Time Flies By!

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't been posting much!!
Yesterday I went to work and then I hung out with my billet sister's friend Laurence. We went to her house, ate pizza and hot chocolate and then went to pick up her friend at the ferry who was visiting someone in Levis. Then we went around and looked at Carnival stuff that we actually could because to see everything you have to buy the little carnival snow man zipper thing and it lets you in the ice castle etc, and I want one, so if it doesn't come out of the budget I'll just get it regardless. Then fireworks went off to celebrate the first day of the carnival. Apparently Quebec City doesn't have fireworks on the 1st of July but they do to start Carnival LOL! There are now random ice sculptures placed everywhere, and we found a squirrel and I got a photo with it because I explained "I can kiss it because I don't eat animals!"

So then we went and got donuts and watched Valentines day and then I went back home and to sleep.

Then today, me and Sara went out to eat at Pizza Mag, got David's Tea and got birthday and coming home presents for people. Now I think I should repack my suitcase because it's an absolute mess, and then who knows! I seriously wish that Billeting was 2 weeks this round instead of 1 week here, I can't believe I had to have 2 weeks of billeting in Vanderhoof ahaha. I'm closer to work and stuff which I will miss, and my billet family and their friends are amazing, I will miss them and certainly come visit them before I leave Quebec in 4 WEEKS. It's going to fly by. Usually after billeting I am ready to go back to the Katima house, but this time, not really. Ahaha. Bring on Katima-Shore.
Thanks for staying posted!!

heaven bless best friends, parents, and billet families.

Let's just start by saying my billet family is amazing.
So far we've done yoga on the kitchen floor, sung our hearts out to Bruno mars, planned going away parties, copious amounts of zedbra print, rushed showers, established nic-names, bought 1 kg of Brie which has so far taken 3 days to eat half of, had long talks about religion, adventureous grocery trips, girl talks, texting mayhem, invitations to rock concerts, and tomorrow me and the billet sister are hitting up the sales at UO!
Today I had quite a stressful two hour disagreement with someone and it actually really upset me, but after I talked to my beautiful mother, my halarious billets, and amazing friends, I'm learning to look at things with a bit more perspective. I'm trying to see how staying calm and keeping control will fool them into thinking they haven't won, and to stay strong and not waste my emotions on people who don't deserve them because they disrespect me and my emotions and opinions. I know going back to the Katima house will be stressful, but I am a mature, rational 18 year old girl with amazing friends, a second home in Quebec City, and great parents who let me cry to them on pay phones on random street corners in a different province.
Thanks for reading, and stay positive. We all deserve to be happy, as long as it's not at the expense of someone else.

Billeting, take 3.

Hey folks,
So this morning Ben got up and went to church and I again took the pleasure in sleeping until 11am. I woke up and ate the amazing omlette which included cheese, tomato, zuchinni, and avacado he left me in the fridge, chilled out for a bit and then after moving furniture for a friend, he brought 4 of his 25-27 year old friends over and we all played President. It was rediculous fun, sitting around a table with a whole bunch of French guys all older than me, practicing their English on me, and still talking to me in French, slow enough that I could understand. Being typical guys, they brought a box of donuts and took bets on which one I was going to choose, and Ben won, claiming it was because he knew me the longest. :P They also took bets to guess where I was from according to my last name, and most popular were Germany and Austria. Aahaha. (:
It was actually a bunch of fun I was not expecting to have.
Afterwards most of them left except for one friend of his and we watched an old sailing movie in French together which was actually kinda funny, and then Ben cooked me Pesto pasta with olives, cheese and mushrooms, yum.
I chilled around again, awfully tired from a day of laziness, and falling in and out of sleep when all of a sudden a man I've never met walks into my room. I jump up thinking its my billet dad, introduce myself and turns out he was Ben's roomate, and I was in his room for the past 2 days. He also turns out is the English teacher for the Levis Katimavik group, and was there to take me to my real billet house.
We arrive and I met Carina and Tom, and I LOVE THEM! Right away I could tell I would as they had huge smiles one the entire time, are super young and super cute, wedding pictures everywhere. Their apartment is lovely, I'm closer to work, I have wireless internet and my room is gorgeous.

