Well, I've been in Cayambe for a few weeks now, so I think I have a fairly good idea of what it's like by now. To be honest, I didn't fall in love with it instantly, like I did with the Dominican Republic. I actually expected it to be a fair bit like the DR, but it really isn't. But the more time I spend here, the more I love it. I especially love the view of the mountains! We are really missing out by not having them in Southwestern Ontario (no, the Hammer doesn't count). Cayambe has mountains on every side. The view is even better from my school (don't worry, I promise to take lots of pictures). One thing that I noticed right from the beginning was how busy it is! Though it's smaller than Guelph (I'm told 70 000 people), you'd never be able to tell from the crowds that are always filling the streets, especially around the park and downtown area. They are really friendly too, always honking or saying 'hola!' or 'buenas tardes' (good afternoon) as they go past. I really love how colourful the buildings are, as well. They are often painted orange, yellow, blue, pink, or any other colour you can think of. Even my house is sunflower yellow and forrest green. There are also a lot of paintings and murals on walls, either advertising products, like milk and dog food, or just showing the name of a school or business with illustrations. There is also a lot of grafitti (one of my new favourite things, if you didn't already know), which I like. I will take lots of pictures. I set out in search of a digital photo printer, but I haven't found one yet, and failing that I wanted to send some postcards, but I can't find those either. There are lots of shops all over the place, including MANY convenience stores, fruit stands, restaurants, panderias (bakeries - the Spanish word for bread is pan), and even some superstore type places like Wal-mart or Zellers (though not quite as big and with not quite the same variety). My family buys bread (which are actually buns) to eat every afternoon, which I really like. I might try to do that more often when I get back to Canada. Often I am told to "vamos a comprar pan" (go to buy bread) with my little sisters. Though there are tons of bakeries, they always go to this one specific place about 15 minutes away, though I don't really know why. My friend Brittany and I have taken to coming to the park and buying chocolate bread to eat. It sounds kind of gross, but it is actually really good. It's a sweet bread that kind of looks like a cinnamon bun, but it's actually chocolate. One place even puts icing on top. Yum. It's hard to resist for $0.20. One other thing I am not used to about Cayambe is that there are lots of wild dogs, which is weird. I don't mean wolves or coyotes, just domestic dogs that don't seem to have homes or owners. They aren't vicious or dangerous, but they are everywhere. I will pass 10 or more on my way to school alone. Big, small, long-haired, short-haired, any kind you can think of, I've seen. It actually kind of makes me want a dog, strangely (so I home mom and dad still plan on getting one soon). They are even at my school way outside town in the mountain! Some of them try to get into the classrooms, and occasionally they are successful. There was a cute little one hiding under the desks behind the legs of a few students. One day there were 5 in the school yard at one time. It was strange. But then again, it isn't unusual to have animals there. One day there was a horse in front of the door, another time there was a donkey grazing near the playground. I am getting very used to livestock. I pass lambs, goats, chickens, cows, donkeys, pigs and horses regularly. As for vegetation, there isn't as much as I thought there would be. Many people have gardens around their houses (mine has cactuses and cala lillies!), but there isn't much on public property, except for a few parks, one of which I visit often and is in the center of the down town area. It is pretty impressive. I has a bunch of palm trees which I love, and also tiger lilies that are taller than me, and benches so that you can relax and enjoy it all. One thing I don't enjoy is the milk man. I know, it sounds like a pretty benign thing to dislike, but starting early in the morning, men with huge speakers on their big pickup trucks drive around calling "Leche, leche, le-leche" with their mega horns. You can't hear clearly and it kind of sounds like when kids used to say "girl" into their fists to make a weird sound. It's unnbelievably obnoxious and loud. I will not miss buying milk quietly from a store when I get home. Although I do appreciate the milk, now that my family lets me have it cold in my cereal instead of hot. I'd love to tell you more but my fingers hurt and I want to go get a chocolate bun and sit in the park with Brittany (I wasn't kidding lol).
Much love to all of you! Keep the comments coming!
Hasta luego (until later)!!
-Amita (my host dad calls me that)
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Sorry only have a minute . . .
