. Then we started making the first pie as a tester. Blueberry. Maddy took control of the pie and it was delicious. The crust was buttery and beautiful and crisped up just right. The pie filling...was from a can, but still delicious! We also made a cherry pie which had a criss cross top. They were so pretty. And Maddy was hilarious. Apparently she doesn't particularily like pie but she liked making them so much that she wanted to make more than the two we had filling for! Then Cassie helped us to chop up potatoes while I skinned them and Maddy made the dough for the second pie. I am so happy Cassie didn't mind helping because we would have been so late with the dinner and instead we were slightly early. We ate at 6:45 or so if I remember correctly.
Anyway, we kinda just winged it with everything we were doing this week. The pies called for shortening and butter, but since we don't have any shortening we just microwaved some butter to make it soft like shortening and used that instead. That's what we have been doing all week when the bread recipe calls for lard and we haven't had any mishaps yet. For the shepard pie meat I just seasoned at will. I really had no idea what to do so I just stuck in a bunch of pepper, oregano and basil and hoped for the best. Same with the potatoes actually. We ran out of milk because everyone used it for breakfast yesterday I didn't know what to do but Maddy's family makes potatoes with sour cream so we used the extra container we had bought at the beginning of the week. We added some cream, cheese and salt as well and the potatoes were delicious! After everything was finished cooking we layered it all in casserole dishes. I got to draw lines on top of it with a fork which made it look all pretty and professional and then we stuck it into the oven. We actually made the perfect amount for four shepard pies and after dinner we still have two left over for lunches tomorrow! Yay! We finally mastered the art of making leftovers. I am so proud. And we also erased everyone's fears of our cooking abilites after yesterday's debacle. Oh I hurt just thinking about it.
For Terri (who is a vegetarian) we made a quiche! Can you believe it Mommy. Your little girl has gone and made a quiche and pie. Actually, I think technically Maddy made the quiche and pie since I was busy cooking meat and making sure potatoes didn't boil over while the quiche and pie were being made...but still! Maddy says I supervised. And it all came out perfectly. I think it was a little bit of beginners luck and hope for success on our part. Everyone was very happy and so were we and that all that matters is that everyone had a full stomach and clean plate.
Tomorrow is going to be intersting. We are having Jessy's cousin over for a 'hair workshop'. Really she is just going to come and cut and dye everyone's hair who wants to by cut and dyed and then give us a few tips and pointers. But Maddy and I will again be busy cooking more shepard pie. We are having Marathon and Manitouwadge over for the day and we were just told by Terri tonight that we are going to be cooking for everyone! Yay! I can't believe it. There is somewhere around 30 people in our three groups. I am going to be cooking for 30 people tomorrow. I am going to be wiped. But we get to delegate which means that we get to tell people to clean things for us and watch over our simmering concoctions while we do something else. Should be...interesting. I'm not quite sure yet if cooking for 30 is going to be fun, but it is going to be interesting.
NEXT SUBJECT!
Today while cleaning I fell. On the stairs. With a bucket of dirty water and a mop. Ow. I fell on the last two steps and hurt my poor bum. I can feel the bruise forming as I type. :(
And that was my day today!
Sara
Thursday, November 13, 2008
The Terrible Rice Accident of 2008, Quilting and Waxing a Boy.
Maddy and I have been trying to be healthy. Yesterday's meal was supposed to be baked tilapia and potato wedges, however we discovered that we couldn't bake the potatoes and fish at the same time since they didn't both fit in the oven. We therefore had to resort to frying the fish, making the meal decidedly UNhealthy. Delicious, but so very bad for you, especially when you add in the ketchup and mayo we ate with it.
Today we tried again. Stir fry. Just how badly could that be screwed up? Pretty badly apparently when you don't figure in the fact that rice can be tricky...especially when you don't pay attention to it because you are being distracted by howls of pain from the living room. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Maddy and I burnt the rice. We burnt it so badly there was smoke coming out of the pot. We burnt it so badly that the rest of the unburnt rice smelt and tasted like a fire pit (an unpleasant taste I found out). We burnt the rice so badly that we recommended to people NOT to eat it and to just have a bowl of veggies instead. We hoped that by pouring soy sauce over the rice and smothering it in veggies we wouldn't be able to tell that it tasted like acid smoke...but we could. Oh it was so bad. It's so frustrating because we made a bunch of rice so there would be leftovers and everyone would be nice an full, but instead everyone just ate PB and J sandwiches. And we have made rice before, so this wasn't just a beginner screwing up. Oh it was just so bad.
Suneet just called me! Hi, Suneet! She is going to a club and needs clothes. That is the only reason she called me. I JOKE! I know you love me. <3 class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Alyssanne went out and bought those Nair wax strips, they laid down a mattress in the living room and then started to film. Oh god, from the screaming laughs you would think that he was being tickled to death. It was so funny. He would yell and then laugh maniacally. And then I had to step in to see and I helped to teach them how to pull the strips off in the least painful way possible. Let it be known that having a mother who is an esthetician (I think I spelled that horribly wrong) has many benefits, and one of them is that you can wax boys chests and pluck boys eyebrows with some confidence. That's what I did last night. I don't know how really because I've never plucked a boy's eyebrow before. At least when I pluck a girls eyebrow I kinda know what I am doing since I do my own...but boy eyebrows are a whole other world. To get back on track though...
I waxed a boy's chest! And it was his first time (and last he says). And because we were distracted by the goings on in the living room Maddy and I let the rice burn. Sigh.
After that Simon and I went Quilting Club in Schreiber! A woman named Deb (who works in the Adult Learning Center and taught us about resumes) picked us up at 6:45 and drove us over. Simon learned how to crochet and I learned how to make a simple square with coloured corners. They look so pretty! I was able to make three in the time I was there and the ladies were very impressed with how quickly I picked it up. I may continue and do more squares. I was thinking of making on square for each of us and having everyone sign or scribble on their own square and make two pillows or a small throw or something. I don't really know right now. But they are so pretty!
Right now Alyssanne, Sarah and Rosie are in the office singing karaoke. Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys! I think I am going to sing karaoke too!