And although I dont trust Stephane a lot of the time, he really was right that I'd love it here. Tomorrow me and Carina are going grocery shopping together! Eeee! Yay I am so excited for the 7 days I get to spend here, I love it already!
Thanks for keeping updated!
Xoxox,

Billeting, take 2.

Heeeey everyone!!
So that special time in every rotation has come where we leave one another after multiple hugs and promises of late night texting.
My billet situation is quite interesting this time 'round as I actually switch houses again either tomorrow or they day after.
My real billet family, a young married couple, are out of town currently visiting family and so while they're gone I'm staying with my billet dad's brother in his apartment and I have his roomate's room while he is away with my real billet family.
He's been speaking copious amounts of French to me, and has been nothing but nice and invited me to go to a 9am hike with him and his girlfriend this morning, however, upon sleeping in an actual bed and only really going to sleep at 2am, as well as the fact that I slightly distain any type of physical activity, and the fact that it's a Saturday, 1 out of 2 days out of 7 I can actually sleep in , I declined his offer. Instead I slept in until 11, ate, and then he drove me to the mall to hangout with Sara. <3 Afterwards I got back to the billet apartment via bus I've never taken before, to an apartment I'd seen from the outside once, via very quick brief verbal directions, so I was pretttty impressed with myself.
Sleeping in a real bed is always so pleasant compared to a Katima plasticsized matress barely supported in the modest creaky bunk bed frame. The lob sided pillow and the window that lets in too much light is not comfortable, but it is definetely Katima-home. HOWEVER, everyone I'm sure was glad to leave the house this weekend as it always seems that just as billet time rolls around that everyone is on their last string of good behaviour, on their last nice comment before they snap. BUT Katimavik is all about conflict resolution and learning to live with one another, but this doesn't mean that I would mind having a realitivly quiet, drama, stress free Katima life sometimes, so therefore I am extremely grateful for the quiet and aloneness I've been provided.
I am really excited to meet my real billet family, Steph said I'd absolutely love them and I'm sure I will. On the little schedule that was written for me tomorrow (with a packed agenda such as watching him play soccer) it says that my real billet family comes home at about 9 or 10 tomorrow so I'm just waiting to see if I'll sleep here or in my new billet home tomorrow night.
Anyhow, sorry I haven't had much to post with lately! Things are quite dull except for the drama, and none of you would really like to be plagued with such things, so I will update again once something interesting happens!
Thanks for reading!! Xoxoxox

Oh Boy.

Hello! It's me again!
On Sunday we went to a place called Val Cartier about half an hour drive from our house. All I heard about this prior to was that it had something to do with sliding down mountains on tubes. So I was clearly scared and skeptical. But this proved to be exactly true!! You seriously grab a tube, and then sit on another tube connected to a pullie system that pulls you up multiple hills to all these different tube courses all with different shapes and bumps and heights and difficulties.
Now, I'm putting this out there right now.
I am afraid of heights and speed.
And I have never tubed before.
And I went on one amusement park ride once when I was 15 and screamed like a baby.
So this was intense for me.
But let me all put it out there that...
I WENT ON EVERY SINGLE EXTREME DIFFICULTY COURSE IN THAT PARK!
I was seriously so proud of myself and the course I ran the most was called the Himalayas, and the worst one of all was... THE EVEREST.
Okay, just that name... gives off the stench of fear. Come on now, Everest is the tallest mountain like, ever... so basically this consists of multiple sets of stairs to get to the this high platform, and then you sit on your tube and basically slide down 110 ft STRAIGHT DOWN on an ice slide that turns into a snow course. 4 people can go at once. (These people are also clearly photoshopped onto this image because no-one is capeable of coming down Everest with such joyful expressions, usually they ranged more from, 'am I still alive?' and 'did I pee my pants?'

