Day One Hundred and Thirteen

Merry Christmas and welcome back to my blog!
What a time has happened in this little house!  Most of life in Katimavik is self directed and it is up to us to keep our days busy and make sure that things happen and are planned out right. And often, we need to plan on the fly if/when a plan falls through. Its an important skill to have: both making plans and reworking them.
We had an interesting if not unconventional Christmas. Since every one had different traditions, we tried to cover as many as we could. We watched the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, read Twas The Night Before Christmas, and stayed up all night to open presents at way to early. I believe that the actual time I began opening presents was 4 am. Which is acceptable simply because it was 8 am at home, when my real family was opening their presents, a country away. It was a bizarre feeling.
Every one has things about Christmas that just develop into your family as the years go by. For me, every Christmas eve, we play a board game and look at Christmas lights. I really missed that.. It was nights like that that I really really missed some of the things about home. One thing was my bed. The beds in Katimavik aren't exactly luxury. Metal bunk beds with plastic mattresses. I miss my bed at home, the one with a little groove where I like to lay each night, and the pillows that I arrange just so. I miss the easy understanding of how a day works in my house hold. Like I said, Katimavik day is never solid in plans.

Currently, a big topic of conversation is the Murder Mystery Party we have planned for New Years Eve.  (this is a plan I know will come through. I worked way to hard on it for it to fall though!) I, with the much needed and very appreciated help of my three helpers, wrote the whole nights plot. Characters, costumes, drama, its all starting to come out after I gave out the character bios last night. I am so excited to see it come to a head by friday night! I will try to keep this more updated (and I know I say that every time).

Much Love

Every day is a new adventure, so No worries

Day One Hundred and One

I've lived in small towns before, but Vanderhoof is a town unlike any other. For one thing, it has the most churches per capita in all of Canada. Also, it has a store where you can get gel nails and body piercings and hair cuts. Just the oddities you can find along the few streets, make living here interesting and dull at the same time. But that's not what I'm writing about today.

Last night, I was out for a walk with Kurtis and Bruce when a dog, just taller than knee high to me, came bounding up to us. He was uncollared, unmarked, and one of the most freindly beasts I have ever met. He was just eager for attention. Being who I am with my soft spot for any animal (except leeches. Those do not deserve life.), had to stop to pet him. He had ice all through his coat and his paws were red and raw from the ice, salt and sand on the streets. The dog was black and white with black speckles covering his legs and white patches. The whole walk home, he followed us, running back and forth, wanting to play. The three of us fell in love with the little scamp, gave him some food and water and named him Rascal. He made me realize how much I missed feeling a dog's fur and enjoying their company. Even though we only saw the stray dog we named Rascal for a bit, he already decided that Kurtis was the Alpha male, and I was the Alpha female. Kurtis would give him some food, and Rascal would curl up on my feet. He was the most loving dog I have met in a long time. It made me sad that I was able to go inside to the warm, carpetted house, while Rascal had to sleep outside.

Today, I accompanied my boss, Reg, to the local College, CNC, for an anti-racism seminar. Reg led it and told all about racism in Canada, the idea of a Melting Pot, his own experiances and what Vanderhoof is doing about the problems here in town. It was very informative and moving. To hear him talk about it, the conviction he feels, makes you want to do somethign and make a change in your life, and hopefully, in the lives of those around us.

I am learning a lot about a lot of things here. Actually, I'm learning a lot more than I thought I would in a town of 4000. I've learned about myself, and what is important to me. I know now that performance, and music is way more important than I thought. I know that I need my time alone just as much as I need it with people.f I know that, in the grand scheme of things, I have it really good in the life I have been dealt. I see kids everyday that are fatherless, nearly homeless, abused, abusive or any combination. They aren't bad kids, they are just kids that have been dealt a bad hand. Kids only know what they learn at home, from parents, or with their friends. Think of that the next time you think "They are just a bad person", chances there is a reason behind it all.

Learn to love
Love to laugh
Laugh to learn
Take it in turn
Take it in stride
Take it all in
           ~Anonymous

Everyday is a new adventure, so No Worries

Day Ninety Five

From where I sit at my work desk, I have a veiw of the high way that runs through the humble town of Vanderhoof. I am alone at work today as Reg, my boss and only co-worker, is out of the office today on other business. The highway I see before me is known as the "Highway of Tears." It has earned this name because of natives who would hitch hike from one town to the next and are picked up by shady characters. Vanderhoof is a town that has seen a lot of sorrow, but has a rising out look nonetheless. One of the main factors to this rising outlook is the organization I currently volunteer for.

It is called the Good Neighbour Commitee and it is doing a lot for this community. Right now I am in the "Neighbourhood Space" that the GNC set up as both headquarters for Volunteer Vanderhoof (which I set up the wiki for http://www.neighbourhoodwikispace.wikispaces.com/) and also as a place for Youth to come after school. It is a safeplace where the kids trust Reg and can enjoy a cup of coffee, a game of pool and, on occasion, live music. The work being done by the GNC here at the Neighbourhood Space is obvious when you see how happy the kids are to come here and spend time with their freinds.

Vanderhoof is very small. In about 20 minutes you can walk from one end of the town clear to the other with no trouble. It is the sort of town where every one knows everyone else, and where every one drives Ford trucks. They are welcoming to Katimavik and are eager to have us help them in any way we can. We literally have people knocking on our door with volunteer opportunities. Literally.

