Where?

Huh!

2012-01-05T17:52:00.000-08:00

Exactly 6 weeks after being officially laid off, I started my new job! Yay!
I didn't even have time to start receiving unemployment. I'm really happy!
After this big roller coaster of stress and emotions, balance is restored.
It's now time for this new chapter to start. I'm a bit nervous but it's a good nervous.
Hope life will continue to smile my way!
:)

Up and down

2011-11-24T10:01:00.001-08:00

A couple of hours ago, I got a phone call from my-now-ex-boss, telling me that this is it. No more work.
So, first thing Monday morning, it's off to the unemployment office I'll be going... To receive a whopping 55% of my salary. I'm now back to being scared and nervous.
I cannot wait to see the next stage of my life. I really want to believe it's will be extraordinary but there are moments when it's a bit difficult. gulp!

Week 1

2011-11-20T18:36:00.001-08:00

Today is the end of the first week of my career upheaval. My brain is still a bit fuzzy but for the first time, I haven't stressed about it at any point during the day. I had a kid's birthday party to go to, and even though I didn't really feel like going, it did me a world of good. Not only was I surrounded by genuinely caring people but getting there necessitated an hour long bike ride. All in all, it was very therapeutic. I believe that today was the first ray of hope I've felt in this ordeal. Trust in life and all will make sense in the end... It was just a bit hard for me to remember that at first. In the words of the famous Violeta Parra song, Gracias a la vida!

Ouch...

2011-11-18T07:03:00.001-08:00

Last week we learned that the company we work for was going under and we would loose our jobs... We've given everything we had to our clients and now, they just want to work with the cheapest person possible. One of our clients even started shipping his work to India!! That is absolutely unacceptable. We do educational material and our clients get quite a bit of money from the government. How dare they not keep the work within our borders!!! Their behavior is socially immoral. If someone reads this and wants to know who I'm talking about, they're called Chenelière Éducation in Montréal.

Anyway... For one week now, I've been in a daze, incapable of concentrating on anything, or just engaging in basic thinking. My colleague friend and I have been going through a vast range of emotions, good and bad. Today, I finally feel like I'm more in control of my neurons and will be able to finally start looking for work. I absolutely have to avoid going on unemployment. Even though I've been paying it for many years (ever since I started working at 16), unemployment only pays 55% of the salary... I'm pretty sure I would have to sell my place on that salary. But I cannot think that way. Positive thinking right? I will find work, all this is for the better, in the end I will be happier etc.

Summer

2011-05-31T19:41:00.000-07:00

Tonight officially marked the beginning of my summer.
First, the weather was fan-tas-tic. In my heat deprived, north North American world, the higher degree temperatures are as cherished as the rarest gems. And tonight also was the first night I could wear flip flops until the wee hours of the morning without any discomfort.
Second, I spent the night on a "terrasse" having good food, good wine and great conversation. I met up with an old friend of mine I hadn't seen in 10 years and we just picked up were we left off.
So all I have to say is welcome back summer, I missed you dearly and I hope you stay with us for a while.
Cheers!!

Yay!

2011-04-23T00:16:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just have to trust life and its flow.
I just spent a fabulous night with people I didn't even know a year ago. And at the house where it was all taking place, there was that kind of artsy vibe I grew up around, that just made me feel at ease. Sometimes, life throws me these little nuggets of goodness that just rekindle my faith! Yay!

Mi semana en video

2010-12-26T18:29:00.000-08:00

Entiendo que las letras de la canción no tienen nada que hacer con mis vacaciones pero es una de las unicas canciones de artitas cubanos que tengo.

De regreso

2010-12-26T08:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I got back from a week long trip to Varadero. It was my first time to an all inclusive resort and still don't know what to make of it. It was pretty close to what I expected. A lot of dingdongs drinking themselves into a drunken stupor. How is it that just because booze is free you have to go crazy. Oh and not to mention the ginormous mugs almost everyone was carrying with them. Some of these mugs looked more like little barrels, while others were the size of thermos. Don't they know what they look like?! But wait, la crème de la crème had something even worse. They were cutting the top of liter-and-a-half water bottles and were asking for the bartenders to fill THAT up. These, my friends, are our wonderful international representatives. About 75% of the clientele were canadians so we only have our "fine" selves to blame. I can't even begin to count how many times I felt embarrassed by my own kind. The only solution to that would be to remove the booze from the included items in the all-included format. The one entertaining thing about it was all the nicknames we ended up giving to everyone. Between the guy baptized Val d'or, the other la Tourtière, les 3 folles, the ketchup family, Stéphanie (the only one who kept her real name), our amis québécois (because the were not acting up), the party loving moron (I forget his real nickname) who was friends with le maigre, le couple weird (made up of a 70ish-year-old guy and a 30ish-year-old woman) and all the cuban characters we met, we kept ourselves entertained.

On the other hand, the weather was great! Not to warm, not to cold. The sea was out of this world! I was worried that there wouldn't be any waves but oh, how I was mistaken. The waves were different every day. Only for one day was the ocean quiet. But we took advantage of the beach and sea everyday until about 2:30 pm, when it was just starting to get a little chilly. There was also 2 cats roaming the grounds which totally made my day when we saw them. The grounds were nice, the hotel also and the staff friendly. If I have one recommendation to make is NOT to travel with Sunwing. For me it was the first and last time I would go with them. Our departure flight was delayed twice and the second time cost us an 11 hour wait at the airport with the O-so-impressive voucher of 20$ for one meal... One our way back, they were almost an our late picking us up at the hotel. We saw all the other travel companies arriving fairly on time, so why not Sunwing? That would be because they don't care about their customers.

But all in all, I enjoyed my week. I enjoyed being away from winter for a while and I enjoyed the new experience! Yay life!

: )

2010-12-07T16:27:00.000-08:00

Sometimes the small things can put the biggest smile on your face!
I just had a nice phone conversation that left me with an incredibly happy feeling. My dad, a man of very few words, called me feeling a little blue. After talking about the issue at hand, instead of hanging up the phone, we just diverted to various miscellaneous subjects. Well, almost 45 minutes later, as we are putting an end to the call, we both feel good and happy. I love these moments!

Twice in one year?

2010-10-09T04:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I booked my second trip of the year to Cuba. The odd thing is that I didn't really enjoy my first experience.
At the end of my week in La Habana this past August, I was really annoyed by the CONSTANT begging from a lot of Cubans. More so after having a conversation with Pablo (the most positive aspect of that trip) who told me that they didn't really lack anything. They couldn't afford luxuries but they were not in need of necessities. So that very last guy who told us he couldn't afford milk for his kid because it cost 8 CUC, which is the equivalent of 192 CUP... idiot. I gave him my change just to get rid of him. grrr. I've been to places were people had a lot less than these guys but they had a lot more pride and were waaay more honest.

This december, I'm going to try the all-inclusive-resort-thing for the first time. I'm a little nervous about being surrounded by all these drunken tourists but as long as the weather is on our side, I'll be happy. Now, I just have to tell my family I wont be here for the first week of the Christmas holiday.