Feast your eyes on that nasty thing.
So I decide that it will be my mission by the end of the day to go down this crazy ride and so me and Sara(h) Squared and Kate ventured up those stairs. But I seriously started hyperventilating half way up. Every flight of stairs I went up, I could not even believe there were more to climb up... and I could see the back of the slide and how it only started still above my head. But they somehow coaxed me to the top and since there was no line, we seriously had no time to think because the very COLD workers at the top of everest chose what order we were going to, shoved Sara into her tube, me into mine, Sarah behind me and Kate last. I held onto Sarah's boots for dear life, closed my eyes, leaned back and seriously prayed for my life. The only reason I was able to actually go on this ride is because the employees gave me no choice, and I couldn't see the view because Sara was in front of me.
But OH MY GOODNESS. Why do people define plumeting down 110 ft straight as FUN? Nauseating, sure... freightning, okay, horrifically disturbing, acceptable... but fun? I seriously was falling through the air straight down, so fast that I could barely hold onto Sarah's boots, the only thing connecting me to the rest of them. Scariest like 10 seconds of my life seriously. Once I hit the snow track I was alright and once the ride ended, I seriously lay there and stared at the sky... regrouping myself to make sure I was still concious and that the ride was not an out of body experience, and then got up, ran around in circles giving them highfives and screaming 'I did it!'
Anyhow.. minor achievement of the week.. :P
Not too much is going on, I'm house managing again. (Again I know right?) With Ryan, and the much appreciated help of Sarah.
We all went skating on Saturday night, and when I got home, I was slightly frustrated so I came home and had an amazing chat with my wonderful mother, and she suggested how to make some homemade, inexpensive Reese's Peanut Butter cups.
Listen carefully, this is what you do.
You get some ritz crackers...
You smear on a generous helping of peanut butter...
and then you dip in melted chocolate and refridgerate.
Badda boom badda bing!

And ladies and gentleman, it's a huge crowd pleaser, because before I took this picture there was 4 levels above this one!! And Jared's '3 per person' turned into '5 since no-one is paying attention.'
After we made that goodness, we proceeded to make the best pizza in the existance of pizza ever. Extreme veggie, and extreme meat by Stephane's request. Don't even pretend like you've seen a better looking pizza.


OOOOOOH Baby!
And since me and Sarah won the french scavenger hunt last week, our lovely french teacher brought the anglophones a dessert of my choosing. NAIMO BARS! I seriously thought she would have swung past the grocery store on her way over but instead she made them from scratch! They were seriously so tastey, but what can I say, they were made by the hands of the French.
Our French lessons continue to be extremely interesting as today we translated a song and did a fashion show where we took turns announcing eachothers marvelous clothing combinations. Don't even deny the fashion sense that is seeping out of these photographs.

No big, I wear PJs, backwards dresses, and sweater scarfs all the time. People wish they had enough style to pull it off like I do.. in these photographs you can also see clearly, how sick I am recently. I have a cold, big time, and hopefully I can get over it before billeting!!! (Which starts Friday evening!!!)
On the schedule for tomorrow, I'm making potato cakes and ceaser salad for supper I think, and more house managing type business. Mostly with Sarah though, because my fellow house manager decided to ditch out on his responsibilities. But WHO CARES I'm getting used to this house managing solo style thing. Been there, done that, I'm pretty much a solo house managing veteran by now!! We also get to hear who our billet families are and have guided relaxation led by isaac..
I also got my cell phone charger mailed back to me by my lovely Jessica, (:
AAAAAND huge shoutout to Mommy, I love you so much. I wish I could be there with you. Only 6 more weeks and you can have your baby back!
xoxoxo, thanks for staying tuned to my Katima Life. (: Have a good couple of days!