Hey all
I know I said I would blog soon but once again I am out of time. One of my fellow Intercordians wasn´t feeling well on Tuesday, and there was a big panic that perhaps she had swine flu and we were all quarantined for 2-3 days, so we were unable to leave our houses at all. Of course she just had a regular cold and it was just blown out of proportion, but that's why you haven´t heard much from me lately. Everyone is okay and we all head back to our placements in the morning. I will do my best to write more this week.
Much love!
-Amy
I know I said I would blog soon but once again I am out of time. One of my fellow Intercordians wasn´t feeling well on Tuesday, and there was a big panic that perhaps she had swine flu and we were all quarantined for 2-3 days, so we were unable to leave our houses at all. Of course she just had a regular cold and it was just blown out of proportion, but that's why you haven´t heard much from me lately. Everyone is okay and we all head back to our placements in the morning. I will do my best to write more this week.
Much love!
-Amy
Saturday, May 16, 2009
My First Week (or so) In Cayambe
Hello again!
Sorry it´s been awhile since my last post. There has been quite a lot to get used to as I moved in with my host family. I don´t want to forget anything so I am going to break things down into sections.
Host Family: My host family is great. I moved in a week ago Thursday. My host mom´s name is Teresa and and my host dad is Jaime (here pronounced kind of like hi-may). Teresa is a tailor and has her own business with at least two other employees. It is attached to the house . . . actually the back door to the business is about 5 feet from my room. Jaime works for a Nestle factory that makes dairy products and runs a small restaurant (also next door to the house) in the evenings. He is a good cook and does most of the cooking. I have an older brother named Santiago, and older sister named Lisette, and two younger sisters named Amy (I think she is 10) and Jocelyn (she is 6 or 7). It is so fun having siblings, even if it is only for awhile. Santiago is married to a wonderful lady named Maria, and they have a daughter named Domenica. They live close by so I see them fairly often. He speaks English quite well, which is nice. When I got a sun burn, he took me to the Farmacacia and told me what to buy. He also showed me around town and bought me a yogurt freezie thing. It´s awesome having a big brother. I think Lisette works out of town, so I don´t see her all the time, but she speaks a little English too and she is great. She is taking university classes to be a book keeper if I understood that right, and she teaches dance classes as well. My little sisters are really cute and always want to be around me. One time Amy even hung out in my room when I was taking a nap! They play Barbies, soccer, like to watch TV, regular little girl stuff. On my first night we watched Enchanted in Spanish! It wasn´t quite the same without Patrick Dempsey´s voice, but it was fun. They are a very family oriented bunch, which I really like. On Sundays they get together with Teresa´s brother´s family and play basketball. I was dreading it at first (you all know how sporty I am), but it was actually a lot of fun. I even managed to score a few points (after a bunch of misses). Then there was a party to celebrate an aunt´s birthday. As you can guess, the house is pretty modern. They have at least 3 Tvs, a microwave, the works. Not heating, though. They have a washing machine which I probably could have used, but they mostly wash their clothes by hand I think, so I did the same. It took me 2.5 hours! It made me miss fabric softener as clothes washed by hand and dried in the sun do not end up very soft. I think from now on I will wash things as they are dirty so it isn´t such a huge chore at the end of the week.
Teaching: This has been a bit of a challenge for a number of reasons. First of all, since September I had been hoping to be volunteering at an orphanage, so I wasn´t expecting to teach. I didn´t even know I was at a school until maybe a week before I left, and even then I wasn´t sure the age groups or what I´d be responsible for. I brought no supplies with me and feel pretty unprepared for it. All I am using is my university Spanish text book. For some reason, though I live in downtown Cayambe, I teach at a school in the mountains a fair distance away in a little village called Convalasencia (or something like that). It costs $0.30 to get there on the bus. I catch it about 10 blocks from my house. It is a pretty poor school, and there are about 80 - 100 students from age 4 to 14. They are only divided up into 3 classes though, which is tricky all on it´s own. In the youngest class some students can read and write, others can´t. I teach anywhere from 1 to 2+ hours at a time in each class. Some days I teach all three, sometimes only one. I don´t really understand the system here. On certain days, random teachers just don´t show up, and one day all but one teacher left at 9am (school here starts at 8). Despite all that, teaching is actually going fairly well. The students are eager to learn and pay attention pretty well. I am teaching them numbers, letters, colours, months, seasons, days of the week, animals, basic conversations (how are you, what is your name, how old are you etc.), and even a few camp song to mix it up a little (Alice the Camel for one). I don´t know how much they are actually retaining but I will keep reviewing it all. Quite a few students hang around me before class and during recess or whenever they get the chance and ask ¨¿Como se dice ______ en ingles?¨ (how do you say ____ in English). Usually it´s a name they ask about, sometimes an object. Sometimes I ask ¨¿que es eso?¨ (what is that?), but usually I can answer them. I get a bit stumped with some of the names (anyone know how to translate Gonsalves?). Some of the young ones have taken a liking to me, which is nice. I rarely walk anywhere without at least one girl on each hand. On Friday one of them gave me a hug on the bus and ended up falling asleep in my arms. It was very sweet. School ends at 12:30 here, which is nice. The worst part about school is the trek home. It takes me 1.5 hours to get from school to my house, and most of that is on foot. I don´t really understand why there isn´t a bus, but I am getting used to the walk. Friday I wiped out and scraped my knee pretty good. The first day I had to walk I took a 4 hour nap, though I think that is partly due to altitude as well. Anyway, I am getting the hang of teaching and it´s actually pretty rewarding. I think it will get better as time goes on as well.
Oh . . . one other funny thing that happened on Friday! Another girl with the program, Brittany, ended up helping me teach because her placement wasn´t running. Towards the end of the day, we were standing at the front of the class while another teacher explained something to the students, and something moving in a on the ground caught our eye. Brittany was like ¨whoa something is going on with that bag!¨. The teacher turns to her and simply goes ¨chicken.¨ We both busted a gut laughing as the poor thing moved around the floor in his bag. A regular occurence here I guess, but we aren´t used to it. The teacher later told Brittany to open it, which she did, but a student had to close it after we saw it´s little rooster head and freaked out. Turns out Brittany´s host mom, the teacher who told us what was in the bag, took it home. Maybe it was dinner last night?
I have tons more to write, but this post is already super long, so I will leave it at that for now. Internet is cheap here ($1/hour or less), so I will be back soon to tell you more. And please comment! It´s nice to know if people are actually reading the nonsense I write about.
Tonight my host parent´s other son is holding a coffee house at his cafe, so I am excited about that. There will be live music and maybe even dancing! I´m hoping to get ahold of some of my Canadian friends here to join me as well.
That´s it for now. Stay in touch! Let me know if you want my mailing address.
Cheers,
-Amy
Sorry it´s been awhile since my last post. There has been quite a lot to get used to as I moved in with my host family. I don´t want to forget anything so I am going to break things down into sections.
Host Family: My host family is great. I moved in a week ago Thursday. My host mom´s name is Teresa and and my host dad is Jaime (here pronounced kind of like hi-may). Teresa is a tailor and has her own business with at least two other employees. It is attached to the house . . . actually the back door to the business is about 5 feet from my room. Jaime works for a Nestle factory that makes dairy products and runs a small restaurant (also next door to the house) in the evenings. He is a good cook and does most of the cooking. I have an older brother named Santiago, and older sister named Lisette, and two younger sisters named Amy (I think she is 10) and Jocelyn (she is 6 or 7). It is so fun having siblings, even if it is only for awhile. Santiago is married to a wonderful lady named Maria, and they have a daughter named Domenica. They live close by so I see them fairly often. He speaks English quite well, which is nice. When I got a sun burn, he took me to the Farmacacia and told me what to buy. He also showed me around town and bought me a yogurt freezie thing. It´s awesome having a big brother. I think Lisette works out of town, so I don´t see her all the time, but she speaks a little English too and she is great. She is taking university classes to be a book keeper if I understood that right, and she teaches dance classes as well. My little sisters are really cute and always want to be around me. One time Amy even hung out in my room when I was taking a nap! They play Barbies, soccer, like to watch TV, regular little girl stuff. On my first night we watched Enchanted in Spanish! It wasn´t quite the same without Patrick Dempsey´s voice, but it was fun. They are a very family oriented bunch, which I really like. On Sundays they get together with Teresa´s brother´s family and play basketball. I was dreading it at first (you all know how sporty I am), but it was actually a lot of fun. I even managed to score a few points (after a bunch of misses). Then there was a party to celebrate an aunt´s birthday. As you can guess, the house is pretty modern. They have at least 3 Tvs, a microwave, the works. Not heating, though. They have a washing machine which I probably could have used, but they mostly wash their clothes by hand I think, so I did the same. It took me 2.5 hours! It made me miss fabric softener as clothes washed by hand and dried in the sun do not end up very soft. I think from now on I will wash things as they are dirty so it isn´t such a huge chore at the end of the week.