Take two

2010-08-07T15:36:00.000-07:00

INTERNET SUCKS IN CUBA!!!!!
I came to this hotel were we pay 6$ an hour for Internet. It wouldn't be so bad if the Internet wasn't a dialup connection. Out of my hour, it takes me a full minute just to login to my hotmail account. And what's worse is that 2 days ago I came, spent my full hour on the computer and wrote this huge entry for this blog. Well... Just as I clicked publish post, everything went to hell. A little bit like what is happenning now. I'm getting a @#$*@# message saying I cannot connect to blogger. Screw this! I'll write about this place when I get back home.
To think that last year I was in a village of Nicaragua and wireless Internet was almost everywhere! Raul and Fidel need to get with the program man. I am excessively annoyed!
Right at this very second, I'm not sure how I feel about this place.

La Habana

2010-08-03T19:12:00.000-07:00

Here I am in the cuban capital. My travel buddy and I arrived here in the wee hours of the morning this morning. It was crazy hot but the kind of hot where you don't keep it inside, you just sweat it out. Beautiful!!!
It's weird and I can't put my finger on the reason why yet, but I don't feel like I'm in America Latina. First there's the architecture that seems to date from way before the Batista era, but there's something else and I have yet to figure it out.
Today was quite the day. Our goal was to find a suitable language school for another project. We left our host, Pablo, around 9 this morning and started walking. After a while and a few stops in different places to ask questions, we encountered a pretty nice school. But we decided we needed to go seek the foreign language department of the university on the other side of town. So we hopped on a wawa (bus). Wow! Lots of people and kaos on those buses! I think that's where I sweated the most. I'm not sure how many wawa we took because we kept on changing out itinerary. But it was quite a fun adventure.
Now that we have figured out the school stuff and the lodging issue, tomorrow will be a fun day of doing activities that future groups could do.
I am definetely not to pity!!!!

Heat wave!

2010-07-09T04:44:00.000-07:00

After a week of 40°C temperature and hearing most people complain about it, all I can think about is the -30°C temps we'll have to endure in a few months.
All I can do is enjoy this heat wave!

First trip

2010-05-20T04:25:00.000-07:00

Later today, my 19-year-old niece will be leaving for her first major trip. Tonight, she will be boarding her very first plane, direction Morocco and then another plane, direction Mali, where she will be staying for 2 months!
No need to say how proud I am.
This is how you grow as a person and this is how you really get to know yourself, your strengths and your weaknesses.
Never mind traveling through Europe or Latin America where it is so easy communicating with people. In the villages where she will be staying, they won't speak French nor English!
Did I mentioned how proud I am? :)

Chica, I wish you the experience of a lifetime. I hope you fall in love with the culture and come back to us transformed in an incredibly positive way, and inspired like you have never been. I envy you insanely and can't wait to hear all your stories. xox

Mi cumpleaño

2010-05-12T05:46:00.000-07:00

Last week was my birthday. For the past few months I've been dreading this birthday because it was a big one for me. But, I can now say that it made its way to my Best Birthdays list. In the last year I've let into my life new people and they've turn out to be a really good bunch of now-friends. So between the new friends and the older ones, last week was great! I'm really grateful to them for making me feel like I matter and I'm really grateful to life for placing these people in my own life path.
Yay!

Stupid behavior

2010-04-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

Today I was confronted for the second time by a behavior that is really starting to get on my nerves.
There is this thing that some people do when faced with the feeling of guilt. They will go off on people around them (usually involved in the situation that created the guilt) and try to transfer the feeling of guilt onto them.
...
What the hell is that?!?
This is such a puzzling behavior. First of all, why would anyone in their right mind think that it's something that would actually work? I guess I just answered my own question when using "in their right mind".
To me, it just reveals a blatant emotional immaturity. These people are in dire need of serious introspection.

Harsh...

2010-02-21T09:08:00.000-08:00

Life's odd... Just when everything is more perfect than it has ever been, life throws in a monkey wrench. And this time, it's a really big one. A person really close to my heart is going through an important health scare without any real support (so far) from the medical system. The only thing they have managed to do, is plant the seeds of fear within us and then, ask everyone involved to wait over a month and a half to get more answers, while telling the person to make sure not to get injured or he would bleed to death. WTF. After the initial collapse of moral, I am trying my best to stay strong and believe. Believing for real is hard but I will do it. I believe that he will be healthy, stronger and wiser after all this. All I will do all that I can to help him through this.

Simon's Cat (yeah... again)

2010-02-16T14:01:00.000-08:00

Yay! Simon's cat got his own website!
Ok I might be a little behind on the news but I thought I'd share it with you.
How can you not fall in love with a guy that thinks that writing about his cat is a good and entertaining idea?!

Finally

2010-02-09T18:30:00.000-08:00

I finally moved a week ago in my new "chez moi". The truck got into town only last Monday. So I've been sharing my new place with a bunch of boxes. That's the part I really didn't miss about moving to a new place. The good think is that I'm really in a purging mood so the process is going relatively quickly considering I still have to work, go to my 2 classes and own up to my previous engagements. But through it all I'm having a blast.

2010

2010-01-05T17:54:00.000-08:00

Wow! Hadn't realized it had been soooo long since my last post. Guess I didn't have anything I wanted to share with anyone. :)
Well a few things happened since the last post and I choose to believe that it is a reflection of what is to come in this new year, beginning with my impending move to my very own condo. It's tiny, cute and mine!
I don't have any specific expectations for the other 11 months, but I think positive things will happen. My motto is go with the flow but it feels like I'm on a different river now. I'm in a completely different frame of mind that is actually helping me open my eyes to opportunities. I will try and grab each and everyone of them as they come to me.

Happy New Year!

Back to Reality

2009-08-29T21:57:00.000-07:00

Landed in Montreal a bit over an hour ago and am bummed out about it.
I'm not exactly sure what it is specifically, but there's something about Latin America that just makes me feel like I'm home.
It's probably not just one thing but a combination of various things. I love the chaos (my friend Jenn calls it the pulse I think). There's people everywhere, on the sidewalk, in the middle of the street, on porches, everybody is doing something or another. It's great! Another thing I like is the people. I've never had so many people smile at me or talk to me.
I miss it... :(

Nicaragua: último día... No quiero regresar

2009-08-28T08:47:00.000-07:00

I leave San Juan del Sur in a couple of hours and it sucks. I should be a viajera artesana like the guys I was hanging out with yesterday. They mostly all had university degrees and decided that life in an office with a boss and multiple obligations wasn't the way to go. Sometimes I think they are absolutely right. They don't have a lot but they always have a smile on. Doesn't that say everything? I have to plan my next trip when I get home and really improve my Spanish.

After breakfast, I went to say goodbye to the beach. The rays were there once again. There was one that was coming so close to the shore, I thought it would get stuck. I did a little research on them in the middle of the night. Might as well be productive while one cannot sleep! So my result is that they are Longnose Eagle Rays, hense the jumping out of the water and not hiding in the sand. But they do also posess that venomous tail spine that can inflict somekind of pain.

At noon, Armando came to pick me up at the hotel. He's the same guy that picked me up at the airport 2 weeks ago. We were 4 in the van to make our way back to Managua. A young guy from New York sat in the front seat. He spoke some Spanish but his English accent was so terrible that poor Armando kept on asking me what he was saying. I think the guy just gave up after a while and I also think that he had problems understanding Armando. The other 2 people were a young couple from Ottawa. We talked for a while but they were sitting way in the back and, being in the middle, I had to turn around to talk to them. That just made me seriously puky after a while. So in the end, the van was really quiet for about 2 hours. By chance I was the last one to be dropped off at her hotel. Armando said he did it on purpose because he knew I would enjoy going around Managua.