The Usual

Hey folks, this update I admit is quite overdo, there just hasn't been THAT much going on. But cool little tidbit, my blog has made the blogroll on www.goKatimavik.com, so I'm super happy about that!!
This week, like I mentioned was slightly uneventful. I went back to my job, but instead of doing the laundry for half the day and kitchen for the rest I've been sorting donations. The homeless shelter I work at gets donations every year around Christmas but never this much, and they almost don't know what to do with it all. And there are so many winter coats! But here's just a little insight to what I'm dealing with for 7 hours a day..



So far unique donation finds have been leather pants, a man thong, and a tiny tank top that says 'F.B.I - Fabulous Body Inside'.
This week for our French lesson, our french teacher Marie-Christen gave us a unique challenge, a french scanvenger hunt. Me and Sarah were together and we kicked butt and found all our clues and won!


Then today, we all went skating and for a walk. The 'walk' however more closely resembaled a slippery mountain of death, but that's okay because I like those.




And lately, I've been seeing some pretty places in Quebec and been trying to take lots of photos. It is actually really pretty here.




And Sara's birthday was last Sunday on our 48 hours off, so I left her a present for everyday I was gone in Montreal. First day two of her favourite chocolate bars, second day pink nail polish and on her birthday a card, a poem in an oragami heart, and purple button earrings. But on Sunday we all came home at different days and what not and in our group we have the tradition to always make a cake on someones birthday so on tuesday I think it was, Marc and Jared surprised Sara with two little french birthday cakes! Uber cute. Happy B-day Sara loveee!


Annnd that's about it. Tomorrow if I don't blog anymore, it's because I died. We're tubing down a mountain. ahahah. Sounds safe I know.
Next week is house managing, and then billeting, DUH DUH DUH. 6 weeks until I'm done Katimavik forever. Pretty crazy, you don't even have to tell me. Stay sweet, thanks for reading. Promise next post will be better!!
LOOK a SARA(H)SANDWICH!!

Montreal!!!

So our 48 hours was this weekend and putting it out right now, it was the absolute best break I could have ever have asked for!!

Friday me and Sarah cleaned the house spick and span and made pudding, trailmix, salad, salad dressing, bread, and banana chocolate chip muffins and then she left to go see her mom who was visiting and I went to Couche Tard to get change for the metros in Montreal. The only issue with this apparently was my french. I asked the guy in french could I want all change for the bus please, and he thought I was asking for a lotto ticket so after some slight confusion, I finally got my change and felt like a failure. Aahaha some days... I got home and then Steph drove Ryan to the airport to fly to toronto to visit his fam jam and then drove me and MA through 45 min of traffic to the train station. MA stayed on the train with me for the first two hours and got off near his home and I continued on to Montreal where my friend Jessica who I met two years ago at a conference came to pick me up.

The metro was pretty crazy, it was long and fast and intense and very city like. Right away I noticed how much more bilingual and multicultural Montreal was. When we arrived we got a brilliant meal of salad and yummy yummy soup,I met Jess's Cousin, and we watched a movie then crashed.
Sleeping in until 1 pm was a beautiful feeling I wil try to remember especially when waking up early tomorrow. They took me to the local market to show me where they do some of their grocery shopping. It was super cute and there were SOOO many fruit and veggies! And Cheese! And Bread!

They bought really great apple juice for super cheap whose only ingredients was apples, it was the real stuff!

They also took me to this great little place in the market to get gelato and I got spanish caramel flavour it was seriously tastey.


