Usual morning routine. At work today, it was ” Mexican fiesta” themed so we dressed up (I had a scarf that I borrowed from Gilberte) and there was chips and salsa and stuff like that. We also made pear/cranberry crumble in my group. After work, i showered and braided my hair. For dinner we had burgers and fries and then Tae’s family picked us up for bubble soccer. 

The first game we played was a free for all where you just want to stay upright (easier said than done). You are all in a circle and you just run into other people and try to make them fall. Next was a football like game where you have one person from each team who’s trying to get from there end zone to the other teams end zone in a certain amount of time. Basically half the team stays with the runner to keep them from being knocked over by the other team and the other half goes and beats on the other team’s runner. We did that twice and then played soccer. It was like regular soccer except you can’t your feet and take up a lot more space. The only thing was that could only knock over the person with the ball. I was defence at the beginning then I was in net. After that we took a group picture and went home. When we got home I ate one of the freshly made doughnuts with powdered sugar, made my lunch and went to bed. The Mexican fiesta was kinda fun as was the bubble soccer, but running around in a giant ball gets pretty hot after awhile. 

Usual morning routine. At work today we made peach, banana, chocolate chip muffins and tomato soup (i don’t know that I would eat them together). There were some extras, so we gave them to the other camp leaders, but we couldn’t give them to them normally of course. For one we just walked in, all of us staring at this guy and had to chase him around a bit to give him his muffin. Next we came in on alI fours and then we were spies so we hid behind everything. After work we went to Eliza’s house for tacos and swimming. Her family made us virgin margaritas too. I felt so fancy.

After that, we came home and made our lunches and went to bed. It was really hot today and I’m very tired but it was a good day all the same.

Usual morning routine. At work today we made dip for veggies and fruit and yogurt jelly. Also it rained while we were at the pool so it was cold and wet, but whatever, we were wet anyways. After work I kinda just hung around and read my book. Dinner was pasta with sauce and carrots, and then I watched a movie. After that I made my lunch and went to bed. Really uneventful day, but honestly it was nice have a break. 

Usual morning routine. It rained pretty much all day today. I was with the healthy cooking group today and we made mini asparagus quiches and chocolate cookie ish things. After i biked home in the rain and had a shower, I read my book until dinner, which was home made tomato/basil and coconut milk sausages (which were really good), cucumbers picked from the garden at Gilberte’s school, salad and rice. After dinner i practiced my piano and Gilberte showed us some scrapbooks of trips they’ve been on. Then I made my lunch and Skyped with the family at home (but like a good bunch of family because aunt Corrine and grandpa and Penelope and Elizabeth were there too). After that it was pretty much time for bed because I’m still tired it from the camping trip. It was really nice to talk to all the family today, which contracted the weather. Also Shae-Linn got her L today so that’s exciting, even if she’s bad at parking.

We woke up at 8:30AM today, but we didn’t actually get up until a bit later. Breakfast was a rather large banana chocolate muffin and a sad banana. Then we packed up our wonderfully set up tarp and tents (even though we didn’t have one of the tent bags), and went down to the beach. The beach was really busy today because it was a nice day, unlike yesterday. We lay on our beach towels for awhile (I may it may not have fallen asleep) and then splashed about in the water for a bit. Then we got back on the bus and went back to our campsite for lunch, which was sandwiches and carrots and cookies and a granola bar. After lunch, most people went home, but Sylvain and Gilberte wanted to spend some time at the beach and we weren’t complaining. I read my book in the sunshine and me and Tae went in the water and me and Nat and Tae got ice cream. Then we went home and unpacked all of our stuff (not that there was much cuz we were only there one night). Next was a shower and then dinner which was pasta, chicken and beans with what we are now calling “vvvv” for dessert. Long story short, the machine that Gilberte has that makes frozen fruit into sorbet makes a weird sound when it’s working and when she was first describing it, she made the sound, so ya. Then I made my lunch and went to bed early because I was very tired. Today was fun even if now I’m bug bitten and sun burnt. 

Didn’t have to get up until 9:30 AM today which was nice. When I did get up, I braided my hair and packed my stuff sir camping. Then I had breakfast which was Montreal bagels. Then we picked Tae up and went and got snacks for camping. Then we picked up Natalie and set out to find our campground. When we got there it wasn’t raining, but that didn’t last long. We got one tent up and started putting up a really big tarp that covered almost the whole site, when it started pouring. Like really pouring. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen it rain that much before, but it was pouring for about 3 hours in which our host families and coordinators and and us fought with the tarp. In the end, there was one super campy family that did most of it but ya, lots and lots of rain. Then we changed our of our soaking cloths and hung about until we went down to the beach. There’s a bus that runs every half hour at the campsite so we took that down to the beach. Then we had about an hour and a half to walk about the beach before dinner. It’s a really nice beach with shallow water. Dinner was hot dogs, salads juice boxes and cup cakes. After dinner, we were supposed to have a campfire but it started pouring again so we didn’t go. I think there still was one later on, but by that time, we had set up our campsite up so that we could all sit around and played games and talked into lights out. It was really wet today, but we still had lots of fun.

