Yesterday, The Day Before and The Tuesday Before That.

On this past Tuesday the whole house all got into an artsy fever and made ourselves up to look ridiculous and crazy and cool. Basically we had a workshop with a lady and she wanted us to organize a group activity. We decided that on Tuesday we would have a Crazy Hair and Makeup Day. We did that and it was fun. Maddy was made into a doll, I made myself into a warrior lion lady, Simon was painted all over into a multi coloured rainbow, Jessy had an eyeliner spider web on his face and the list goes on. It was a lot of fun and very tiring and we will probably do it again. We have done it before (I think about a week or two before) but I'm not sure if I wrote about it or not.

The day before yesterday (ie Friday) we volunteered for the city helping to build this crazy snow ice slide on the street. It was really warm that day, 5 degrees Celsius and was beautiful all day long...until we all had to stay outside for four hours and build an ice/snow slide. We basically shoveled and smoothed out the snow into two slides with a divider between them. It was a lot of hard work and it was raining the entire time we were there, but it was also really cool to see the progress we made with it. I was pretty water proof because of my jacket and hat (which I didn't know was water proof until that day), but everyone else was VERY wet and a cold by the time we were finished at 5. 

The next day (ie yesterday or Saturday) we had to go volunteer again for the city. We were again at the slide. We told people when they could go down and escorted people across it. Traffic control basically. Also we were organizing this giant air jumpy castle thing. You stick the kids inside, let them bounce around for five minutes then tell them to get out and put more kids inside. It was very cold work. We were standing still and in the shade for most of the time so we had no way to keep worm. Rosie and I resorted to dancing and jumping around because our feet and finger were getting absolutely frozen.

We did get free food and drink and free maple toffee. I've never had maple toffee before. It's that boiled maple sugar syrup that you pour into the snow and wait to cool and then wrap around a stick. Yeah. That stuff. It's delicious. 

Anyway, over and out.

Sara

I should also mention...

We have had visitors this weekend. Rosie's parents and little brother came to visit us for the day yesterday and left this morning. They were very nice. I got to play that piano duet that everyone knows with her brother (who's name is Francis) and her mother brought us delicious cookies and banana bread...she also gave me some tips on how to get burnt chocolate of a pot (just add baking soda and watch it boil!).

Also, Maddy's boyfriend Mike is here. He came up at a little before 3 am on Friday morning and is staying until Monday morning...so tomorrow I guess.

And that is all.

Sara

Still sick, and not getting better.

Today was a repeat of last Monday's 7 hour fiasco in the clinic, except I was there for 9 hours instead. Whatever I have (and I am told it is quite possibly viral bronchitis) it took them 9 hours wearing a face mask and an x-ray to figure out that it is NOT pnemonia.

The x-ray was pretty cool though. I got to stand around in a little robe thing, very naked underneath it may I add, and get little x-ray particles shot at me. Afterward I could see my lungs, my heart, even my boobs a little, though they mostly looked like little ghostly half circles under my lungs and my heart just looked like a ghostly blob. But it was really cool to see. I wish I could have kept them as a souvenier.

Anyway, there were a lot of screaming children towards the end of the day and a lot of coughing people just in general and yet it was very hard to stay awake. I am so tired. After this I'm going to just go to sleep and stay that way until tomorrow. I've been prescribed lots of bed rest, two days off work and the weekend, cough syrup, tylenol and this weird backing soda/salt/boiled water concoction that I am supposed to gargle with. I am assuming it will kill all the gross bacteria in my throat and mouth and restore me to better health.

On a brighter noote, I recieved my package from home today. It contains clothes, books, dvds, sheet music for the piano and my beautiful coat. It made me very happy this morning when I saw it.

Thanks Family!

Sara

My iron-clad immune system

Life in Mont-Joli's Katima House has not seen smooth sailing in recent times. There have been fights and squabbles and all around bad feelings. I've been house managing this past week with Simon and it has been rough. On Monday, when we were supposed to buy groceries I instead had to go to the clinic with Maddy and Denise because Maddy is deathly afraid of doctors and has had this nasty cough for a very long time and she needed someone to go with her. We waited at the clinic from 9:30 to 5 pm. It was ridiculous. The seriously need another clinic. By the time all the medicine stuff was over, dinner was coming up very soon, but we had no food in the house. Simon and I had to go buy food quick as we could, and with all the rushing around, we didn't stick too closely to our shopping list. Basically, all week long we were over budget and without everything that we needed.

Anyway, the next day, Tuesday, I wake up feeling, hot and cold, nauseaus and achy. I couldn't do anything all day long and basically rolled around trying to sleep. At around 3 o'clock I cam downstairs feeling much like a zombie and was able to eat half a bowl of thing broth and noodles. It was not the most appetizing thing ever, but it was all I could handle. At dinner I ate crackers while everyone else had meatloaf.

The next day I felt fine, but Thursday I was sick again. We were supposed to go sledding at the highschool on Thursday, but all the sick people (which by this time included Cassie) had to stay home and do a core workout using videos found on youtube. It was fun, and actually the second time I've had to do it (the week before everyone went swimming, but I couldn't find my bathing suit bottoms) but it would have been nice to be healthy.

On Friday I felt good. We had a workshop led by a past participant named Thomas who has killer eyes, and we talked about how do media presentations and recruitment presentations at schools and kiosks, etc. It was fun and gave me a lot of ideas about what I could do after Katimavik. I actually like the idea of being a recruiter for Katimavik and do presentations at schools. I can see myself going to my old highschool for sure and telling them all that they don't HAVE to go straight back into school, that they have another option and that they can actually live life instead.

On Saturday we were supposed to go snowshoeing for two hours, but that idea was killed because again, people (including myself) were too sick. Everytime I step out of doors I start coughing like a mad woman and feeling ten times more sick than I actually am. Instead we wrote up stories in our 2nd language and had them edited by a person of the opposite language and then read them outload. They had to include 10 random things that people had written down on the board, so they ended up being a bit insane. My own story was about a small boy named Timtam who had a small and beloved toy wool piano (piano and wool being two of the required words). The small piano and the small boy go everywhere together and do everything, so one day when the two of them are on a rollercoaster, it is in surprise that the small piano is flung off and is lost for all eternity. The small boy goes through the rest of life with out his small piano. He eats alone. He sleeps in hot summer nights alone. Eventually the small boy grows up to be a small man but he is never happy again without the small wool piano.

It was quite depressing and sad, but everyone laughed at the right parts and gave shocked sad noises at the right parts so I was satisified. Also, there were a lot less corrections than I thought there were going to be. Can that mean I am improving?

That day we were also having a 24 hour black out as part of the environment committee's activites and we had fun trying to eat cold food, and live without any electricity (besides the heat and hot water, which we kept on). That night Sarah Perron's parents took us out to dinner and hung out with us for a while at the house (which I'm not proud to say was quite messy, but then again, everyone was home so it does not all fall to the house managers). After they left we played a few rounds of hide-and-seek in the dark and when that was no longer any fun we played sardines which is fabulous game in which one person hides and the rest search for them. When you find them you don't say a word, but neatly hide with them until finally everyone is squished into the same hiding spot. It is quite hilarious.

Well, anyway, fun activities there was horrible house managing. I just don't do as well as a house manager when I can't bounce idea's off of my partner. Simon is great, but he doesn't know how to cook like Maddy does so I was left making most of the decisions. And it really was a crappy week. I was sick, and not working at 100%, Simon as kinda aimless, everyone were having arguments and being generally unhelpful. I much rather working at the hospital.

When I was sick all I could think about was home. All I could think was 'I want my mommy'. No one really takes care of anyone here. I mean I was sick and moaning and tossing and turning all day long, and not once did anyone come into my room and ask if maybe I wanted something to eat or drink, or another blanket to keep me warm. There were people in the room, absorbed in the computer who I had to finally ask to get me some water and a blanket because I honestly couldn't stand and move all that much. But you would think that someone would be kind enough to think of the sick person. I always ask if someone wants some water, or if I can get them anything. Can you tell I feel quite strongly about this?

I just really really want to be home right now. Just a week or two to breathe without the entire group being here and around me. I want some space and I want some time. There is just too much togetherness right now and too much tension and bad feelings on my part and on others. Time away to see family and friends and to go back to something familiar would be so lovely. Maybe not being in the house all day will help though.

The week started off really shitty and ended really shitty and I don't ever want to repeat such a bad house managing experience. I also don't want to ever be sick again. I side stepped so much illness in Terrace Bay that I have become very confident in my iron-clad immune system, but it seems that it has become a little rusted because I have been brought down by a small and nasty cold that seeps into your bones and drains you of all energy. Nasty, nasty cold.

Sara

Christmas and Visiting Family.

I realize that it is pretty late to talk about Christmas and New Years etc. , but let's face it, in the past month and a half nearly everything I've written has been late, so really this post is just keeping with the new trend.



Christmas was great in our Katima-house. I was house manager with Rosie and Maddy and I really liked being in control of the food for this. I know some people don't like to have the responsibility of it hanging over their heads and having the knowledge that the screwed up Christmas dinner (if they do screw up that is), but I really like it. At the time I may be a bit cranky and irritated if their are a lot of people in the kitchen unnecesarily, but I have found that I really do like cooking for large numbers of people and I'm good at it too.



We decided to have fondue for Christmas Eve. We made it without wine or any alcohol of any kind using lemon juice as a subsitute. It tasted pretty good actually, though a little too lemony. Anyway, before we could start our dessert, Leonie, Marco and Niall of the Marathon group came to our place to switch our vans. It was fun to see them on Christmas Eve, but also a little weird I have to admit because they aren't part of my 'family'.


For Christmas morning we woke up at 10 am, even though we had agreed to get up at 9 as a compromise between the two warring factions who disagreed about the proper wake up time on Christmas day. One groups said as early as possible, the other thought as late as possible would be best...I thought 9 am was just fine. Anyway, we had a lot of presents to open. Boxes and boxes of gifts had been mailed to us everyday and it was high time their secrets were revealed! Also we had secret santa gifts and stockings to open up. It was a lot of fun opening secret santa's We had to guess who our person was first before we were allowed to open anything up. It turned out that Alyssanne was my secret santa and she bought me an exfoliating scrubby pad thing, a floating frog soap dish and some shower wash. My person for secret sant was Maddy and I bought her a shirt on a website called Threadless (they sell many cool t-shirts that are designed by users of the website). It was the perfect gift. She literally teared up when she saw it. that made me pretty happy.


After all the gifts were unwrapped, the presents admired and the paper cleaned up we headed to the kitchen to start cooking our Christmas feast. We had a smorgasbord of scones, potatoes and eggs to eat and everything was absolutely delicious.


After the food was eaten, which was about 1:30 pm, we cleaned up from breakfast and then relaxed for a while. Then we started in on Christmas dinner. Oh boy. Christmas Day dinner was funny. We had a mish-mash. Everything was Christmas themed (stuffing...ham...cranberry jelly) but it doesn't usually go into one Christmas dinner. Usually people don't eat ham and stuffing together, but we certainly did! I did a lot of delegating for this meal. I had people chopping here and stirring there. And everything came together at the end in a very odd (but delicious) way.

On Boxing Day we had an unexpected visit from both groups in our cluster. They were both on their way to Thunder Bay for an excursion and had to stop in at our place because they roads were really bad and snowy that day. They hung out until about 2-ish and then continued on their way. We had a schedule that day of hour long 1-on-1 sessions with Terri, but because of the impromptu group get-together we had to push them all back. I was able to have my session at about 3 pm. Terri and I talked for almost 2 hours. It was really nice to be able to get out of the house and talk without the entire group in the general vicinity. The walls in this house aren't all that thick. Even now, I am sitting on my bunkbed listening to music with the door closed and I can still hear Simon, Rosie and Alyssanne's voices murmuring from somewhere downstairs.


When I walked pulled up to the house at 5-ish Maddy was holding the phone and talking to my parents. They were in Marathon, about an hour away! It was so exciting when I heard that. I rushed up stairs to try and tidy up our bedroom as much as possible (unfortunatly it's always in a state of dissaray). Then I sat with Alyssanne on my bed and waited. She decided that she was going to go to the window and try to see if she could see the truck pull in. i had just finished describing the truck to her when she said, "Sara, there's a black truck in the drive way!".


I screamed and ran downstairs. Literally screamed. Then I opened the door and saw the truck for myself. I screamed again. I pulled on my boots and ran outside. Luckily, the weather had warmed up a lot so it was only 0 degrees out instead of the -20 I have become used to, because I didn't bother taking the time to put on a jacket. As I was ran to the truck my mom got out and ran to me. We met in the middle of the drive way and hugged like crazy. She was crying and we were hugging and then Lia and Dad got out of the truck and joined in the hug too. It makes my throat get tight and my eyes a little watery when I think about it. I really do believe that that was the best hug I've ever had.


My family stayed for about 4 days. In that time we opened gifts (thanks Zia Silvana, Nonna and everyone else!), made dinners and breakfasts together, played cards and talked. We also went on tours of Schreiber and Terrace Bay (guided by me of course) and also went out to Rossport , Red Rock (where the rock is really red), Nipigon and Thunder Bay. The day was so clear and beautiful. We had perfect weather for driving and sightseeing. I have to say, the stretch of highway that we drove is some of the most breathtaking in Canada.


Over two days we got to see a lot. Nipigon River which is the largest feeder into Lake Superior. And since Lake Superior drains into the rest of the great lakes, we really got to see the water that flows through all of the freat lakes. We also saw a small 'confectionary' that sold very little candy, but a lot of yarn, comics and fishing gear. It was a pretty crazy place actually. We also saw a lot of frozen, rushing water. It just looks so cool when water freezes in the middle of moving.


We drove out to the Silver Islets on our way to Thunder Bay. That was a really neat place. There were a bunch of dear out on the road eating the salt and being generally cute. When you get to the end of the road however, you have an unobstructed view of The Sleeping Giant which is a mountain range that looks like a man lying down. you can see the contours of his face really well which is really neat. I don't have any good pictures of it though which is unfortunate. Also at the end of the islets there is a colourful old mining town. The houses are now private cottages, but you can tell that most of them are the original houses the miners and their families would have lived in. It actually looks like one of those Nova Scotian fishing villages you see pictures of. They are all so tightly packed, brightly painted and sitting right beside the water. In the snow, nearly through the entire town we saw drunken, swaying boot prints. This person was VERY drunk. They were swaying all over the place and generally having a lot of trouble walking straight. It became a bit of a game for us to see just where the prints went though we lost track of them on the plowed road.


We saw ice climbers right off the highway, and right next to them was the famous Terry Fox monument. It is very impressive. It looks out off a rock face right next to the highway and it's just so powerful. We drove up the road and went to take pictures and sign the guest book.

A cool moment was when I saw that some people from the Marathon group had also been to the monument and signed the book as well.

When we were in Thunder Bay itself we didn't get to do much stuff. It was late when we pulled in so we decided to go and eat at the famous Hoito. The Hoito is a Finnish restaurant that is famous for it's good food and cheap prices. It was first opened for the Finnish mione workers in town who were able to find affordable housing, but not affordable food. The prices are amazing and the food is delicious. I've never had Finnish food before now, but I have to say, I would have it again, and many times over.



My parents and Lia left on the morning of the 30th and that day we spent cleaning to get ready for New Years, which we were hosting with the other two groups. I'm going to leave the story of New Years and afterward for tomorrow or the next day though because that retelling will be another long post and I just don't have it in me to describe it all over again.

x o

Sara

Neighbors

Christmas has come and gone and we are now well into the new year. 2009, welcome. I'm glad you are here. It's a new year and (in two short weeks) a new place to live with a new language to speak. New beginnings all around. Exciting and scary, I must admit. I'm sad to say goodbye to all the people I've met and the places I've been. I've become very comfortable with this place. Even with the constant snow and cold, and the fact that there is very little to see and do, I can still see why people live in this small small town. The view alone is amazing and not something I am happy to be leaving. I have gotten used to seeing Terrace Bay spread out below me on my drive to and from work. I have become used to the rock face with it's frozen rivults of water. And I've especially become used to the people.

When we first came here and had our scavanger hunt to become acquainted with our town and neighbors, every single person we asked said that the people were their favourite part of Terrace Bay and Schreiber. I understand now why they said that. Without the people in these towns it would be unbearable to live here. Because we are so isolated and far removed from big cities and mindless entertainment, we do rely on ourselves, but also on our coworkers and neighbors to entertain ourselves and give us a source of interaction and human contact. The people here are so amazing and generous. Not everyone is well off here. Infact, compared to home, most people are much less well off than even my neighbors, friends and family. But everyone helps eachother here. We have had to ask on numberous occasions to borrow rakes, shovels, forks and casserole dishes, and people have always supplied them without questions or even due dates. Even the thrift store in Schreiber has supplied us with anything we NEED for free. Any kitchen things, lamps or even sweaters. If we need them, we can have them. How awesome is that?

This past two weeks, the belt in our clothes washer broke. When we go to our neighbors to ask if we can use their washer for our clothes, they never give us odd or suspicious looks like I'm sure would happen at home. They give us a laugh and welcome us inside. I was at my neighbors' house, Ron and Marie, this past Thursday with Sarah, my laundry and the laundry of two other people and Marie asked us if we wanted to watch TV while we waited for our clothes to wash. We weren't able to since there was a lot of cleaning to be done at our own house, but when we got our clothes two hours later everything had been dried and folded. for us. Everything. Now, just who in a big city would do that for anyone else. Who in a big city would come to your house with old lamps, couches or a mattress because they heard you needed one? Who would lend you 12 forks or two casserole dishes and not ask when they would be back, but trust that they would? Who would give us a bunch of cookies and chips because they know we can't buy them with the government money we are given. Not a lot of people, that's who. But here, everyone would. Everything that I have listed up there has been a seperate person. Not just one person here has been taking care of us, but everyone has. In fact, almost everything in our house, from all the chairs and tables in the living room and dining room and the cutlery and cups in the kitchen are all donated. It's amazing the kind of generousity that we can expect from absolutely everyone here.

Even though we are asked where we are from and what we are doing here, we have never been made to feel like outsiders, and for that I am thankful. We are full contributing members of this community, more involved than most of the teenagers that have lived here their whole lives. And maybe it's because we are new to this place and the newness hasn't come off yet that it is easy to be thrilled by every new thing we do and every new place we visit, where as for the kids who live here, everything is very much the same as it has always been. There is very little change for them, as is the nature of a small isolated town. But for me, the novelty of knowing all of your neighbors, their extended families and their friends hasn't rubbed off yet.

That is the biggest reason I am sad to leave here. I will never be a part of this small community again in the same way that I am now. I will never again be recognised on the street as 'one of the Katimavik kids'. I won't have the same sort of celebrity status we seem to have here. It's not really the fact that we are celebrities of a sort that I like, but the fact that we can walk down the street and be known and welcome. The towns are only getting bigger from here and more impersonal. It will be nice to be in a bigger town with more things and places available to us, but I will miss being known by everyone around me as a part of this group.

So much to say...

I realize that it has (again) been a very long time since I've posted anything. Actually, I guess that might not be right since I don't actually remember what the date was the last time I reported anything, but anyway, I have a lot of stuff to say and I already know that I'm not going to be able to remember everything.

I guess I'm just going to have to start events as they come because I really don't remember what came first and on what date anything occured. I've decided to post a bunch of pictures though to help you visualize just what we did this past however many days have passed.

Okay. First! The Senior's Christmas Party. We were all dressed up as elves. Enough said.

...

No not really. I'll elaborate and not leave you with such a hilarious mental picture and no story to picture it in. We were dropped off at the Senior Center in Terrace Bay at about 5 pm. We all had costumes that Simon had made for us earlier which consisted of a red or white tunic with iron on christmas themed decals. The tunic was tied with a length of green rope and the costume was topped off with a santa hat with elf ears attached. Should you like to see a picture...Here it is.

Like good little elves we took people's coats and hung them up. Then we entered the gym (the senior center is an old elementary school) which was so beautifully made up! There were about twenty different strands of warm glowing lights strung over our heads. The effect was just gorgeous. The tables looked were dressed up in white, red, gold and green and christmas trees were impressively tall. There was just this beautiful glow about the place even though everyone was sitting on plastic school chairs. It doesn't convey well in pictures, but still, I'll show you one.


We also got to eat (still in costume) among the guests so as to interact with the people more. After dinner we were all called up to the front of the gym and we preformed a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday in french and english to people in the gym with December birthdays, which included Jessy (pictured above for those who don't know him) who turned 20 the night before. I'll tell you about that day after this one.

We were then ordered by Santa and Mrs. Claus to hand out the presents the guests brought to the party. It was lots of fun being Santa's little helpers and we even got awarded for our embarrassment. Each of us got a little gift to take home! We got individual Christmas mugs with a hot chocolate packet, a cookie in a Christmas tin and an assortment of Christmas chocolates. It was so nice of them and made me smile.

The day before this was Jessy's 20'th birthday. We went to an old fashioned Christmas skating party at the Terrace Bay Rec Center. It was so much fun! Terri had discovered a box of skates in the basement before we came and we all tried them on and found the right sizes (except Jessy who has feet that are too large for his own good...joke Jessy!) and got them all sharpened up. My skates were amazing. They were old in a totally cool way. They were made of leather and looked about 30 years old (literally because they were much older than I am I think, and I'm 19). They were so old that people around me were commenting on just how old they were. And they were hockey skates. I didn't realize just how much I relied on picks until there weren't any. It was kinda scary just how off balance I felt without the picks..well, that could have been also because the skates were a bit too big and also not tiedd tight enough. I had to re-lace the skates because the old laces were rotten and short, so by the time I was finished doing that my hands were frozen and not very useful in the tyeing department. Eventually though I got comfortable with them and I was wizzing around the place. Not really though. I was slow and awkward, but better than when I first started.

On the ice there were a few christmas trees, a bench, and Santa! It was really nice skating around with all those people and some real Christmas carols on the speakers. And when Santa came out the kids were so cute and exciting. He handed out a bunch of small reineer stuffy animals and all the kids got one. Actually, the half of us who asked for one got one too. Mine is green and cute. I named mine Je-Sais and Maddy named hers Je-Ne-Sais-Pas.

I unfortunatley don't have any good pictures of the skating since I was concentrating more on not falling. On that note, one with the next event!

After skating we went to Wah's for their buffet night and ate well. Also, we invited John, our Schreiber friend that I met at the work. However, of all the people there, only Jessy and I could do any REAL celebrating. I had a rum and coke, he had a vodka and orange juice. And I also was able to have some wine at the Senior Christmas Party which was nice. Everyone was very jealous. Apparently wine is a well loved drink in our group. While eating Terri went back to the house and brought the pack of birthday hats she had bought earlier and we all out them on. Then we decided that they would look better if they were all on Jessy at one time.

We then walked back to the house (in frigid windy weather... it was not fun) and played pin the tail on the donkey. I don't think I've laughed as much playing that game as I did that night. When we spun people we didn't necessarily point them in the right direction making it that much more hilarious for everyone else.
We then played a game of keep up with a ballon in which you were not allowed to use your hands. It was much like hacky sack but much slower. That was suprisingly a lot of fun. After that we hung out on our KING SIZED MATTRESS!!!! in the living room. Yeah. You read that right. We have a random mattress in our living room loaded up with about ten extra pillows and blankets and sheets. It's so comfy.

I think that will have to be all for this post. I have some anxious people waiting to use my laptop so they can watch some movies or something.

Sara

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

Library, Snow and FIRE ALARM TERRI

I worked at the library today for the very first time. It was great. I'm working with a girl named Sammy who is cool, and blonde and 23 and has this sarcastic, playful sense of humour that I love. She taught me all about the operating system for the library and we did check ins and outs for a while. She also took me on a tour of the library to show me where every section is located. She tried to print off these little sticker laabels to be put on the book spine, but it wasn't working so I didn't have any work to do all morning. I basically just got a book off the stacks (Next by Micheal Crichton! Dear lord it's cool...and I've wanted to read it for so long) and read all morning while Sammy built a website (she is a graphic designer in her other job). Then Pam the bread woman (who is a chair person for the library) brought her Italian bread book with her to the library and let me photocopy recipies! SO exciting and delicious.

After I ate lunch I helped a couple on the computer figure out their Empoyment Insurace stuff and then Donna (the head librarian) came in and we talked about after school programming and cataloging/organizing the basement.

Oh, guess what book I found and took out from the library Mom, Dad and Lia. Have you guessed yet? It's a kid's book and you love it (ESPECIALLY you mom). I'm going to write it at the bottom of this post in white to give you some time to think. Just hi-light it to make the word show up. And if you don't understand, get someone more computer savvy to help.

It snowed today. Omg, time to hyperventilate. Snow! But not too much so it's okay. There were really only flurries and the like, but still, snow!

Then we went home and at dinner at 5:30! DUDE that is an early dinner. Props to the House Managers Rosie and Alyssanne.

We had a fire drill tonight. Terri had a flashlight with a strone setting and she creeped around our rooms and the rest of the house with all the lights off and us in bed and would turn on the light randomly and yell "FIREFIREFIRE!". Then everyone had to jump out of bed (without killing eachother, which is hard when you are on a top bunk and someone is getting out of bed from underneath you) and run to the nearest exit or the fire extinguisher. Our nearest exit in the bedrooms is a fire ladder at our windows. So everyone tried piling onto Alyssanne's bed (where the ladder is located) but six girls on one bed is not all that safe...fun, but not safe. So I ended up hanging off the side, and Maddy was on the ladder and everyone was laughing and yelling. A fabulous way to end the day.

The brilliant children's book I took out of the library is The Porcupine Named Fluffy. Love it!

Got to go. I'm writing up some thank you cards for Terri to the people who helped us out around town and gave us free stuff and workshops. Love you Schreiber/Terrace Bay!

Bread, Chickens, Hockey and my first day of work.

On Saturday the group went to a woman's house to learn how to make bread. Her name is Pam and her bread is amazing. She taught us how to knead our dough and how to shape our loaves after the dough has risen. Also, we need to use a LOT of flour or else it becomes a sticky mess. While the bread was baking (in their outdoor oven :O !) Pam and Maddy and I made cinnamon buns (which were fluffy and delicious) and then we ate our bread with some turkey and beef stew. Oh good lord was it tasty. And they had a cute dog named Mike.

Mike actually looks like a demon dog because of the red eye...but we will ignore that.

Then we went to a chicken farm belonging to a couple (betty and ...Ben?) and Maddy and I occupied ourselves with chasing chickens. And we have video evidence. It's actually really funny. Maddy kissed a chicken....and I pretended to.

We also made our group contract and promised to eat vegetarian for two to three days a week (because our PL is vegetarian and because meat is expensive) and we also vowed to speak only French or English on alternating days to try and help our second language abilities.

The next day we got to sleep in for the first time since we started the program. I slept until 9:30 am. Omg. 9:30 is sleeping in! When did that happen?

We had cinnamon buns for breakfast and made a huge GO! Diesels GO! banner (which is now hanging on our living room wall) and murdered the gold and black sharpie markers in the process. The Diesels are the very well loved local Junior AA hockey team. I just found out I like Junior AA hockey. All the boys are around my age in Juniour AA hockey. Mmmm hockey boys. Basically the girls and Simon spent the game oggling all the boys and being generally inappropriate. And their coach lives two houses down from our house! Mr. Bob Spadoni. So I guess that means that there will possibly be hockey boys around our house....maybe? Mmm hockey boys. DON'T WORRY! I promise that these next few months will not be an incubation period. There will be no bundle of joy. But we didn't spend the whole time looking at boys. We also actually watched them play hockey...but we mostly just debated who was cuter or taller or more muscly. Not that we could really tell with those helmets and padding. They won their game and that was exciting. It was against the Thunder Bay something or others and this win ended a five game losing streak. YAY!

So that was yesterday. Today was our first day of work. I was at Schreiber Elementary Public School and there is a population of around 40 students. ONLY. The whole school is 40 students. I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN A ZERO. So the class of 14 I was in was a mix Grade 4/5/6 class. :O And the teacher's (Ms. Wiznuik) daughter is in her class. Weird.

I did a lot of photocopying today because the teacher didn't know I was coming, but that's okay. I was a last minute addition. I was supposed to be at the Adult Learning Centre, but they wanted me at the school too, so Terri decided to change it. I can't wait to see what the library is like tomorrow. I really wonder what, besides stacking shelves, I'll be doing. Apparently I will be doing some after school programming and stuff. And they have everything there. A photo printing thingy (I'll be like you Suneet!) and guitar hero and the librarian wants to start a graveyard tour...And I would probably be running it. That would be so wicked, and cold, but mostly wicked. So if that is what she wants to do it would be fun. I realize now that I wouldn't be able to have the kids all day. They are kind of crazy.. I'll be happy of the quiet in the library.

Oh and we are figuring out what to do for Halloween. I think I'm going to be an alien. I don't have all the logistics figured out yet, but I will make this alien thing work. Only, I'm going to have to be something else for the school (she wants me to work there on the Friday for the party which will be lots of fun).

That's all Folks!

Sara

Interviews and Placements

We all did your interviews this morning! I interviewed with our top three choices which means that we get some say in where we work. I interviewed with St. Martin's Catholic School (Which is an absolutley beautiful new school with a small student body), Schreiber Public Library(kind of small but they have guitar hero and a really nice librarian and assistant) and Schreiber Public School (a very small school with graduating classes of 5 students, but a very cool placement all the same).

After all our interviews were finished Terri drove us to the house and everyone changed out of their nice clothes and either went to the bakery (a local hang out of ours with fantastic sweets) or went to sleep (which is what I did). Terri went back to talk to the interviewers and figure out a schedule that would suit everyone.

When she got back, she teased us with white envelopes with our names in them that had our placements inside and made us clean some donated furniture and move it inside before we could open the envelopes up. We cleaned quickly and argued a bit about where to put the extra dresser in the girls room and then came downstairs and waited. Maddy quized me on simple French speaking excerises and then Terri came downstairs with the envelopes.

And (drum roll please) I have been placed in two places! Most of the group has been actually. There were some original placements that were paired together (like Schreiber Public School and the daycare next door) but they were all shuffled around to accomodate everyone's wishes.

