Last weeks in Iqaluit

There is not much to say expect that I am extremely excited to leave and see more parts of Canada.  Everything is wrapping up very slowly; time seems to be moving like a snail.

We have started making seal skin mitts, and mine did not turn out very well.  I cannot sew; though I tried very hard to, I’m just not a perfectionist. 

Our debriefing turned out to be really fun.  The person who came up to Iqaluit was really fun to be with and we made letters to our workplaces and created a poster of our PL.  Debriefing is when the last couple of days are devoted to reflection of the last 3 months and thinking about what we have done in the past and what we want to change about ourselves to make the next 3 months better.  It was a really neat experience; we answered personal questions and wrote letters to ourselves (that will be given back to us by the end of the second rotation). 

We also had our open house, which means people that we know within the community and our work partners came to our house to see what we have been up to within the last 3 months. We created a slideshow presentation of all the activities we did and places we saw and used all the amazing photos from the last 3 months in Iqaluit.  It was a really great success; we had a nice turn out. 

By the last week I was ready to leave and start something new again.  My time in Iqaluit was well spent and I would definitely come back up and visit again.  It was an amazing and a once in a life time experience that I am glad I did and finished. 

Montreal, I am ready for you. 

Montreal

Montreal!

As soon as I arrived in Montreal I went straight to the bar in the airport and had a shot of tequila.  It tasted so good; I had to have a drink. By the time I was done I hurried back to my group, hoping that they hadn’t left without me.  Our drive to our new house with our new PL was extremely interesting.  Her name is Ericka and she is so chill.  It is hard to describe her but she knows and notices when you’re down and happy and she is always up for anything!

Now that I have been here for about a couple of weeks, there are some interesting things about Montreal that are worth mentioning.  The drivers are CRAZY.  You are not allowed to turn right on a red light because of they did then a lot of people would be dead.  The drivers do not care about pedestrians, if you’re in their way they will not slow down.  They down not signal when changing lanes and they do not obey the speed limit.  I’m sure that in every city this happens but it is extremely more noticeable here in Montreal than anywhere else because they have odd driving restrictions like the ‘no turning on a red light’ rule. 

The city is beautiful.  The houses are mostly townhouse with amazing spiraling staircases.  Montreal looks like a cross between a European country such as France and Toronto.  Old Montreal also known as Old Port is breathtaking.  I love there. Any amount of free time I get I go all the way down there to go explore the place.

My workplace is at the Montreal Children’s Library.  During the days I organize the books and just help around with the odd job.  Last week I helped my boss organize the place and move bookcases around to utilize more space.  In the afternoons there is homework help and arts and crafts for the kids and chess club.  Needless to say I suck at chess, and I am a sore loser.  I can’t take not winning.  Guess it’s something else I have to work on.  I have a mini assignment /presentation to the kids about the places I have been.  So sometime in May I will be presenting England and France.   

The group has been getting along, it has been really fun because there is another Katimavik group in Montreal and we get to see them and plan events with them.  They’re an awesome bunch of people.  I think that know that the group knows what everyone is like we kind of know how to stay away from each other when we’re upset or having an off day.  But of course then there are the times when it is awesome to be with everyone and everyone’s energy just bounces off of each other.

For the time being I have not gone shopping.  It is killing me.  I am waiting for my mum to come up and bring my spring/summer clothing and shoes.  But there is light at the end of the tunnel, I will go shopping very soon. 

We have done some volunteer events within the community thus far, such as we volunteered for the Walk of Hope to end MS.  We are also helping out on Earth Day to help pick up garbage in the parks.  And to stay active we all have our own bikes that are were donated by a bike garage.  And the most interesting event we had was Justin Trudeau came to have dinner with us this past Tuesday.  He used to be the president of Katimavik, somehow I believe, and so he paid us a visit.  Can I just say how cute he is and how down to earth.  And for those of you who do not know him, he is the son of the former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. 

We have more upcoming events planned! I also have 72 hours this Easter weekend full of free time, meaning I can do whatever I want! I am planning to meet some of my KKG sisters from McGill this weekend but we’ll see…I promise to keep regular blog updates! Until the next one, love you guys! Bye