Officially three weeks since I left home. It feels both like I just got here and that I’ve been here forever. Today was kind of interesting in that at work i went on a field trip with my group. It was 6 campers plus me and the group leader as well as a small group from another camp. After the hour long bus ride, we arrived at the site. Remeber when I was talking about the mud run I was supposed to do? Well this was it, but as it turned out, it was more of a dirt walk. When we got there, we did the “practice course” which we just walked through and did obstacle course type things (crawling through tires, jumping over hurdles, climbing over structures, etc.). I participated in some of the activities but others, the shorter kids needed help with, so I didn’t do them. After that we did a group course that involved more tires (swinging and not), working as a team to get from point A to point B by stepping only on the pieces of wood that we had and then climbing up and coming back down a mountain of yet  more tires. Then there were a few more activities that the kids did before we had lunch. After lunch we did a bucket race where you had a bucket of water and had to do a bunch of obstacles with it without spilling the water. For that one I was actually just making sure the kids didn’t kill themselves when climbing up and down the fireman tower, but the view from the top was beautiful so I’m not complaining. After that, we did the actual course. It was kind of similar to the first course we did but more of a hill. The catch was that one of the girls in my group twisted her ankle so I did it with her on my back. After the course, we had freezes and then got back on the bus and went back to camp. When I got home from work I showered and then braided my hair. I had dinner of pasta and sauce by myself tonight because everyone else was out. Then around 8 I went over to Tae’s and we went to a drive in movie. First we stopped to get snacks and then we saw Ice age 5 and Tarzan. Both of them were in french, but I got most of it. When I got home I went to bed pretty much right away. I’m a little sore from the running and climbing but the movies were fun.

Usual morning routine. At work today there was a fire drill and I saw an other marmot (not at the same time). Also, being Thursday, it was wide game day. After work I showered and our host family took us  to the African night festival. We got there, we wandered very briefly through a mall looking for Nat’s friend Hao Wei. Again, it was huge.

There was tones of stuff happening at the festival,  but first we got pizza. Then wandered through the festivals. There was just for laughs, some dance type things, a just for laughs labyrinth where to walk around collecting stamps (which we did) and outdoor games. 

The first game we played was like tic tac toe with nesting dolls. Its the same principle of making three in a row but if your piece is bigger than your opponent’s piece, then you can cover it and take their spot . Then me and Hao Wei played a game where you have to tilt the board with your handles to get a ball in the hole in the middle. The last one was my favorite. It was a long rectangular board divided in two by a piece of wood with a hole in the middle. On each side you have an elastic attached to the board and the object is to slingshot round pieces of wood through the hole to the other side and get rid of all your pieces first. First it was me and Nat that played and I won, then Nat and Hao Wei played and Hao Wei won, then me and Hao Wei played and it went on for a long time, but he won. Then me and Hao Wei went on these bicycles that played music with two other random girls. The object was to keep your peddling the same as everyone else. I think we did pretty well. Then we got to the African night part of the festival. There was a little market set up with lots of African art and jewelry and clothing and instruments. I got a really pretty piece of sand art.

Then we watched a group from France perform. They were quite good and very funny, even if they weren’t actually playing African music. There was, at various points, a tuba, a trombone, piano, vocals, percussion, guitar, fiddle/violin, flute, cello, string bass, and trumpet. On our way back to the car we saw some salsa dancing and went through the just for laughs gift shop tent. Then we drove Hao Wei home and then went home ourselves. Once were home, I made my lunch and went to bed. It was really nice to see more of the city today. 

Usual morning routine. I learned today that my group at work is doing a mud run on Friday and I’m not sure if I’m supposed to participate or not at we’ll see. Also we made spaceships out of paper plates so ya. Plus all the monitors(except me other newbies) were dressed their names. I came to find that my wonderful family had me a box full my favorite things.

Absolutely made my day! We had pork chops and veggies for dinner with chocolate mousse cake and raspberries that Vincent picked that afternoon for dessert. Then Tae’s host dad picked up me and Nat and Kaila and took us to the metro. From there we went to the musé des beaux arts in Montreal. They had a cool exhibit on Pompeii which is where we spent our time. When we got home, we sat and talked with Vincent some of his friends plus his girlfriend and Gilberte’s ex student teacher who was really nice. Then i had snack, made my lunch and went to bed. Today was kinda fun in a not stressful kinda way.

Usual morning routine. Today was pool day at work and for once we didn’t have any problems. After work Gilberte took me and Tae and Nat to Carrefour Laval, which is a gigantic shopping center. We only saw part of it, but what we did see was pretty cool. I had pasta for dinner at the food court. I didn’t actually buy anything but I tried on some really nice stuff. Tae got a skirt and Nat bought a bunch of clothes. One of the best parts of the mall was that when me and Tae were just wandering, we found this really random garden like area that had lots of flowers and street lamps and hedge panadas and live birds in a giant cage.

Then we drove home and I made my lunch and then hung about in my room for a bit before going to bed.