So I survived Christmasss! On Christmas Eve, we either ferried or drove to Levis. (I drove). We baked and cooked and cleaned before hand and then all met at the Levis house. It was cute and small and all decorated for Christmas. (:
What I love about the houses in Quebec is that they're just downright funkyyy! They all have little ladders, or stairways or are painted random colours, they're always really cute. For instance, would you not want to live in a house painted in these colours??
And just to get into the levis house, you had to climb these little stairs. So cute!
Christmas eve was cool, we ate supper which was provided by our own groups for our own groups but me and Sarah ate bean salad from Beauport group because Brandon forgot all the left over food we were supposed to eat over the two days except or meat pie...
Afterwards we went to an outdoor french catholic mass. It was really interesting to watch, also very cold, and the priest's microphone had techniqual difficulties so he'd randomly cut in and out, usually cut in during prayers etc.
Afterwards we went into the Patro and played games with some French elderly from the community. This was a really interesting experience because they weren't used to the games we were playing like "if you're wearing blue switch chairs with someone else" or the celebrity on your back game and you guess by yes or no questions, so some of them were quite unhappy. They were also not overly happy with the amount of English we were speaking and some left because they were so angry, and others said some not very positive things. So they switched to a game where they draw tickets and if they get your ticket, you get a prize, and I won something!! Two glass bakers that you fill with spices, which I conviently left on the windowsill at the levis house because they may make more use out of it than me. :P Afterwards was a supper where Katimavik youth had the chance to disperse themselves and sit with people from the community. I wasn't feeling well so I had a few bites off of Kate's plate, but the man beside me asked me why I wasn't eating and so I told him all in French because I was feeling sick, etc etc. He asked where I'm from and I said Edmonton, and then he switched right to sports. I find it interesting here, as soon as I mention Edmonton they go, are you a fan of the Oilers? When I say no they ask if I'm a fan of the Eskimo's, and I say in French I do not like sports and they go 'Oh' and stop talking to me. Is Edmonton really that well known for sports?
After I served the dessert, (cake logs) and didn't even eat any, I know right? I must have felt really sick, and then we were free to go wherever. I just chilled at the house and half of the people went to the bar which was closed, Christmas eve, duh. It got pretty late pretty fast however, and people started dropping like flies so Santa could come, and I fell asleep too, got to sleep on a matt on the floor in between two Levis girls bunk beds. :P
Christmas morning I slept in for one million years, to the point where people not from my group made statements like, "Omg, she's still sleeping?" ahaha. I got up eventually for the daily announcements which were, free time until 8pm. So we took a walk which is where I took the picture of the epic houses. And we saw this church, which church bell rang in Christmas Carols at one point.
We returned home where about 6 boys were in an intense risk board game battle. It was intense and they played for about 5 hours straight.
Me and Sarah and Sara, and Kate and Jared for part the time took a different approach and we ate chips and pop and vegged out on my singular mattress in one of the Levis girls bedroom and then took a nap. This however did not create a certain happy camper who could not get any alone time.. aha. Whatever, it's Christmas, spread the cheer. At one point I was able to call my parents with a bad connection from the shoe closet.. that was good. The smell was slightly overwhelming but it was worth it to talk to my parents on Christmas.
Christmas dinner persued, at 830 with copious amounts of food, pictured below.
This is my shared plate of Christmas dinner with Sarah.
It consisted of Quiche, steamed veggies, and carrot salad if you were vegetarian. :P And tips, sharing a plate is always easier because you don't end up eating as much plus you can leave the other person to wash the plate. <3
Afterwards we were free and a bunch of us walked down to the St.Lawrence to get some fresh air. From levis you can see the whole skyline of old Quebec and it was quite a pretty site to see on Christmas Day night.
The rest of Christmas day was spent vegged out in various locations of the house like so,
with French movies downstairs, English movies upstairs, and story sharing in the kitchen. Then I slept in the mainroom with Kate and Zoe and Sarah because I didn't want to wake anyone... :P (CoughDragonCough)
This morning we awoke at about 10 am, and headed out. Heading out however required a 20 minute walk through a sleeping Levis, a 1/2 hour gorgeous Ferry ride, a ride in an ecobus (21 passengers max), a quick stop in subway when we missed our city bus, then a half an hour ride on the number 7.
The ferry was gorgeous though. How could drifting through ice from one side of the St.Lawrence from Levis to the other side in Old Quebec be anything but?
The eco bus was super cute and was really our saving grace because I don't think any of us wanted to walk up the hugeee hills which are necessary to navigate if one wants to get from downtown into uptown Quebec to catch the bus, especially with a backpack, sleeping bag and pillow. It was cute, and could barely make it up the hill with about 15 Katimavik and all our stuff.
When we finally got home, we could not believe it. Anywhere feels like home as long as it's reducing the amount of people in one building and sleeping in your own bed again. Me and Katelyn uprouted right away and headed to the local mall to take advantage of boxing day specials. Gotta admit, it was pretty busy, and me and Kate were in the mood to shop if the definition of mood was having all the nice things in the store fly into our hands and knowing they fit us perfectly. Having to actually move around, and try things on was just too much effort so we escape with only two purchases of my own, sort of Ugg looking boots, and epic purple nailpolish. Neither of which were on boxing day sales.. aha. Whateves. Then I took the bus and bought a calling card and called Cally from back home from a payphone located in a dunkin donuts and it was amazing to hear a friends voice again after such a long time. <3
Christmas was certainly, really, really, different this year, but it's a Christmas I'll never be able to have again.
This year it consisted of junk food and sporadically placed mattresses, hard cookies, lots of laughs, late walks, pretty scenery, multiple modes of transportation, and realizing the unity that exists between a group of teenagers all away from their families during the holiday season.
Merry Christmas. <3
This church was absolutely beatiful inside. I asked MA how old it was and he figured it out for me and said 340 years!!
And we ended this amazing touristy day with the ultimate touristy activity! BEAVERTAILS! Thank goodness I shared with Katelyn because I would have died if I ate a whole one. That's right folks, (and mom plug your ears, or eyes or whatever... ) this is deepfried goodness with icing and crushed oreos..