After the market we went back to the apartment and Jessica made the best asian cuisine I have tasted in my entire life. Noodles and veggies and tofu, it was seriously amazing. Afterwards we played board games into the wee hours of the night with Jess's boyfriend, cousin and friend from school. This morning we slept in again and went to the single most amazing breakfast place I've been in my entire life! It's called Cosmo and it's greek breakfast diner but it is seriously insane, and belongs in the movie or really good book somewhere. You walk in and it's this tiny tiny place, with exactly 11 seats, all along one counter. Behind the counter is one waitress, and two chefs and I tiny kitchen. All 11 chairs are almost always full, so when you come in you stand in line and they give you free coffee and take your order while you wait for people to finish eating and to vacate a seat. But it's so funny, if you want cream of sugar in your coffee the waitress will pass it to someone of the random 11 people eating who will pass it behind them to someone in the line. Everyone who eats there is super friendly and jokes around with everyone else and it feels like you're eating breakfast in a giant family! 3 seats were vacated for us but they weren't together so the waitress literally told everyone to move over one spot and they all did! Everyone just slid their breakfast's over, and they do it all the time! They give you copious amounts of food, I had a whole plate of delicious hashbrowns which didn't even require ketchup to taste good, and a veggie BLT with an egg in it. It was SO amazing, the waitress was SOO funny and snappy, and it only cost me $6 dollars. I know right, sounds like the coolest thing ever, because it was the coolest thing ever.
After we went to a small bakery and got chocolate croissants, and then headed to the mountain, which is really an amazing look out point that is of Montreals downtown. It was gorgeous and we got hot chocolate from a vending machine and sat there and ate our croissants and hot chocolate.



After they took me back to the train station and currently I am on a train on my way back to Quebec City.
Montreal was seriously soooo amazing. There was sooo much graffiti, but it looked so cool, and it had a serious big city feel. I really like it there and I intend on living there for some amount of time in the future, completely serious about that.
It was so nice being able to see Jess again and to see such an interesting city. Having a break away from the house and the group was really nice, and quiet and peaceful. Although the idea of taking a train from Quebec and going to Montreal where I have never been before was slightly intimidating it was even more rewarding and I am so grateful I went through with it! THANK YOU SO MUCH JESS and BRYCE!!
I am slightly dreading the idea of getting up early for work tomorrow and returning to my volunteer placement as I have not had to work for the past 3 weeks, but I work for a week and then house manage again with Ryan and then it's billeting.
I'm excited to see my Katima family again and sleep and a shower will be great upon my return. Ahaha, thanks for reading, and stay updated!!! xooxoxoxoxxoxox.

Late night ponderings.

Me and Sarah and Stephane just had a great talk about... life.
We talked about how lucky we are to be in Katimavik, and the many life experiences we'll gain here that we may never encounter again. We spoke of how lucky we are that we are able to experience a part of Canada so rich with culture. Stephane said we'll miss Quebec when we're gone, and I know it's true. He told us about the Hotel Frontanac, and how the British built it after they defeated the French. He told us how the British burnt all of the French's wheat until the only thing that was left was useful for only making beer, so one night the French all had a party and got drunk and they were really tired because the British would randomly set off Cannons at night because the noise prevented the French from sleeping, and then they snuck in, in the middle of the night up a hill behind the French and killed them all. We talked about vegetarianism and how people should only be able to eat meat if they are willing to kill it themselves, and how people will hopefully have a turn around and realize the cruelty against animals they've been supporting.
We spoke about the rarety that is water. And it's 1 am in the morning. I <3 Katimavik, when can such marvelous conversations happen at such random times about such important topics. It reminds me of my conversations with you Mother. (: Always willing to talk with me late into the night.

"Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money." ~Cree Indian Proverb

http://www.onedrop.org/

Managing This House Fools, Veggie Style!

Hey!! I am back by popular demand, also known as my mother expecting regular updates! I hope all of you are doing well, happy Birthday to my Aunty Abby!!
This week I'm house managing with Sarah, my fellow vegetarian. We both find it ironic how we're both from Alberta and supposed to be advocating Alberta Beef, and are somehow both vegetarians instead. (: We decided every meal was to be vegetarian this week but Stephane could not go 4 suppers without meat, so we let Evelyne cook some meat at one of the meals. Our meals this week have been super interesting and delicious and have consisted of Mushroom Pasta, Mushroom Lentil Burgers, Peanut Butter Bok Choy and Fajitas! We also learnt how to make a new type of bread, volcano/fetus style!!

