long awaited pics

 
 
 
 

 

there's no real chronological order to all this. the last two are the warehouse and joseph and i. it's a fuzzy pic cause it's actually a picture of a picture; we were made the team members of the month, and this is a certificate we were given. he tells me we were both awarded heroes of the year as well, though i'm not sure exactly what that meant. mural painting, including aboriginally influenced artwork, is extremely popular in winnipeg. the man with the white cup between us is moray, the man who had us all out in the sticks for dinner and sledding. awesome guy. the other two guys are felix and stefan, good friends we've made while here.

Man, good times!

5 More Days

it's coming to the nostalgic stage in preparing to leave. i've finished my work placement and have monday tuesday and wednesday to be with the group and talk about feelings and whatnot. thursday is downtime day, maybe go skating with joseph, go out for dinner with steve and matt, keep a low profile and relax.

this weekend was a busy one, volunteering all day on friday, from 9-4 and then again from 5-1. we were volunteering for a world aids day event, which included speeches and food and then a party at a queer bar called Gio's downtown. that's why we were volunteering so late. it was a lot of fun, though i think some of the kenyans may have had a different perspective on our night there (you go to jail for being gay in kenya).many people left around 12:30, and others slowly teetered off until eventually it was sylvan camille and i. we stayed until quarter to two, and then walked home. i realized halfway home that i hadn't brought a key - joseph and i had agreed to just bring his pair, though he'd gone home early. so i ended up getting home around three thirty and having matt unlock the door for me.

the next morning we woke up at 10 and joseph and i went shopping for electronic-related objects and suitcases. at 2 we headed over to kalton and naomi's for a chirstmas get together, and then to a jamburi day celebration - the kenyan independence day. it's actually on the twelvth of december but the kenyan association of manitoba hosted it early this year for us. there was a buffet, music and speeches. a great representation of what life will be like soon enough.

and today was the "Whitetop Carnival" at the church we've been attending. bouncy castles, photos by the manger, and road hockey in the parking lot, with many other activities as well. joseph sylvan camille kenny and i ended up playing hockey for a solid two hours, slipping around on the patches of pavement not covered in gravel.

and this evening joseph and i attended the winnipeg harvest's christmas dinner. it was really fun, but also sad to say goodbye to so many close friends we'd made. we'll probably go to dinner with a few people on tuesday night, though it's tentative plans since there's so many things left to do before we leave.

because of the fact that joseph now has a computer i'm able to upload a few photos to the blog.
it's ironic that i've had the most access to the internet when i've had the least interesting things to say :P

as far as gossip goes, the group is not much better off conflict-wise. i addressed it bluntly and openly on wednesday, and i think that may open some doors to further conversation, but it's dissapointing that people are unable to be honest. there's so much miscommunication and suppressed frustration, upset or anger. obviously in a group of 18 people there will be disagreements, i don't know why we've felt the need to pretend that everything's good. it's too much bullshit, and enough is enough!

dont get me wrong i'm super happy with this group and have had an amazing experience so far, but some things must change.

anywho, hope you enjoy the photos posted.

9 More Days

When this night comes to an end, and soon it shall, there will be only full days in Winnipeg before heading off to Kenya! I was a little stressed this weekend, trying to organize in my head all the things that I wanted to do before leaving. But i went for a walk and wrote it all down and have been slowly crossing things off my list. My list consisted of letters, skype conversations and blog entries to make, money to fundraise (cough cough fail by whole group), looking over my meds, packing stuff up to send home, getting a hold of some photographic device to capture the experience i have in kenya, working out where i may live in university, and a few other things. 


this is a special blog entry, because its being made from a very old computer. and not just any old computer - Josephs new recycled computer!! now this may not really sink in for people but you should understand that he has never owned something like this before, so for both of us this is extremely exciting. we just got it today from the IT guy from work, who was more than happy to lend a helping hand. i'm teaching him the basics of a computer and how to treat this little machine, including how to type efficiently - assuming he's interested. granted this is an older and therefor slower computer, but if he learns to type he may be able to compensate for the lack of speed with his own. for example, even though some of his fellow students may have nice laptops, he could potentially type much faster than them. and from the way it's working now i'm optimistic about how well it may serve him in the years to come. it can play music, has good wifi connection wireless, and we'll soon set up some sort of office operating system. maybe a usb stick or something too. i'm even listening to the new john mayer cd sarah sent me right now, good quality music to reflect a wonderful day :)

I say cough cough to the fundraising because in the two and a half months that we've been here, we have not raised a single dollar. I'm not sure if i really explained the goal we were given at the beginning of this program but basically there's a community group that we've agreed to fundraise money for, so they can increase community development and events in kenya. the issue was that all the canadians had already fundraised and were not expecting this request. and the kenyans were more focussed on getting ahold of computers and things for university. so no one was really personally invested in the project and it all went to shit. this next week we're going to try and get a bit of money scrounged up, but honestly it's more so clear our own conscience than to actually help someone out. a little dissapointing. and i would feel bad, except as you know i'm a super keener and got sick of being the only one really taking initiative in the group to plan things, and felt someone else needed a chance to step up. unfortunately it took a while and now were really scrambling. 
this is my mailing address in Kimende, for those interested in mailing a letter to me:


