The End is Nigh

Katimavik is now coming to a close. Like a pregnancy, I feel I should reflect. It has been 9 months of my life after all.

One thing I've realized is that I am far from being done learning. I love learning. I found that out at the marsh. Learning what all the different things are and telling the kids all about it too. The look on a kids face when I tell them that a glass of water in the marsh could stay there for 1 000 years is priceless.

Another, I like working with people. The soup kitchen and the marsh were highlights because I got to be around people and socialize while working. So there's a definite career path in that direction.

Living with people is hard. I didn't realize how anal I can be about stuff. Like chewing with your mouth open. Small thing that actually really bothers me. And dirty houses. Eww. Not to mention certain personalities. I'll mention that next.

I've discovered some personalities that don't work well with me. People hwo don't take initative while I work my butt off gets old very fast. Partially because I feel that everyone should know exactly what to do...like I do. But I now know that they don't. Some people need a little prompting then away they go! And they do a good job. They just need a little nudge first is all.

Everyone is from a different background. Some have more experience in life, while others have more experience in books and others, yet, have experience in neither. We all have different ways of dealing with things. Some are destructive, others implosive. Our senses of humour are different. What I think is taking it too far is hilarious to others.

Everyone has different taste...literally. One guy in my group dumps a good layer of cayanne pepper on everything...I can't even handle a little bit of pepper. And cooking for all of the needs like that is quite the challenge.

That's all for now...but more reflection will be brought up. For shizzle.

Love you all! I'll be in Alberta today actually...in about 7 hours and I don't know when I can post again, so until then. Peace and Love Forevs.

How Time Flys

Did anyone else thing of a clock with wings when they read that? No? Well then you haven't turned on your imagination. You can locate the button right behind your left ear. Press it, then read the title again. See what I mean?

Imaginations aside, it is June 12th 2009 and I only have 5 days left in Katimavik. I feel that need to swear to prove how epic this is for me except I will refrain. Mainly because my family reads this (yes mother...i occasionaly swear) and I don;t know who looks over your shoulders when you read this. BUT 5 DAYS!!!! That's ridiculous!

I left September 17th of last year and it's June 12th. That's almost a whole school year! And next Wednesday I head of to Alberta to work at a summer camp. :O

I had to say good byw to Oak Hammock Marsh today. It was so sad. I made my unemotional boss almost cry. If I started he would have teared. And I gave out so many hugs. I'm going to bawl tonight. My only consolation is that I can visit at the end of the summer.

I will most likely post later...but in case I don't, I miss you all and I am thinking of you, even if I don't cantact you. I might be way too busy this summer. We'll have to see.

LOVE YOU!
MISS YOU!
SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER!

Ain't life grand?

I got home from a fruitful day at work today to a note from Jeansol. It said he would miss us and such and suddenly it dawned on me. He went home! Now, I knew he was supposed to go home, Head Office said that he should go home and rest, but that was on Friday. They wouldn't have looked at his paperwork until this morning. His flight leaves in 10 minutes. I thought we would have until tomorrow at least or later tonight. But darn! I didn't even know until 4:30. Ugh. This makes me mad.

I can't write much more. I'm very peed off. But I have this info for my family.

Me: I'm a Great Blue Heron...sweet deal!
Mom: You are a Tundra Swan.
Dad: You're a Bald Eagle ( I laughed a little when I saw that)
Aunt Anne: You're a Wood Stork
Grampa: You're a Wood Stork
Doreen: You're smack dab in the middle of the Turkey Vulture and the Northern Gannet.

I'm back.

So my bread is now in 2 beautiful loaves. I hope they rise because it's a new recipe and I think I messed it up. We'll find out in approxamately one hour.

Not much else to report. I have my ticket to get to Alberta already booked. I'm just waiting on Katimavik to send me my ticket so I can change it. I'm very excited.

At work I measured my wingspan. We have this nifty string that has different bird wingspans from all over north America. I have the same wingspan as a Great Blue Heron. Booya. That's right. Come Momday morning I will be measuring the wingspan for my mom, dad, aunt, grampa and his lady friend. I still have the lines marked on my arm.

It's cold here. Although I refuse to admit it. I'm in a tank top.

I have to go now. I miss you all!

Holy Moly

What a weekend. I was back in Ontario for the weekend and it was hectic and busy. I hung out with my parents, visited with my grampa and Doreen, my aunt stopped by. Not to mention Bernie, Terri and Machela. And on top of that I had enough time to go to a dentist appointment, have my glasses dewarped, see my guidance counsellor, drive to Grand Bend and back to see my sister, buy some wicked awesome sunglasses, go out for breakie and on top of that sleep. Phew. It's great to be back in Katimavik...what a nice break. I never thought I'd be saying that.

I'm housemanager right now. It really sucks. I now greatly dislike cooking and cleaning for 8. I wouldn't mind it for 2, but not 8. And I'm missing work. I want to go back to the marsh! Oh well. This is my last week as manager of the household. That's the only thing getting me through this.

I got 11 hours of sleep last night and I am still dog tired. I went to bed at 10. I woke up at 9 this morning, still very tired. It's not fair. I want a nap.

Oh, and this one girl in the group is really getting on my nerves. She works at a school and up until now has skipped out on the last couple hours of work to go to the seniors home to help there. She already got a verbal, but I just found out now that she got fired from her job. Now usually that means dismissal from the program, but as I can clearly see she is still here. And get this...she is working at the seniors home! She basically got rewarded for getting fired. It's not fair. In Montreal I hated my job too, but I still did it. I didn't get fired and go to the job I really wanted. She always does stuff like that. She's been handed things on a silver platter all throughout the program and I am sick of it. Thank God there is only one more month. Then I have the choice never to see her again.

The rest of billeting went great. I love the Mathesons. They took me to their church and I helped on the farm. And hold on...I need to form my bread into loaves. This will take just a minute.

Billeting

I'm billeting right now on a farm just outside of Stonewall Manitoba. It is so cool! They have beef cattle and chickens and a horse and a dog...the calves have just been born and they have about 60 eggs that are supposed to be hatching on Monday!!! I barbequed last night, shishcabobs (how in the world do you spell that word?) and I burnt myself pretty good. No matter, the bobs tasted great. I helped out with chores today. Help being hte operative word. I sat beside Bill in the tractor and pulled the front wheel drive lever when he told me to. I had fun anyways. And Patti is making bread today...mmm her bread is delicious! And Bill's brother, Imet in church a few weeks back and I re-met him yesterday. I met Their son, Nick and one of they're daughters is coming out next week...not sure which one. I think it may Roberta.

And the coolest part, they also have a boy from Ontario billeting from the church. His name is Steve and he's nineteen from Mississauga. He's working at the Winnipeg airport. He plays guitar and can knit and we enjoy the same music.... I have a friend who's not in the Katimavik program!!! I think that's an accomplishment.

I'm at the library right now because I needed to buy a watch. Bill and Patti had to go to a funeral so they drove me in so I oculd go to the Bargain shop...I also ended up getting a couple pairs of shorts. It's supposed to get warmer. *crosses fingers*

At work, they trained me on school programs which is essentially easy. I have followed one, I'm following another on Tuesday and then I have my own on Wednesday. Ya. Crazy, eh? I have another one next Friday too. It'll be a long day. But an exciting one. Hopefully less time in the cafe. Gosh I hope so. I don't care much for the cafe. It's boring and I have nothing to do.

I have another 15 minutes or so to kill. Sheesh.

I think I'm going to head down to Timothy Beans for a hot drink. And as of Wednesday I'll be able to head to the Rock for an alcoholic drink. That's right folks...legal age in Manitoba is 18. Booya. Now if only I like the taste of alcohol, this could be so much cooler. Oh well. I'll revel in the knowledge that if I wanted I would go to the bar.