Last night we got out and saw Mulan Jr. put on by the Vanderhoof's Children Theatre. It was the most adorable thing I think I have ever seen. And I actually saw a lot of theatre potential in a few of the kids. The little boy who played Mushoo, the little red dragon (DRAG-ON, not lizard, I don't do that tongue thing ssshhtthhh) made me crack up laughing more times than I could count. Also the little girl, who couldn't have been more than 12 who played Mulan had a voice that promised to develop into a beautiful singing voice. They are STARS! (As my PL, Melissa, would say)

That is about all I have to report on Vanderhoof as of yet. I will definitly try to keep up on this a little better.

Every day is a new adventure, so no worries.

Day Eighty Eight

Hey, look at that. I have made it to Vanderhoof BC!

We arrived right on time, although the last leg of the journey was excruciating. We met the Quesnel (pronouncd Quen-el, took me a while to get that one!) group at the Prince George airport after an hour of waiting, then boarded a school bus (yup, a yellow, old school, straight up school bus) with them to Quesnel (1 hour and 30 minutes), back to Prince George (1 hour 30 minutes) then to Vanderhoof (1 hour). Thats right, four hours on that bus. It was freezing cold and very uncomfortable. Couple that with the fact of our sleeplessness, time change, irritability and you have a recipe for very cranky teenagers. We were exhausted by the time we reached our destination.

Kellie and I managed to get the room we had been dreaming of. I love my bed. It is very comfortable but seems to be missing something home made (hint hint, mother.. Haha). The house is huge in comparisson to our last one and the bathrooms and kitchen have so much counterspace, it feels like a mansion to me.

It comes with a guitar and two air hockey tables. I feel spoiled that I get to live here. Katimavik has really made me appreciate everything my parents have worked towards giving us. It is a lot of work for a home like mine in New Brunswick.

My Grandmother has a saying: You can do anything for a day, and I am learning that this is very true. Day by day we can get through not that badly, but when I look back, I get tired tinking of how much I have put into this project and this life. It is draining to know about everything that we have dealt with as a group. But we make it through easily because we all got eachother's backs.

Everyday is a new adventure, so No Worries

Day Eighty Six

Here I sit, in the Vancouver Airport. I have eleven people's carry ons strewn around me, as I sit on the floor next to the garbage bin. From here we are to fly Prince George, and board a bus to Vanderhoof. We are schedualed to arrive at our new home at 9:30, local time, but to us it will feel like much later. This morning, yesterday morning.. I don't remember any more.. We left at 2 in the morning, on a greyhound bus with all the other groups. We drove three hours (three hours that I don't remember since I passed out on the guy beside me as soon as we boarded the bus) destined for Montreal Airport.

Saying good-bye to the other groups was hard. Such bonds were built over the the three months between the houses. Our Project Co-ordinator, the woman in charge of the three groups, said that she had never seen three houses get along so well. I cried a little saying good bye to Beauport and Levis. I know that I will have to see some of them again.

Katimavik is such a family that while in the airports, if we saw the tell tale orange and green Circle square (or even just a large group of lost looking kids or age) we would slyly say "Katimavik?" just loud enough so they would hear us. We always were greeted with a smile and often hugs. I am sure that this will continue as long as Katimavik does.

We still have five hours of travel left which really doesn't sound like much, but when you consider we have already traveled for around ten hours, and I am running on 2 hours of sleep for 30 hours, I am exhausted and I feel like I will never reach Vanderhoof, I will just go on buses and planes for the rest of my shuffled life.

Living in Quebec City for so long has atuned my ears to listen for English as a sign that some one is talking to me. Because of this, now that I am in British Columbia, and the official language is again English, I feel like I am eavesdropping on all the conversations around me. This level of comprehensionis bizzare.

My plane is boarding soon, and after this hour and a half flight, an hour lay over, and a four hour bus drive, I will again be "home". Wish me luck

Everyday is a new adventure, so No worries

Day Eighty Four

This evening, all three Katima-houses have congregated at a Chalet out in the outskirts of the city. This unassuming building is now the temporary home of 31 teenagers. It is loud and busy, but we have made it our summer camp, even in the dread of winter. Here we are debriefing on our adventures thus far in Katimavik, evaluating our project leaders, and preparing for the next stop. It is bitter sweet to be leaving the house in Ste. Foy as it has become a true home to us. It was the place that we looked forward to returning to after a hard day. We are comfortable there. We loved it. Now we are almost homeless, knowing that we are not to return to the crayon box. Having the other groups here is great. We are such freinds that I couldn't imagine this rotation with out them. Both the Beauport and Levis, or rather Maple Creek and Kamloops now (that was weird to type) are great freinds to us.

Packing up the house was strange. Taking the photos down, stripping beds, emptying drawers. Cleansing the house of our group made it seem just so unreal. My room, stripped and bland, looked like a prison cell. A prison cell that we still wanted to stay in. Walking around the house, the walls were echoing, the floors were mopped, it was bizarre. Our house as not dirty, but it was never that clean. It had an un-lived in feeling that we had never felt in that tiny house before.

But now we are onto our next rotation, our next adventure. As a group,we will take what ever Vanderhoof has to throw at us :)

Every day is a new adventure, so No Worries