Teaching: This has been a bit of a challenge for a number of reasons. First of all, since September I had been hoping to be volunteering at an orphanage, so I wasn´t expecting to teach. I didn´t even know I was at a school until maybe a week before I left, and even then I wasn´t sure the age groups or what I´d be responsible for. I brought no supplies with me and feel pretty unprepared for it. All I am using is my university Spanish text book. For some reason, though I live in downtown Cayambe, I teach at a school in the mountains a fair distance away in a little village called Convalasencia (or something like that). It costs $0.30 to get there on the bus. I catch it about 10 blocks from my house. It is a pretty poor school, and there are about 80 - 100 students from age 4 to 14. They are only divided up into 3 classes though, which is tricky all on it´s own. In the youngest class some students can read and write, others can´t. I teach anywhere from 1 to 2+ hours at a time in each class. Some days I teach all three, sometimes only one. I don´t really understand the system here. On certain days, random teachers just don´t show up, and one day all but one teacher left at 9am (school here starts at 8). Despite all that, teaching is actually going fairly well. The students are eager to learn and pay attention pretty well. I am teaching them numbers, letters, colours, months, seasons, days of the week, animals, basic conversations (how are you, what is your name, how old are you etc.), and even a few camp song to mix it up a little (Alice the Camel for one). I don´t know how much they are actually retaining but I will keep reviewing it all. Quite a few students hang around me before class and during recess or whenever they get the chance and ask ¨¿Como se dice ______ en ingles?¨ (how do you say ____ in English). Usually it´s a name they ask about, sometimes an object. Sometimes I ask ¨¿que es eso?¨ (what is that?), but usually I can answer them. I get a bit stumped with some of the names (anyone know how to translate Gonsalves?). Some of the young ones have taken a liking to me, which is nice. I rarely walk anywhere without at least one girl on each hand. On Friday one of them gave me a hug on the bus and ended up falling asleep in my arms. It was very sweet. School ends at 12:30 here, which is nice. The worst part about school is the trek home. It takes me 1.5 hours to get from school to my house, and most of that is on foot. I don´t really understand why there isn´t a bus, but I am getting used to the walk. Friday I wiped out and scraped my knee pretty good. The first day I had to walk I took a 4 hour nap, though I think that is partly due to altitude as well. Anyway, I am getting the hang of teaching and it´s actually pretty rewarding. I think it will get better as time goes on as well.
Oh . . . one other funny thing that happened on Friday! Another girl with the program, Brittany, ended up helping me teach because her placement wasn´t running. Towards the end of the day, we were standing at the front of the class while another teacher explained something to the students, and something moving in a on the ground caught our eye. Brittany was like ¨whoa something is going on with that bag!¨. The teacher turns to her and simply goes ¨chicken.¨ We both busted a gut laughing as the poor thing moved around the floor in his bag. A regular occurence here I guess, but we aren´t used to it. The teacher later told Brittany to open it, which she did, but a student had to close it after we saw it´s little rooster head and freaked out. Turns out Brittany´s host mom, the teacher who told us what was in the bag, took it home. Maybe it was dinner last night?
I have tons more to write, but this post is already super long, so I will leave it at that for now. Internet is cheap here ($1/hour or less), so I will be back soon to tell you more. And please comment! It´s nice to know if people are actually reading the nonsense I write about.
Tonight my host parent´s other son is holding a coffee house at his cafe, so I am excited about that. There will be live music and maybe even dancing! I´m hoping to get ahold of some of my Canadian friends here to join me as well.
That´s it for now. Stay in touch! Let me know if you want my mailing address.
Cheers,
-Amy
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Hola from Quito!
Hola los todos!