Vegan Apple Banana Cinnamon Bars and Popcorn

Vegan Chocolate Sauce for trail mix for 48 hours off!!

Sarah chopping onions with style. But for realsies, the onions here are mad intense. Agggh I can feel my eyes watering, seriously.

Fetus Bread

Me and the Volcano. Seriously the most intense way of making bread I ever saw. Wanna try?

1. Sprinkle some salt on the table, and then put down 7 cups of flour.
2. Form the flour into a volcano.
3. Mix one cup of water with 10 teaspoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of yeast and mix.
4. Pour the water mixture into the middle of the volcano.
5. Take little bits of flour from the sides and put it in the volcano and mix it with your fingers gradually adding more and more flour until eventually its all mixed.
6. Knead for quite a while until you have a nice fetus looking bread.
7. Leave to rise for an hour.
8. After an hour cut the dough into three, slap the air out of it and put it into greased pans and let it rise for half an hour.
9. After half an hour put it in the oven at 400 degrees for 20-30 min and TADA KATIMABREAD!

Sarah's AMAZING Vegan Brownies. Oh my, you don't even know.

That't right, Pita Chips with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and basil, and sundried tomato hummus. For snack. No big. MA said it was the best snack he ever had. (:

Me and Sarah also cleaned and organized the fridge and the pantry. I seriously wish I had before and after pictures, because then you could realize our full awesomeness. But regardless of this, let me just say, THROW AWAY LEFTOVERS IF YOU DON'T EAT THEM. To imagine how bad it was, just think about this, all those containers of yogert did not have yogert in them.... duh duh duh.

Tomorrow is our 48 hours off! I am super excited as I'm visiting my friend Jessica in Montreal! eeeee! I am also taking a train for the first time ever in my life! Intense craziness I know, right? Anyhow I will for sure update you on all that greatness as it happens, perhaps like a type of play by play. Or, maybe when I get back. On Monday it's back to work for me, sigh, but the week after I house manage again with Rye-Rye, and then the week after that I'm back at work but then living with a French host family! I know, I can't even comprehend how apprehensive I am about the things coming up in my life.
I've also applied to two different programish things, so I will tell you guys of my next adventures if I get accepted to any of them.
Also if any of you like poetry or black and white photography check out my other blog. Thanks for staying tuned, sorry for not updating sooner, but my next post will be uber awesome, I promise. Lots of loveeee!

Bon Annee!

Happy New Years Everyone!! I hope it was all great + safe for all of you!
My New Years was pretty much exceptionally awesome. (:
We prepared Pasta, Greek salad and cheese bread for the potluck dinner and then bussed it over to Beauport.

We enjoyed bountious amounts of good food and then took up 1/2 a bus because there were 30 of us in one, and went to the Grande Allee which is this crazy street in Old Quebec which is covered in Resteraunts and bars and clubs and on New Years they basically block off the entire street and set up huge DJ platforms have tons of lights and basically it's a crazy dance party that stretches across an entire street!





It was a great night and we got to hear some traditional quebec music mixed with party beats ahaha.

The countdown happened pretty suddenly, it was in French and really fast and said by a crowd so I like didn't even know what number we were at, however a lot of screaming, confetti, fireworks and maybe a smooch was a good indicator that the new year had arrived.



It was so amazing, because Christmas didn't really feel like Christmas but new years totally felt like new years. Right after the countdown it was a crazy push through the crowd to hug everyone and wish them a happy new year and tell them how much you loved them, and then random people were like hi-fiving me and screaming Bon Annee, and everyone was happy and screaming and it was crazy and awesome and wild!
After we made a huge line of Katimavikers and held hands to try and get through the crowd and back home.
When we returned to the beauport house (after a stop at Ashton's) there was a rave that was supposed to last until 4 30 am but kinda crashed at about 3ish because of some intense drama etc...
BUT all in all it was a great night and a happy new year. (: