I know it’s a cheesy song lyric but it’s actually very fitting for what I want to write about: My final few days in Manitoba before the long flight back to the world of antiquity on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. I believe that no matter where you are in the world you should always find something beautiful to appreciate, regardless of whether you are right where you want to be at that time, or not. In Manitoba,…
There’s nothing like a rush of exercise-induced endorphins to lift the spirits. Actually in reality the day seemed to drag on much longer than usual and I was worn-out before I even started the fitness ‘class’ this evening but it seemed only fair that I should do some form of exercise today after watching the kids do 10+ laps of the field for Terry Fox and practically (in some cases literally) fall over each other just for a sip of…
At last we have internet and can re-connect with the world outside of Ashern! So most of Thursday and Friday was spent reading emails, writing emails, and basically regaining my ‘social network’ online. I tried to explain to Kàrim (in French) that we have dial-up. At first it was misunderstood/ lost in translation due to the incredulous nature of my statement. Finally his response was along the lines of “You mean the type that makes all that noise that we…
At the moment the fact that it’s raining and the fact that it’s Monday cannot “get me down”. If it’s raining it means that it is not freezing cold and if it’s Monday… well what difference does it make to someone who isn’t working? In theory my online course starts today but with no access to the internet it just means I’ll have more to do when I finally get started. Considering the amount of time I have to spare…
At last we have a postal address. My first ever P.O. Box address! Of course no-one has the address yet so it’s not that exciting because there won’t be any mail. Since we bought postcards in Winnipeg last weekend and have now sent them it would be interesting to see how long it takes for them to reach their destinations. Even sending and receiving mail in Ontario could be temperamental; sometimes taking days and at other times weeks. However with…
Thanks to a tip from our local informant we left Ashern, armed with a map enabling us to locate a shopping mall, cinema complex, food superstore, football stadium and other signs of life. As in the previous week, we arrived at around 2pm and headed straight for the food-court. The mall is quite large but it didn’t take us too long to find it and settle on Greek for lunch. The Greek take-away place didn’t have much of a queue…
It could be said that our trip was doomed from the outset given that the tickets were booked just 48 hours prior to our departure and the suitcases finally loaded the night before (or in my case the morning of!) the big move. This was largely due to the fact that neither of us were particularly fussed about going to live in Manitoba. Mum because she likes Ontario and that’s where the other two are. For my part it is…
So, a whole week has passed since we arrived in Steep Rock, Manitoba (Canada) yet we still have no real connection to the rest of the world – no internet (except for the heavily armoured AEY School connection), no out-going phone calls, and even no postal address! Since this will clearly be an experience quite unlike any I have had before and as I will have a lot of free time on my hands it seems like a good enough…