Crepes, Trees, and Dindins

Well here are some random pics... me and Wes at the Crepe Breton eating some good crepe goodness- you have never had crepes until you've had real French Crepes... YUM! and Then at the Ball Costume with Jenni- we came super late so she was a Quebequois caught in the rain and I went as a tree- see my leaves? Then me and some of the girls eating a delicious dinner in our dungeon of a kitchen... you have to walk down 4 flights of stairs to the opposite side of the builidng to reach any sort of heating element- hence the amazing amount of sandwiches and other cold items that I have been eating. Hello peanut butter and babaganoush! Not together of course!

Oh my word..

Just got the funniest email from Jamie- check out this website and then click on the lady with the Cats on the left- it's my worst nightmare come true! Hahaahaha
http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/lifelessons/lifelessons.html?clik=tlc_leftnav

L'ille de Orleans...

Saturday we went to the Ille d' Orleans and it was really cool.
1. My camera did at the beginning though so I only got shots of the waterfall which was gorgeous but you had to walk down 480 steps... apparently it is even taller than Niagra. Anyhoo, that day we got to have fresh bread on the beach and a nice french guy served me a bowl of all the flavours of Sorbet (only he was talking to me in English and pronouced it Sor bet- I tried to explain to him that in English we say it the French way too but he didn't get it:) .
2. We went to an old house with a funny 14 year old guide dressed up in pantaloons and long socks who told us funny stories about history and kept making jokes - like he showed us the master bedroom and said that they drew the curtains for intimacy and then he pointed to the candle that was right next to the bed and reminded us that it was made from seal fat- which in French is the word phoque- pronounced exactly as you might think it is... oh man, and then he started to laugh really pubecently with his voice crackin- he was hilarious.
3. We toured a vineyard with black currents and had a wine tasting- yum yum and brought some back for mom and dad
4. Had a tour of the maritime museum out on the water... they divided us into groups according to our french levels but I still hardly understood a lot of it. I did learn the french word for fishery which is a peche...
5. After a lot of ice cream and fun times I headed home for a long long long nap..
6. And then it was off to this rad singing bar called Boneparte (after the famous Napoleon) where we sang French and English songs all night with a rowdy crowd - and a whole lotta enthusiasm. Everyone here in Quebec sings- and we sang our guts out even if we didn't know half the words. It was funny cause there was a huge couple of tables in this tiny place with us Anglophones and so we would shout out the English songs and all the French would stare at us and then they would giver on the French Folk ones- it was a team effort! Good times, good times. I'll say it again- I love this place!

Take me out to the ballgame!

Friday night we went out to a Quebec Capitols game- pro-baseball at it's best. Of course in Quebec they like to do things right and get the crowd nice and rowdy so for a mere $25 you get a ticket to the game and 2 hours of pre-game pizza, pop, wine (red and white), beer, hot-dogs, popcorn, chicken skewers ALL YOU CAN EAT AND DRINK... who'd have thought? I've never seen anything like it. And given the heat of the day and the ambitiousness of the sports-fanatics, there were some pretty happy people by the time the first pitch flew across homeplate. Quebec won and we all had a blast rippin' it up in the stands. I never knew I could have so much fun at a baseball game. Sorry Jeremy and Derek- I know you guys had kickass games growing up:) Love you bros!

Me like water...

Today we took the ferry across the St. Laurence into Veille Levi... a bon place to mange la creme glace! They have this chocolate shop that serves ice cream and the line goes way out the door... good times! I also had some poutine today- a Quebec treat for sure but sooooo salty... for those of you not up on your poutine - its fries smothered in gravy and cheese curds... if you'll notice on the pic I got an expecially gooey one! Also, I took lots of random pics today of flowers, buildings, and benches... Quebec was made for art... you have to look no further than in front of your nose and there is something beautiful. I love it here!

L'observation Des Baleines- Whalewatching...

L’observation des baleines – Whale watching… now that was some good times- belugas, grey whales, a crazy driver who didn’t seem to slow down for even the biggest of waves, seeing waterfalls, getting up at 445am to get to the place, etc. And the gave us lunch and breakfast which was good but it included V8- YUCK... for a downhome tomato hater it was too much. Anyhoo, it was one of the most beautiful experiences of my trip so far to see whales in the wild. I didn't realize how much it means to see something so beautiful and powerful free and liberated to do and be just itself. My english is starting to suck- sorry... it's the franglais coming out in me!