Now I'm in my new room, it's appropriately seriously raining outside, I'm writing emails and such, and trying my best not to think about my impending departure...

Nicaragua: penúltimo día

2009-08-27T14:03:00.000-07:00

So traveling alone can sometimes be a little lonesome but travelling alone also gives you the opportunity to encounter people and do things you otherwise wouldn't get the opportunity to do. This morning I chilled until noon. Last night I was invited for lunch at my Spanish artesano friend's place. I had an idea how to get there but trying to avoid a group of people, I took a wrong turn that led to nowhere. Being me, when I walk I try and salute people nicely. So when I backtracked my steps, of saw again this guy sitting under a tree with his 79-year-old dad. They stopped me and we started talking. It was really nice. The dad was a little bit difficult to understand given he had no upper teeth whatsoever. People here are so happy to talk with people who are trying to learn Spanish and they are really patient with all the dumb mistakes I make. So we talked for quite a long time because I got to my friends house around 2 pm. I missed lunch but there was some gazpacho left which was yummy. So we sat around, with a couple other artesanos from Argentina talking about culture differences and drinking maté. I was pretty excited to taste maté since the only place I had heard about it was in the Che's biography.

Nicaragua: day 10

2009-08-26T11:30:00.000-07:00

Omg this dream is slowly coming to an end. Mi amiga left to get back to San José and I only have one full day left. Snif... After the "chicken bus" to the Costa Rican border left, I went and booked my way back to Managua for Friday and then decided to go for a walk on the beach. (I'm still debating if I should go in the water or not because I really burned my back 2 days ago.) So As I'm slowly making my way back on the beach, I'm watching this old man kind of fishing. He has a bucket and is throwing what looks like a rag attached to a line. So he probably sees my puzzled look because he invites me to take a look at his catch. Turns out he's "fishing" crabs and the rag is not a rag but large slabs of fish that the crabs are apparently fond of. So this dude who I'm guessing is in his sixties, chatted me up for a good hour. He's from the city but used to work on a boat, so visited a lot of places. He showed me la cara del Indio naturally carved in one of the surrounding mountains and also told me that the rays that were in the water 2 days ago were not rays and were not dangerous. I'm still not sure who to beleive because they totally looked like rays. But the fun thing is that I got to practice my Spanish again! I was having a bit more difficulty than when I talked to the columbian guy but I think it was because of the pronunciation.

Later, I returned to the beach for a swim and actually saw one of those non-ray rays fly out of the water... I'm no specialist but aren't rays more fond of the bottom floor? I'll have to look that up. Later one of the students came on the beach so we just hung out for the rest of the afternoon. I went back to my room around 5 pm for a shower and then went out across the street for a quick and lonesome supper. I was starting to feel a few pairs of predaceous eyes on me when, thank god, this artisan we had met a couple days ago passed by and decided to sit with me for a beer. This 30-year-old is from Spain and has been travelling for 4 years. He studied to be a social worker and worked successfuly in the business world and decided to drop everything. After the first year, he arrived in Argentina were he learned how to make these really intricate string/macrame bracelet and that alone pays for his travels. It's got to be pretty nice to be free that way. He speaks with a different accent and very quickly so some parts of our conversation I'm not sure I understood. It was still nice to practice some more. After supper, he was nice enough to accompany me to the artisans street corner were I wanted to get this ring I had seen a few days ago. It's really pretty with a nice pink rock.

Nicaragua: day 9

2009-08-25T20:29:00.000-07:00

Jenn arrived yesterday afternoon. We had a whole night of catching up. Lots of gossip a even more laughters. It was great! Just like we saw each other a few days ago. Today we woke up fairly early due to the amount of noise the hotel staff was doing. We watched a movie and then ran for breakfast which ends at 10 am. And... we went back to sleep until noon I think. Que parezosas!!!

It rained all day here! People were kind of happy but just before noon the electricity went out and only came back before 6 pm. We walked around town a bit, running some errands and then sat in a beach front restaurant for I don't know how long. At one point one of the students from the school walked in and sat with us until he had to go for his supper at the school. We ourselves went for supper but now I'm just not feeling so well...

Before or after supper, I just can't remember, we went to check out the hostel I first wanted to stay at. You know, turns out to be a good thing they were full because it was another example of a bit of false representation from their web site. I think we ended up in a much better place.

Nicaragua: day 8... I think

2009-08-24T08:28:00.000-07:00

I'm loosing count of the days I've been here. To me that's a very good sign.
Yesterday I moved to my new location. It's ok but for the price they charge, I expected quite a bit more. It is not remotely close to the hype they make it out to be on there website. AND... This morning there's a freakishly oversized black spider in my shower. I didn't kill it cause it's just going to make a really gross mess under my poor little flipflop and in the process, make me want to puke. My friend is arriving later this afternoon so hopefully it will still be in the same spot and hopefully, she won't have a problem killing it with one of her own shoes.
The really nice thing about the hotel is that it's restaurant is right across the street hence, on the beach. I had supper there last night and was entertained by this spectacular sunset on the ocean. I will defenetely try and take a picture of that before I leave... If I leave. :)

I think that today will be a beach day. I tried to stay out of the sun yesterday due to being slightly sunburned. But so far, the sky is somewhat overcast and I plan on being more vigilant with the sunscreen. The vigilance is a little difficult for me due to the fact that I have a tendency to stay in the water for hours on end.

We'll my beach morning was cut a little short due to the visit of quite a few rays. Just as I was getting use to sharing the water with them, this local dude told everyone he could, to get out of the water because he said that these rays have this thorn that can really cut you. On the up side, the maid totally took care of my uninvited guest! A shout out to maids everywhere!

Nicaragua: day 7

2009-08-22T16:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a nice and long day. I started by taking my laundry to the lavanderia around 8 am to make sure I had it back that same night since they are closed on Sundays. Then I walked the whole beach for about an hour. I had just too many things with me to leave my stuff on the beach and jump in the water. So I just sat on my towel for the whole morning, reading and people watching. A bit after 11 am I went back to the school and took a shower. When I came out for lunch, to my surprise, there was a new student that had just arrived. He's a Britt that doesn't really have any Spanish and is here for one month!!! Lucky guy. He wants to learn a bit of Spanish for the rest of his trip (because yes, he is not finished travelling after this month of lessons).
After lunch, we went to town were we parted ways after a couple of bebidas. I just had to get in the water and had prepared myself acordingly by hardly bringing anything with me. There was a ton of people at the beach in the afternoon. Aparently, SJDS is the weekend getaway for quite a few rich people from Managua. I stayed in the water long enough to get the tip of my fingers all rinkled and to get my little pile of stuff soaked by the incoming tide. The waves could have been a little bit more present but it was pretty nice. I even got to practice my Spanish with this Columbian guy from NY, that was on vacacion with his family.
After supper, the Britt and I decided to go for a drink. Man does this town ever morph on Saturday nights!!!!
There was at the very least 3 times the amount of people I've seen during the week. I had a pretty good time. We ran into a group of people he stayed with in Granada and ended up partying with them until the wee hours of the morning and all for about 30$.