Volunteer’s Name 

c/o KENVO

P.O Box 49 00221

Matathia, Kenya

there's a lot that i know i'll take away from this that i'm not realizing yet, but every once in a while i reflect on this experience in a way that i don't usually. i can distance myself from my experience and everything, and i have these little moments of clarity. often they're so short that i don't really grasp what i'm beginning to learn, but i know that these concepts will further solidify in the future.

one thing that i'm starting to see so much more now than i did at the beginning of this program is just how patient joseph is. i really respect him for that, there has not been a single thing that he's complained to me about concerning myself and him. and i'm sure i get under his skin sometimes, but he is a really understanding guy, and i really appreciate that. i think i could learn a lot from him, because often i like to speak my mind haha. 

in general i am mystified by how intricate the connections in this group are. there are so many factors that effect every single person's actions and emotions, both internal and external to the group. and because are spending time with each other for 6 months, judgements and impressions change frequently. everyone has a take on everything, and people constantly do things that surprise me, both positive and negative. and things i once thought about people i see differently now, and know i will yet again in the future.

as we approach our departure, people are thinking more and more about home - both canadians and kenyans alike. i miss my family and friends, and it's going to be hard not being home for christmas, new years, my two year anniversary with sarah, father's birthday, etc. i definitely see home in a different light now. it's as though in my mind halifax is this sanctuary, and everything would be perfect if i was there. not to say i'm not happy here, but when the hard times come it's nice to retreat back to somewhere familiar.

anyways, i'll make sure to post once more before i leave, and attempt a few posts in kenya.

for now, this is it!

Santa Claus Parade

today is the santa claus parade downtown. after the parade, which i'm not sure how long we'll last for, we are all going to head back to Joseph and I's house for a birthday party. I spent some time this afternoon cleaning up the house, and I bought him a movie as a gift. He likes action movies so I got Fight Club. I hope he enjoys it.

Tomorrow we're going to the retired engineer's outside of winnipeg for some sledding, food and goodtimes. I think it should be fun, something different. But since there's so many of us, not everyone is going to be able to come unless people get their shit together and ask their host families or something. But as the keener that i am, i'm often planning things for the group, and have gotten a little tired of the, let's say "less responsive" members of the group. I'm not expecting everyone to come to anything that i organize, just that they respect the plan and not fuck with it since they had nothing to do with it.

Sylvan said something last night that resonated well with me: this experience is what we make it. and i don't think that i've really let people get to me, which is good considering who's talking. but it's true, some people in this group are just not worth getting worked up about. and others are. i've tried to spend most of my time with the people who are actually willing to participate in various aspects of the program, and not just doing the bare minimum.

There's only three weeks before we leave, and only 8 more days of work. and one of those days we miss half of, and since joseph and i are going to help out at one of winnipeg harvest's events outside of our usual work hours we're going to be compensated by getting three hours off another day. so we're saying maybe one day on our last week we'll just go for the morning. i'm kinda thinking friday, but maybe we'll wanna spend a full last day with our work buddies.

it really doesn't feel like i've been here for almost 8 weeks though. kinda crazy. and very soon we'll be packing our suitcases and flying overseas. We're in the search of a cheap suitcase, i'm supposing from a thrift store of some sort. We're searching because there are so many things that the Kenyans want to bring back for family and friends that they've all asked us to bring a second bag of their things. most of my bag on the way to winnipeg was filled with winter stuff anyways so it's not going to be a problem at all. i will probably send a lot back home via greyhound or something.

we're already getting emails from our supervisor about luggage restrictions and flight plans. I've been working everyday to improve my swahili, but in the end i truly doubt i'll learn much more than the amount required for the Kenyans to go "ahahaha! look at the white person try and communicate with us! that's adorable!"

as i'm preparing to leave, i'll try to skype / email everyone at least once more before leaving, though if you're reading this and dont feel youre getting sufficient george attention just let me know don't keep it all inside. or get over it. as long as youre not mad at me.

ok keep yall posted!

Mid-Winnipeg Phase

Today is Monday November 12.

this past weekend was wonderful, i had a bunch of friends over friday night for boardgames and music, and we also ended up spending about 20 minutes mastering the technique of throwing playing cards far distances. Out of the three decks that we (including Steve and Matt my host parents) used during that period of time, only one card was lost, though we found the cards in some really obscure places when we were done. Saturday i went out for lunch with some of the Canadians, while the Kenyans went to a shelter to stock up on winter clothing. That night we met at a local park and had a snowball fight, that for the true troopers lasted 3 hours, starting at 9 and going till midnight. yes, i was a trooper.

some basic updates:
i've gained 7 pounds, which for some may not be that amazing but i tried all summer to gain weight with no luck, so i don't know what the deal is. i haven't been eating a lot more, but i think due to all the physical work i've been doing at the warehouse i've basically just become ripped.

i've been studying swahili, or rather, nimesoma kiswahili. eh eh? iknowright.