C'est l'amour!

Going out for dinner last night- one of my dreams come true- sitting on a terrace outdoors, with a red and white checkered table cloth, violins and the accordian playing (t think Lady and the Tramp- not polka), a Strawberry Dairquiri (that was as tall as two!) and some good peeps, Sigh, wonderful.

La Cabine au Sucre

The Sugar Shack, the place where lumberjacks lie, the good old fashioned, everything made of maple syrup, dancing hoedown of a place where all that is French and Canadian comes together as one. Can I just tell you that it's not a good idea to start doing , "Slapleather" unless you are fully aware of your surroundings? I looked back and after some rounds of playing the spoons and doing a mass group macarena it was time for some line dancing of sorts and the leaders seemed to just be grapevining over and over. So I pull out the old shindig we all learned back in grade 10 and low and behold I have a group of 20 or 25 people all following along behind me... AHH! Who knew? French learner, and line dancer extrodinaire!

Frisbee Volante Extreme!

Frisbee- nothing like a good game of ultimate (no wait, Frisbee Volante Extreme) to get you going in the afternoon- especially after a long day of grammar and pronounciation. The fun part about this is that there are people from all over who are playing - all across Canada, the States, and Mexico and we are all trying to speak in French and it doesn't always work when you are in the heat of the moment. It was really windy one day and one of the Animateurs (the people who make sure we have fun and speak french) was telling me that they regularly have tornados in Quebec city and that this was nothing. So I thought to ask him if they had flying cows too that liked to spin in the wind, and he said they do! Apparently it is a regluar Quebequois pasttime to go cow hunting in the tornados- who knew? Although I would imagine it's slightly different from skeet shooting- and what do you do with the cows afterwards? Eww:)

La Musee

La Musee - I'm not sure which museum it was that we went to this week but it was really rad- they had 7 exhibits, all with super high tech things- like headphones that you would wear that would change sounds and explanations even if you only moved one or two feet away, a whole crime scene investitgation where you got to go through and solve a murder- complete with the autopsy room, genetics lab, phone and tv interviews with the suspects- it was like getting to be on CSI - funtimes... and then there were two exhibits dedicated to the history and present of French Cinematography- so interesting!

Shopping and French Grace...

Shopping- definitly like the clothes here- so chic, feminine, and yet still seem to be mostly modest enough to cart around- although my perspective on that could be skewed by the fact that everyone seems to dress so well here- I think I've said it before but I just think that french women are so beautiful. They just seem to walk around with such confidence, beauty, and grace- I love the Quebequois appreciation for beauty.

La Festival D'ete de Quebec

• LIVE, Blue October, Fiest, Broken Social Scene, Garu, Robert Charlebois, Wilco, and other random bands... I tell you this music festival is one of the best things I have ever been too- granted there are a ton of peeps here but at the same time, who can beat a $20 ticket for all of those bands & more and 10 days of Festival fun. Downtown is just a blaze right now of hoards of people wandering, eating, drinking, singing, dancing- there are street performers and French is everywhere... although I must say it was funny at the Live concert last night when the lead singer put th mic to the audience and we were all singing along to the classics - but then there were a few where he had to pull back the mic cause everyone knew the tune, but there was a whole lotta bla bla blaing going on:) Also, I really enjoyed going to the French bands even though I didn't know the words at all. This one guy, Charlebois, I guess is like the Johnny Cash of Quebec. Anyhoo, he starts singing this song about Quebec that goes something like - un, duex, trois, quatre, cinq, six- QUEBEC! and then you just get to yell and the whole stage lights up- good times!