And I forgot my camera at home. This sucks. I hope Angela makes it back to the house and gets my phone message. I tried going there a few minutes ago, but it's locked and she moved the spare key. Ugh. I hate forgetting things. And the awful part is, I know exactly where it is! It's on my bed near my pillow, probably under the blankets or some clothes. This stinks.

I might write more later, but they're internet is dial-up and snail speed is the highest setting.

Peace and love (me) forever! Lol. Miss you lots!

House Mother

I am the Housemanager for the week...in other words I am the Mom of the week. Of course I have help from Stephen, the Dad of the week. This is our second week housemanaging together. It's pretty cool what we have planned. We're going to make ravioli tomorrow. From scratch. Just cause we can. And we're cool. We also have some other things like leek pie, cheeseburger pie (again) and burgers. Mmm...we haven't had burgers in forev's. I'm super excited for them.

Right now I'm waiting for the darned bread to cook. There's one stubborn loaf that has decided it would rather be raw and is refusing to cook. I think it's making protest signs as we speak.

Listning to Breaking Benjamin.... :)

Will blog more tomorrow. It'a Facebook time....Love you!

My Saturday

We were supposed to leave today at 10 am. Our pl, bless her heart, didn't get up until 10 after 10. Courtney and I went to wake her up. But it wasn't so bad. Everyone else didn't get up until 10 anyways. We're a very lazy group.

So when we finally made it to Winnipeg, we started at the WAG...Winnipeg Art Gallery. It was okay, except that they were working on the roof and it shook an entire exhibit. It was really scary. It seriously felt like an earthquake. They had a really cute exhibit it was called "Through the eyes of a Child" and it was all art done by kids 13 years or younger. It was really well done. There was also an exhibit on china, like the plates and cups you keep in a cupboard and don't even take out for company, and then She Works Hard, all about women in the workforce and art done by women. Then there was one on some guy (can't remember his name...) and then one on Aboriginal shamans. I really like the one on shamans. Something about aboriginal art is refreshing.

Next we ate lunch then toured the parliament building. There were wedding photos going on that we didn't want to interrupt, but we had a good time anyways. No one was there so we had the run of the place. Then off to the Forks! It's a really awesome community market with authentic foreign food and very expensive stores. One store was a hemp store. Everything was made with all natural fibers from hemp. There were others like Global Connections, which was really cool clothes that were way too expensive. I ended up only getting fish and chips...they were so good. He made everything right there in front of me. And it was delicious. It was m snack.

Now we're back home. I dyed some hard boiled eggs, creeped on Facebook and am listening to a very intense game of poker. It's the fad of the trimester. I personally am not a huge fan of card games. But it's quite entertaining. Except everyone was up until 1:18 last night. How do I know this if I went to bed at midnight??? Good question...there was apparently something so funny that they created this giant uproar. It woke me up. It made me slightly angry. I went out and told them that they sucked and it was like 1:30...what the heck were they doing?? They were all like "sorry, sorry Caitlyn, sorry...sorry, ya we'll keep it down...sorry Caitlyn." Oh life in the Katimahouse. YOu get used to it, I swear.

Well, I am going to get off of the computer now...I've been on forev's now. I might actually go brush my teeth. By the way...wisdom teeth stink. Why do we have them?? Mine seem to think that they can just barge into my mouth and make room where there is none. Great. Thanks wisdom teeth..thanks a lot. And one in particular is more vigilent than the rest. She making her way through (I've determined that it is indeed a she because she won't let up...she's very stubborn, doesn't mind causing me pain, and is taking her time...)

Anyways...good night y'all! I love you!

HAPPY EASTER!!!

C

Winnipeg

Today we are off to enjoy the great city that is Winnipeg. This will be my first actual visit to this city. I've driven through many times, from Ituna SK to South Western ON, but never have we actually stopped to enjoy it. So far, we've gone once to Winnipeg to visit the Forks and Mardi Jazz, except it was really late at night and there wasn't much exploring. So I count this as my first visit. I can't wait.

And yesterday, I went and stood on the roof of the Oak Hammock Marsh Building so that my family could see me via OHM Webcam. As far as I know they enjoyed it. I was a little chilly. I wasn't prepared to stand there for 30 minutes. But I liked hearing everyone. I just wish I could have seen them. I'll wait until September. Although I heard talk of a camping trip to Alberta this summer...

So I'll post later about what went on during the day. Not much has happened, except that I am very tired lately. I've been getting 8 hours of sleep, but I wake up tired. It's either my hectic life catching up to me, getting too much sleep (maybe my body suddenly decided 8 hours is too much sleep.) or my body's adjusting to my new iron levels. We'll see. I'l have to experiment. I'll start with eating more iron, then we'll move on to different ideas. My suspision is that it's a little bit of everything.

We're going to head off now. Happy Easter! Enjoy the long weekend.

Peace out.

By the way, Manitoba doesn't get Easter Monday off...kids have to go to school. Suckers.

Nuttin'

Nothing new to report. All's well in the marsh. Tomorrow I will be positioned in front of the Oak Hammock Marsh camera. Pretty sure it'll be the camera outside. Not sure when.

And right now I'm listening to Superbad. It's bad enough to see...even worse when you can't see it. Oh the cursing...how awkward.

Love you! Miss you!

Caitlyn

Oak Hammock Marsh

My new job is at Oak Hammock Marsh. It's so cool! Here's a brief list of my duties.

• feed the animals. This includes the turtle, salamanders, carp, minnows, toad, tree frog and garter snake.
  
• open exhibits
• face paint (I practice on my arm. )
• tours of the Interpretive Centre
• put on movies for the public
• do informative slide shows
• help in the cafe, preparing and serving food, washing dishes and tables, ringing the items through
• translations with Lorraine
• Marshwalk tours
• Canoe tours (!!!!)
• answering any questions that the public may have
• using the intercom to anounce upcoming activities.

So ya. It's pretty amazing. I get to everything. And come spring, I can do some tagging of birds. I'm so excited. And my boss, Jacques, told me that I was their first choice. :D That's so cool. Today I did a lot of training, but I successfully painted faces, and I helped with the cafe. I read a story to some kids and watched a movie about plants. And I got to eat marshmallows with the day camp. I'm very excited. I can't wait to be more independent. Then I can find some jobs myself. I photocopied the marshwalk and interpretive centre tour sheets so I could look over them tonight. Did I mention that this job lets me speak french?? Yup. It's like having another french job. :D I can practice my french! And maybe learn German...we'll see. Until next time!

Peace and Love Forever.

My New Job

I found out about my new job...are you ready?

Oak Hammock Marsh! (Check it out online, it's pretty sweet)

I'm going to be helping with the interpretive center and the cafe. I'm going to be helping with the animals they have, putting displays together, doing presentations, giving tours, introducing films, conserving the wetlands and cooking and serving in the cafe.

That's pretty much it. Oh! And Nicole went home. Her friends came and picked her up this morning. But it's cool. I'll see her in Alberta. :D

I'll tell you all about my first day of work on Monday. Until then!

P&LF

Stonewall MB

Greetings from Stonewall! Named after the famous Stonewall Jackson, and sits at a higher elevation than the Golden Boy on the parliament buildings with limestone quarries by the mile. I've checked out possible volunteer opportunities here and I've narrowed it down to Rosewood, a home for senior citizens, Stonewall Collegiate Institute or the Marsh. And if not those, the rest are pretty sweet. I'll let you know which one I get.

The house is freaking amazing. It's pink stucco and blue siding on the outside. And we have a fish! But it died....so we bought a new one! :D Hooray for the circle of life!

