i'm like fuel on fire

I haven't had time to update in a while! Our whole group has been so busy with work and group activities that I haven't had much time to just sit down and type.

A quick recap of my last week...

There has been noticeable tension within our group this past week. Everyone was kind of getting on everyone's nerves, and things were not going too well. So yesterday night, our group had a 4 hour circle talk where each person says one good thing and one bad thing about each other person. It was pretty tough, there were some tears, but it has made our group SO much better. Because everything's off our chests now, we have a new clean slate to work with.

On Friday night, we raced through dinner and helped out at a haunted forest. We got to dress up as zombies and scare people, although we didn't really scare anyone... but we tried! Then after some of us went out to a heavy metal show at The Hub just down the streets 10 minutes, which was REALLY fun! Good music, good times. Although one guy tried to crowd surf and fell on his head! Ouch...

Today was a really good day at work. I think I made some progress with one of the toughests students to get through to, so I'm really happy about that. There's some Halloween party at the Queen's Hotel next week, so I think we might try to go to that if we can.

while we're on the subject

Just a quick update...

I had a great first week at work! Even in just the few days I was there, I was able to connect on some level with almost every student. Some not as much as I'd like, but I'm making progress for sure. I like the idea of Second Chance. It adapts to the student's needs, rather than the student having to adapt to how a school is run. I think EVERYONE could benefit from a program like it. They get to work at their own pace. I helped a couple of them do some outdoor work yesterday, which was a nice way to be able to bond with them on a more personal level. I like that T let's us spend time together outside of school, so I'm not just a teacher's assistant to them, but hopefully someone they can trust. I was invited to a party yesterday night, but never found out where it was. That's OK though, there will be more!

Our end of trimester excursion is probably going to be Toronto, which will be so much fun because we can stay in a hotel and I'll hopefully be able to see Alannah and Adam.

Anyway, hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving! We get two turkies for 12 people... woo!

we'll all float on

Things have been going well during Katimavik. For the most part everyone is getting along, and if heads butt we are quick to solve the problem. We're all really close and comfortable with each other, so confrontations don't really happen because we aren't afraid to bring up problems.

I started work at Second Chance yesterday. My first day was a little rough... the students seemed a bit hostile towards me, which is understandable because they have no idea who I am. They all come from pretty troubled families and outside lives, so I get that they don't want to trust me right away. I don't expect them to. I did mostly computer work, and helped some of them with what I could.

My second day went a lot better. N seems to be warming up to me the fastest. She's really funny and personable, and a really hard worker. Three of the guys at Second Chance didn't come back after lunch yesterday, so they got in trouble today when they went to school. T, the teacher, told me about a lot of their background stories... most of their problems seem to stem from bad parenting, or lack of parental support. I won't post them on here, because it's the Internet, but they're pretty sad.

Last Saturday we went to the Gandhi Peace Festival in Hamilton, where we saw Gandhi's grandson speak and took part in a peace walk. I got to hold a sign, which was fun. And we got to hang out with the Hamilton group, too. After that we drove to their house, went to the park and played some sports, and then we drove to see Niagara Falls. So far, it's been my favourite day. Niagara Falls were SO cool, and sharing it with my group made it that much more special.

we may never pass this way again

Day two in Port Colborne was amazing. Full of laughs, neighbourhood walks, meeting creepy locals, and becoming severely addicted to Esso gas stations and Tim Hortons. We didn't make it to the movie yesterday night because dinner was too late. Tomorrow we are going to tour all eleven possible work placements, which is very exciting... a lot of them sound totally up my alley. There are a few work placements where I would get to work with youth who have learning impairments, or other burdens to bear and just need someone to talk to. I think this will be a great way to test the waters of a potential career choice for myself.

Port Colborne is a very quaint little town. It's bigger than Bells Corners, and the first thing I noticed about it is that every single house looks SO different... none of them are the same and they all look kind of old fashioned.

This weekend we may have a potential excursion planned for Saturday. I think it's called the Gandhi Peace festival? Something like that. It's in Hamilton all day on Saturday and we'd be helping out at it. I think it sounds really interesting, plus I'd get to see all of my friends in the Hamilton group!

Anyways, better be off to bed. Got an early start tomorrow! ... 7:30am!

Here is the link to the Facebook album with Port Colborne pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=15173&id=1650360075&l=d12b6dff58

oh, the places you'll go

Our group just moved into our Port Colborne house yesterday, after waiting for a bit outside for our project leader to arrive. It was so hard saying goodbye to people from other groups that we met at orientation camp, but I love my group so much.

Our orientation camp was located at Camp Kintail in Goderich, Ontario. At first, I think we all had a bit of wariness about the whole staying at a camp thing. But that was probably because we were all EXHAUSTED (having arrived at 4am and having to drag our heavy suitcases through dirt to the cabins.) It was such an amazing experience though. I am pretty much friends with all 44 people of our cluster. The beach we were staying on was so gorgeous. We walked on it practically every day, and watched the sun set at night. It was pretty breathtaking to say the least. On our last day we did a bunch of ropes courses, which were really fun and good for team building.

We had a little over at 5 hour bus ride to Port Colborne, because we had to zig zag and drop everyone else off in their own communities. We haven't learned about our placements yet, but I'm sure they'll all be fantastic. Apparently there is a heavy metal concert once every month. Today what we did was have meetings about all the comities we can be in, for organizing group activities and how to learn french/english faster.

People in my group are: Robyn, Rachelle, Aysha, John, Alexandre, Valerie, Dan, Philippe, Jillian, and Mya. Everyone's really interesting. We have a very diverse group, so it makes things very interesting. We've already seen some young people who live in Port Colborne, which is exciting because tonight we're going to a free movie night and we might meet even more people!

Here is the Facebook album I made with all of my Katimavik pictures so far, that I have made public so anyone can look: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14752&id=1650360075&l=a9bb8478c1

enough ain't enough this time

This is how good I am at packing.
















My beloved door calendar, that will remain empty for 9 months after September 23.

don't let those tears quench the thirsty ground

There's only three days left until I embark on my Katimavik adventure! I still have some packing to do, and some last minute shopping for little things I need, but I'm nearly ready. I'm getting more nervous and more excited at the same time. The hardest part will be saying bye, but I know I'm going to come back with so many experiences and memories, and lifelong friends.

I spoke to Rasheeda, my Port Colborne project leader, a few days ago and she is so nice! She sounds very excited to meet all of us. For the first couple of weeks we will be doing orientation and going on tours at the places we can volunteer at. There's a volunteer placement at a women's centre that I'm really interested in.

As for the house I'll be living in, Rasheeda said it is one of the bigger Katima-houses. There are two girls rooms and one guy room, with two dressers in each for our clothes and a closet that separates the girl rooms. We have 8 bikes, which will be awesome because we can ride around and explore Port Colborne. We also have 2 bathrooms... thank goodness!

Rasheeda said we aren't allowed to buy any processed food, and we have to make everything ourselves that can be made. So everything like bread, noodles, condiments (ketchup, mayo) and things like that. It's going to be such a great experience. She says that a lot of Katimavik alumnis thank the program for their current healthy lifestyles!

Anyway, my next post will probably be before I leave on Wednesday, and then you won't hear from me until I'm at my house in Port Colborne! I'll post some pictures of the house, and some of Port Colborne, too.