Today, I'm leaving the school. I'm a little bummed about it but am also looking forward to a decent shower. I really wanted to stay in this hostel but there was no rooms left. So I ended up in this hotel but the good thing is that it's right on the beach.

Nicaragua: day 5

2009-08-21T04:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a little different from the others. I had my normal 4 hour class but I also had an extra 2 hours after lunch. The reason is that this morning there is a special exam being given to a very advance group of students who came here just to take it. So, that will be in the morning and then I'll have my very last 2 hours of classes. :(
Two of those students stayed here and we had supper with them last night. The interesting thing is that Spanish was pretty much the only language all of us had in common. They were a Japanese girl and a German guy, who by the way really rubbed me the wrong way. It took him about 10 minutes to make my black list. The Japanese girl, who spoke close-to-perfect Spanish was saying she was nervous about the exam because she has a lot of difficulty writing the language. Well the idiot was on her case saying how he couldn't understand because it's just sooo easy. He only shut he's pie hole when she said she's still wrestling with the alphabet. I think only then he realized where she was coming from and that Japanese and Spanish are two extremely different languages.

Now the day is over and I finished all of my classes. :( I'm a little bummed. Also, I lost my fellow student who left early this morning for the weekend. Bummer again. So I'm kind of left alone to entertain myself. Tomorrow, after taking my laundry to the laundry shop, I'll go hang out at the beach in the morning and then maybe go into one of these bars that are open to the outside to continue studying (or just return to the beach). I know, it's pretty much impossible to feel bad for me. I'm not whining I'm just stating facts! A veces, la vida esta buenísima.

Nicaragua: day 3

2009-08-19T12:33:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up to a rainstorm. According to one of the teachers, it was the first time it rained since June. Unfortunately, for the farmers and nature, it only rained until 10am.
It rained a tiny little bit more during the horse ride through the forest. I was hoping it would last more than the two minutes it did because it actually was refreshing and the poor horses were sweating like crazy. But thankfully they were not morbidly skinny like other ones I've seen.
After the ride, me and my fellow student chilled at the school and goofed around with the director's kid, Alanito. Quite the rowdy 6-year-old who atempted to teach me karate after trying to pulverize the other student while wearing his batman cape.
After supper, which was again pretty awesome, we decided to go back to a bar to do our homework. But today we picked a different one with better lighting and mellower music.
Oh and note to the connaisseurs, I finally realized that they sell salsa Lizano here tambien! Que suerte!!!!
So tomorrow I have to go back in "town" to do a few things and I will go buy some Lizano at the same time.

Nicaragua: day 2

2009-08-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

I'm just at the end of my second day here and I'm still pinching myself. I can't beleive I'm here. Not only that, but I can walk around and chitchat with anyone and we understand each other!!!! Yay!
So far, we've had full days. Get up at 6am, breakfast at 7am, class at 8am untill noon, then it's lunch, homework, somekind of activity and then back for supper. However, yesterday I walked around town after lunch, looking for a place to stay for my second week. I really had fun doing that because it gave me another oppotunity to practice my Spanish. Once I found a place, I went to this bar on the beach to do my homework. Again I had a chance to practice more with the server when I decided to strike up a conversation with him.
Also the weather has been frightenly perfect given that it should be the rainy season here. My teacher says she has never seen a winter this dry. There is a river right by the school that should connect with the ocean but as it is, it's about 500 meters short.
Tomorrow our activity will be horseback riding... Yeah... I could do without that. Putting my weight on a scrawny horse in this scortching hot weather just makes me feel guilty. There is absolutely no fun in it for me. But hey, I go with the flow.

Life Story

2009-06-03T10:26:00.000-07:00

Today I fell upon this site and it really moved me.
I highly recommend you take 15 minutes of your time to read this story of this man's last years with his dad.

hm...?

2009-03-13T13:55:00.000-07:00

Isn't it a little weird how happiness is so easy ... and then so difficult!!
One of life's little quirks!

Dentistry Perks

2009-02-03T18:05:00.000-08:00

I laughed so much when I received this video, I almost had tears. Well I guess another fun thing about being a parent is having the opportunity to laugh at your kids a bit. It almost made me want to go to the dentist!

Mis vacaciones on film

2009-01-31T19:13:00.000-08:00

Voici pour les impatient un avant goût de mon récit!

CR Last Day

2009-01-25T08:19:00.001-08:00

Here I am, at the Juan Santamaria airport, trying to kill a few hours before my departure. I had a very good time and again met a few more wonderful people. I'm not sure if my Spanish is all that better but I certainly felt way more confident about trying. Like the previous time, I'm totally not looking forward to getting back home, but this time I'm not super bummed out. It's probably because I know I can come back whenever. I cannot believe that in a few hours I will be back into discustingly cold weather. I'm hoping that this little 10 day break from it will make the rest of this not so wonderfull season seem a little shorter.

I want to send a shout out to every one who had a hand in making this week a really nice one.
¡Pura Vida amigas y amigos!

CR day 2

2009-01-17T07:19:00.000-08:00

Just a few hours left before I leave the big city. At that point, I will no longer have access to my virtual world which I fear I'm getting addicted to. I'm also a little sad to leave this little hotel. It is so cute! And there is this super nice guy at the front desk (Pedro) who's been teaching me more Spanish in exchange for a few French lessons (and there is absolutely no gutter to put your mind into with this statement!). You know what's great about Latin America? Everyone is always smiling at one another. Or maybe I'm just seing things through rosy glasses because I'm happy to be here. Either way, it's great.

So last night I went out with an old schoolmate, whom I hadn't seen since our highschool graduation over 20 years ago. She's been living here for 12 years! It was nice to go out with someone who knows the city but more importanly, knows the people. We went to an asian (yes I know) restaurant. We tried going somewhere else but it was full. On our way to the restaurant, we almost ran over a transvestite prostitute who seem to think that the idea of almost getting run over was pretty funny. How come these transvestite often have the most beautiful feminine bodies?!?! Anyway, I got back at my hotel around 10pm after a respectably good supper and Pedro wanted to hear all about it... in spanish... well we switched to English rather quickly.

I'm eager to see how much I can communicate with the people of El Sur this week. It's weird because I was able to talk with the cab driver yesterday and with Pedro but this morning I asked a lady if they had sugar for the coffee and she signaled some guy to talk to me as if she had no idea what I was saying. I know my spanish isn't that good but I'm certain the idea of what I was trying to say was understandable.

CR

2009-01-16T14:26:00.000-08:00

I arrived in one piece and with all my bags. On the way to the hotel (which is quite cute) I was having a little chat with the cab driver (in spanish!!) and we both had a little thought for all my fellow Montrealers. I cannot believe that a few hours ago I was in -30 celcius weather. It is actually a little chilly right now but... I'm not wearing a jacket!
Now I'm all checked in and am killing time waiting for my old schoolmate to finish work and come and pick me up. It is pretty cool when you start knowing people in various places.

Hasta luego!