And the flights weren't that bad. We flew from Charlottetown to Ottawa, then to Winnipeg. We started our day at 7:30 am PEI time, and ended at 11 pm Manitoba time (1 am PEI time) Long day. Woot! I'm still so tired...I was so wired yesterday too...to the point of breaking out in random dance and Sesame Street tunes about bananas. Then I had an Ice Capp.... oh boy. I was very obnoxious to say the least. It was great. Now I am off to do some other stuff.

As Floridans say...
LoveyouBah! All smooshed together like that too. It's kinda cute.

The Last Post...From PEI

Sup.

This is going to be my last post from the island. This wonderful island of doom. It's currently snowing here. One last storm for one last night in the house.

I feel so sad leaving here. I really want to come back. The weird thing as that is hits me a random moments during the day. I'll just suddenly realize that this is it. We're done. It's over here. I'm slowly moving on. But don't get me wrong I can't wait for Manitoba. The other group on our cluster was the same one from Montreal so we know each other from before. It'll be great to see them again. See what they've been up to.

But this will be the last post until we make it to our house in Stonewall Manitoba. I love you all! Miss you lots!

Peace and Love Forever.

Supski

I don't have much time to type...I'm going to the Dunk to listen to a local band play. Should be cool.

Just wanted to let everyone know that there will be limited posting for a week because of rotation camp and the flying to Manitoba.

The goodbyes I had to say were so hard. I cried today after. I said goodbye to Ken and Brenda...twice. Marj cried when we hugged. I gave Booby and Brenda a hug, and even George, who is the least likely to give out hugs. I cried on the way out, all the way home, in my room... I managed to get it under control for the Y. But still...I feel like crying some more. And it's sad that I'm going, but I'm so glad to have been here.

Do you know how close I was to waiting a year and doing this next year? Weird how life works out, ain't it?

I have to go, but I'll try and post before I leave the island.

PLF

Good News for a Sad Week

I have one thing to say...


I GOT THE JOB IN ALBERTA!!! :D

The First of the Last

Today is my first day in the last week of good byes. Already today I said goodbye to Mary, Delores, Don, and Diane. I almost cried when Mary came in. It wasn't her day to volunteer (she and Don alternate Mondays) but she came in with a present for me...I haven't brought myself to open it yet. Nicole and I have been going to the Summerside Presbyterian Church every Sunday that we could. Mary also goes there so we bonded a lot. I have her phone number and will have to give her a call when I get to Stonewall. I have a whole week of goodbyes ahead. :'( Friday will be the hardest, saying goodbye to my boss, the Brenda's (there's 3) and Bobby, Darren and George. I'm not looking forward to it. I hope Friday never comes.

Still no news from Alberta...getting a little impatient. But I don't want to get too frantic. I have options. Traveling is among them. I just had the idea today that if I don't get the Alberta job I'll work somewheres in Ontario, maybe a day camp, then take a couple weeks off in August and volunteer with the Canada Summer Games. They're in PEI this year so I can visit all my friends here. It would be so much fun. And I could use my french. That is a plus.

I fly off the Stonewall Manitoba next Wednesday... *sigh* I haven't had enough time here. I don't want to go yet. The only upside is that we get to chillax with the other two groups from PEI tomorrow at our 6 month party (oh my goodness, 6 months already) and also at rotation camp.*

*Rotation Camp: A Katimavik tern meaning a 2 day get together with your cluster group, usually made up of 3 different groups, where the Project Cordinator does some activities relating to the past trimester, but mostly its a giant party at a camp. Simply put 28 teenagers, 1 supervisor, a whole camp to ourselves. Booya.

And my wisdom teeth are bothering me, in more ways than one.

That's my life as I know it. Peace and Love Forever.

Is no news good news??

Still haven't heard back from the Alberta camp yet. Geez...He said a week or two! Two weeks is monday and I don't know if that's a good thing or not. I hope it's a good thing...

Fingers crossed!

Going on the LAST WEEK!!!

I only have one week left.

:O

And I forgot to put Marj's egg beaters in her car... I hope she doesn't want to bake this weekend...oops. Oh well. I'm her favourite. I'm sure she won't mind. ;)

Other than that, the island is still afloat. I still have all of my limbs.

And I am so coming back to the island. Can you say road trip?? Who's in?

The Weekend of Perpetual Disaster

Halifax weekend in 200 words or less. This is my mission.

We started out on Thursday, not knowing where we were going to stay for the weekend. I eventually found a place at the Boys and Girls club. Sweet deal. Off to Halifax.

Friday we left at like 6:30, made it to the bridge at 7 ish (I wasn't looking at the time) and then in the time it took us to get some gas, it snowed, rained and hailed. We decided it would be best to turn around. One problem: We had to pick up the key to the B and G club at 10:00...we weren't there and had no way to get in touch with our contact. Oh dear.

Saturday, we headed off at 6:00 so as not to mess up our schedule. We went to the Halifax Farmer's Market. It's so awesome! If you get a chance it's worth checking out. Then on to Pier 21. We got a tour from an immigrant from the Netherlands. George was so cool. Then, we had an industrial picnic in the parking lot. Wraps with industrial dirt. Delicious. Next, it was off to the Science Centre. I have 2 words that will explain everything. BUBBLE ROOM. That's right. They had a freaking bubble room. Oh my. I was all for the bubble room first. I begged Nicole and Courtney to go there first. They caved and off to the bubble room. On our way back, there were these kids on the stairs and one was screaming "I want to go the bubble room!" I was thinking ot myself... "Tee hee hee. That was me like 20 minutes ago. Nice. " Then it was free time. Nicole and I wandered downtown Halifax and went into every store including Venus Envy which is a health and sex store. We jsut saw books inthe window. Boy were we a little shocked. And there was a visit to a really cool bookstore with books piled from floor to ceiling. It was cool. And then a small visit to a christian book store. And of course random clothing stores and a small cafe. Good times. But the best is yet to come.

We went to Grafton Street Diner Theatre to watch their original play Rock the Boat. I had steak and it was beautiful. But get this. Right before going in we realised that we still hadn't reached the B and G club and so called around and found a hostel. We could rent a room for like 50 bucks, which we had, so it was cool. Then during the show they called back saying "Uhh, ya. There's a slight problem. Having everyone in the same room is a fire hasard. You have to rent 2 rooms and it will be more than 100." Great. It's 10:30 and we don't have 100 for the hostel. We frantacly called everywhere we could think of. I even called Clemence to ask some of her friends in Halifax. Hostels, youth places, hotels even were called and come 11:30 we had nowhere. Sigh. At least the owner of the diner theatre was nice. She said that she would have cracked open beers if weren't under age. She gave us water and juice and sat with us trying to figure out what to do. She even offered to spot us the difference for the hostels. The whole cast was so nice. They all mentioned places, called in connections and what not. But still no place to stay. So finally Josie said she knew a co-op hippie house that might take us in. So at about midnight we drive up to a co-op house and ask ever so nicely to sleep on their living room floor. They said yes. Thank god.

Sunday, 9:00 in the morning, minus the daylight freaking savings time. Stupid thing. I lost sleep and was cranky. So we went to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. It was pretty sweet but so as not to kill everyone, I was alone the whole time. Still cranky, but alone so no one to take it out on. Then we waited together and I got one of my "you haven't been drinking enough water, you bumface," headaches and my blood sugar went crazy low on top of cranky. I was a beautiful sight that morning. So snappy and angry and irritable. Then I got some food and water in my system, but it still took a while to get to my system. I was still very irritable at the Maritime Museum so I stayed and talked with Merlin, the parrot, while everyone enjoyed the museum. And my mom. I had my Sunday convo with her and Terri. It was great. And then, I think we started off for home. On the way home we stopped at fort Beausejour and played shtugh and walked around. It's in New Brunswick. It was cool. That's pretty much it.