I will re-write what Terri wrote on the page in my envelope.

Sara

You were the talk of the town today, my dear. You truly, truly knocked the socks off of everyone. We had to accomodate (willingly!) all the people who wanted you, so we created a new position! (insert smiley face) You will be back in Italian Terriory in Schreiber at:

Mondays: Schreiber Puble School

Tuesday-Friday: Schreiber Puble Library.

Muy Buen! I can't wait to see/hear about all you accomplish! xoxo Your P.L Etraordinaire.


On Monday afternoon I will be paired with the other Sarah at the school (she is there everyday as well as the daycare) and we will be able to hang out.

Tomorrow we are going to make bread in an outside oven in Rossport (a town west of us) and it is going to be fun. This is the last week that we will buy bread. Everything from now on is baked by us. Omg, like wow.

Love all around,

Sara.

Bilingual Scrabble

Playing scrabble in French and English is much easier than straight English scrabble. I ended up just throwing down letters and hoping that they made a random French word. And sometimes they did which was uber awesome and allowed me to get second place with 120 points. I was also the last to finish my letters thanks to help from Maddy in finding me a place to put my S T and G (creating sitting from a horizontal taxi and vertical tin). Then I mooched off of Alyssane's toy to make toys and I was DONE!

Now I have to tell you all how I became known as Princess Pilfer. Yesterday, we were set the task of going around to our neighbors in groups of two to ask to borrow a rake until all eight of us had one to use. Sarah and I were a duo and we scored big time. It was slow going at first (we visited two houses before someone answered at all). But at the third house we were greeted by Rena (who, coincidentally, is best friends with the owners of the house) who was very nice and generous and gave us not one but TWO rakes to use. And when she asked if she could get us anything else I asked for any old lamps she would be getting rid of or extra hangers (and as instruced by Terri, I looked as cute as possible hehe) and miracle of miracles! she gave us two handfuls of primo hangers. For this The Sarah and Sara Pilfering Pair were awarded the Tiffany Hanger Award 2008.

Today, instead of going "downtown" with the rest of the group I went with Alysanne and Terri to go home and nap and work on my resume...but instead we went to run some errands. During this time while Terri went to the Schreiber elementary school to talk to the principal Alysanne and I went to the Thrift Store across the road. When we walked in the woman there somehow knew we were Katimavikers and told us that anything for us was half off. Sa-WEET! Half price thrift store prices! So we started looking around (I saw some very nice sweaters that I will probably pick up when it gets more frigid) and waiting for Terri to finish up. When she came in we started looking for throw blankets for our new (antique and very dusty) couch and tablecloths for the table since we only have one. When we found blankets I went up to ask for prices for the blankets Louise (a very nice woman who works there) said to just take them! Princess Pilfer strikes! She let us take anything that the house needed. We ended up taking a few mugs, a plate, globe and lamp that Simon broke, but we still have the mechanism to light up the light bulb. So yay!

After that we went to the restaurant that the owners of the house own and run and talked to them for a while about the oven and lights. When we mentioned that we were searching for moose and deer meat he said, "You want moose meat? Here have these" and HANDED US A PACKAGE OF FRICKEN MOOSE SAUSAGES! Well they were pork/moose sausages because moose apparently has next to no fat in it so they mix it but still, Princess Pilfer strikes again! and we fulfilled one of the things we wanted to do while we are (well I wanted to do). Now we just need to find some deer...

Anywho, Jessy and I cooked them up for dinner in some oil and made some pasta with a wicked improved tomato/other veggie sauce. It started off with just tomatos and onions, oregano, basil , chili flakes and bay leaves, but then we were afraid we were not going to have enough sauce and so added two carrots and two celery stalks as well. It was orange tomato sauce and very tasty. Seriously tasty. Like plustresplestres tasty.

And everyone enjoyed the pasta. Not everyone was keen on the moose since it was pretty intense and gamey. Thank god for pork or else I wouldn't have been able to eat the whole sausage. But those sausages would be awesome amazing on a fresh bun with onions and dijon mustard. Mmmm, you would REALLY enjoy moose sausages Dad. Another time I think. Only thing is, you can't buy moose meat because it is illegal to sell. So we will have to try and get some for free from someone which is not a problem for Princess Pilfer! My group during the scavenger hunt found a contact named Tom who is out hunting for two weeks but home during the night so we are going to have to give him a call I think.

It's late. I need to have a shower. Tomorrow we are going to be meeting all the people at the possible work placements and so I need to be fresh and clean and put together.

Night.

Sara

Lake Superior

We went to a resume writing workshop today. It was really good because now I have a new resume that isn't out of date. We also visited Lake Superior and took video of everyone stepping in it for the first time. It was quite cold. Actually if you are submerged in it for 8 minutes you will die. So it's REALLy cold in the winter months. Today we had a high of 3 degrees. Chilly!