Believe

2009-01-15T20:02:00.000-08:00

A year ago, when I was too close for comfort to rock bottom, I looked at my life and questioned what I wanted out of it. One of those things was to travel. Something I have never really been able to do for various reasons. Well, today I came to the realization that life actually listens to me! In four hours, I'll be calling my cab to take me to the airport. For the second time in about eight months, I'm going to Central America. By myself! I am packed, fed and way tired but deliriously giddy! I hope everyone I know gets to see a desire come to life the way it has been happening to me. I use to think these things only happen to deserving people... Now, I'm starting to believe!
CR! Here I come!

Go!

2009-01-13T04:59:00.001-08:00

Well it's a go! After getting real feedback from various people, I understand that none of the areas I'll be visiting have been affected by last week's earthquake. So two more days and then I'm off!!!

On Hold?

2009-01-10T13:38:00.000-08:00

I am booked to go back to Costa Rica next week but now I don't know if it's on hold or not. There was a major earthquake two days ago. The center of the quake was some 35 km north-east of San José, so I'm not sure what it means for the area where I'm suppose to go, which is farther south-west. I've never really felt an earthquake so I have no idea of the area it can cover. I've sent emails to the couple of people I know that live there (in completely different areas) and I got no response. Which makes me think that things are not good. I emailed the girl with whom I booked the trip and her answer was that she talked to someone over there on that day and there was no mention of an earthquake... Is it just me or is that answer really irrelevant?! The quake lasted around 40 seconds I think. Ok let's say 1 minutes for the sake of argument. Isn't there a lot more minutes in one day??? Lady, go on the web and check it out for yourself if you don't believe me!

12 Days of Christmas

2008-12-12T05:27:00.000-08:00

I heard about these guys on the radio this morning. A Youtube sensation that just released a Christmas album with Atlantic records. I had to go check the video they were talking about and I loved it!
This is my type of holiday spirits.
Enjoy!

You can check out the rest of their stuff here: Straight No Chaser

The Matrix Runs on Windows

2008-11-13T05:04:00.000-08:00

Need I say more?!?!

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

On Hold

2008-11-10T09:49:00.000-08:00

Well, my move back to cowtown is on hold. I'm not sure for how long. Things are not quite right and we've decided that it's better that I stay put until... not sure until when. I always say that my motto is "go with the flow", but these days, the flow just keeps changing directions. Maybe it's because I wasn't going with the right one to begin with.
In the meantime, I booked another trip to Costa Rica. I'm going back to the same place and will be leaving mid January. It's always so nice to have something to look forward to!

Another Conquest!

2008-09-25T18:55:00.000-07:00

I started taking Spanish lessons 2 week ago, and tonight, I overcame my «fear» of the unknown and went to my first Spanish social gathering. It was a very small one. We were six students and one teacher at a restaurant, and had to chitchat in Spanish for 2-3 hours. I had soooooo much fun! No matter how many lessons I take, it is only this kind of exercise that will help me learn this language once and for all.
From now on, I'm going every Thursdays! To think I hesitated for 2 weeks and almost talked myself into not going tonight. Pfff. When will I learn not to listen to those insecurities!!

On the move!

2008-09-10T09:03:00.000-07:00

Well it's official! I'm moving back to cow town. Only a couple of people knew about it so far but I made it official yesterday after letting my boss know that I'm not coming back after the holidays. I will also be going back there for a week late October just to revisit.
Can't wait!

The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See

2008-09-09T05:30:00.000-07:00

Please please please, take 10 minutes and watch this video until the end.

It is the most logical way to explain the facts to all the non believers.

Art

2008-08-25T16:11:00.000-07:00

I was just cleaning up my bag and found this business card I picked up last week. My friend and I often go (pretty much once a week) to the restaurant L'Enchanteur in Montreal. It's one of those places that lends its walls to local artists to show their work. Well, recently they changed artist and this new one is really good. It's all portraits. The thing that stikes me the most about his oil paintings showing in the restaurant, are the eyes and the overall softness he gives to his paint brush. So here is his Web site, it's worth checking out!

Tough Guys and Puppies

2008-08-25T13:32:00.000-07:00

I just love this story from the New York Times about a group of bikers that devote their lives to animal rescue. It's totally worth checking out the NYT article and these pictures!

You As Per Flickr

2008-08-19T17:47:00.000-07:00

I saw this little game on Shan's blog. It took me some time to do it but here is my version.

Here’s how you play:
Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr search
using only the first page. Choose an image.
Copy and paste each of the URLs into the mosaic maker at FD’s image maker.
The questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favourite food?
3. What high school did you attend?
4. What is your favourite colour?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favourite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favourite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your Flickr name.

Manga for All

2008-08-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

This is a cute little site that was sent to me by Shan.

You can see what your Avatar would look like in a manga.
(For those of you whom I know have no idea what I'm talking about, manga is the Japanese word for comics. Therefore, you can see what you would look like in a Japanese comic.)
Just go to face your manga and follow the step!

This is mine.

Decision

2008-08-11T16:21:00.000-07:00

Tonight I took a decision regarding the rest of my life. It's a big one that will change everything again for me. I only need to talk to one last person before I know if it's a go or not. Unfortunately, I can't get hold of that person tonight. The cell phone is doing this really weird sound, not even ringing. It sounds like the beep of a submarine! Anyway, as soon as I know for sure, I will write it. Some of you will be surprised, others not.

À suivre...

Mtl, Can

2008-08-01T17:25:00.000-07:00

It's Friday evening and just got back home from a pretty late days work. It was one of those days that drains your brain but this was the perfect end to a not so perfect day.

After work me and my friend decide to stop by the farmer's market to get leeks before heading in our different directions. I don't know why but going to the farmer's market always makes me feel good. Then, I decide to take a different route that takes me walking by this huge park.

So it's Friday evening, I have these really good tunes playing in my ipod and I walk by the skater area of the park where there's a whole bunch of guys of different ages practicing their tricks. I almost want to stop, thinking what good pictures this would makes. After the skater area is the rugby/soccer part of the park where I can see a practice in session with a lot of people. I don't know if it's my mood but they all look pretty happy. I see a couple of hi-5's and laughters. Cool. Then, it's the basketball part of the park. Another practice is happening. Maybe it's because it's a basketball court but all the guys are really tall. However, in the middle of the action you can see this proud little guy, who looks like he's around 10 years old, keeping up with the action.
Man! I love my city in the summer! I love how it comes alive. People are everywhere doing something, looking happy. You walk around and the good mood is contagious.
Montreal you rock!!!!

Simon's Cat

2008-07-18T04:08:00.001-07:00

Here is the latest chapter in Simon's cat life. This Simon Tofield genius guy did some real cat behavior observation!
I just love these cartoons!! (and cats)

To watch the other two installments, just youtube Simon's cat and enjoy.

Les souliers de ma mère

2008-07-11T15:25:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here with my mom who's after me to write something new. Unfortunately, I have nothing to say.
I share this with her and her answer is: write about your old mom who wears old shoes.

...

emm... ok mom.

So that story (it's really not a story) is about some weird old looking pair of shoes she has on today. My mom is in her early 60's and is quite young minded. But today she's wearing shoes that would suit a "real" grandma. I asked her about them and (to no surprise) she told me they belonged to her deceased mother who was almost 90 at the time...
Maman, tu as besoin de nouveaux souliers!!!