I arrived in Ecuador last night and I love it! Last night and tonight we are staying at this beautiful hostel in Quito. A wonderful little lady cooks for us, and birds and plants are painted on the bright walls. The 8 of us are getting along well and having a great time. Some of us had a little bit of altitude sickness but we are getting better now. It´s weird, but you get winded after just one flight of stairs because there is so much less oxygen in the air. I would love to write more but some fellow Beyond Bordians are waiting for me outside, and I think they are about to shut this internet cafe down. Anyway . . . know that I am well and having a blast! Tomorrow we head to Cayambe to move in with our host families.
Love you all very much!
-Amy
I arrived in Ecuador last night and I love it! Last night and tonight we are staying at this beautiful hostel in Quito. A wonderful little lady cooks for us, and birds and plants are painted on the bright walls. The 8 of us are getting along well and having a great time. Some of us had a little bit of altitude sickness but we are getting better now. It´s weird, but you get winded after just one flight of stairs because there is so much less oxygen in the air. I would love to write more but some fellow Beyond Bordians are waiting for me outside, and I think they are about to shut this internet cafe down. Anyway . . . know that I am well and having a blast! Tomorrow we head to Cayambe to move in with our host families.
Love you all very much!
-Amy
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
PANIC!! (not just at the disco)
First of all . . . surprise!!!! You might be a little shocked to see me posting again before my trip has begun . . . especially since it doesn't count for marks anymore (just kidding!). Honestly I was never a super reliable blogger . . . but now I keep coming up with ideas for posts. So here I go.
A week from this very moment, I will be in Ecuador. And it's official: panic has set in. Not in a huge way, but to some degree. My placement still isn't 100% figured out. I know that there will absolutely be something there for me to do and it will all be worked out somehow, so I'm trying to stay chill about it. There is still SO MUCH to do before I head out. I still need to do laundry, buy a mosquito net, send some forms to school, etc etc . . .
You know what set off a wave of panic? It was the most insignificant thing. I went out to buy some milk for my parents and, out of habit I checked the expiration date. It said May 14th. MAY 14th!! That is more than a week after I will have arrived in Ecuador. Expiration dates, especially on milk, are never that far into the future. It goes bad pretty quickly. That's just how things go. And I will be in Ecuador even faster than our dairy products can expire. Whoa.
Not that it's all doom and gloom around here. Just the opposite! I am very excited for my trip and can't wait to see what is in store for me there. Things are starting to come together piece by piece. My lovely aunt has offered to drive me to the airport, preventing a lonely ride in an airport shuttle I was prepared to take. A friend of mine and her mom were thoughtful enough to prepare a travel care kit for me, complete with bug spray, a first aid kit, sunscreen, and many other useful items. I went to Value Village with a friend and bought some lightweight cargo pants (we do take your advice Joanne!!). Another friend was kind enough to give me some memory cards as a gift to increase my picture-taking capacity. Though I haven't officially started packing, I have been making a list in my head of the things I want to take, including a list of books I am going to take with me to read. (I am an English student . . . it's what we do. I think I have it down to four, not counting the Bible. And that was tough!! One may even be The Plague or Pedagogy of the Oppressed . . . no promises though lol). But I still can't believe I leave in 6 days!!!
The hardest part for me, as I always knew it would be, is saying goodbye. Earlier today I got back from a fabulous trip to visit friends in Ottawa. One had her baby while I was visiting, so I got to spend time with her and her husband, and meet her beautiful new son. I got to spend an evening catching up with a friend from high school, and went for bubble tea with her and her husband. She is having her second child, a little girl, in July. I also got to play trains with her son and read him a bed time story, which was great. I spent a night with a family I nannied for a few summers ago, and got to see how much the kids have grown up. I also spent a lot of time just relaxing with other friends . . . laughing, watching movies, eating junk food, playing cards and board games, getting pastries from the local bakery, and going out for lunch. It was exactly what I needed. At the same time, it also reminded me of what I would be missing while I was gone. I helped a friend pick out a gift for a wedding I can't attend. My mother and grandfather will celebrate birthdays, as will aunts, cousins, and a handful of other relatives. My poor parents will be short their only daughter on Mother and Father's Day. Babies not yet born will already be months old when I get back. It's so crazy!!
