We also had our work interviews and the night before I'm all stressing because I suck at speaking French and so on and so forth and Stephanes just laughing at me and I find out later in my interviews while I'm speaking to all the bosses in English that panicking was not neccessary... ANYWAYS.
Once we had our interviews we were lined up in the hallway with our eyes closed and guided to chairs in front of our employers and I was partnered with Marc-Andre at the homeless shelter called Maison de Lauberiviere.
Katelyn is working at the old folks home, Sarah is doing physical education and custodial work at Patro Laval, Evelyne is working with disabled adults at L'arche, Brandon and Ryan are working at a second hand clothing store, Zoe is working at an industrial kitchen who makes food for the poor, Jared and Sara work at a sledding and ice skating park and Isaac works at an English Library.
My first day of work was a ton of fun. I had Marc-Andre there to help me in the language category, and we got to work in the kitchen! First we cut Brocoli, and then leeks and then helped serve lunch to the homeless. It's really justifying and rewarding to serve food you helped make to the homeless. I'm the soup lady because no talking or understanding of French is needed. :P After Marc-Andre sorted donated baked goods, and I cut ham and then we were free for the day and that's when we took our walk downtown.
Yesterday I encountered the laundry for the first time.
This is when all the homeless people's PJs, towels, sheets, blankets and slippers are brought into the basement and placed into industrial sized washers and dryers. Since I didn't know I was working in the laundry I brought nothing to do and no-one spoke English or even French to eachother so I just watched Prince music videos on mute inbetween loads. When things are dry you fold until your hands cannot fold anymore. After we again served food, which I think is my favourite thing to do because you can actually interact with people even if it's just saying bonjour over and over again.
That afternoon me and MA were enlisted to help paint a mural in what will be a pottery classroom for the homeless come January. We painted the ocean and at one point I leaned against a wall of wet paint in the newest sweater I own which I bought in prince george with my sleeve rolled up, so when I roll my sleeve down I have brown zebra stripes on my bright blue sweater in permanent paint. After a while the smell of paint and paint thinner got to me and MA and everything was funny...
Then today...
MA worked in laundry and I worked in the kitchen. I cut apples for an hour until 9am, and then at 9am is when IT began. I was taken into the basement and presented with a small knife, a bucket, a chair and a 50 lb bag of russet potatoes. From 9am until 4 pm with a one hour break inbetween, I peeled potatoes with fugatives who were serving their time peeling potatoes in the basement of a homeless shelter. Better yet, I cut my finger while doing so. And better yet, MA was there for only 2/6 hours to keep me company, and better yet when I finished my 50 pounds, I did half of his 50 pounds of potatoes.
My fingers are stained with iodine and to this very moment, I am still questioning why I flew all the way across Canada to voluntairly do the same community service that criminals are being punished with to avoid prison time.
Tomorrow is once again laundry day.
Oh Katimavik, the joys you bring into my life, bountious amounts of uncomprehendable French, 6am alarms, and bloody, aching, iodine stained fingers.
Anyhow, one of the first days here we had the oppertunity to volunteer for something I think is quite similar to Salvation army so we got to wear red vests, ring bells and beg the general public outside a grocery store for money. I have now perfect my french, hello, good evening and thank you very much.
Then on Sunday we volunteered for something called the toy parade. Mine and Katelyns job entailed, getting our faces intricately painted in the Christmas spirit, and then entertaining wealthy children on the second floor of a hotel, and then watching the parade from the VIP section.
I spent the afternoon giving away tickets for a door prize and trying to explain this in French to many children who did not understand a word I was saying. It was magical. This day I was also not in a very good mood because while I was in one half of the city my camera and wallet were in the other half in the school we got our makeup done in, and so therefore did not get to eat, and on the way to go eat with the group which I could not do because I did not have money, Isaac and Brandon threw a slush snowball at my back so we can all imagine how happy I was about that detail. At the same time as this, my boots were faling apart and the slush on the streets were equal to the amount of slush in my boots. At the end of the parage me and MA and Jared and Kate also missed the yellow school bus back to the school so we were texted and informed that we should public bus to the Beauport house and this proved difficult as 3/4 of us did not have our bus passes and mine and katelyns being MIA in a different half of the city. So we had to break Katelyn's $10 on something random, run for a bus we've never been on. We were told to go to the bus terminal and then randomly to stop at 'the bread factory' so MA asked where the bread factory was... turns out we passed it already so we had to get out and walk backwards to the Beauport house. Once we got there we saw multiple katima vans outside so we assumed our group was there and banged on the door and rang the door bell excitedly to discover our group was not there and we got to meet the Beauport group after be obnoxious with their bell and knocking and with our faces painted rediculously for the first time.
Eventually even showed up and we had supper games and a skit and Stephane attempted to play the strange organ that's in their living room.
It was cool hanging out with us (ste-foy/quebec) and Levis and Beauport and Beauport's house is even bigger than our house was in Vanderhoof if you can imagine!
We also have two weeks off for just Christmas activities and I got to write them ALL on our calendar. Check it out.
And crazy little tidbit, me and MA have the same job/work at the same place but we won't be working together for 6 weeks!! This is because next week he's house manager, then we have 2 weeks off work, then I'm house manager for a week, then he's house manager and then I'm house manager!! Kinda insane. Soon he's staring earlier than me too because he can talk french he's going to sign the homeless in for breakfast and so this entails waking up at 5:30, bussing at 6, arriving at 7 working till 3.
I swear I am legit tired and jet lagged and stressed right now, but HEY welcome to Katimavik! The program that never stops giving.
Wish me luck.
(And BTW my fam rocks and sent me a box of presents for each 12 days of Christmas, SO excited to open em, love you guysss!)
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