Cool Weekend!

2008-07-07T06:22:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you go through a really slow and boring weekend (they are still nice, being weekends and all). But this weekend was the complete opposite. It started on Friday at noon when we left the city to go party. It was just for one day but we had a blast. We had a late lunch outside, a few bottles of deliciousness and went for supper at our friend's italian restaurant where we had a lot more deliciousness, both in the liquid and solid form. We came back to town on Saturday late afternoon where I made THE phone call for the next day. Sunday I met my friend late morning to go to the shop where we had our appointment. After all these years of thinking about it and sometimes talking about it, IT finally happened!! I went through with IT and am totally happy!
Here's a pic of my achievement.

Ta da!

Cutest Burglar

2008-06-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

I cannot get enough of this video. Pay attention to the shiny eyes, especially after the dog does his heroic thing.

I just love it!

Empathy

2008-06-25T15:49:00.000-07:00

This is a quality that I find very important. However, I am surprised to realize that there is an array of people in my surroundings, that seem to struggle with this or even not possess this quality at all. How do you get people to realize it without offending them. It is just not pleasant to be on the receiving end of this type disregard.

Life ...

All Better!

2008-06-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

OK. Last week was a very hard return to reality. Very hard! I guess I don't really like my reality. The good thing is that I have come to that realization and I'm actually taking steps into changing it. My plan is not quite completed in my mind but I think that by taking those steps, it will eventually all come together. I think I just figured out that I'm just too old to play it "safe" and go into a direction because it sounds like something reasonable. I now feel like I want to LIVE and not just be there. I don't want to say too much because I'm not certain who exactly reads this blog, but as the plan takes form, I will certainly post every details. In the meantime, I'm planning another trip to Costa Rica in the next few months. I already told one of the ladies over there that I would come back before J finished her year contract. At first I thought it would be next winter but now, I'm thinking end of the summer or early fall. While I'm figuring things out and fulfilling my duties here, I though I would take a Spanish lesson in order to be more communicative on my next trip.

I'm also looking at condos in the Manuel Antonio area. This idea was brought on by one of my travel buddies. But, like it usually happens on trips, I think none of the people that thought it was the best idea actually want to go through with it. However, I'm not one to wait on others anymore. I'll look for the opportunity, contact them to see if they are interested and then go for it one way or the other. That would be so cool.

I finally feel like I'm getting some grasp on things.

Mis Vacaciones

2008-06-11T14:06:00.000-07:00

So I have been back for 3 days and my head is still buzzing with memories. Here is a short list of the highlights of my week.

The first one is when the plane was descending to the Juan Santamaría airport. I was sitting by a window, taking in the view. It then started to rain a little bit but the sun was still shining strongly. For the first time in my life, I was looking down at three simultaneous rainbows. I've never even thought about being above a rainbow before. Today I see it was a good omen.

The next day, Saturday, is a little bit of a blur because I just had an overload of visual, intellectual and hearing stimulus. So much to take in. It was also the day I met the rest of my posse and we made our way to the village of El Sur.

Sunday is usually an off day in El Sur and to top it off, there was a Costa Rican futból final game on TV which made all the men pretty happy. We still managed to go for a couple hour hike in the forest, which was great.

Monday was work day. But it was a knarley day for The Dude and we laughed about it a LOT! His day first started with a scorpion in his t-shirt. I'm laughing right now, remembering the screech, the swears, the extra speedy removal of the said t-shirt, the red belly from him scratching it and the eyes as big as toonies (Canandian 2$). Hi-la-rious!!! Then as we were working, he poked a hole in his shin with the fence we were fixing. Not funny at the time. Under his supervision, I helped try and fix it. We must have done a good job because it looked pretty good by the end of the week. While we were working, Super Mario (guy taking care of us that can absolutely do everything) saw some fruits in a tree and decided we should have a taste. He then proceeded in throwing sticks and stones at the fruit. Well, a stick sort of rebounded of a branch and landed on the shoulder and back of the aforementioned Dude. Now, everyone was laughing. Even Mario and Henry! The chain of events was just too much. I'm not sure but I think it is the same night The Dude got a bug in his pants and had us roaring with laughter again with his reaction. In the afternoon, we were working on the road and I met my new love. He was this scared and super skinny dog that came on the road. I gave him my hand to sniff but he was too scared, keeping his nose to the ground, looking at me from below and just showing me the top of his head. The minute I touched him nicely with the tip of my fingers because he was full of ticks he was the happiest poochy (the dogs are usually kicked around over there). We later named him Manuel.

On Tuesday, we got up really early to do a half day hike in the forest and be back on time for lunch an Nena's. The hike was hard but fabulous. With the group we had, everything we did was fabulous. We didn't really see any big animals in the forest, just some insects and a couple of wild turkeys. It was really hot, my clothes were drenched with sweat and my legs got really scratched but I had no reason not to have a big smile in my heart. After lunch we were supposed to do some English/Spanish classes but it didn't really happened. After having a tasting of rice pudding, we hung out in the Salon for a while as it was raining pretty hard outside. We went back to our cabinas and to my super pleasant surprise, Manuel appeared out of nowhere. With my seesta's permission, I gave him some crackers and bread and he then came to lay down by us. At one point, he just left and went back home.

The next day was another fabulous one and it went by the fastest. We left our little village early in the morning with Julio our driver to go to Manuel Antonio (the inspiration for Manuel's name), a beach town (were I bought a couple of bags of dog food). We first had lunch at this little makeshift snack bar on the beach and then went for a walk in a type of provincial park were we saw lots of monkeys, bigger lizards, some forest crabs and loads of hermit crabs. After that walk, the moment we were all waiting for: the swim in the ocean. For those of you who know me well, your know I love being in the water. It's just the bathing suit part I have a hard time with. At the end of the day, we came back in traffic. I think it took us at least 1,5 hour more to get back home. Julio briefly showed us his town of Jacó before going for supper and then went back home to El Sur. During the ride back after supper I was feeling a little rough so Yayo decided to get my mind off things with the craziest flow of questions. I would be really curious to know how much of this Julio understood.
Message to the rest of my posse, I cannot be the only one, I think you all lied!! : )

Thursday was the cultural exchange day. We started by milking 2 cows. I now have a lot of compassion for these poor mammals. After the milking, we went back in the Salon, were Nena showed us how they make cheese from that milk and how to make tortillas to eat with the cheese. After lunch we went to trapiche (sugar making) with Carmen, the oldest man of the village I believe. It's pretty identical to maple syrup making with the exception that they crush the sugar cane to get the initial sugar water. In the afternoon, we all had different things happening to us. The boys were finishing the fence, J was running around and I was at the cabina giving an English lesson to 4 kids who thought I was a little weird for letting Manuel stick around. After supper at Ronald's (during which the electricity went out), we went beside the pulperia for smores. Almost everyone was there even if it was in the dark. It was the first time I tasted a smore. I don't want to offend smores fans, but I don't really dig them. But overall there was a lot of eating that day between the meals and the activities.

