Radisson Weekend!

Well another week has passed uneventfully!

Last night I went to a girl's night at a lovely gal named Katherine's house while the men played poker across town.  It was really nice to hang out with some ladies I don't usually get to see often (I, being in the elementary section of the school and most of the others from last night in the high school section).

Today Karen and I set out early in the fog to take a day trip to Radisson where we stocked up on fresh groceries, wine (me) and beautiful gifts for the family for Christmas!

Radisson is a neat little mining hydro town where the Quebec Hydro Dam is located.  It supplies electricity to most of Quebec and some of the states! (thank you Stacy haha) There isn't much to see but what they offer (a real life grocery store, SAQ/liquor store, and really cool native craft store) is quite enticing!! Wemindji is cool and all but when you get sporadic deliveries of fresh food and the most exciting thing to do is watch dogs roll around in sand across the street (I am not really the outdoorsy type if you haven't noticed...) then a trip to some place else - ANY place else is pretty awesome. 

The way in to Radisson

Grocery store! Liquor store!

The other side of Radisson.

The drive was beautiful, a little overcast but we didn't hit any rain which was nice.  There aren't maple trees up here so I didn't expect to see many fall colors but there were some types of fir trees and others that were changing to yellow which actually looked quite beautiful!  Karen and I set out at about 9 am and reached Radisson at about 11.  We had a delicious brunch of  eggs benedict (I am a repeat offender!!) and then got SHOPPING.  Oh boy I spent so much money but in times like these you really need to stock up on the essentials when you find them.  For example, I purchased 21  small zucchinis.  I brought them home, shredded them in the food processor and froze 4-cup bags in the deep freezer.  That will net me approximately 16 zucchini loafs in the future and I can't get zucchini in Wemindji so badda bing badda boom!  I also stocked up on cream cheese (also in the freezer), wine (in my belly) and guacamole power mix because if I don't eat guacamole at least once a week I go coco bananas.

Then we stopped at this awesome native craft store where people from the neighboring communities as well as from across Canada sell their beautiful crafts and artwork.  There is something for everyone there and I had no trouble finding beautiful and affordable and authentic Christmas gifts for my entire family.  A success!!

Karen spending her life savings

Ah!

AHH!!

Cool clock!

Seal skin gloves

On another note, Wemindji has a number of Facebook groups: Wemindji Buy and Sell, Wemindji Announcements and Wemindji Bidding Wars.  Wemindji Bidding Wars is basically an auction group where people post items or food they want to sell at auction.  They usually post a picture, a starting price, increment amounts and finish time.  I check this group hourly because it is so awesome to see what people will sell and how high the bidding will go.  I saw a cheesecake for got like, $70 the other week!! So anyways, I was convinced by my lovely co-workers Marsha, Stacy and Carmen to auction off my chocolate chip banana breads, so I did!  At first I felt shameful because I didn't want to take advantage but people really liked their baked goods up here so my guilt quickly disappeared when my 3 breads sold for $46!! HOLY CRAP.  So needless to say I will be doing this again (apparently it was a slow night because Bingo was on so I can expect a more heated auction next time), it is so fun and making deliveries of my breads with my friends was pretty hilarious. 

Anyways here are a bunch of pictures I scavenged from my birthday party a couple of weeks ago, some pictures from the drive today and some of the auction my breads sold on haha!!

SOLD!

Sunglasses models!

Congratulations Maquatua Eeyou School graduates of 2012!

 

My beautiful cake Carmen baked me!

Love Aidan

Bonjour!

Hiya folks!

Well, time really flies up here.  I swear it was just last week and now its... this week.  Anyways, last week was mild student-wise.  I had about 4-5 students away each day which in theory is nice, but when you teach hardcore content every day, you kinda wish your students were all present all the time.  As a kid I remember dreaming up every trick in the book to try and stay home from school.  Movies at 1pm on City TV, come on!! Anyways, as a teacher I know realize how very annoying it is when students are away and you have to find the time to catch them up.  You have to find a happy medium - pick and choose which assignments or what material is skippable and get to the core of what the students who were away need to know.

This week is an incredibly light week for me.  Today and Wednesday are teaching days, tomorrow my kids have Bush Camp (where they go and learn outdoor Cree culture and skills with Cree teachers) so I get a planning day, and Thursday and Friday are PED (Pedagogical Education Days?? Pedagogical Days?? WHATEVS) where we have a mix of GVC Literacy Training, other stuff and planning time.  Pretty sweet! Then, it's right back into the swing of things the week following.  One little golden nugget is the fact that the school has 2 PED days after Wednesday October 31st.  Raise your hand if you can tell me why that is AMAZING?

1. No super tired students to manhandle.
2. No hyped-up-on-sugar students to manhandle
3. I get to enjoy a Halloween party on Wednesday (no "morning-after" to manhandle)

Apparently the placement of these PED days was weighed in on heavily by some very smart teachers.

Last Friday I was also treated to a "walk through" by my Principal which went swimmingly!! I have been working hard to apply the expectations of the GVC and the administration in my lessons and daily routines, and I had just enough students away that day for the lesson to go almost perfectly!! Ha!! Anyways, I received some good feedback and I am very happy. 

On another note, it appears that the foundations for the new teacher housing have been poured or will be poured soon.  WHAT THIS MEANS IS:

1. Teachers high in the teacher hierarchy (teachers with families, teachers with seniority) will have the first pick of the new houses or choose stay in their current dwellings
2. Teachers further down the list have the option to stay or go if there are houses available and desirable.
3. Teachers are the low down dirty dog bottom of the list (single, new - ME) will be able to finally move out of their black-mold-infested, heat-less, only-scalding-cold-water-producing, scary-animal-living-in-the-ceiling, 50-yards-away-from-the-school-therefore-students-knock-at-my-door-all-day-and-night-HOUSES.

Needless to say I am ecstatic at the estimated time frame rumoured for me to move out.  Sure I hate to repack and unpack, especially in the dead of winter, and I actually do love my little house, but the mold problem is something I am really concerned about and I don't want to spend a whole year in a place that was supposed to be torn down...

Winter has also arrived here in Wemindji.  Last week, much to my extreme displeasure, it snowed - like, every day.  Hardcore snow! Well, perhaps I am exaggerating but it snowed in October. Enough said.  I immediately chugged 2456 vitamin D pills to expel depression and bad feelings.  You can see how well that worked..

Anyways, all is well OH EXCEPT I GOT A FREE HAIRCUT AND ENDED UP WITH A MULLET.  Nothing is free in this world, I have learned my lesson.  Also I will never cut my hair again.  That's it. Seriously.

Love Aidan 

Regard le Mullet

o..m..g..

Lunch time - depression time

Extreme displeasure

Nighttime winter wonderland! NOT

Crying walking home in the snow!

Photo cred: Shelby Issac - Northern Lights sometime last week! Amazing!!

Photo cred: Shelby Issac - Northern Lights sometime last week! Amazing!!

Photo cred: Shelby Issac - Northern Lights sometime last week! Amazing!!

Photo cred: Stacy Clark - This happened today! And no, apparently the plane did not drive into the truck! The truck backed into the plane! No words!

Photo cred: Stacy Clark - Nice one!

Photo cred: Shelby Issac - Beautiful sunset in my beautiful town Wemindji

Birthday/Thanksgiving!

What a weekend!!

Friday it was my 25th birthday!  From the moment I woke up to the moment I fell into bed, I was spoiled!! Carmen organized a kick-ass birthday party at our friend Danielle's mansion and tons of my great new friends attended.  I was spoiled with gifts and well-wishes and the people I was with certainly made missing celebrating my birthday with my friends and family back home less sad, I was pleasantly distracted!!

My day at school was equally as special.  I had cards from nearly every student (some of them hilarious), students on their best behavior, and even a little party! And one of my students and his mother bought me a Halloween birthday cake!! I was so touched!! Being in this little community really makes you feel like part of one big happy family and I love it.  Being a million miles away from family and friends at special times of the year like this isn't so hard when you realize the new special friends and family you have right here. 

Last night Marsha and her family invited us for a fantastic turkey dinner.  Her kids are ADORABLE and we may have overexcited them just a little with sword fights and tickles.  It was so fun and really nice to be in a homey, family atmosphere.  Jeremy, Marsha's husband-extraordinaire procured us a Butterball turkey at a bargain (turkeys here ranged from $52-$71) so we single ladies without family here or men in our lives are having a little feast tonight.  Sometimes it pays to be desperately and depressingly single on a holiday................................ shh this is what I am telling myself.

So that is what I am thankful for this Thanksgiving.  For the new friends I have made and the home I have created in this little triplex.  I am so lucky to have people who care about me even though just a few weeks ago we were almost strangers!  I am so lucky to have such a fantastic, loving class who shares in my excitement about learning and sharing experiences together.  I am so lucky to have an amazing (I'll never stop saying it!!) teaching partner in Stacy who shares so many ideas and resources and time with me.  I am so lucky to have a set of neighbors who laugh with me, share their stuff with me, and listen to me complain non-stop.  That's what friends are for! 

So as I get ready for my second Thanksgiving dinner (hey when you miss the one at home, you have to make up for it somehow) I hope that everyone reading has a special Thanksgiving too and that you find something to be thankful for.

PS Baby Puppy was whisked away by dog-rescuers Mel and John to North Bay where she apparently started to die but is now all better!! Poor Baby Puppy, she is a feisty little runt.  Withdrawal from your Mummy-Love can be hard.

I am better

Sorry for so much time between posts folks.  I have been sick, busy and a teacher.  Enough said!! I am currently on the mend from a vicious cold (no thanks to ColdFX) and eating from my $9 bag of grapes.  Kill me. 

Last week was pretty uneventful.  Baby Puppy is still with us, still pooing EVERYWHERE and maybe still has worms, we'll find out the next time she refuses to use the outdoors as a toilet (ergo: using my bathroom rug) if she is still afflicted. 

Carmen's parents visited this weekend which was really nice! They flew up Thursday afternoon IN THEIR PLANE (one can dream!) and brought me some delicious feta cheese by request.  They cooked us a delicious steak dinner on Friday night and we stayed up long past our bedtimes talking about work, the town and lots of other things.  It was really nice to get to know Carmen's parents a little more and get all the puppies together.  Baby Puppy, it turns out, is a beast and beats up all her siblings with a ferocity that I fear at night.  She growls at me (and licks me) every time I pick her up.  I don't get this one.  She loves and she hates, I'm sick of the games!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday was the school's annual Terry Fox Run which was pretty great! My class raised a HUGE BAG of money which I decided to leave to someone else to count.  We were really proud of ourselves but the reason behind raising money for Terry Fox raised a few questions with the class so we had a few discussions about cancer, death, as well as what fund raising was and why we do it. 

This week is going to be a busy one at school, I am introducing spelling and poetry to the class and we have a week of fun Thanksgiving activities to do!

Oh god Baby Puppy just farted and it smells so bad.

Goodnight!!

I am sick

LIES!! It doesn't work.  I have my first official teacher sickness, one of many to come.  Or as I predict, I will never get better and will remain in a constant state of "having a cold" until the snow melts.. soooo June. :|

On another note, I have decided not to keep Baby Puppy (working name).  My better judgement (mother) persuaded me not to.  Just kidding. A dog, especially a big one like a lab is a huge long-term responsibility and I am living such a fun and fancy free life I can't see where my path will take me, so better not add a dog to the list of responsibilities such as paying off a half million dollars of debt or teaching.  I will remain a foster Mummy to those who need a home, dog babysitter to those who need a night (or week) off, and Auntie to all the rest.  Plus my house was FILTHY after just one night so F that.

Baby Puppy has a home waiting for her at Thanksgiving in North Bay, and until then I will shower her with love, nurse her back to health (a runt who really can't open her mouth big enough to eat soft kibbles!) and clean up her tiny poopies.  (Ps she just pooed on my heating vent, can't wait to crank that heat on those cold lonely nights!!!!)

To keep or not to keep?!

Foster Mummy dilemma!!

(SK)CANOE TRIP!

Note: apparently the giant boats that look like canoes but have motors are called skinoes (I have no idea how to spell it or if someone was yankin' my chain.  Whatever!!)

Yesterday there was a scheduled power outage in Wemindji, and since my classroom has no windows, it would be pretty hard to get much work done without light and a computer so I decided to embark on a fabulous journey hosted by the Cree teachers of Maquatua Eeyou School on a giant canoe on James Bay to an island.  Here is a little tidbit of information for you folks.  Islands belonging to the territory of Nunavut are located as far "south" in the Bay as Wemindji is so technically I was in NUNAVUT yesterday!! Ahh! 

We left around lunchtime on 2 big boats, about 20 of us in all! The trip was short but amazing! I sat in the bow of the boat with Karen and Marsha, where Marsha promptly mouth-violated me with her finger covered in salty water, "ITS SALTY!!" delicious!! I got a little soaked but it was really nice.  It was quite cool out on the water so I wore layers and a scarf but it was crisp and refreshing.  We walked across a little island once we landed and found a nice spot to light a fire and eat lunch.  We spent the afternoon gazing at the Bay, keeping our eyes peeled for animals (saw none) while the kids practiced their goose calls (eerily accurate!!) and collected sea monkeys from the water.  One of the Cree teachers brought the ingredients for bannock, a traditional bread-type fried thing which was pretty tasty!! I should have brought my Nutella though.  Note to self.  People generally stood around and talked, lay on the huge rocks, collected blueberries and cranberries.  It was really awesome.  I am so glad I went, even though I didn't see any polar bears or seals!! (SIDE NOTE: I forgot to mention that on my way home from Montreal on Saturday I saw a baby wolf AND a baby bear!!!!!!!!!!!! And Marsha hit a bird.)

As soon as word reached us that the power went back on, we hightailed it out of there and I spent the rest of the evening planning using the new GVC!  YAY!!

Getting a little roasty toasty on the Bay!

Tasty!!

Canadian Eh!

This is what sunbathing looks like in Northern Quebec

I am just going to go with "Giant Canoe" for the name of this thing

Chillin - literally

Gorgeous blond couple! Shelby and Alex

Excuse my finger

The rocky terrain of our lunchtime island!

Funky!

Action shot!

Crazy clouds!

WOO!!