It was crazy. But I would love to go back. I enjoyed the GHA...Greater Halifax Area. Yup, it's a mini GTA. It's so cute. It has the same number of people as London. :) It's so cute in the Maritimes.

Work is good. I cook on my own everyonce in a while and I adore the volunteers that come in. I hate being housemanager. I miss work so much. I'm going to miss it here. I leave in 14 days. :'(
And my work at the Y is so much fun! I love the kids.

Peace love forever. xxx ooo

Hey Yo Hoes (the garden tool that is...)

Everytime I go to say that I feel like I might offend someone. So I always stop at Hey Yo...(Insert awkward pause here) It's great.

So I'm between breaks right now. We ended up going to Halifax and that in itself will take up a whole post. It was....interesting. Yes. Interesting. That's what it was.

But I'm still alive and well and that's what counts. There's also a fashion show tonight that I'll be in for the Salvation Army. Gosh I love the SA...and the friendly Presbyterians...they're cool too. I'll be in touch.

Peace and Love.

So Far So Good...

As of now we are going to Halifax, even though Head Office hasn't sent the protocol back saying that we can go. We're stressing anyways...Eek! I have so much food to make! :O

Later Gators

Explursion day!

Tpday is the day we're supposed to leave for Halifax. We're going to try and beat the storm, make it across the Confederation Bridge and through the Pass before it gets to bad. Not only that, we don't even know if we're allowed to go or not. We haven't heard anything from Regional Office or our Project Coordinator. All of this is going on and our PL is on her 24 and won't be back until later. Stress level is at about a 6 out of 10 and rising. I've already been to Halifax, with Clemence, but I didn't do the whole museum scene and I would really like to. So I REALLY want to go to Halifax again.

And the knitted hat that I lost...Sean found it! And since I don't know for sure if I'm going to be able to pick it up, one of Clemence's coworkers, Craig is going to pick it up for me. :D Hooray! I'll have my hat again!

And I finished a book that Clemence lent me. It's "Le Voyage d'hector ou la recherche de bonheur" Which means, "Hector's voyage or the search for happiness". It's written by Francois Lelord and I would recommend it to everyone. And if you can't read French...I think now is the time to learn because this book is so good.

Anyways, I'm hungry. See yas!

Ice Storms and Snow Storms

Pretty much every week there's a snow storm. But last week, we got the pleasure of an intense Ice Storm...I'm talking like freezing rain all day! We had 2 inches of ice on everything. It's so pretty. And so dangerous. And at the moment we are trying to go to Halifax using Government money...there are so many hoops and so little time to jump. So far, I found our accommodations today at lunch and we sent off the final draft just now (12:27 am) and we're leaving tomorrow, at 5 to try and beat another snow storm. Yup. Such is life in the maritimes.

And my interview with Parry Sound was crappy. We got through the whole interview and I was doing great. I think she was really going to hire me. And then I had to ask about the requirements that I read on the internet. One of which is that I have to be 19. And she said I had to be 19 before the summer. Great. I' ll get right on that. Hop in my time machine and tell my parents to have me a year earlier. It'll work perfectly. Except I don't have a time machine... and the biology won't work either. Oh well. I tried. But what really upset me was that I applied to be a counsellor in their residential camp, and she came to me offering the Wilderness Canoe Trip Leader business. Ugh! It's no fair.

The Alberta camp also called for an interview and that went over well too. I really hope I get that job! Phone interviews are hard. And I had some really weird questions like "What do physically look like when you get stressed?" Uhh...hmmm...Let me think. I've never had to look in a mirror when I was stressed so...not sure. Maybe like this? It was so hard to answer. But then they knew that even with seat-of-the-pants questions like that, I answer well enough. I made a list of questions prior to the interview and they definitly asked all of them. Hooray for preparedness!!! :D They should be getting back to me sometime next week... fingers crossed!

And, I'm housemanagers with Jeansol. We did some cooking, and cleaning, and recruiting in High Schools. No big deal, really. But I miss work. I miss it a lot. I went back today to visit and it made me all happy inside. :) I really like the soup kitchen. Maybe there's one in London, for when I get back...

Anyways...it's like 12:40 here and as much as I love typing you... I like sleep more. Let's face it. I'm still a teenager. Night y'all.

So terribly tired

I'm still so tired from Halifax. I'm having a hard time spelling. I should leave my spelling errors in just for you all to see. It's ridiculous.

So in the soup kitchen I made turkey soup from scratch yesterday, base and all, and then today I made pork ribblets with barbecue sauce and carrots with fries. It's great. I made it all by myself and didn't run out. Booya. My soup was amazing. Although I need to learn how to cook with salt. My mother nevers cooks with salt and so therefore, neither do I. My boss is so surprised. But I'm getting better.

In other news...ya I got nothing. My interview with Parry Sound went amazing except for the fact that I'm not 19 so I can't get the job. I was so close to getting hired!! She almost hired me...I could feel it in my bones. But Wilderness Canoe Trip Leaders have to be 19. Darnit. There's still Alberta. That interview isn't until next week.

Other than that there's nothing. Life goes on. The Island is covered in snow. And I am going to pee now. Taa taa.

Halifax, for Shizzle.

Yesterday i started my day at 7:30 with a croissant and some peanut butter, then by 9:00 (Clemence and I slowly did our morning routines) we were off to Halifax, Nova Scotia. We were super excited, I for Halifax, she because we were visiting a couple of her good friends. We stopped for a bagel in Masstown, NS, and drove to Douglas' house and hung out there for a bit. Then we went and picked up Sean and off to downtown Halifax! We parked the car and walked the boardwalk. I definitly saw Theodore the Tugboat Too (They tried to be funny. Instead of Theodore 2, it was Theodore Too...Ha ha, I almost forgot to laugh) Then we drove to Point Pleasent park and walked along the ocean. I got some dried out sea urchins, some purple zebre mussels and crab shells. It's so cool! I touched the ocean! And I was called an ocean virgin...boys an be silly. Is it really surprising that I've never been that close to the ocean that I can remember? I probably went to the ocean when I was in Northern Ireland, but I can't remember. Then we went to Rockbottom and I ate creamy garlic shrimp on pasta. Delicious. The only low point was that I lost my hat that I knitted...it had pompoms and everything!!! I'll have to make another one. Then at 9:15, we found out that the whole reason we went to Halifax was going to be late. They delayed Clemence's brother's flight from Zurich by an hour and he missed his connection from Montreal. So he was 2 and 1/2 hours late. We finally picked him up at 10:00. Mission Accomplished. And he got all his luggage. Bonus. Then after insisting that he would be fine, he passed out in the back seat until we hit Summerside, pretty much. By the time Clem and I got home, it was 2:30 in the morning. Bad news: we both work at 8:30. And that's not even the best part. Her mom was worried the whole time because of the massive storm that was barreling our way. The storm didn't come in until 3:00 this morning. That's right...we beat it by half and hour. And by golly was it a doozy! There has to have been at least 2 feet of snow...then it rained. But I couldn't sleep in the car because I had to keep Clemence awake while she drove. So I was awake from 7:30 am to 3:00 am...Thank goodness work was cancelled. I slept until 11:00. Then woke up with a massive headache. I hadn't eaten in over 12 hours. My body hated me. But I drank a lot yesterday. I drank 2 water bottles (500 ml), 2 Arizona Iced Teas (950 ml), and 2 glasses of water (~500 ml). That's right. Like 4 litres of liquid. I was peeing like a racehorse. It was hilarious.

Right now, I'm still at Clemence's. We're getting ready to clean...woohoo! Then it's crafting time. Then I should probably go home. Billiting ended last night. Everyone probably misses me. I'm so loved! :D Kiding...they're plotting revenge on me like right now. I can feel it...