Friday was our last day in El Sur and I think we were all starting to feel the pain of the impending departure. However, in the morning we went for a horse back ride to el rio accompanied by Super Mario and 9 year-old daughter Alejandra. The road was so steep and muddy it freaked me out. All I was thinking about was the horse tripping and slipping and falling either on top of me or down a hill. I was also feeling guilty because the horse was breathing hard and I thought I might be too heavy for it. So Alejandra jumped on it and I finished the trek on foot with Mario and seesta J. The rio was amazing. The water was clear and there was little pools to swim in. Alejandra had brought some paint and proceeded in painting all of our faces. For lunch, we all went in different houses by ourselves (except the boys who ended up together). I went to Mario and Lourdes' house. It was a little awkward at first because they speak as much English as I speak Spanish. But after a while, the conversation was just going in both languages, with a lot of gestures and I had a pretty good time. I even managed to get a recipe from Lourdes. After lunch we hung out at the cabina for the afternoon with Manuel (what a cuty). In the evening, we went to the booming pulperia for a couple of Imperials and we bought a bottle of yummy stuff for our last night. We went for supper at the Salon with the 5 families we have grown fond of. Everybody had a few words to say; even the kids. I had seesta J translate my message but The Dude decided, to our big surprise, to break out his Spanish and do it solo. Way rad dude! ; ) We then had our own little party at the cabina with the bottle of yummy delight.

Next day was a bummer for me. We left early in the morning after saying a last goodbye to our new friends. We drove for a bit and almost got caught in the clayish mud before getting a flat tire. There is never a boring day in Costa Rica. The Dude was dropped off first at a rest stop, to be picked up by someone else later. I was next to be dropped off at another hotel but my reservation had been mysteriously cancelled over a month before. So me, seesta J and Yayo got to spend one last day together, missing our Dude the whole time. But a great day we had. We went for lunch at the market accompanied with a new friend Shannon from the hostel. Then ice-cream for desert where J had the staff sing me happy birthday, even if it was over a month ago. Then we went walking around and back to the hostel before going to a movie by bus and a drink in a hotel lounge were five other people from the hostel joined us. There was a couple of musicians at the lounge and again I was sung happy birthday. It was a great night.

The next morning was pretty hard. I got picked up at 9 a.m. and was holding back the tears not wanting to come back home. But here I am, back to a reality I'm not sure what to think of.

This was the absolute best thing that has happened to me. My heart goes out to my group and my Manuel. xx

Pura Vida!

2008-06-08T11:12:00.000-07:00

I'm at the Santamaria airport waiting for my flight. I wish I could stay here for another 6 months. I had an absolutely fabulous time (or like some would say, a way knarly time). I saw great places, met some great friends and fell in love. His name is Manuel and he's super affectionate. He's the cutest little pooch I have ever seen. Thanks to everyone involved in making this week, one to remember.

Pura vida!

The Countdown is Over

2008-05-30T14:05:00.000-07:00

I have arrived in one piece to the inn. I'm only staying here for one night.
My day started at 2 a.m. after a 2 hours sleep. I got to the airport 3 hours before my departure time and EVERYTHING was closed. The airline counters were closed until 4 a.m. and the US customs were closed until 4:30 a.m. It was still ok that I got there so early because by the time the counters openned, there was already a decent lineup. So after going through the various counters I had to go through, I fell asleep at the gate for one hour. I was still so tired that the minute my bum touched the airplane seat, I completely zonked out for the entire flight. That's a first for me!

In Miami, everything was uneventfull. I waited, I walked, I ate, I waited, I slept and I waited some more. Boooooring! That flight was also uneventfull. We flew over the water for a good chunk of the flight which surprised me a little bit. Then, we were over the country side. Very green but maybe not as lush as I had imagined. When the plane landed, I was still waiting to see a city. I was now under the impression that San Jose was not at all the big city I envisionned! It even looked a little desolate! But, the airport is not quite IN the city. I'm not sure if the driver that picked me up took a "shortcut" but I ended up seeing quite a bit of the city. Some place are really slummy looking and others are pretty decent. The place were I'm staying is an old spanish mansion. It is quite old and in need of some extra love and care but still quite pretty. There is two humongous trees on either side of the front door with leaves that look like there plastic but are not.

The weather is quite pleasant. It rains a bit than there a big sunshine and so on. The humidity is absolutely nothing compared to Montreal in July and August. The other difference is that there's a good wind. During Montreal's heatwaves, there is usually no wind.

Tomorrow we're getting picked up by Globe Aware at 12:30 p.m. and then off we go to the forest. I think I read that it's about a 5 hour drive. I really doubt I'll have access to a computer so my next post will be upon my return to "civilisation" on Saturday.

Right now it's 4:30 p.m. and I need to catch some more z's. I'll wait for my travel buddy who should be getting here aroung 9:30 p.m. or 10 p.m. before going for supper. I know it's usually my bedtime hense the imminant nap.

Countdown: 0.5 day!

2008-05-29T09:57:00.000-07:00

Time has run out! I'm leaving in a bit more and 12 hours. This is very exciting and right on time. I've had about enough of my work...
Hurray!

Countdown: 4 days!

2008-05-26T14:07:00.000-07:00

Time is really flying by! It's the last crazy pre-vacation stretch at work. Everything needs to be in order for my co-workers to take over if need be. It's funny how those last days only stress you twice as much before any off time.
Oh well, it's the same for everyone.
So now all I have to do is pack and calm down.
I'm excited, eager and... a bit terrified!
: )

countdown: 8 days!

2008-05-22T05:24:00.000-07:00

OMG! I am now in the single digits before my departure. I'm getting sooo excited!
I did some shopping last weekend and think I'm all ready to leave. I'll check my list one more time but all I really have left to do is pack my bag, jump in a cab and be at the airport on time. Just thinking about it makes my heart do backflips.

I also started thinking about what will happen when I get back. I had put off thinking about the rest of my life for after my trip. I wont be able to stall for much longer so I'm slowly getting back in that frame of mind. I have some options but I would like to find one that feels completely right. So far I haven't found that option... I hope life will smack me in the face with a new option. Soon please.

Countdown: 17 days!

2008-05-13T15:21:00.000-07:00

More news!
I got an email today letting us know that there was a third person joining us for the trip. I think it will be good.
So we are now 4 people including the coordinator!

Countdown: 18 days!

2008-05-12T14:27:00.000-07:00

Wow. The big day is getting closer at an unbelievable speed. I still have quite a few things to do before I leave and only 2 weekend left to do them.

I started emailing with the other person that will be spending the week with me. I think we'll get along pretty well and I'm fairly sure we will have a great time.
... I'm not certain if I believe what I just wrote. There is a big difference between getting along with someone via the written word only and then face to face. Sometimes, when you meet and there is no time to edit your thoughts before you share them with someone else, you sound like a different person.

But hey, whatever, it's only one week. If we don't get along, we can count the days together! ; )
Also, I anticipate seeing, doing and experiencing really fun stuff, so in those circumstances there is no way I cannot have a great time. I guess I'm just trying to manage my expectation.

Countdown: 24 days!

2008-05-06T15:14:00.000-07:00

Today I got some more news from the organizers for my Costa Rrrrica trip. There is two different programs in that country, one in the forest and one closer to the beach. For some reason, there was a group of college-age kids that decided to switch from the forest program to the other one, and it seems to have started a chain reaction. So, in the end, we will be two "tourists" for the week in the forest program plus the coordinator (I think that's all the English speaking people). The nice lady from Globe Aware asked me if I wanted to switch programs and I said no. I go with what life throws at me and learn what I need to learn. I am scared of a lot of things but a sheep, I have never ever been.