It almost feels as if I'll be somewhere else forever. Like this evening I was thinking "this will be the last chance I get to grab food from the Pita Pit and watch a movie with a friend". Or "this will be one of the last times I will be able to drive for awhile", or "this is the last time I will be in a Canadian grocery store".
Logically, I know that it's only 3 months. 1/4 of a year. A small fraction of a lifetime. But still, a lot can happen in three months, and I won't be here to see most of it, and it's kind of sad. I know I'm being melodramatic. It's silly. I have spent a year away at school, a summer as a nanny, and countless trips, though relatively short ones, to different places in Canada, the USA and twice to the Dominican Republic. But this is different.
Anyway . . . I guess it's normal to be feeling this way so close to departure. I'm not really surprised that I have mixed emotions. When the time comes I will be ready to say farewell to friends and family, hop on that plane, and jump into my summer in Ecuador . . . even though I know it won't always be easy.
A week from this very moment, I will be in Ecuador. And it's official: panic has set in. Not in a huge way, but to some degree. My placement still isn't 100% figured out. I know that there will absolutely be something there for me to do and it will all be worked out somehow, so I'm trying to stay chill about it. There is still SO MUCH to do before I head out. I still need to do laundry, buy a mosquito net, send some forms to school, etc etc . . .
You know what set off a wave of panic? It was the most insignificant thing. I went out to buy some milk for my parents and, out of habit I checked the expiration date. It said May 14th. MAY 14th!! That is more than a week after I will have arrived in Ecuador. Expiration dates, especially on milk, are never that far into the future. It goes bad pretty quickly. That's just how things go. And I will be in Ecuador even faster than our dairy products can expire. Whoa.
Not that it's all doom and gloom around here. Just the opposite! I am very excited for my trip and can't wait to see what is in store for me there. Things are starting to come together piece by piece. My lovely aunt has offered to drive me to the airport, preventing a lonely ride in an airport shuttle I was prepared to take. A friend of mine and her mom were thoughtful enough to prepare a travel care kit for me, complete with bug spray, a first aid kit, sunscreen, and many other useful items. I went to Value Village with a friend and bought some lightweight cargo pants (we do take your advice Joanne!!). Another friend was kind enough to give me some memory cards as a gift to increase my picture-taking capacity. Though I haven't officially started packing, I have been making a list in my head of the things I want to take, including a list of books I am going to take with me to read. (I am an English student . . . it's what we do. I think I have it down to four, not counting the Bible. And that was tough!! One may even be The Plague or Pedagogy of the Oppressed . . . no promises though lol). But I still can't believe I leave in 6 days!!!
The hardest part for me, as I always knew it would be, is saying goodbye. Earlier today I got back from a fabulous trip to visit friends in Ottawa. One had her baby while I was visiting, so I got to spend time with her and her husband, and meet her beautiful new son. I got to spend an evening catching up with a friend from high school, and went for bubble tea with her and her husband. She is having her second child, a little girl, in July. I also got to play trains with her son and read him a bed time story, which was great. I spent a night with a family I nannied for a few summers ago, and got to see how much the kids have grown up. I also spent a lot of time just relaxing with other friends . . . laughing, watching movies, eating junk food, playing cards and board games, getting pastries from the local bakery, and going out for lunch. It was exactly what I needed. At the same time, it also reminded me of what I would be missing while I was gone. I helped a friend pick out a gift for a wedding I can't attend. My mother and grandfather will celebrate birthdays, as will aunts, cousins, and a handful of other relatives. My poor parents will be short their only daughter on Mother and Father's Day. Babies not yet born will already be months old when I get back. It's so crazy!!
It almost feels as if I'll be somewhere else forever. Like this evening I was thinking "this will be the last chance I get to grab food from the Pita Pit and watch a movie with a friend". Or "this will be one of the last times I will be able to drive for awhile", or "this is the last time I will be in a Canadian grocery store".
Logically, I know that it's only 3 months. 1/4 of a year. A small fraction of a lifetime. But still, a lot can happen in three months, and I won't be here to see most of it, and it's kind of sad. I know I'm being melodramatic. It's silly. I have spent a year away at school, a summer as a nanny, and countless trips, though relatively short ones, to different places in Canada, the USA and twice to the Dominican Republic. But this is different.