Sara
Today we tried again. Stir fry. Just how badly could that be screwed up? Pretty badly apparently when you don't figure in the fact that rice can be tricky...especially when you don't pay attention to it because you are being distracted by howls of pain from the living room. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Maddy and I burnt the rice. We burnt it so badly there was smoke coming out of the pot. We burnt it so badly that the rest of the unburnt rice smelt and tasted like a fire pit (an unpleasant taste I found out). We burnt the rice so badly that we recommended to people NOT to eat it and to just have a bowl of veggies instead. We hoped that by pouring soy sauce over the rice and smothering it in veggies we wouldn't be able to tell that it tasted like acid smoke...but we could. Oh it was so bad. It's so frustrating because we made a bunch of rice so there would be leftovers and everyone would be nice an full, but instead everyone just ate PB and J sandwiches. And we have made rice before, so this wasn't just a beginner screwing up. Oh it was just so bad.
Suneet just called me! Hi, Suneet! She is going to a club and needs clothes. That is the only reason she called me. I JOKE! I know you love me. <3 class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Alyssanne went out and bought those Nair wax strips, they laid down a mattress in the living room and then started to film. Oh god, from the screaming laughs you would think that he was being tickled to death. It was so funny. He would yell and then laugh maniacally. And then I had to step in to see and I helped to teach them how to pull the strips off in the least painful way possible. Let it be known that having a mother who is an esthetician (I think I spelled that horribly wrong) has many benefits, and one of them is that you can wax boys chests and pluck boys eyebrows with some confidence. That's what I did last night. I don't know how really because I've never plucked a boy's eyebrow before. At least when I pluck a girls eyebrow I kinda know what I am doing since I do my own...but boy eyebrows are a whole other world. To get back on track though...
I waxed a boy's chest! And it was his first time (and last he says). And because we were distracted by the goings on in the living room Maddy and I let the rice burn. Sigh.
After that Simon and I went Quilting Club in Schreiber! A woman named Deb (who works in the Adult Learning Center and taught us about resumes) picked us up at 6:45 and drove us over. Simon learned how to crochet and I learned how to make a simple square with coloured corners. They look so pretty! I was able to make three in the time I was there and the ladies were very impressed with how quickly I picked it up. I may continue and do more squares. I was thinking of making on square for each of us and having everyone sign or scribble on their own square and make two pillows or a small throw or something. I don't really know right now. But they are so pretty!
Right now Alyssanne, Sarah and Rosie are in the office singing karaoke. Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys! I think I am going to sing karaoke too!
Sara
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
House Managers Attack!
Today is my third day of house management duties. On Monday night we had Sour Cream Chicken (one of Maddy's recipes) and last night we had vegetable soup with egg dumplings (not just eggs dropped into the soup like I said to you on the phone Mom and Dad. Real egg dumpling noodle things). They were delicious if a little oddly shaped...and huge.
I've never made egg dumplings (which is basically just egg noodles but rolled into a ball) so I didn't know that they expand to ginormous proportions. And even though Maddy told me to roll smaller dumplings, I didn't listen. Dinner was getting late and I needed to roll those dumplings FAST...which meant everyone ate oddly formed huge balls of dough. But they still tasted good which is really the only thing that matters. And the soup was fantastic. Jessy even finished the broth when there were no dumplings left...apparently thats huge for him.
Anyway, besides soup we had odd salad (Maddy and I decided to use sesame seed oil and balsamic vineagar...the oil just smelt so good and we couldn't resist even though we probably should have because sesame oil and balsamic just tastes odd). To make it taste a little bit less weird we grated up some cheese (which did help a little) and sprinkled it on top.
Then we made Ginger Bread cookies! It was all Maddy's idea. She thought people would forgive us for the poorly shaped dumplings and oddly dressed salad if we gave them cookies...and they did. Actually, they tasted very good and I think we may need to make them again this week. ALSO we made two different types of bread. The first was an olive oil bread which didn't look like it was rising properly and we were afraid it was going to turn out horribly. It didn't thugh. It turned out to be very delicious and soft if a little small. But we didn't know it was going to work at the time so we made another bread. Cheese bread. It smelt so good in the house last night between the cheese bread, olive oil bread, ginger bread cookies and soup. Mmmm. And so ended yesterday's house managing duties.
Today I got up early to make a hot breakfast for everyone. Pancakes I have found go over well with everyone. They were all very happy to have a hot breakfast they didn't have to cook themselves.
And something very exciting! Today, Maddy and I get to go to the highschool and see people our own age! Yay! Yesterday at the Remeberance Day ceremony all the school's go to the town center and that was our first glimpse of highschool students. Do you realize just how exciting it was to see people in our age bracket? Very. I don't know where they hide, but they don't come to the library and they don't go to the Rec Center. It's all so confusing. But today Maddy and I get to go and set up a table and ask people if they would take us home to live with them for ten days. That should be pretty cool. And hopefully people actually come up to us since we are their age and new. But we aren't allowed to 'recruit' people for next years program because the funding is under moratorium. This could be the last year of Katimavik! That is so sad. I really really hope the government gives Katimavik the funds to continue for next year. Apparently the work we do (for free) saves people 7 times as much as the government spends to feed and house us. That is a win/win situation.
Anyway, that's enough from me. I need to start getting ready to go.
Toodles,
Sara
I've never made egg dumplings (which is basically just egg noodles but rolled into a ball) so I didn't know that they expand to ginormous proportions. And even though Maddy told me to roll smaller dumplings, I didn't listen. Dinner was getting late and I needed to roll those dumplings FAST...which meant everyone ate oddly formed huge balls of dough. But they still tasted good which is really the only thing that matters. And the soup was fantastic. Jessy even finished the broth when there were no dumplings left...apparently thats huge for him.
Anyway, besides soup we had odd salad (Maddy and I decided to use sesame seed oil and balsamic vineagar...the oil just smelt so good and we couldn't resist even though we probably should have because sesame oil and balsamic just tastes odd). To make it taste a little bit less weird we grated up some cheese (which did help a little) and sprinkled it on top.
Then we made Ginger Bread cookies! It was all Maddy's idea. She thought people would forgive us for the poorly shaped dumplings and oddly dressed salad if we gave them cookies...and they did. Actually, they tasted very good and I think we may need to make them again this week. ALSO we made two different types of bread. The first was an olive oil bread which didn't look like it was rising properly and we were afraid it was going to turn out horribly. It didn't thugh. It turned out to be very delicious and soft if a little small. But we didn't know it was going to work at the time so we made another bread. Cheese bread. It smelt so good in the house last night between the cheese bread, olive oil bread, ginger bread cookies and soup. Mmmm. And so ended yesterday's house managing duties.
Today I got up early to make a hot breakfast for everyone. Pancakes I have found go over well with everyone. They were all very happy to have a hot breakfast they didn't have to cook themselves.
And something very exciting! Today, Maddy and I get to go to the highschool and see people our own age! Yay! Yesterday at the Remeberance Day ceremony all the school's go to the town center and that was our first glimpse of highschool students. Do you realize just how exciting it was to see people in our age bracket? Very. I don't know where they hide, but they don't come to the library and they don't go to the Rec Center. It's all so confusing. But today Maddy and I get to go and set up a table and ask people if they would take us home to live with them for ten days. That should be pretty cool. And hopefully people actually come up to us since we are their age and new. But we aren't allowed to 'recruit' people for next years program because the funding is under moratorium. This could be the last year of Katimavik! That is so sad. I really really hope the government gives Katimavik the funds to continue for next year. Apparently the work we do (for free) saves people 7 times as much as the government spends to feed and house us. That is a win/win situation.
Anyway, that's enough from me. I need to start getting ready to go.
Toodles,
Sara
Sunday, November 9, 2008
First Snow, A Craft Show and The Changing of the Guard
Just a quick blog today because yesterday's was quite long and I want to go hang out. In short, this is what happened today.
1) Today was the season's first snowfall to stay on the ground. It was nice to wake up in the morning to snow even if it was a light dusting on the ground and a small little flakes in the wind. Now we just have to wait for the intense meter deep snow that falls in one night. Just by the by, I don't think we will actually get a meter of snow in one night, but it would be impressive if we did. But the serious snow and winter comes in January...so we will just get a taste of it before we have to leave and the poor group coming in from B.C. is going to get blasted. Those poor souls are going to be coming from a relatively temperate winter to KABLAMMY! Northern Ontario winter. That should be interesting!
2) There was a craft show being held in the Schreiber Rec Center Hall (the same place that held the Medieval Festival). It was really neat actually. There were a bunch of people and stalls there selling everything from soap, candels and sausage to paintings, jewellery and socks. I bought quite a bit since everything was also pretty cheap. And I got presents! Finally. I wasn't able to get something for Suneet for her birthday since there really isn't anything to buy here but now I have presents to send! Now, it is a small gift Suneet since I am a poor poor person, but it's something! And it is really neat and cool and I think you will like it. I can only hope. And if you don't pretend you do!
3) Today is the final day of Sarah and Simon's reign of terror! No I joke. I just wanted to use the words reign of terror.
Sarah and Simon were good house managers. We just had some odd meals made of whatever was left in the kitchen towards the end of the week and salty oatmeal once. Did I talk about the salty oatmeal yet? If I did...Sorry but I'm going to repeat myself. For our lone hot breakfast Simon made oatmeal. And put salt in it. A lot of salt. So much so that I couldn't cover the taste with milk and brown sugar. Now, to give him break, it did say that salt was optional, but I think he must have mis-read just how much was optional. It made me sad. I don't particularly like oatmeal, but I do like hot breakfasts that I haven't cooked. Anything to make getting out of the door faster. We also had an odd dinner tonight that was split into two by about an hour. Because the chicken wasn't defrosted all day we had to wait until 8:30 for it to be finished. To tide us over until then Simon and Sarah made us a a pasta salad. It tasted fine but it had lettuce in it. I think they took the salad bit a little to literally. But it still tasted good. So if you find that all you have in the house is salad and macaroni, don't be afraid to combine the two into one dish. It works out somehow.
But to get back on track. Maddy and I will be house managers starting tomorrow morning. We get to go shopping and buy food for 9 people, for one week with only $188. In Northern Ontario where everything is more expensive because you have to ship it so much further! Oh joy. We have a very specific and thought out shopping list, but I don't know how we are going to keep it at $188. I'll have to tell you how it goes tomorrow if I haven't imploded with frustration first.
Here endeth the news.
Sara.
1) Today was the season's first snowfall to stay on the ground. It was nice to wake up in the morning to snow even if it was a light dusting on the ground and a small little flakes in the wind. Now we just have to wait for the intense meter deep snow that falls in one night. Just by the by, I don't think we will actually get a meter of snow in one night, but it would be impressive if we did. But the serious snow and winter comes in January...so we will just get a taste of it before we have to leave and the poor group coming in from B.C. is going to get blasted. Those poor souls are going to be coming from a relatively temperate winter to KABLAMMY! Northern Ontario winter. That should be interesting!
2) There was a craft show being held in the Schreiber Rec Center Hall (the same place that held the Medieval Festival). It was really neat actually. There were a bunch of people and stalls there selling everything from soap, candels and sausage to paintings, jewellery and socks. I bought quite a bit since everything was also pretty cheap. And I got presents! Finally. I wasn't able to get something for Suneet for her birthday since there really isn't anything to buy here but now I have presents to send! Now, it is a small gift Suneet since I am a poor poor person, but it's something! And it is really neat and cool and I think you will like it. I can only hope. And if you don't pretend you do!
3) Today is the final day of Sarah and Simon's reign of terror! No I joke. I just wanted to use the words reign of terror.
Sarah and Simon were good house managers. We just had some odd meals made of whatever was left in the kitchen towards the end of the week and salty oatmeal once. Did I talk about the salty oatmeal yet? If I did...Sorry but I'm going to repeat myself. For our lone hot breakfast Simon made oatmeal. And put salt in it. A lot of salt. So much so that I couldn't cover the taste with milk and brown sugar. Now, to give him break, it did say that salt was optional, but I think he must have mis-read just how much was optional. It made me sad. I don't particularly like oatmeal, but I do like hot breakfasts that I haven't cooked. Anything to make getting out of the door faster. We also had an odd dinner tonight that was split into two by about an hour. Because the chicken wasn't defrosted all day we had to wait until 8:30 for it to be finished. To tide us over until then Simon and Sarah made us a a pasta salad. It tasted fine but it had lettuce in it. I think they took the salad bit a little to literally. But it still tasted good. So if you find that all you have in the house is salad and macaroni, don't be afraid to combine the two into one dish. It works out somehow.
But to get back on track. Maddy and I will be house managers starting tomorrow morning. We get to go shopping and buy food for 9 people, for one week with only $188. In Northern Ontario where everything is more expensive because you have to ship it so much further! Oh joy. We have a very specific and thought out shopping list, but I don't know how we are going to keep it at $188. I'll have to tell you how it goes tomorrow if I haven't imploded with frustration first.
Here endeth the news.
Sara.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Wenches, Hiking Some More and Snowcakes.
Today we have a tale of warring Shires and persons of odd dress.
Last night, my group helped to set up for the Medieval Festival and after selling packets of apple cidar mix, chicken seasoning and 50/50 draw tickets we were able to sit down and eat and participate in the night's goings on. It was so much fun! They had a Town Sheriff who told us that people in the medieval times didn't use knives, or clap with their hands. If we were caught clapping we could be put in the stocks and our table would have to pay a fine to be decided by the king, or if he was very generous, the villagers. They also sold forks for silver coins because the food we were eating had gravy on it...and some people wouldn't want to get their hands dirty. Simon dressed up like an executioner and went around with the Sheriff catching people who had been delinquent. He actually had to chase one woman (Who oddly enough happens to be Jessy's cousin by marriage in some way) who had been charged with selling day old bread to the king. How scandelous!
According to where you are sitting you are part of a different Shire. We were in the Yellow Shire, but there was some fierce allegiance making from the Blue Shire's Lord until we were told that we were part of the Yellow Shire. Well, after dinner there was a town crier competition that Jessy participated in and a best costume competition. Simon won that one for the men and was awarded a knight statuette. It's cool and adds a little je ne sais qua to the house. There was also a jousting competition that John (a friend from work) participated in. It was quite funny actually. The had these hoops with an horse head cutout attached to the front and hanging fabric around the rest of it to hide the fact that you aren't actually riding a horse. The 'knights' had to go running at these little rings hanging from posts and try to spear them on their 'lances'. FUN! We were also treated to a medieval dance lesson called the Toss the Duchess. The girls are supposed to be 'tossed' on the last beat of the eight steps you shuffle to your left, but because half the boys were 10 and the girls they would be tossing are not. After all the competitions were finished, the winners were tallied up and the Blue Shire won, making their lord and lady the king and queen at next years Medieval Fest.
And Princess Pilfer has struck again! I pilfered us a friend. Jessy is very happy about knowing another young person in town (who's a boy!) and the fact that I pilfered him from meeting him once two weeks ago is impressive. While we were working I happened to ask if he was going to the medieval festival and he said he wasn't. The shame! I basically said that he had to come and meet everyone and too bad that he had gone last year because he was GOING AGAIN! Actually I didn't quite phrase it like that. Its more like I said, "Aw, thats too bad. Why don't you just come anyway!" He comes in one or twice a week at lunch time to say hey and a few days ago he dropped by to say that he had decided to come after all! YAY! We are meeting people our own age in Schreiber!
After the festivities were over the Katimavikers helped to clean up and pack up the extra food and decorations to bring to the food bank. Then we went home and slept. It was fun day.
Today we went hiking again but this time with Manitouwadge! It was a lot fun to see everyone again and to talk and hang out with everyone. This time we went to Jackfish to a friend of our neighbour's camp. A camp is actuallya very rugged cottage, but they call it a camp. We hiked up a lot of hills and then went down a lot of hills and while going down all I could think about was "Oh dear lord this is going to hurt going back." But the hike was nice and tiring and got our appetites up. After getting to the camp we sat around for a bit and ate some pizza and cookies and drank hot chocolate. After we were all warmed up we all went for ANOTHER walk. To the ghost town. Did I mention that Jackfish is a ghost town! Because it is. It is so cool seeing the abandoned houses and over grown bush. Nature has very thoroughly reclaimed these houses. The ceilings are collapsed, the walls are covered in green and the light shines in just right for it to look beautiful and just a bit sacrosanct. I got some really beautiful pictures there.
While we were walking back we went to the beach where there is a lot of seaglass. It's actually a neat story. The glass is from the old hotel in the area that used to throw their old bottles and plates and stuff into the water. They eventually broke and the corners rounded off and now they are beautiful! I actually found a piece of porcelain with a blue pattern on it. So cool!
Also, we have to cross some train tracks to get to and from the camp. While we were crossing to go to the ghost towns Maddy put 5 pennies on the tracks. A train just happened to go by while we were walking and squished the pennies flat! So cool! Actually you can still see a slight impression of the leaf and the word Canada on it. Yay...defacing Canadian currency...it's only a penny though. They barely even count as currency anyway.
When we got back we ate moose and pork sausages again. This time they were cooked over the fire and served as a delicious hot dog! Love it! Then we packed up and hiked back. On our way out of the bush we first stopped off at a grave site in the forest. It was really really neat. These graves had wooden markers from 1915. Walking through the forest to the graves was really neat. While the hike to the camp was on a rocky road with rivers and puddles of water running through it, the walk to the graves was through the forest. I've never been in a forest like this one. It is absolutely gorgeous. There is green moss everywhere and little spiky green things blanketing the ground. They almost look like little small pines or something, but aren't at all. For some reason, the whole thing reminded me of Bridge to Terabithia. I've read the book, but never seen the movie so I don't know how they portrayed the forest, but it still brought the book to mind. Everything just seemed so otherworldly and giant.
Anyway, we said goodbye to Manitouwadge and went home after that. We all piled into the living room at 8 pm and watched a movie called Snowcakes. Oh my god. Wow. The movie is so good. It's based in Wawa, Ontario, which is actually a town we passed through when we were driving up here after orientation. I actually reconized the diner we stopped at as the diner in the opening shot. The movie stars Sigouney Weaver, Alan Rickman and Carrie-Anne Moss. Family you will all love it, but Mommy I think you will like it most. It's your kind of movie.
And that is my blog. Dear lord this took a long time. Jessy had these little amuzing comics on his computer next to me and he kept deviously distracting me. And I had a lot to talk about. But it's over now, and not a second to soon!
Sara
Last night, my group helped to set up for the Medieval Festival and after selling packets of apple cidar mix, chicken seasoning and 50/50 draw tickets we were able to sit down and eat and participate in the night's goings on. It was so much fun! They had a Town Sheriff who told us that people in the medieval times didn't use knives, or clap with their hands. If we were caught clapping we could be put in the stocks and our table would have to pay a fine to be decided by the king, or if he was very generous, the villagers. They also sold forks for silver coins because the food we were eating had gravy on it...and some people wouldn't want to get their hands dirty. Simon dressed up like an executioner and went around with the Sheriff catching people who had been delinquent. He actually had to chase one woman (Who oddly enough happens to be Jessy's cousin by marriage in some way) who had been charged with selling day old bread to the king. How scandelous!
According to where you are sitting you are part of a different Shire. We were in the Yellow Shire, but there was some fierce allegiance making from the Blue Shire's Lord until we were told that we were part of the Yellow Shire. Well, after dinner there was a town crier competition that Jessy participated in and a best costume competition. Simon won that one for the men and was awarded a knight statuette. It's cool and adds a little je ne sais qua to the house. There was also a jousting competition that John (a friend from work) participated in. It was quite funny actually. The had these hoops with an horse head cutout attached to the front and hanging fabric around the rest of it to hide the fact that you aren't actually riding a horse. The 'knights' had to go running at these little rings hanging from posts and try to spear them on their 'lances'. FUN! We were also treated to a medieval dance lesson called the Toss the Duchess. The girls are supposed to be 'tossed' on the last beat of the eight steps you shuffle to your left, but because half the boys were 10 and the girls they would be tossing are not. After all the competitions were finished, the winners were tallied up and the Blue Shire won, making their lord and lady the king and queen at next years Medieval Fest.
And Princess Pilfer has struck again! I pilfered us a friend. Jessy is very happy about knowing another young person in town (who's a boy!) and the fact that I pilfered him from meeting him once two weeks ago is impressive. While we were working I happened to ask if he was going to the medieval festival and he said he wasn't. The shame! I basically said that he had to come and meet everyone and too bad that he had gone last year because he was GOING AGAIN! Actually I didn't quite phrase it like that. Its more like I said, "Aw, thats too bad. Why don't you just come anyway!" He comes in one or twice a week at lunch time to say hey and a few days ago he dropped by to say that he had decided to come after all! YAY! We are meeting people our own age in Schreiber!
After the festivities were over the Katimavikers helped to clean up and pack up the extra food and decorations to bring to the food bank. Then we went home and slept. It was fun day.
Today we went hiking again but this time with Manitouwadge! It was a lot fun to see everyone again and to talk and hang out with everyone. This time we went to Jackfish to a friend of our neighbour's camp. A camp is actuallya very rugged cottage, but they call it a camp. We hiked up a lot of hills and then went down a lot of hills and while going down all I could think about was "Oh dear lord this is going to hurt going back." But the hike was nice and tiring and got our appetites up. After getting to the camp we sat around for a bit and ate some pizza and cookies and drank hot chocolate. After we were all warmed up we all went for ANOTHER walk. To the ghost town. Did I mention that Jackfish is a ghost town! Because it is. It is so cool seeing the abandoned houses and over grown bush. Nature has very thoroughly reclaimed these houses. The ceilings are collapsed, the walls are covered in green and the light shines in just right for it to look beautiful and just a bit sacrosanct. I got some really beautiful pictures there.
While we were walking back we went to the beach where there is a lot of seaglass. It's actually a neat story. The glass is from the old hotel in the area that used to throw their old bottles and plates and stuff into the water. They eventually broke and the corners rounded off and now they are beautiful! I actually found a piece of porcelain with a blue pattern on it. So cool!
Also, we have to cross some train tracks to get to and from the camp. While we were crossing to go to the ghost towns Maddy put 5 pennies on the tracks. A train just happened to go by while we were walking and squished the pennies flat! So cool! Actually you can still see a slight impression of the leaf and the word Canada on it. Yay...defacing Canadian currency...it's only a penny though. They barely even count as currency anyway.
When we got back we ate moose and pork sausages again. This time they were cooked over the fire and served as a delicious hot dog! Love it! Then we packed up and hiked back. On our way out of the bush we first stopped off at a grave site in the forest. It was really really neat. These graves had wooden markers from 1915. Walking through the forest to the graves was really neat. While the hike to the camp was on a rocky road with rivers and puddles of water running through it, the walk to the graves was through the forest. I've never been in a forest like this one. It is absolutely gorgeous. There is green moss everywhere and little spiky green things blanketing the ground. They almost look like little small pines or something, but aren't at all. For some reason, the whole thing reminded me of Bridge to Terabithia. I've read the book, but never seen the movie so I don't know how they portrayed the forest, but it still brought the book to mind. Everything just seemed so otherworldly and giant.
Anyway, we said goodbye to Manitouwadge and went home after that. We all piled into the living room at 8 pm and watched a movie called Snowcakes. Oh my god. Wow. The movie is so good. It's based in Wawa, Ontario, which is actually a town we passed through when we were driving up here after orientation. I actually reconized the diner we stopped at as the diner in the opening shot. The movie stars Sigouney Weaver, Alan Rickman and Carrie-Anne Moss. Family you will all love it, but Mommy I think you will like it most. It's your kind of movie.
And that is my blog. Dear lord this took a long time. Jessy had these little amuzing comics on his computer next to me and he kept deviously distracting me. And I had a lot to talk about. But it's over now, and not a second to soon!
Sara
Monday, November 3, 2008
Lost in Translation and Being Fooled...Twice.
Today was the first day that Alyssanne drove the truck and that was an interesting experience. At home she drives a Toyota Echo which is way smaller than our truck. While we were driving to the gas station in Schreiber we had a hilarious situation of trying to make Alyssanne understand that we had to go 90 kms on the Trans Canada not 60 or 70 kms. When I said go faster she thought I was saying she was going too fast and when I said she was going too slow she thought I was saying she was going to slow. Either that or she was just too scared to go fast in a truck.