Saturday=Hockey Day

Today was freaking amazing! We woke up at 8:30, Jodi came over at 9:40, we left for Stanley Bridge at 10:00. Got there by 10:30. Watched Clemence bounce up and down for an hour and a half, then plunked myself down in a snow bank and watched Team Daniel play some good old fashioned pond hockey. They tied their first game, won their second. Won their thrid to qualify them for championships where they won again!!! They were in the recreational diviaion where they played against what looked to be 12 year olds. It was hilarious! But these 12 year olds were very good at hockey. They started playing dirty in the championship. But Clemence showed them what for. They got medals and I got pictures :) I was the official photographer for Team Daniel. I got some wicked awesome action shots. They'll be posted soon I hope on Facebook.

Then, tonight, I played ball hockey at the Boys and Girls Club. I actually scored a goasl! Me! Of all people! I got a beautiful shot right in the top corner. Don't know how I managed that. I can't even lift the ball. I know, I tried earlier that night. Then I helped one of the youngins score a goal. The goalie was way out of the way and we both just kinda pushed it in. Itw as ridiculous. Our team won that. Woohoo for the White Team!

Now Clem and I are slumming watching Robin Hood: Men in Tights. It's crazy! I love it. Why haven't I watched it before?? I love this. Gotta go. Good fight scene.

Miss you all! Off to Halifax tomorrow! :D Tres exciter...dans le sans anglais, pas francais.

Five Months Gone By

Last Tuesday, February the 17th, I had been on the Katimavik program for five months...ya. Count them. 1 2 3 4 5 months!!! That's ridiculous.

In other news, Clem's blender broke mid smoothie and so I ate (yes I meant to write ate) a poorly mixed combination of mushed up banana, frozen strawberries, thawed blueberries, cranberry juice and tofu. Yum. It looked like vomit. But tasted delicious. :)

Work was pretty cool. So far we've served 80, 79, 87, 62 and 60 this week. My boss was talking with me earlier this week and said that her grand daughter didn't know what to do after she graduates this year and was thinking of maybe doing the Katimavik program. So my boss wants her granddaughter and I to talk. She's taking us out for lunch, probably sometime next week. This will be the first non-Katimavictim in Summerside that's my age that I will have hung out with. I'm excited.

We got a nasty blizzard last night...the sam one that hit Ontario a few days back I believe, and the heavens opened up for a good 2 or 3 hours and plopped, yes plopped, a foot of snow on us. Thanks Mother Nature...I enjoyed it. I can't say the same for other parts of the Maritimes.

I found the most butt ugly dress and used it to patch the holes in my jeans. The pattern is multi-coloured paisleys on a multi-coloured backdrop. And the dress itself was like a sack of potatoes. A very square person would have looked beautiful in this dress. I hand sewed some patches to the two gaping holes in the inner thighs of my pants. It looks pretty cool. I might have to do some decorative patches as well.

I know how to make delicious leek pie. And ratatouie. Yum.

Clem's gotten me hooked on an old sappy Western. It's called "Lonsesome Dove" and it's amazing! Then again after 3 months with no tv I'm liable to get hooked on anything right now.

Tomorrow I have pond hockey capers, and Sunday is Halifax! Weekend of glory if I do say so myself.

Love and Peace and all that jazz.

This post is brought to you my my mother. Thank you for pestering me until I did it.

Chillaxin' in S'side

We served 80 people today at the kitchen.

I heard back from the Parry Sound lady...goodness gracioua. She wants to call me next Tuesday at 10:00. Ha! Good luck...I'm working from 8:30 to 5:00. Although, I might magically have no work to do at 10:00 and be able to runhome just for this call. Right. This is the 3rd time I've explained my work hours to her. She just doesn't get it.

Anywho...billiting is amazing! I ate Swiss fondu at Clemence's parents and spoke French all night. I have some pretty amazing books now so I can keep up my french. I love Clemence. She's my billet buddy for the week. She's 25 and taking me to Halifax!!! For shizzle.

That's it except for I hate bunk beds. Long live futons!!

Billiting: Day 2

Howdy y'all, it's officially theend of day 2 of billiting and here is the low down.

Her name is Clemence. She's in her 20's, early 20's I believe, she's native to the country of France and immigrated here when she was 18. She is the youngest of 5, with 3 brothers and 1 sister. She speaks english, french, german and some spanish. She is working for the Canada Games 2009, which will be held in PEI in this upcoming summer. She lives alone in an apartment not too far from the Katimahouse and she's so cool! We talk about everything! We just get along well. I couldn't have asked for a better billet mom this trimester.

In other news, my wrist is acting up. I feel like those old ladies who can tell when its gonna rain because their joints are stiff and sore. Except that mine is definitly because I played floor hockey and haven't rested it yet. I'm icing it with snow from the balcony. It's too awesome.

And I ate anti-Valentines Day cake. It was spectacular.

Oh and I'm cutting teeth. Yup my wisdom teeth have finally made their appearance. This isn't good, I won't be able to get them out until at least december, if not next march. A whole year. Ya. I'm not impressed. I should have gotten them out last year. I'm just waiting for the other three to show up for the party. Oh well, such is life.

Anyways, I'm tired. Night.

Bad Luck, I've Had None.

It's friday the 13th and my luck has never been better. I'm bilitting right now. I'm with Clemance in her single apartment living the life. We get along great. She's so cool. She speaks 4 languages...Engliah, French, German and Spanish. Sweet. For the moment we have planned an anti-valentines party, and she's going to take me to Halifax! I'm meeting her parents tomorrow, and her brother as well. And her other brother at the end of the week. I'm so excited. She's amazing. We're actually talking right now. We can talk about everything. I might have to post later. My the way, my cold is still here. Dry cough and runny nose...ugh. I'll get rid of it soon. I'm going to post later. Love you!

Island saying of the week

My Isaland saying of the week...

HAVE A LARGE DAY!!!

It's great eh?

Anyways, not a whole lot is hip hop hapenning here (ooohhh, alliteration. Nice.) Just trying to upload some pictures. We just played a rough game of floor hockey with the PEI Special Olympics. Oh Lordy can they play. I got beat out numerous times for the soft-puck-with-hole (I think they call it a ringette) These guys are good. Hopefully we can play them again. We narowly won the game. They were beating us for most of the game. We finally tied it up in the last 3 minutes. Then inthe shoot I got my first goal! I had been getting it inthe general direction of the net all night but I actually scored! Hooray for me! I'm not completely hopeless!! :D

In other news, I learned how to knit. It's amazing! My friend Mary from the Salvation Army photocopied some instructions for me, and now, with some help from Nicole, I can knit!! I'm int he process of practicing so I think this first one I'll keep. It looks really funny. It's like 5 stiches at the top, and then like 40 at the end...it's hilarious looking!! But it's holding together.

I got sick on the weekend. I think I ate something bad because it only lasted like 8 hours, and since I donn't believe in the 24 hour flu, it had to have been something I ate. Probably cream cheese. FYI- Never eat 2 week old cream cheese. It didn't occur to me until today that I bought that cream cheese when I was housemanager...2 weeks ago. Yah. Smart one Caitlyn. Real smart. So now I've learned my lesson, lesson being, my stomach does not like 2 week old dairy and rejects everything thereafter for 8 hours. Sigh. At least now I know. It didn't even like it when I took a gravol. Even apple juice didn't work. Oh and get this, after tormenting me the whole night, the next day my stomach growled as if to say "Hellooooo! Some food please. Goodness gracious what has gotten into you? I need nourishment now!" And by the sound of it, it was swearing...like a sailor. But it still got upset when I drank a smidgen (yes a smidgen, not even a little, not a bit but a smidgen) of milk that was not off. Stupid stomach. I cursed it, a lot.