Chez Son Pere

• Chez Son Pere - We stumbled upon it last night after a couple of concerts and I had heard it was one of the best pubs in town for an authentic Quebequois experience and boy was it ever- singing, dancing, yelling at the top of our lungs with good beer, great peeps, and a whole lotta atmosphere. You had to climb to the top of these really steep stairs and then stuffed into a room with a lot of sweaty (but enthusiastic) people. I LOVED IT! That is my idea of a rad place to be- none of that gross bump & grind sleezy bar crap (although I must say that the Quebequois seem to be a lot more free with their signs of love and affection), but just good times... it kinda reminded me of the Blarney stone only 10 time more hyper...

This Past Week

Man, the weeks go by so fast here. I can't believe that it is already Saturday again! It seems like I just got here. Anyhoo, this week has been filled with a ton of fun activities (like frisbee, whale watching, and going to the Cabin Au Sucre), meeting new peeps, having random French experiences (try asking for Carribean chicken in the Deli- no matter how many ways you say "Carribean" - it apparently is not a French word:)), shopping, playing sports and busting out in a new culture...
A few highlights include:

Today... La Citadel, jeux de theatre, et CRASH

Bonjour! Aujourd'hui, j'ai ma premiere classe de francais et nous avons eu un review. It was so hard to get up this morning, what with the time change still and all... anyhoo, i need to write this tommorow after I go to the sugar shack - la Cabin au Sucre for a great meal... the Festivale D'ete starts tommorow and for only $20 we get to see concerts and street performers like Live, Twisted Sister, Feist, Broken Social Circle, etc for 10 days- SWEET... it will be great I hope! Cheers and a bientot!

Worst feeling in the world...

Losing a great friend.

Je suis arrivée!

Bonjour! C`est ma premiere jour au Québec est cèst trés bien! Jài rendezvous avec beaucoup des noveux personnes et sortir avec des étudiants qui aller au SFU. Cette semaine, je veux jouer au `ultimate frisbee`, observer les bellaines (je ne sais pas l`apellation pour cet mot- c'est les 'whales') et faire du cyclisme autour de la ville de Quebec. Aussi, il y a la Festivale de Sol que commencer au 6 julliet, et c'est seullement 20$ pour tous les bandes- au samedi il y a un concerte avec 'Twisted Sister' Ha ha! Je les souviens de la film - you know that one from your childhood- the flight of the navigator? I just remember on that movie that there was the sister or something like that (it was an 80`s movie) and she was dying her hair purple to go to a Twisted Sister concert and the boy who was naive thought that twisted sister was a band with girls. Anyhoo, it`s gonna be good times. It`s been also very difficult to be here at the same time, but God is a great healer. Who could ever love you more?

Camp Alexandra

This last week I returned to Camp A for a stint as a Camp Counsellor... good times! Being on vacation for the week before that I had forgotten what it was like to work 12 hours a day with 70+ campers with special needs but it was sure full of adventures- rescuing people from traffic- witnessing a "wedding" in the Rec Hall, having cmpers that say your name 50 times a day, chasing down runaways, battling with screamers, etc- always good times. One thing that I am always reminded of when I go to camp is how brave the cmapers are. even though they have spent their whole lives with one or lots of disabilities, they often have no inhibitionis about loving each other, supporting their friends with hugs and kisses, belting out Britney Spears in Karaoke in off-the-chart keys, and even trying new skills that take them a long time to get handle on. A lot of them don't give up and it is so beautiful to see. I wish I could post some of their pics - they are SO GREAT, but I can't for confidentiality reasons so instead you get to see a pic of me and Steph- a co=counsellor dress up as Frieda Kalo for our Mexican station at the trip around the world night, and then a pic of Steph twirling her stuff at the belly dancing program- one which I participated in wholeheartedly and have yet to quite get that last hip jiggle:) There's always next time!

A Day at the Lake

Last week we (being some old buds from Church- Dave & Esther, Tim & Wendy and eventually Andy Janzen went up to Hayward lake for some goodtimes jumping off the bridge... well, the boys jumped off the bridge and us girls kinda just eased in. Anyhoo, afterwards we got to go out for a BBQ and it was one of the most lovely days I've had in a long time- good friends, good times, good eats and I got to just SIT on the patio and feel the cool breeze. Such a blessing. One thing that reminded me that I was with boys like Tim, Andy, and Dave was that we were on the bridge when they all decided to start playing with their chest hair and make mohawks out of it. Oh man- good times.