Anyway . . . I guess it's normal to be feeling this way so close to departure. I'm not really surprised that I have mixed emotions. When the time comes I will be ready to say farewell to friends and family, hop on that plane, and jump into my summer in Ecuador . . . even though I know it won't always be easy.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Things I Learned from Great Big Sea
Not sure how I'm going to tie a Canadian folk-rock band to a blog about my summer in Ecuador? Just you wait.
I have been a fan of Great Big Sea since a friend introduced me to them in high school. Since then I have been to four concerts, bought a few cds, and downloaded a bunch of their songs onto my ipod. They play a few different styles of music, some original and some traditional folk songs. The band members are all very talented singers and musicians, and super charismatic (especially Alan . . . he's my favourite). Even if you aren't really into their style of music, I really recommend checking out a concert. They play very interactive shows and have so much energy. Their love of the music just pours out of them into the audience. But enough gushing. I'll get to the point.
Great Big Sea have some excellent songs with poignant things to say, and some of them reminded me of the whole Beyond Borders experience. So here goes.
All together, you and me, a single note don't make a melody (Love Me Tonight)
This one is pretty obvious. For me, it's been really great to have so many different perspectives and personalities represented in BB. If we all felt exactly the same way about things, or thought alike, or had similar ideas, we wouldn't have had the same experiences. All the different views thrown together is what really made the program great.
Anything worth having is worth some sacrifice (Shines Right Through Me)
I think we can all relate to this. We've had to give up a lot to be in this program: time, money, energy, classes that may have been better used as required courses, and three months of our summer. It hasn't always been easy, but we wouldn't have done it if we didn't think it would have all been worth it in the end.
Move along, I believe there's something beautiful to see, move along I believe there's something beautiful just waiting for you and me (Something Beautiful)
For me at least, this process hasn't been easy. There has been the odd time where it has taken all of my strength just to put one foot in front of the other. But, similarly to the last example, at the end it will be so worth it because all this effort will be reflected in an unforgettable summer. We are almost there! The beauty is just around the corner.
This is my one small step, this is my walk on the moon (Walk on the Moon)
I think this one is my favourite. It's a really pretty song, but I also really like the message. The song talks about how the astronauts must have been scared s***less when they stepped out of that spaceship when they first stepped onto the moon, but then they got to see the world from a whole new perspective (okay, so I paraphrased a little). And that walk on the moon started with one tiny step. Same goes for us. In the scope of the world, our trips this summer is just a small little blip in the radar, but in our own lives it's a big deal 'walk on the moon', so to speak. And it wouldn't have been possible without that first step.
This is here, this is now, it's the moment that we live for and we just can't live without, it's all clear to me now, we've already started dying, and our time is running out (Here and Now)
I know this one seems depressing, but I don't mean it that way. But if you look our lives simply as periods of time on earth, most of us are 1/4 of the way through our lives, give or take. Truth be told, as soon as you're born you're already dying. And I'm not trying to be dark or macabre here, but I just mean that we only have a finite amount of time on earth, and it's our loss (and fault) if we don't do our best to truly live while we have the chance. This summer is one way for us to experience the world as we never have before, and may never again. So live it up!!
Well judging from the quasi-philosophical and semi-deep tone that piece took, you may be able to tell it is stupid late (or early . . . lol). I may have said it differently in the harsh light of day, but the sentiment remains the same. Live while you're alive, make sacrifices and take risks.
I have been a fan of Great Big Sea since a friend introduced me to them in high school. Since then I have been to four concerts, bought a few cds, and downloaded a bunch of their songs onto my ipod. They play a few different styles of music, some original and some traditional folk songs. The band members are all very talented singers and musicians, and super charismatic (especially Alan . . . he's my favourite). Even if you aren't really into their style of music, I really recommend checking out a concert. They play very interactive shows and have so much energy. Their love of the music just pours out of them into the audience. But enough gushing. I'll get to the point.
Great Big Sea have some excellent songs with poignant things to say, and some of them reminded me of the whole Beyond Borders experience. So here goes.
All together, you and me, a single note don't make a melody (Love Me Tonight)
This one is pretty obvious. For me, it's been really great to have so many different perspectives and personalities represented in BB. If we all felt exactly the same way about things, or thought alike, or had similar ideas, we wouldn't have had the same experiences. All the different views thrown together is what really made the program great.