That's pretty much it...oh. I'm uploading some pictures to facebook so, hopefully, they'll be up soon.

Love you all. Miss you hugs!

Oh and oh my is there more drama in the house. And unfortunately, part of it involes me. I will not go into further detail on this publicly accessed blog site. Perhaps in an actual conversation or an email.

Anyway...love you!

5:23, February 6th 2009, It's Friday.

Yesterday I made cheeseburger pie for the soup kitchen. I made it all my myself too. It was amazing! I had a taste and it tasted awesome. It went over well too. My boss loved it and, apparentyl, I'm making it 2 more times before I leave for Manitoba. Ridiculous.

Today we had fish and potatoes and veggies. And a school group made us some Triffle. Oh my Lord, it was so good! It had brownie and cheesecake and whipped cream and Scor bar...it was heaven in 2 bowls. Just delightful. I could hardly contain myself.

We went to a Global Jam in Charlottetown last night. There were these guys doing a drum circle, and then Wendy played some Irish flute accompanied by Tony on guitar. Then the Wellington Katimavik group had a couple of their guys go up and play some songs. We danced a traditional Japanese dance, then we did the Katima-jig and the Cadillac Ranch. Good times were had by all.

In other news, Parry Sound Tim's camp is trying to set up an interview for nest week. She had a little bit of a hard time understanding that I work from 8:30-5:00 and therefore could not hae my interview during the day. And the camp in Alberta says that they'll interview me early March. Things are falling into place.

Other than that, there isn't a whole lot going on, except that there is hardly anyfood in the house. The housemanagers for the week, in my opinion, didn't buy enough food. Last night for supper the vegetarians had beans, carrots, and brocolli. The non-vegetarians had that and some chicken. There was no complete protein, there was no complete food groups either. And somehow, not sure how, that passed as a meal. Not only that there is no more peanut butter...argh! What am I supposed to do??? And, get this...no cereal! There is no more cereal! I'm in deep water here. Those are my two main food groups.

And I'm craving pretzels. That is all.

Life on the Island.

The storm last night brought in, get this, 2 and half feet of snow...HOORAY! I bet I'm the only one in the Maritimes saying that. You know they closed schools in Nova Scotia in anticipation of this storm??? Yah. It didn't even start snowing and they closed the schools in NS. They really trust their weather persons here. Our weather person's name is Boomer. I cook on Tuesdays with his cousin. Everyone trusts Boomer.

There is a weird anomaly in PEI. People stop for pedestrians. Shocking I know. But we're not talking like the little white crossing-man says you can walk and the driver that wants to turn gives you an exasperrated look and graciously stops for you. No. We're talking like middle of the road. People have stopped to let me jay-walk. It's ridiculous. They want me to break the laws. I think it's a plot against Katimavik...kiding. I think they'e just nice Islanders. And also think (whoa Caitlyn, now don't go blowing a fuse...you know what happens when you think) that it's because everyone here knows everyone else. I've had new volunteers at the kitchen spend about 20 minutes trying to figure out if at one point they knew anyone, at all, that knew any of the other volunteers. I stood there with a blank stare of awe, because they found one! Across this whole island, they actually found one. Just imagine trying that in Ontario...or even just a city like London. I don't even know everyone in Strathroy! It's so funny because it ended up being that Shelly (The new volunteer) worked at the same restaurant as Brian's (the Wednesday cook) wife under the same guy, named Joe. It was ridiculous.

By the wasy, I'm sitting in our drafty living room, at about 10:00 in the morning, because the Salvation Army thrift store is closed until noon. I'm not sure about the kitchen. I keep calling but no one is there yet. That probably means that the kitchen isn't open. Not to mention that there are no sidewalks. I love my life. I love my life enough that I don't feel safe walking on the snow covered road with cars occasionaly swerving. It happened this morning and until the sidewalks are clear, I don't think I should be going to work. I should call work again. Toodles.

Stormin' outside.

It's a blizzard right now. Everone is in a kerfuffle. It's funny seeing everyone in such a flurry, they're all like "Oh my goodness the storm! Batten down the hatches!" I'm like, "O my goodness it's going to snow! Hooray!" They all think I'm crazy. Who knew??

It's almost billiting time. I've asked for a french family, and perhaps animals. We'll see who I get. Last time, I was with my mom's godparents. Special case, usually Katimavik doesn't do that,but I pleaded my case and won. The only thing was that they are english speaking in my french rotation. Now that I don't have to speak french all day at work, I miss speaking french. So I've asked my beloved PL, Josie, if she could place me with a french family. I hope so.

And no more news from the camps, except that the Parry Sound lady thinks that somehow, magically, my hours next week are going to change. I don't think she read my letter yet. Her loss.

And there's talk of an early hiring at the Alberta camp for me. We'll have to see what the board says. Time to put on my patient face. (Again with the putting a face on...I have skillz, with a zed. Take that!)

Work was uneventful. My friend Stanley said I was cute and sweet. He's a sweetheart. This is how that conversation went.
S:"Has anyone ever told you that you're cute and sweet?"
C:"No, not that I recall."
S:"Well someone just did."

He's so funny. He has one of those Tim Hortons travel mugs that holds, I was told, a litre of coffee? He owns one. He loves his coffee. I must fill his mug once every hour, everyday, starting at 8:30, finishing around 1:30. It's ridiculous.

And Boots still hasn't come in. That's really odd. He's usally in everyday. I'm starting to worry.

Life's hapennings.

Hey y'all,

So here's the camp update:

1. Nova Scotia Tim's camp called me, we had an "interview" which was him asking me about Katimavik and wondering which Tim's camp I wanted to work at. He sent my resume to St-George because their looking for bilingual persons.
2. I got a job offer from my old boss. His camp is in Alberta, it's Kasota East Camp, and I would be a Sr. Counsellor earnign anywhere from 325-350 a week. Whoa. I have already sent in my application. :)
3. I got an email today from the Parry Sound Tim's camp. Apparently (this is news to me) I appplied to be the Wilderness Canoe Trip Leader. I thought I wrote down counsellor. Easy to confuse them I guess :S. And they want a phone interview with me because, get this, "Strathroy is a little far from Parry Sound." Her exact words. Oh, and before you finish that thought, YES I mentioned Katimavik in my cover letter, YES I mentioned it in my resume and YEEEESSSS, I wrote a letter explaining that I'm in PEI. But, she shouldn't feel bad. Nova Scotia did the same thing. *Sigh*, some people's children.
4. Bad News: The way the Tim's camps work is that as soon as someone is contacted, by phone or email, it tags said person in the Tim Horton database and the other camps know that they have already been contacted by another camp and that they'll get a message if that person really wants to work there.
5. Worse News: The Nova Scotia camp already contacted me and, hopefully, referred me to the St-George camp. Right now, since Parry Sound contacted me I am once again flagged and won't get a call from St-G. Great... isn't life grand?
6. I got a job offer from my old boss and the camps in Alberta!!! (Sorry I'm super excited about that one. It makes up for the follies that Tim's is up to)

And another thing about life: It can be short. Just this past weekend, Jan 31st, a guy I went to school with died in a car accident. We didn't know eachother well, but he was in my French class and his locker was right next to mine all year. We chatted a bit and he was so nice. He's smart and has a beautiful soul, and now he's gone. He was such a sweetheart. A little shy, but so nice. It's sad to hear that he's gone.