I also learned that my meet up point was now a different one, as of today (I think). That means canceling a reservation to the backpacking hostel and make a new reservation the some inn a little ways away. I got the info that my partner in crime will also be arriving a day early in San Jose and spending the night at that same inn. I'll try to hook up via email before hand. It would be fun (not to mention more reassuring) to go visit the city with company.

You know what? All these changes are making me a little nervous but, at the same time, it's kind of making the whole adventure worth while.

Countdown: 25 days!

2008-05-05T15:34:00.000-07:00

Well, this weekend was my birthday and for the first time, I was truly constantly forgetting about it.
The funny thing is that a group of people from whom I wasn't expecting anything, totally were "there" for me and I really appreciate it.

I thank you all, it was a really fun evening!
xxx

Countdown: 31 days!

2008-04-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

Has it been that long? Time flies when work becomes abusive!!

Well there's nothing new on the travel front except that I finally booked a place to sleep for the 2 nights where I will be left by myself in San José. Otherwise, I have been way too busy at work to even be excited about my impending departure or to go shopping for various miscellaneous items.

However, I want to share a weird string of little stresses that has happen to me.
It started last Thursday when I took the very bad decision (totally out of character for me) to book a San José hostel (not hotel) via email (not via Web). So, I first sent them ALL my credit card info via email on Thursday morning. Right after I press send, I start getting nervous. I'm not getting any feedback throughout the morning so I email them again in the afternoon saying that I'm getting nervous and why. I finally get and answer the next day (thank God) saying everything is booked and giving me all kinds of info. No need to say that I've been keeping a very close eye on my credit card account.

On Friday morning, between the time I take the bus and take the metro (Montreal subway), I loose my bus pass. What a bitch!!! I go the a bank machine to get money for tickets. My card is refused!!! It's Friday dude!!! I try 3 more times that day at different places. No luck. On Saturday, I get a message on my cell telling me that I need to go to my bank asap. Huh?

When I get to work on Saturday (yup! work on the weekend these days!), I get an email from Paypal saying that someone tried to access my account from abroad and that I need to press the link to validate, or not, if it was me, or my account would be frozen. I'm an idiot so I clicked the link. But, I'm also on MAC so my computer refused to do anything (MAC rocks!). I then forwarded the said email to Paypal and they emailed me back that it was a con. !&#?#%

On Monday, at lunch, I finally get to my bank for my stupid card. I wait in line. A long time. The teller welcomes me with a big smile until I show my drivers license from another province. Then I become a suspect. Well, for once, I planned ahead and brought my passport. Her facial expression completely changed and we are now friends again. She brings me to another lineup. Great. More waiting. I'm finally called and go through the longest verbal exchange with an unknown human being. I now know how many time this unknown person has been on vacation, that her son finally started going to the bathroom by himself etc...Geez. I have to go back to my insanely busy job lady! Between all these tid bits of info about her personal life, I learn that my bank card has been cloned but, thank god, it wasn't successfully used by the #?#&$*$#? crooks...

Is life trying to tell me something?!
Be careful? What?
Anyway, all is back in order now with the exception that I'm constantly looking for suspicious activity on my cards or in my accounts. Hurray for the 21st century and technology with witch I've now evolved from an adoration to a love-hate relationship.

Countdown: 51 days!

2008-04-09T14:51:00.000-07:00

Today at lunch I had my shots. Only three, just to be updated, and (bonus) I will be too far south for the malaria scare. So no pills for me!
Another good thing is happening around me. People are starting to want to experience the same adventure. I totally understand. In my book, there is no hard decision to be made between going to a resort surrounded my a bunch of obnoxious drunk yahoos, that scream until the wee hours of the morning, and going in the middle of nowhere and actually experiencing a diffenrent culture. And to top it off, the money I'm spending is actually helping a community! What more do you want? Booze? You can get that anywhere you live? Sun? Same thing.
Anyway, that's just my opinion. This is more than a holiday, it's an adventure!

Countdown: 52 days!

2008-04-08T15:32:00.000-07:00

Last week I paid the rest of my vacation in Costa Rica and today I booked my flight. The latter ended up being the most difficult one to do given that I have to be at a meet-up point at a specific time and that I will be back in civilisation at a specific time also. So, I ended up purchasing the tickets through a travel agent. It's ok for this time but next time, I will do it on my own.

The only other major thing I have left to do is booking my 2 nights sleep in the capital. The rest of the week, we will reside in the forest. We will stay in "cabinas" with enough electricity to recharge digital batteries and cold water plumbing. They say there is also a kitchenette but all of our major meals will be taken with locals at homes or at the community "town hall". I better try and learn some basic Spanish quickly. OMG I'm soooo excited!!! Here's some pics of the "cabinas".

After booking those 2 nights, my other big task will be shopping! I left all of my summer clothes in Calgary when I came here in December and since I don't know where I will end up in the end, I opted for leaving them there. So, I will have to buy new stuff. Darn it! ; )

© www.globeaware.com

Hourglass of Our Time

2008-03-28T14:06:00.001-07:00

Ok. I received this video from my boss and my first reaction was huh? Porn? For moi?

Keep watching. This is one of the most visually striking adds I've seen in a long time. Without a spoken word, it hits you right in the gut with the message.

For those of you who don't speak French, at the end is says every ten seconds, one person dies of Aids in the world.

Hurray for Me!

2008-03-19T16:00:00.000-07:00

I am sooo excited! Today I booked a week long trip to Costa Rica through one of the organizations I wrote about yesterday. I absolutely cannot wait. It's at the end of May. I'll be spending one night in an unknown airport but will be on time to be picked up in San Jose, Costa Rica. I don't speak a lick of spanish but that makes the whole adventure even more exciting. OMG, I'm beside myself!!!

Inspiration

2008-03-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

In my search for a new town to call home, I've discovered an inspiring way to travel. And I've decided that while I'm trying to figure things out, I should book a vacation.

My discovery consist of a whole bunch of organizations that offer international volunteer vacations. I am thrilled about the prospect. I've narrowed down my choice between either working on an eco-tourism project in a Jamaïcan village or on a sustainable community-based village in the Costa Rican Rainforest. Both are from Globe Aware and both are for a week and the fees are tax deductible! (except the airfare of course). I've decided I will make my choice this week! Hurray!

Need Hope?

2008-03-10T04:52:00.000-07:00

If you ever worry about the state or our world and how clueless most humans are, this video will give you a glimmer of hope.

How Appropriate

2008-02-22T15:50:00.000-08:00

Geez
I'm getting old. Had to get my friend (of course SHE'S my friend [somehow she's doubting it]) to help me get this working. It has nothing to do with the wine we're drinking. OK. This is serious business. Isn't it???
Where should I go next? That is my ultimate question. I thought about Ottawa, then Dubai, then back to Calgary, then...
I DON'T KNOW!!!!!
Just got back from Calgary. That's where I moved, 3 years ago, from Montreal.
The world is so big yet seems so difficult to access.

I'll keep you posted on my journey.