To try and fix the situation I asked the French teacher at the school to write down a few sentences for me. I now know how to say 'You are going to fast', 'You are going to slow', 'You have to go faster' and 'You have to go slower'. Actually, the ride back home was much smoother (and quicker) and Alyssanne is getting more comfortable with the truck. Oh, and I also now understand the difference between tu droite and a droit (I'm not sure if that is how you actually spell the words though). One, droit, means straight and you don't pronounce the t. The other, droite, means right and you do pronounce the t. It's confusing but I'm getting it. And having those words is very useful. I was also able to say a longer sentence in French today, which leads me to the next part of my blog.
When Jessy, Alyssanne and I walked in the door today after work we all walked to the kitchen and promptly told Sarah that Alyssanne parks the truck better than her (after being coached in our French of course). Sarah didn't give us the reaction we expected (She was indifferent! After all that work) and then I heard an unfamiliar voice in the office. I stuck my head around the office door and saw a petite girl sitting talking to Terri. She stood up and introduced herself as Tracy...the new participant. We were cordial and nice but after going upstairs to change Alyssanne and I were confusedly talking about just WHY we have a new participant when we were expressly told that we were not going to be getting a new person (and a girl at that. WE NEED MORE TESTOSTERONE Headquarters!). It was then that I said my longer sentence with hal remembered words. It doesn't make much grammatical sense but I said, "Je suis content avec huit persons." which means "I'm happy with eight people." And then we went downstairs and learned tha$t Tracy was actually an alumni. Thank God. Even though it's only been two weeks and bit, I am still happy with our group and for someone to just drop in on it with us unprepared would be very uncomfortable. It's needless to say that I was very relieved that she was an alumni. At this moment Simon and Sarah are cooking dinner and Tracy will be staying over to eat.
However, this was not the first time we have been fooled. You may recall me saying earlier that we didn't have the same voltage in Terrace Bay and Schreiber. We were FOOLED. Terri is tricksy and we are gullible. I can't believe that we actually fell for it...Ontario is still Canada and that means that we have the same voltage. We were trying to conserve the battery power in our cellphones and we had such troubles because the cell phones were our alarm clocks and therefore had to be on all night in order to wake us up in the morning. And then Terri told us that she was fooling us all. And Jessy and Cassie figured it out two days before she told us and they pretended they didn't know! They laughed at us in secret. How rude.
I'm sorry. The door is open to the kitchen and people are talking which is making it hard to think. I feel like I'm not making as much sense as usual, or maybe not being as eloquent as usual. Either way, I hope this post was understandable.
Sara
To try and fix the situation I asked the French teacher at the school to write down a few sentences for me. I now know how to say 'You are going to fast', 'You are going to slow', 'You have to go faster' and 'You have to go slower'. Actually, the ride back home was much smoother (and quicker) and Alyssanne is getting more comfortable with the truck. Oh, and I also now understand the difference between tu droite and a droit (I'm not sure if that is how you actually spell the words though). One, droit, means straight and you don't pronounce the t. The other, droite, means right and you do pronounce the t. It's confusing but I'm getting it. And having those words is very useful. I was also able to say a longer sentence in French today, which leads me to the next part of my blog.
When Jessy, Alyssanne and I walked in the door today after work we all walked to the kitchen and promptly told Sarah that Alyssanne parks the truck better than her (after being coached in our French of course). Sarah didn't give us the reaction we expected (She was indifferent! After all that work) and then I heard an unfamiliar voice in the office. I stuck my head around the office door and saw a petite girl sitting talking to Terri. She stood up and introduced herself as Tracy...the new participant. We were cordial and nice but after going upstairs to change Alyssanne and I were confusedly talking about just WHY we have a new participant when we were expressly told that we were not going to be getting a new person (and a girl at that. WE NEED MORE TESTOSTERONE Headquarters!). It was then that I said my longer sentence with hal remembered words. It doesn't make much grammatical sense but I said, "Je suis content avec huit persons." which means "I'm happy with eight people." And then we went downstairs and learned tha$t Tracy was actually an alumni. Thank God. Even though it's only been two weeks and bit, I am still happy with our group and for someone to just drop in on it with us unprepared would be very uncomfortable. It's needless to say that I was very relieved that she was an alumni. At this moment Simon and Sarah are cooking dinner and Tracy will be staying over to eat.
However, this was not the first time we have been fooled. You may recall me saying earlier that we didn't have the same voltage in Terrace Bay and Schreiber. We were FOOLED. Terri is tricksy and we are gullible. I can't believe that we actually fell for it...Ontario is still Canada and that means that we have the same voltage. We were trying to conserve the battery power in our cellphones and we had such troubles because the cell phones were our alarm clocks and therefore had to be on all night in order to wake us up in the morning. And then Terri told us that she was fooling us all. And Jessy and Cassie figured it out two days before she told us and they pretended they didn't know! They laughed at us in secret. How rude.
I'm sorry. The door is open to the kitchen and people are talking which is making it hard to think. I feel like I'm not making as much sense as usual, or maybe not being as eloquent as usual. Either way, I hope this post was understandable.
Sara
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Hiking, Marathon and Chinese food
Today we went hiking in Neys National Park. It wasn't too long of a hike, but it was all up hill and cold so everyone was tired. But we were hiking with the Marathon crew and it was nice to see everyone after two weeks of being apart. Even though we had only hung out with the people from orientation for three days, you still feel this bond of being away from home for a long time and doing something completely different. And it's also nice to see other people that you don't see everyday.
The hike up might have been long and tiring, but the view was incredible. There was a little pavillion near the edge of the mountain that looked out on Lake Superior. It's an amazing view and the pictures I have do not do it justice at all. It was also very cold and windy up there though so it was hard to stay out and look at the view as well as stay warm. We ended up sitting in a big pile in the pavillion to try to stay warm which worked for the most part.
After we walked down the mountain we went to the Marathon house and ate lunch. Oh my lord their house is small. They have the same amount of people living in their house as we have in ours but it is so much smaller. You basically walk into the side door and there is a little mud and coat room, then you turn to your left and you are in the kitchen. Their PL, Niall, has a bedroom right off of the kitchen and then there are the three bedrooms upstairs, two of which are being used and the third is going to become an office I heard. The poor girls though, they have the same amount of bunk beds as we do and less than half the space that we have. My bedroom at home is larger than the one they have to sleep in and I'm one person. And they are getting two more people on November 10th. There are going to be 11 people in that house and I don't know how they are going to survive. At least they have a couch in the basement. We don't have one of those. Only a strange assortment of mismatched recliners and kitchen chairs. And apparently the Manitouwadge house is even smaller. Actually, the Manitouwadge group is having some trouble and just can't catch a break. Apparently Manitouwadge is one of the quieter towns. There isn't very many youth there and not much to do after work. Also, their house is leaking and they had a power outage for a full 24 hours. No phones, heat...911. Seriously, there was no 911. There were reports on the radio saying that if you needed emergency services you had to go to the police or firehall and that there would be police patrolling regularily to help. Wow. Actually, I think our group really lucked out. Compared to Marathon, Terrace Bay and Schreiber are both really warm and friendly communities and it seems that Marathon doesn't get the same warmth from their community that we do. Marathon is also slightly larger (they have a shopping centre and we have to wait to buy any clothes until we go to Thunder Bay) and doesn't really have the same small town feel. And our house is huge. I'm really really happy with my placement and my group. Can you tell?
While in Marathon we all agreed that we would go out for dinner to Wah's, the Chinese and Canadian restaurant in town. It was nice to choose what we were going to eat for a change instead of leaving it up to whomever is cooking for the week. And we were sitting next to Lake Superior surfer dudes and chicks! It was cool, we were walking up to Wah's and we saw these two cars with a multitude of surf boards strapped to the top. I can't believe that people actually surf in this water and weather. It's so frigid. AND YOU DIE IN 8 MINUTES IN THE WATER. I'm going to say that they used those winter weather wet suits, but still! The water is cold!
And that is my update for today!
Sara
The hike up might have been long and tiring, but the view was incredible. There was a little pavillion near the edge of the mountain that looked out on Lake Superior. It's an amazing view and the pictures I have do not do it justice at all. It was also very cold and windy up there though so it was hard to stay out and look at the view as well as stay warm. We ended up sitting in a big pile in the pavillion to try to stay warm which worked for the most part.
After we walked down the mountain we went to the Marathon house and ate lunch. Oh my lord their house is small. They have the same amount of people living in their house as we have in ours but it is so much smaller. You basically walk into the side door and there is a little mud and coat room, then you turn to your left and you are in the kitchen. Their PL, Niall, has a bedroom right off of the kitchen and then there are the three bedrooms upstairs, two of which are being used and the third is going to become an office I heard. The poor girls though, they have the same amount of bunk beds as we do and less than half the space that we have. My bedroom at home is larger than the one they have to sleep in and I'm one person. And they are getting two more people on November 10th. There are going to be 11 people in that house and I don't know how they are going to survive. At least they have a couch in the basement. We don't have one of those. Only a strange assortment of mismatched recliners and kitchen chairs. And apparently the Manitouwadge house is even smaller. Actually, the Manitouwadge group is having some trouble and just can't catch a break. Apparently Manitouwadge is one of the quieter towns. There isn't very many youth there and not much to do after work. Also, their house is leaking and they had a power outage for a full 24 hours. No phones, heat...911. Seriously, there was no 911. There were reports on the radio saying that if you needed emergency services you had to go to the police or firehall and that there would be police patrolling regularily to help. Wow. Actually, I think our group really lucked out. Compared to Marathon, Terrace Bay and Schreiber are both really warm and friendly communities and it seems that Marathon doesn't get the same warmth from their community that we do. Marathon is also slightly larger (they have a shopping centre and we have to wait to buy any clothes until we go to Thunder Bay) and doesn't really have the same small town feel. And our house is huge. I'm really really happy with my placement and my group. Can you tell?
While in Marathon we all agreed that we would go out for dinner to Wah's, the Chinese and Canadian restaurant in town. It was nice to choose what we were going to eat for a change instead of leaving it up to whomever is cooking for the week. And we were sitting next to Lake Superior surfer dudes and chicks! It was cool, we were walking up to Wah's and we saw these two cars with a multitude of surf boards strapped to the top. I can't believe that people actually surf in this water and weather. It's so frigid. AND YOU DIE IN 8 MINUTES IN THE WATER. I'm going to say that they used those winter weather wet suits, but still! The water is cold!
And that is my update for today!
Sara
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Bowling, Guitar Hero and a Happy Birthday/Hallowe'en
Hello everyone. I'm sorry I've been so long in updating. My mom, dad and sister let me know that they don't appreciate not having an update since Tuesday.
SORRY.
So this week has been pretty average. We didn't do any excursions or anything but it was still fun. Today we did go bowling up at the Rec Centre. It was five pin bowling (the very best kind!)and so not so hard. I actually broke 100 for both rounds. The first I had 112 and Maddy beat me by one point. Damn you and your point Maddy. On the second round I had 105 points. Not too shabby. Anyway, we had to walk to the Rec Centre because apparently we are over our km's for the week or month or something by 700 kms I think I heard...or maybe it was 70. That kinda makes more sense. I was so sure I heard 700 though. Anyway, it was a really cute bowling alley with only 4 lanes and little red and white seats and non mechanic score keeping, that is to say, a pencil and paper.
Yesterday was a very special person's birthday...SUNEET! I hope you had as much fun as you sounded like you were having when I called yesterday night. For Hallowe'en I hng out with the little kids at Schreiber Elementary. We watched movies, ate treats and then Sarah and I ran a gamey thingy. I shall explain. Basically, during our lunch we decorated boxes with construction paper and stuff and made them all spooky and cool. Then we but gross things in them! There was jello, pasta, mashed potatoes and pumpkin guts inside and the kids were so funny when they touched them. None of the kids guessed all of the things though. I was actually dressed up for the day as Dorthy. I had ruby slippers and everything. It was cool. I randomly found a Dorthy costume at the Thrift Store in town (I love that place to bits) and I'm going to be using it for the Medieval Night/Festival/Thing as well. It's pretty perfect. I'm going to bring it home too because it is perfect for so many Hallowe'ens to come. Then at night I wanted to dress as an alien but I wasn't able to think of anything to wear so I made myself into an alien Dorthy and wore my white and blue dorthy costume and then painted my face blue and red and put a green googly eye in the middle of my forhead. It was kinda terrible, but fun all the same. And then I trick 'o treated. I know, I know. I'm too old. TOO BAD. It was fun and I felt like such a kid and I loved it. Running from house to house and yelling trick or treat at every house. So much fun! There were four of us (Simon, Cassie, Rosie and me) who went. Then Cassie went home, I went home, and Rosy and Simon stayed out for another two hours. They had FULL pilloww cases. It was very impressive.
After Trick o' Treating we went next door to our neighbors who had a huge chiminea (I think I spelt that terribly wrong) and we sat around and roasted marshmallows and sipped hot chocolate. It was so nice.
So at the library I work at there is a guitar hero. It's fun and I'm terrible. I can get about 85% on Easy and that's about it. Jessy can get 98% on Medium. *Sigh*. Well, yesterday I played with Sarah after I was finished with the school because we had a n hour to kill before Jessy came off work. Oh, and we have our own truck! All the Schreiber people are now able to get to Schreiber without the big Katima-van. Instead we have a Schreiber truck. It seriously does say Schreiber on the side and we love it. And though we are not technically allowed to drive in Katimavik, we have special circumstances with the fact that the two towns are not close enough to walk. It was take quite a few hours actually. And that is in good, sunny weather. But we are vey careful with the truck and follow all speed limits and only use it to get from Terrace Bay to Schreiber and back again. We actually have to record all our kilometers and gas and stuff, for the towns to know where we are going. They are paying for our gas though, which is nice.
On Wednesday (while Terri had her 24 hours off) we had to write out our group contract and today we signed it. And there was no blood on the walls. There was on tense moment when we were discussing our Family Night (the one night a week we all have to hang out together and play games or do something fun). We have decided to make that Friday nights and when Jessy commented on the fact that we might want to go out with co-workers or friends in town on a Friday night, Alyssanne asked "You have friends here?" and Jessy responded "Not yet, but.." and Alyssanne said, "No, do you have friends?" And Jessy again responded, "No." And Alyssanne in all her short fury yelled, "NO! Fuck your friends, family comes first!" And then everyone laughed. Alyssanne may be small, but she is loud.
Last thing, and then I've got to go. We are going to be going hiking tomorrow in Neys National Park with the group from Marathon. That will be good because we haven't seen any of the other groups for two weeks. So that will be fun!
Up date you later.
Sara
SORRY.
So this week has been pretty average. We didn't do any excursions or anything but it was still fun. Today we did go bowling up at the Rec Centre. It was five pin bowling (the very best kind!)and so not so hard. I actually broke 100 for both rounds. The first I had 112 and Maddy beat me by one point. Damn you and your point Maddy. On the second round I had 105 points. Not too shabby. Anyway, we had to walk to the Rec Centre because apparently we are over our km's for the week or month or something by 700 kms I think I heard...or maybe it was 70. That kinda makes more sense. I was so sure I heard 700 though. Anyway, it was a really cute bowling alley with only 4 lanes and little red and white seats and non mechanic score keeping, that is to say, a pencil and paper.
Yesterday was a very special person's birthday...SUNEET! I hope you had as much fun as you sounded like you were having when I called yesterday night. For Hallowe'en I hng out with the little kids at Schreiber Elementary. We watched movies, ate treats and then Sarah and I ran a gamey thingy. I shall explain. Basically, during our lunch we decorated boxes with construction paper and stuff and made them all spooky and cool. Then we but gross things in them! There was jello, pasta, mashed potatoes and pumpkin guts inside and the kids were so funny when they touched them. None of the kids guessed all of the things though. I was actually dressed up for the day as Dorthy. I had ruby slippers and everything. It was cool. I randomly found a Dorthy costume at the Thrift Store in town (I love that place to bits) and I'm going to be using it for the Medieval Night/Festival/Thing as well. It's pretty perfect. I'm going to bring it home too because it is perfect for so many Hallowe'ens to come. Then at night I wanted to dress as an alien but I wasn't able to think of anything to wear so I made myself into an alien Dorthy and wore my white and blue dorthy costume and then painted my face blue and red and put a green googly eye in the middle of my forhead. It was kinda terrible, but fun all the same. And then I trick 'o treated. I know, I know. I'm too old. TOO BAD. It was fun and I felt like such a kid and I loved it. Running from house to house and yelling trick or treat at every house. So much fun! There were four of us (Simon, Cassie, Rosie and me) who went. Then Cassie went home, I went home, and Rosy and Simon stayed out for another two hours. They had FULL pilloww cases. It was very impressive.
After Trick o' Treating we went next door to our neighbors who had a huge chiminea (I think I spelt that terribly wrong) and we sat around and roasted marshmallows and sipped hot chocolate. It was so nice.
So at the library I work at there is a guitar hero. It's fun and I'm terrible. I can get about 85% on Easy and that's about it. Jessy can get 98% on Medium. *Sigh*. Well, yesterday I played with Sarah after I was finished with the school because we had a n hour to kill before Jessy came off work. Oh, and we have our own truck! All the Schreiber people are now able to get to Schreiber without the big Katima-van. Instead we have a Schreiber truck. It seriously does say Schreiber on the side and we love it. And though we are not technically allowed to drive in Katimavik, we have special circumstances with the fact that the two towns are not close enough to walk. It was take quite a few hours actually. And that is in good, sunny weather. But we are vey careful with the truck and follow all speed limits and only use it to get from Terrace Bay to Schreiber and back again. We actually have to record all our kilometers and gas and stuff, for the towns to know where we are going. They are paying for our gas though, which is nice.
On Wednesday (while Terri had her 24 hours off) we had to write out our group contract and today we signed it. And there was no blood on the walls. There was on tense moment when we were discussing our Family Night (the one night a week we all have to hang out together and play games or do something fun). We have decided to make that Friday nights and when Jessy commented on the fact that we might want to go out with co-workers or friends in town on a Friday night, Alyssanne asked "You have friends here?" and Jessy responded "Not yet, but.." and Alyssanne said, "No, do you have friends?" And Jessy again responded, "No." And Alyssanne in all her short fury yelled, "NO! Fuck your friends, family comes first!" And then everyone laughed. Alyssanne may be small, but she is loud.
Last thing, and then I've got to go. We are going to be going hiking tomorrow in Neys National Park with the group from Marathon. That will be good because we haven't seen any of the other groups for two weeks. So that will be fun!
Up date you later.
Sara
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