That's pretty much it...Oh! I finish work at the Salvation Army at like 1:30, 2:00ish, so, being the goody-two-shoes I am I signed up to volunteer my afternoons at the YMCA day care Kindergarten class and such which. Today was my first day and it was so much fun. The kids loved me, probably because I opened their snacks and listened to everything they said. Oh well. It was fun anyways. And then I jumped rope, and made a "No Boys Allowed" sign for a girls bedroom door. I traced a blob from a stencil on it and we laughed because I coloured it to make it look like a booger. And I got compliments on my heart drawing skills. Booya, I can draw hearts. Stick that in your juice box and suck it. (Tee hee, I can't believe I just wrote that!)

And Boots didn't come in today. :(

But Stanley did! :D

That's it...From your travelling daughter, friend, granddaughter, enemy (I hope not) in PEI,

Caitlyn

48 Hours off...Wohoo??

48 hours is the only weekend I get off in the WHOLE trimester. Ya, it kinda sucks. But, that's what they give us and we gladly take it. So this 48, I'm sitting at my PEI home and I'm doing nothing. Yup, big, fat nothing on my only free weekend of the trimester. I am so cool. So far I've gotten an actual haircut, not me cutting my own hair in Montreal, vented with Nicole, gone shopping at Bluenotes, Payless Shoes, Eclipse and Ardenes. I bought some pretty shirts and some nice black flats. It was amazing. I feel amazing. Tonight Nicole and I are going to a movie and tomorrow perhaps out for suppers. It will be so much fun. Oh, and get this...I showered!!! It was a beautiful shower and it didn't feel rushed like usual. It was spectacular. I think I am now going to clean my ever so messy room and listen to some much needed Bublé.

Ta ta my friends and fam!

The death of me!

My wisdom teeth are starting to come through. And they they have these episodes where they are all like "Let's have a fiesta!!" except theres no room to fiesta, so now they're in the midst of rerranging my mouth to better suit their dancing needs. It's terrible. They're giving me headaches. If I talk sternly to them will it help?? I don't know. I'll try. I'll let you kow how it goes. That's it.

I talked with Boots today. He's a nice man.

No other news to report. Miss you all!!! Love you.

Snow day!

So the maritimes got a wicked storm last night, and its still going strong. So today, I have a partial snow day from work. They're not opening until 11 (it's usually 8:30) and then I leave around 2:30...hardly work at all. The only thing I odn't understand is that we serve lunch at 11:30. How do they expect us to make food for 60 in 30 minutes??? I have no idea what we're going to do and me being me, I am worrying like no tomorrow...I really want to get started but it's locked!!! Argh! So instad I'm sitting at home rambling on about it on my blog.

I'm so cool.

Whatever happened to houses keeping the cold out???

Our house is so cold.

The windows are so drafty. I am a relatively warm person, more so then others, but htis is ridiculous!!! Even the boys', whose body temperatures for some reason are realtively higher than the girls', are cold. We have already plastified the windows with none other than plastic and tape, but htere is a wicked draft. Or is it spelled draught? Either way...it's FREEZING!!! And our neighbours are messed up. Here's how it goes.

We heard loud country music coming from around our house. Thats cool whatevs. Then it went silent. Even better! But then came the yelling. I was sleeping, my bed is upstairs on their side of the house, and all I hear is this man shouting "Do you want me to kill myself?? Is that what you want?!" We'll call him Evan. Then you hear the shushing from wha sounded like a female. Then eerie silence. Phew its over, right? Wrong! The you hear a woman in hysterics screaming "Let go of me!" over and over again. We'll call her Sandra. Then other voices shushing her, and trying to calm her and her capturer down. The eerie silence. But wait, Evan comes back and yells "Donna (this might be the woman I named Sandra, I don't know.) Donna, if you love me you'll come back. Donna!" Then a car door slammed and Evan grunted indisgust and stormed off. Presumedly down some stairs. I think he might have been the one holding onto Sandra. Oh the life in quiet little Summerside.

At work today, we served 68 people. I guess the masses of S'side enjoy pancakes,bacona nd sausage (hooray! 6 packs less of bacon!) Stanley and I had good conversations over tea and coffee. I met a man nicknamed Boots. He'ss very nice, comes in everyday. And Earl was recounting his life story, again. He just wants people to listen. That's all. And then Edith commented on my homemafe charm bracelet. The people that come in are so nice. I had a couple come in for the first time. The highlight at work. He's how it goes.

They came in and in my best waitress voice I asked if they would like naything to drink. They said juice and I proceeded to order them 2 meals. When they got them they thanked me and went to eat. But before going, the wife said something to this effect.

"This place is so nice. It's not demeningly in the least. Thank you." Bam. Those few words meant the day to me. I hope they come back tomorrow.

I'm about to sign off, this whole cold house makes it inpossible to type for extended periods of time. But before I do, I have spectavular news. Ready?? Cause'I'm about to drag it out. Make you wait. Cause I'm mean. Okay here it is for real............I have an interview with the Tim Hortons Camp in Tatamagouche Nova Scotia. I ended sending in my application. They were first ones to respond. I have a phone interview sometime this week or the beginning of the next. I'll tell you all about it.

Nothing new to report.

So far this week I've made:

• Bagels
• Pita Bread
• Lemon Miringue Pie
• Perogies
• Lemon Custard

And I'm not done yet. Soon to be seen on the table in the Summerside Katimahouse are:

• Beef and Barley Soup
• Chili (vegetarian and regular)
• Cinnamon Buns
• And many more

And the injuries I've gained so far include:

• 3 cuts on my pointer finger (left hand)
• 1 cut on my pinky (left hand)
• Burn, just below pinky (also...surprisingly...left hand)

Other than that, the house is the same. Drama and all, unfortunately. It disturbs me to no end some people in this house. One person in particular is bothering me more than most. She is immature, leaves her crap lying around all over, she is a hypocryte, and in general doesn't use her brain. I have to put up with her and everytime I try to point out things, or try to find a solution she either looks at me like she doesn't understand or she just doesn't listen. For some reason I don't see her lasting the program. Oh well. Too bad.

And JeanSol is back! He was sick at the end of the last trimester and didn't travel with us, but he arrived today and he's back! Hooray! My French buddy is back!

But...one of my best friends in the program is planning on leaving this weekend. The program isn't for her. I'm going to miss her so much. My trio is down to two. Oh how this reminds me of the Lion King. Except I'm not loosing my friend to love, at least not love of a lion.

So it's 9:40 and I'm tired. I'm planning on showing JeanSol how to get to work tomorrow morning which means I get to rise and shine at 8:30 instead of my normal 10:00. Oh well. I have things to do. Like make chili...oh dear. I forgot to soak beans!!!! I'll be back tomorrow...I have to go!!! Miss you all.

Weekend stuff

I went ot the farmers market, boiught some meat and fair trade coffee and eggs as well as oraganic couscous and Speerville cereal. Good stuff that is. Then we went to north cape, the windiest place on the island. I found some shells and it was pretty awesome. The ocean is beautiful!! I've never been to the ocean, and now to have it right down the street is so unreal! You should all come to PEI and visit me. It's a must. Any ways, next we went bowling with the groups staying in Alberton and Wellington. Cool kids they are. I suck royaly at bowling, even worse when they turn the lights off and the majority of the balls don't glow. Tricky. Very tricky. Then I had a nap, because I had a headache and took up an entire couch. (Alberton and Wellington, if you're reading this I'm sorry. You can nap on my couch anytime. I won't mind, I owe you one.) Then I had some delicious soup and some noodles. The sauce for the noodles was spicy so I didn't even bother. I hate spice, but I'm learning to deal with it. Then we came home and I went to bed. This morning I got up and like ten-ish and ate pancakes (Thanks Jamie!! They were amazing!!!) Went to the Eptck centre (It's the Summerside cultural centre...not sure about the random assortment of letters. Perhaps the bitter wind finally messed with their brains.) and saw an ehibit on the realities of women around the world through pictures. It was sweet. Then we came home, ate lunch I think...I can't remember. I'm really tired. And then we did some plannign amazingness for excursions and coffee houses and such. Then it was comittee time. I still haven't met up with my comittee person. I was doing housemanager stuff. Planning the meals and stuff, nothing to big. *sigh* Then it was supper of sweet temptation. Jamie made a yummy soup courtesy of Martha Stewart and then Stephen made a cheese sauce. I mixed them and it was beautiful. So tasty. Then the most boring housemeeting ever. I almost fell asleep. But I didn't. Speaking of sleep, I should be doing that. So here's me, signing off. Good night!