Yesterday we did a scavenger hunt which was awesome fun. We split up into two groups and Terri dropped us off in the middle of Terrace Bay and Schreiber. We had an envelope to open and then complete each assignment on the paper. Basically it was just to talk to as many people as we could and get familiar with the people and town. And then two and a half hours after that we switched towns for another two and a half hours. It was cold but fun. And now I know where the police station is and that they are very friendly and helpful there and that you can go up to random people on their driveway and ask them which is the oldest house in town and they will point out the wrong house but be very halpful when you ask to use them to spell the word FOX with their bodies.
And to let everyone know. On Sunday afternoon, Dad had an accident on the motorcycle and broke his right lower leg in two places and is having surgery today at 3:00 pm...I guess he's already out by now. SO I should be getting an update on that soon but Lia and Mom and Dad have all said that he is fine. Love you lot's dad and I hope you are enjoying your cocktail of drugs.

Cheers.

Sara.

You have one very excited Sara on your hands!

I was starting to write a post telling you about how I now know what towns I am going to be living in and how I am so excited (which I will do...but later) when I remembered that I have to go check the mail to see if my Katimavik things are here...AND THEY ARE!! I am so so excited. I am reading it all right now. I will relate what it all says....after I'm done. Oh dear lord I could squeal with happiness right now!

Sara

An update on the situation

So I talked to Xavier this morning (he is the person who called me yesterday) and he told me that I need to resend the Police firm (this time I'm sending the one for my area which is what I should have done in the first place) and then he will process it. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to go until the background check was finished (and that will take a while I believe) but he said that he sent a package with all my departure information to me TODAY. So I'm still able to go, we just need to send everything ASAP. I need to wait for all my stuff to be returned to me because he sent back the money order that you need for a police check as well and I don't want to have to buy another one.

So everything is STILL up in the air, but it is at a slightly lower altitude today.

Sara

The Beginning.

I have created this blog so that friends and family will be able to stay in touch with me during my time away. I am soon embarking on a nine month volunteer program that will take me ( as I have found out today) to Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia and it will be impossible to tell everyone I love what I am doing with my time away. This way I am hoping to give everyone the information they want. I decided to start this before I left so that I can give updates as they come.

So, some background information on where I am going, and what I am doing while there. I am participating in a program called Katimavik which is funded by the Canadian government and has been running for 30 years. The website (if you would like to look for yourselves) is www.katimavik.org/ . The object of the program is to introduce youth aged 17-21 to Canada and to immerse them in volunteer work, learn valuable leasons about healthy living, leadership, the environment, our official languages and the trials and tribulations of living with 10 other strangers in limited space. The volunteers are made into a group according to the socio-demographic of Canada, meaning that there will be:

1 project leader
1 person from BC or the Yukon
2 people from the Prairies, Northwest Territories or Nunavut
4 people from Ontario
3 people from Quebec
1 person from the Atlantic provinces

Some of you already know this since I have explained the program to a few people. So, to continue, we will be living in three different communities for three monthes each. In each community we will spend two weeks with a billeting family to get a feel of how a resident lives. After the two weeks we will be assigned to a volunteer position (some examples are working in a old age home, community centre, elementary school, national park etc.) and will work there for the duration of our stay. One of our locations will be entirely French speaking (i.e. my Quebec placement) and so we will have to learn to speak at least a workable French.

I think that is one of the parts I am most looking forward to. I really want to bilingual in SOME language and French seems as good as anyother (and probably better than most since it IS an official language).

While we are not going to be paid for any of the work during to program, we don't have to pay for any neccesities either. All our travel, board and food is paid for by the program and we are given $3 a day to use at our own discretion and a $1000 bursary at the very end of the program. Some people decide to drop out of the program before it is finished for various reasons (homesickness, trouble with roommates, kicked out for behaviour etc.) and don't recieve the $1000. However, I VOW TO NOT BE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE! Hopefully that statement will not come back to bite me in the butt later on. Though $21 a week does not seem like a lot of money, from reading other blogs by other participants it is obvious that it IS possible to stretch the money and remember $21 dollars a week can become $84 a month...which isn't a LOT but will have to do. I heard a rumour recently that said that they were increasing the amount to $4 a day which is $28 a week and $112 a month, or one roundtrip ticket from Toronto to Windsor on the ViaRail economy class trains. Well, I will probably bring a few hundred dollars of my own just in case it's needed(though I have been warned that any money I bring WILL be spent by the end of the program so I'm going to be keeping it low) but I'm going to try very hard to not spend more than is needed. The money I bring would be more for essentials like more warm clothes or t-shirts or a specific brand of toothpaste.

While we are provided with things like deodorant, toothpaste and 'lady products', they are all going to be generic brands so if there is a preferred brand it must be bought with our own money. Also, if we want any junk type food...that must also be bought with our own money. Unfortunetly, the healthy living part of the program does not budget in ice cream and chocolate or Mac and Cheese and other processed foods. We will be on a budget for our food and it will be interesting seeing how we cope with trying to feed 11 hungry people every night with veggies and pasta (meat is expensive and probably won't be served every day).

Also, there is a system to chores apparently. For 5 weeks you do your volunteer service and then the next week two people stay home and do all the house work including shopping, cleaning, and cooking. And you do your own laundry once a week. Also, on weekends we are allowed to arrange day trips or overnight trips to see more of the area we are living in and to explore the culture.

That is about all I can think about right now. I'll update as information comes in!

Now, I'm off to get ready for work.

Sara