During our first week here, our Project Leader took us to La Vie (Life) presented by Les Sept Doigts de la Main (The Seven Fingers of the Hand). It was spectacular. It is a play with circus elements and it had a live DJ. The story was about Pergatory and what happens after you die and before you either go to Heaven or Hell. It was all about this one man figuring out why he was dead and how he died. So in his quest to figure this out we find out the stories of all the other characters, and get to see their Circus act to match. There was lots of trapezery, the art trapezing, trapeze artistery? In any case, it was amazing. And that was the night I found out I wasn't in Ontario anymore. There was a scene where a very lonely woman sang a song titled Everybodies Fucking but Me. And after that gracious song, there comes the scene with the metal detectors in an airport (the whole pergatory theme was that it was an airplane...she was a flight attendant) and the new guy kept settin git off. So she told him to remove and article of clothing each time until he was standing on stage in his underwear. By this time the ring master came on with the hand held metal detector and swept over his body. The thing that kept setting it off was a nail in his nose. A really LONG nail in his nose. But after that he did the rest of the show in his underwear, that is until during a dance someone pulled them down. Yeah. The audiance saw everything. Twice because after he covered up, they uncovered him once again. Definitly not in Ontario anymore. But it was funny anyways. Lots of sexual jokes. Lots of funny sexual jokes.
Anyways...I have a housemanagers report to fill out. My next post will be to tell you about my time taking care of the house. Cooking and cleaning for 11...fun.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
My Workplace
So for the past (HOLY COW!) month I have been working at CFI, Carrefour Familiale Intermède, in their day-care dealio-thinger and their second hand shop. I prefer the second hand shop because I have the darndest time discipling the children. The reason: they don't understand English and I don't know how to say stop that in a nice way. I end up saying Les Gars (translated means Boys...) and then I lose my words. In the second hand shop I help people with prices and take their money. It's pretty simple.
So that's on Monday Tuesdays. On Wednesdays Thursdays Fridays I work at Virage, a support group for people undergoing cancer treatments. There I loan out wigs, figure out the free parking, schedule massages and yoga and workshops and stuff enveloppes. And one of my supervisors found out recently that I am very good at photocopying so I am the honorary photocopier. That's right. I think my nametag should say:
Caitlyn Weir
Katimavik Volunteer
Photocopier Extraordinaire
I wish it did. It just says CAITLYN WEIR BÉNÈVOLAT. (volunteer)
This placement wasn't my first, or second choice. It wasn't even my third. I would say it wasn't my fourth but I didn't have to think that far behind. I definitly didn't expect it, I can tell you that much. But I don't hate it. That'S the main thing. There are parts that are very satisfying. I've seen 2 women leave Virage with smiles and beautiful wigs, that looked better than their real hair. That was the best moment for me, for now at least.
Also, this kind of falls under this catagory. Virage had a Gala, as they do every year, but this year they happened upon 2 extra tickets. The result: LyLy and I got to attend the Gala. They had a five course meal, a silent auction with pieces starting at 1 000$ and an old fashioned auction with the person yelling out numbers with items that started at around 2 or 3 thousand dollars. I was culture shocked. And to top it all off, there was a man at our table that has the really cool mustache that curls up. He made me smile.
Oh, and you know what? Here in Quebec, they do the double kiss thing on the cheek. I first encountered it at the Gala and the first person that extended this gesture was the man with the funny mustache. And since then it has happened a gazillion times! Ok, slight exageration, nut it feels like it has happened a lot. Most recent 2 hours ago. I need a class on the Double Cheek Kiss etiquette. N'est pas?
PS- I'm tired of speaking French...I want an Anglophone!
So that's on Monday Tuesdays. On Wednesdays Thursdays Fridays I work at Virage, a support group for people undergoing cancer treatments. There I loan out wigs, figure out the free parking, schedule massages and yoga and workshops and stuff enveloppes. And one of my supervisors found out recently that I am very good at photocopying so I am the honorary photocopier. That's right. I think my nametag should say:
Caitlyn Weir
Katimavik Volunteer
Photocopier Extraordinaire
I wish it did. It just says CAITLYN WEIR BÉNÈVOLAT. (volunteer)
This placement wasn't my first, or second choice. It wasn't even my third. I would say it wasn't my fourth but I didn't have to think that far behind. I definitly didn't expect it, I can tell you that much. But I don't hate it. That'S the main thing. There are parts that are very satisfying. I've seen 2 women leave Virage with smiles and beautiful wigs, that looked better than their real hair. That was the best moment for me, for now at least.
Also, this kind of falls under this catagory. Virage had a Gala, as they do every year, but this year they happened upon 2 extra tickets. The result: LyLy and I got to attend the Gala. They had a five course meal, a silent auction with pieces starting at 1 000$ and an old fashioned auction with the person yelling out numbers with items that started at around 2 or 3 thousand dollars. I was culture shocked. And to top it all off, there was a man at our table that has the really cool mustache that curls up. He made me smile.
Oh, and you know what? Here in Quebec, they do the double kiss thing on the cheek. I first encountered it at the Gala and the first person that extended this gesture was the man with the funny mustache. And since then it has happened a gazillion times! Ok, slight exageration, nut it feels like it has happened a lot. Most recent 2 hours ago. I need a class on the Double Cheek Kiss etiquette. N'est pas?
PS- I'm tired of speaking French...I want an Anglophone!
Friday, October 17, 2008
I am going to post some pictures. Here they are. 
Thursday, October 16, 2008
My group
The first thing I should tell you is about is my group.
Heavenly, known to us as LyLy, is from Gatineau, QB. She has a hard time understanding and speaking English, so sometimes she says some pretty ridiculous things. She is fun to have around and is my work buddy for this first a Trimester and she dresses somewhat emo/goth. But we love her to bits so we don't care.
Brigitte, is from somewhere near Quebec City, QB. She speaks English very well and is also very cool to hang out with. She's very down to earth and a good person to talk to. She helps me with my french and makes sure I know how to pronounce the swear words I might need.
Jean-Sol is from Quebec City. His English is also very good so he and I talk in both French and English and have some secret French jokes that go over the other Anglophones' heads. He and I make up the Second Language coomittee for this Trimester and have to organise some French activities.
Courtney is from near Edmonton, AB. She is the hippie of the house and is totally nice. I don't think she has a mean bone in her body. We talk about her trip to the Netherlands and how things are going in the house and ways to improve them. We are constantly laughing and hug attacking eachother.
Jamie, from Toronto, ON, is very opinionated, which is what I love most about her. She voices her opinions in a way that respects others while still getting her point across. She and I talk a lot about Marineland (mostly just singing the theme song...) and compare Montreal to Toronto. We bonded quite fast and she and I are tight.
Nicole...my ROOMY! She hails from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (I spelt that just to show you I can...impressive, eh?) We have so much in common from our time spent in the Prairies to the way we were raised. She has been there for me during the whole time. We have so many discussions and stories to tell eachother...she's just amazing. We are also we tight.
Alex is from Vancouver, BC (Surrey? Suray? Suree? I don't know how to spell it. Bbut I know it sounds like Sir-eee) His brain comes up with so many ideas that his mouth can't keep up. In other words he's very random. But he is also Philisophocal and can make a whole room of strangers laugh in less than 10 minutes. He keeps the house full of smiles. Everyone loves Alex.
Stephen is from Grand Bay, NB. He is pretty awesome. We are housemanagers right now and doing an amazing job. I'm trying to teach him how to cook, but you know some boys. He's great to hang out with and talk to and loves curd cheese.
Troy is from North Bay, ON and is socially awkward, which goes fine in our household considering we have a goth, a jock, a hippie, a clown, a farm-kid, a city-kid and me, a camp counsellor. He is one of a kind. And he loves my cooking! Yay! And I didn't even need to brain wash him. :D
We had another participant, but she, unfortunately, dropped out because the program wasn't right for her. We miss her, but if she hadn't dropped out, I wouldn't have switched rooms and would have never gotten to know Nicole the way I did. I found the silver lining.
Heavenly, known to us as LyLy, is from Gatineau, QB. She has a hard time understanding and speaking English, so sometimes she says some pretty ridiculous things. She is fun to have around and is my work buddy for this first a Trimester and she dresses somewhat emo/goth. But we love her to bits so we don't care.
Brigitte, is from somewhere near Quebec City, QB. She speaks English very well and is also very cool to hang out with. She's very down to earth and a good person to talk to. She helps me with my french and makes sure I know how to pronounce the swear words I might need.
Jean-Sol is from Quebec City. His English is also very good so he and I talk in both French and English and have some secret French jokes that go over the other Anglophones' heads. He and I make up the Second Language coomittee for this Trimester and have to organise some French activities.
Courtney is from near Edmonton, AB. She is the hippie of the house and is totally nice. I don't think she has a mean bone in her body. We talk about her trip to the Netherlands and how things are going in the house and ways to improve them. We are constantly laughing and hug attacking eachother.
Jamie, from Toronto, ON, is very opinionated, which is what I love most about her. She voices her opinions in a way that respects others while still getting her point across. She and I talk a lot about Marineland (mostly just singing the theme song...) and compare Montreal to Toronto. We bonded quite fast and she and I are tight.
Nicole...my ROOMY! She hails from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (I spelt that just to show you I can...impressive, eh?) We have so much in common from our time spent in the Prairies to the way we were raised. She has been there for me during the whole time. We have so many discussions and stories to tell eachother...she's just amazing. We are also we tight.
Alex is from Vancouver, BC (Surrey? Suray? Suree? I don't know how to spell it. Bbut I know it sounds like Sir-eee) His brain comes up with so many ideas that his mouth can't keep up. In other words he's very random. But he is also Philisophocal and can make a whole room of strangers laugh in less than 10 minutes. He keeps the house full of smiles. Everyone loves Alex.
Stephen is from Grand Bay, NB. He is pretty awesome. We are housemanagers right now and doing an amazing job. I'm trying to teach him how to cook, but you know some boys. He's great to hang out with and talk to and loves curd cheese.
Troy is from North Bay, ON and is socially awkward, which goes fine in our household considering we have a goth, a jock, a hippie, a clown, a farm-kid, a city-kid and me, a camp counsellor. He is one of a kind. And he loves my cooking! Yay! And I didn't even need to brain wash him. :D
We had another participant, but she, unfortunately, dropped out because the program wasn't right for her. We miss her, but if she hadn't dropped out, I wouldn't have switched rooms and would have never gotten to know Nicole the way I did. I found the silver lining.
Many Apologies
Okay, I am so sorry for not posting in a while, but it hasn't felt like it to me. I still can't believe that I will have been away from home for a whole month on Friday...Yup, that's right. It's my month-aversary with Katimavik. So much has happened since I've typed last. So I'll try to cover everything. In short posts to follow. I should really be posting a little at a time anyway. I'll do my best to start that habit, but I can't make any promises.
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