A day in the Soup Kitchen.

7:45- Alarm goes off. I moan, stretch and fall back asleep.

8 ish- I finally roll out of bed, clothe myself (I have to sleep in barely anything because it's so flipping hot onthe top bunk upstairs. Stupid house heating.

8:18- I leave the house slowly and walk briskly...it's cold outside. And windy.

8:25- Arrive at the Salvation Army (Did you know they are affiliated with the church??? Foud that out today. If you go to their church you are a Salvationist.)

8:40- Await instructions from the All-Knowing Marj.

8:45- Start the meal. Somedays its soup and sandwichs. Somedays its a full out porkchops-potato-vegetable meal.

9:00- Start cleaning walls. Had the pleasure of finding buns behind the freezer. The must have been from September. They were a beautiful shade of yellow-green, forest green and white and mushy and hard. I threw them out. Good riddence.

9:30- Stanley visits and takes some coffee and tea for the ladies in the second-hand store. We chat.

10:00- Tea break. Bob arrives with the buns, and things from Tim's, Sobeys and Farmers Market.**

11:00-The volunteers arrive and I introduce the meal and the appointed jobs.

11:30- Doors open. Time to serve.

12:00- I start to worry if there will be enough food. Start planning plan B.

12:30- I realise there is enough food. I scrap plan B.

1:00- We turn off the food. I eat. So good.

1:30- The volunteers leave. *tear* I have to start cleaning.

1:35- I start with the dishes. The nice volunteers do all of the dishes and I get to take another 15 minutes.

2:00- I wash the blasted walls.

2:45- I get a headache and have to start sweeping and moping and clean the bathrooms.

3:00- I run over to the second hand store, get scolded for not wearing a coat for the 5 second walk over, and I get the vacuum and head back.

3:03- Move chairs and vacuum.

3:20- Start shutting everything off, the coffee maker, the dishwasher, recheck the stoves.

3:25- Put away cleaning supplies. Take out compost and leave the waste for Bob. Get coat and purse. Set alarm and take vacuum back.

3:35- Wait for All-Knowing Marj to tell me to go home.

** Salvation Army has a deal with Sobey and the Farmers market. The food that is a day before the "best before date" is donated and given out at the food bank and in the ktichen as desserts. And whatever Tim's makes the night before and doesn't seel gets wrapped up and picked up the next day by Bob. I then make nice little packages and set them out for the poeple to take. It's pretty sweet.

So far I've served:
73 people on Monday (Ham, scalloped potatos, and mixed vegetables)
61 on Tuesday (Pork chops, mashed potatos, turnips)
56 on Wednesday (Tomato soup with rice and tuna sandwichs)
50 on Thursday (Beef and barley soup and leftover tuna sandwichs)
49 on Friday ( Leftover beef soup and buns)

Its pretty sweet. And if you have an idea that involves a lot of bacon in a meal, please let me know. There is a mountain of bacon in their freezer and I was told to use it. I have no freaking idea how. I need help.

TGIF...or is it???

Today I spent my day warming up soup, washing walls, warming up soup, washing walls, serving soup, washing walls, making coffee and washing walls. Did I mention that I washed walls?? Oh my stars. I've made it a personal job to clean the Salvation Army kitchen because, honestly, I thought it was pretty gross. It may just be my high clean standards, but I think not. So now my mornings are littered with wall washing, freezer organising and vacuuming (vacuum is sucha weird word...2 u's...how silly. I thought one would do the trick. I guess not.) So now I have headaches from the heat and the cleaning products. Opening the window helps a little, but not much. And I usually forget to close the windows anyways. But I'll tell you what. The walls are white. They used to be a yellowish with red spots but now, now my friends they are white.

Next week I'm housemanagers with Alex. So far I've been housemanagers with Stephen, Nicole and Courtney. I'm running out on people to be housemanagers with! Oh dear, we'll have to start recruiting, or I'll just have to put up with some of them again. I like the recruiting idea.

Kiding!!! I still get along with my group mates. There are times when I can't stand them, but I've found ways to deal. Usually they involve me finding fault with my behaviour (like my new fickleness for being orderly...I swear I'm borderline OCD) or I tell them what I'm having a problem with using the "I" statements...remember those? From conflict resolution workshops. Apparently when you say "I am bothered by this because..." then they recieve it better. I guess it works. It sounds silly out loud though. I've tried it. Very awkward.

Guess what? 3rd day in a row!!! And I'm going to post right after this...freaky.

And so the planning begins...

Summer planning is fast approaching and I have decided to broaden my camp experiance. Instead of going back to my beloved Lambton Centre, I am applying to 3 Tim Hortons Camps, and perhaps Pearce Williams and Bimini as well. The Tim Hortons camps are as follows.

Onongada Farms. Located in the beautiful area of St-George Ontario. Looking for bilingual staff (great to keep up my french...) and theres lots of animals because its an actual farm. Crazy I know. Onondaga Farms being a farm and all. Ridiculous.

Camp des Voyageurs (Rough translation, Explorers Camp) situated in blossoming Quyon Quebec, just east of the Ontario border. Since its in Quebec, it would be mostly French (I'm starting to see a trend...) and it just sounds awesome.

Memorial Camp in the hamlet of Parry Sound Ontario. They camp out in Treehouses...enough said.

And (I just thought of this) perhaps I would be adventurou enough to go to the one in Halifax Nova Scotia. That would be cool. I'll sleep on it.

The other two are cool, but a Tims Camp would be so much more exhilerating and a good way to practice french. I need to keep up my bilingualism. Oh, ya. I'm bilingual now. Forgot to mention that. I'm looking forward to life. Summer should be amazing. Miss you!

PS- I jsut posted yeasterday...this is crazy! Two days in a row!

I hate Christmas.

Christmas in Montreal. Should be pretty cool. Except that this was the year I found out that I do not like christmas. In fact I hate it. Here are my reasons.

Reason 1: I greatly dislike surprises. Plain and simple.

Reason 2: I haven't had a christmas with my whole family since I can't even remember. This year especially.

Reason 3: It's a silly materialistic holiday. If I have to spend money to tell you how much I care about you, then our relashionship isn't true.

We sat around before midnight of the 24th and opened presents. I said I didn't want one, but Lyly bought one anyways. I'm not a stupid girl who says things with double meanings. If I say i don't want something, then I don't want it. But I had things forced on me and I had to fake enthusiasm. My fake enthusiasm was about as good as my skills in Korean. Not very good at all. Almost non-existant. The next day, we had to find our presents that our secret Santa bought us. I couldn't find my first clue and sat around for and hour and a half waititng for my person to get up. But I did like my present. (Thank you Courtney) The rest of the day we prepared supper and then got accused of not being welcoming because one of our group members decided to stay in her room. Not a happy time, for anyone.

In other news, Brigitte quit so we're down to 9 people now. Our new project leader is so amazing. So much nicer than my last one. And PEI is beautiful and has really strong wind. I don't mind though, it's only like a 5 minute walk from the Salvation Army Soup Kitchen. I'm going to be the head chef, cooking meals everyday for between 50-70 people. It's so cool. Anyway, I'm really tired. Off to bed with me. Messages WILL follow. I'll force myself.