Anything worth having is worth some sacrifice (Shines Right Through Me)
I think we can all relate to this. We've had to give up a lot to be in this program: time, money, energy, classes that may have been better used as required courses, and three months of our summer. It hasn't always been easy, but we wouldn't have done it if we didn't think it would have all been worth it in the end.
Move along, I believe there's something beautiful to see, move along I believe there's something beautiful just waiting for you and me (Something Beautiful)
For me at least, this process hasn't been easy. There has been the odd time where it has taken all of my strength just to put one foot in front of the other. But, similarly to the last example, at the end it will be so worth it because all this effort will be reflected in an unforgettable summer. We are almost there! The beauty is just around the corner.
This is my one small step, this is my walk on the moon (Walk on the Moon)
I think this one is my favourite. It's a really pretty song, but I also really like the message. The song talks about how the astronauts must have been scared s***less when they stepped out of that spaceship when they first stepped onto the moon, but then they got to see the world from a whole new perspective (okay, so I paraphrased a little). And that walk on the moon started with one tiny step. Same goes for us. In the scope of the world, our trips this summer is just a small little blip in the radar, but in our own lives it's a big deal 'walk on the moon', so to speak. And it wouldn't have been possible without that first step.
This is here, this is now, it's the moment that we live for and we just can't live without, it's all clear to me now, we've already started dying, and our time is running out (Here and Now)
I know this one seems depressing, but I don't mean it that way. But if you look our lives simply as periods of time on earth, most of us are 1/4 of the way through our lives, give or take. Truth be told, as soon as you're born you're already dying. And I'm not trying to be dark or macabre here, but I just mean that we only have a finite amount of time on earth, and it's our loss (and fault) if we don't do our best to truly live while we have the chance. This summer is one way for us to experience the world as we never have before, and may never again. So live it up!!
Well judging from the quasi-philosophical and semi-deep tone that piece took, you may be able to tell it is stupid late (or early . . . lol). I may have said it differently in the harsh light of day, but the sentiment remains the same. Live while you're alive, make sacrifices and take risks.
Why My Semester Kinda Sucked
It started at the very beginning of the term when I went to pick up my OSAP. I was informed that I could not pick up my loan because I had not previously arranged my fees. So I went down to student accounts to arrange my fees, but I was told that it would take a few days for the form to be processed, and that they could not guarantee that the information would go through in time, but that it should be done by the next afternoon. I returned the next day to once again attempt to pick up my loan, but my the computer still said my fees were not arranged. To make matters worse, I was at risk of not receiving any OSAP at all because I was taking one of my three classes at the University of Guelph, and it did not show up on my Waterloo record. I quickly added the third BB class to correct this. I once again went to pick up my loan, but my fees were still not arranged. Since the due date had already passes, that meant I would have to petition to be allowed to register late. Luckily, there was a lovely lady working in student accounts who took pity on me and decided to override the petition requirement. Since I live in Guelph and only needed to be on campus once a week, resolving all these issues took some time. Both UW and U of G were beginning to put late charges on my account because I hadn't made payment. When courses and fee arrangements were all taken care of, I finally was able to get my loan. But when I went to get the paperwork, I was informed that, if I picked up my OSAP, I would be put on academic probation. This was very upsetting and confusing as I could not think of anything I had done wrong. They told me that I had not passed all my courses for the previous term, which is what had triggered the probation. I tried to explain that I had gotten an extension on a paper, and I hadn't handed it in yet, and asked if it would all be straightened out once the paper and the mark were submitted. They said that regardless of that, it would remain on my transcript. If that wasn't enough, U of G was trying to charge me $900 for the one class I was taking there, as there medical and dental coverage are mandatory. As icing on the cake, my grades were not great either. I got a 57% on a mid-term, and a 66% on a take home test. This was especially bad news because at that point I was a few percentage points away from being allowed back into honours English Lit. Eventually, I got the paper in and I got an 84% in the class. I was able to get out of the medical and dental coverage at Guelph, bringing the cost of the class down to almost reasonable. I paid my fees, and I even began to do get better grades. I still have not resolved the academic probation issue, but its in the works. This has been one of the toughest term I've come up against in my 4 years at university, but luckily most of that is behind me. Here's hoping it doesn't happen again.
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