among some of the challenges i've been facing during this program, one has been the constant gap in conversation between myself and Joseph, mostly due to the fact that we spend most waking moments together. I much less now feel the need to fill the space with meaningless blab, but it definitely wasn't the case the first few weeks. I've also just looked into communication more as a whole; why we do it, how we do it, challenges, odd tidbits. there's really interesting ted talks on how to listen and i'm reading a book called "on dialogue" right now, which looks at how people in a multicultural group interact - much like my own.

which brings me to our own interactions. unfortunately, i've found that there's been a lot of unaddressed tension in the group. i don't know why people seem to feel the need to suppress anger, sadness or frustration, possibly because we're all relatively new and don't wanna offend one another. but it's not good, it's going to burst, or worse, never come out or be addressed, in which case we'll just never come together as a team and get past cultural and societal differences.

however, the program continues and things are well. Joseph's bday is this friday, so i think we'll have some sort of get together this weekend, and another guy Chirspus (or Chirs) is having a bday next week, so lots of celebration to be had. I'm still trying to get to know everyone in the group, but i'm already making some and very glad that i can be a part of this.

Encounters with the 'Peggers:

last week a woman at our work who joseph and i help once or twice a week had a bit of a meltdown. she'd written a book of soup recipes, and dedicated it to her best friend who will soon die of melanoma. her book launch was this past tuesday, and she had some work to do at the Winnipeg Harvest first. We were with her, and she told us how she was very upset about the whole situation, and that just that morning her friend had a seizure and sadly would not be able to come to the book launch. the proceeds of the book were to go to a soup program feeding cancer patients of a hospital here in winnipeg, and if the projeted sales were met she would be able to fund the program for over a year! the book was really well done, with little pieces of advice on how to lend a hand to someone in the hospital, and there was a girl who played some really beautiful music at the launch too. I had suggested that she skype in her friend, and she was so overwhelmed she hadn't even thought of that, so she really appreciated the suggestion, and even let us manage the computer while she gave her speech. It was a really cool expereince, and i bought the book and a cd too. felt good to help out :)

Sometimes i go out on trucks with truck drivers to do deliveries. a man from work who drives trucks for the Winnipeg Harvest and i were talking, and i'd said it was unfortunate that we couldn't take the Kenyans out for a sledding day (though i didn't mention, it was an amazing experience seeing them experience snow for the first time on saturday night - there mustve been 30 - 40cm of snow, they had a blast). we get on pretty well on the road, chat about engineering and stuff, he was a mechanical engineer, now retired. so today he came up to me and offered to have the whole group - or whoever was interested, up to his place about an hour from the city for some taboganning, snowshoeing and fire! I accept the offer! now we just need to figure out transportation.

Typical week:

doesn't exist, though i do go to church most sundays, mondays community volleyball night 3$, free rec soccer at the YMCA on thursday nights (we got Y passes!), Wednesday EADS, weekends fun.

at the beginning of the program i tried really hard not to think about the Kenyan phase, i wanted to enjoy this part. but i'm finding it more and more difficult not to think about how amazing it's going to be. only four more weeks!

and tonight is monday so i'm off to volleyball!

Finally!

I'm only really able to post through the computer library, and i don't yet know how to add pictures through email and that. Nor do i have plenty of time on the computer. i'll try and actually make a post or two before leaving for Kenya, cause i definitely won't be able to post there (just letting you know - though i haven't been doing a stellar job of posting lately anywho :P)

ok, so what i've been up to! First week we spent at a Y camp called Camp Douglas. It was really fun, we did lots of teambuilding activities but in the end i think people were ready to leave camp and start life in Winnipeg. We did lots of group discussions on stuff, mostly just crap that had to be discussed as preliminaries. We also did some high ropes activities though, and i went for lots of walks around the camp. they say it's flat but you never really get the idea until you're here. same with how much you'll appreciate "home", whatever that may be to you. definitely more real now that i'm actually here.
on the last day at camp douglas we were told who we would be paired with! my counterpart's name is joseph, and he's awesome. He and i get along great, and have many common interests. if anything he's down to try everything i suggest, which is usually a lot so i'm grateful of his enthusiasm.
second week consisted of bussing around town with our new bus passes and going over rules and regulations, sexual health, crime, culture, blah blah blah.
Then work placements! I work at a place called Winnipeg Harvest. The Harvest (as they call it) is a huge food bank supplier, but also provides food for soup kitchens and other programs. altogether they supply food to over 325 agencies. The majority of my work consists of warehouse work - lifting, sorting, moving, sorting, sorting, lifting, sorting... no, i like it :P and Joseph loves manual work, so it works out. some of the other work placements don't seem to be pleasing the volunteers as much but i like it.we also drive around in massive trucks some days to help deliver orders. AND! they have a place downtown called the MTS center (similar to the Metro center in Hali) and sometimes if shows don't sell out, or football games, they give extra tickets to the harvest cause they work closely with one another. so Joseph and i got free tickets to a Weird-Al Yankovic concert! if anything, it was fun, and joseph enjoyed it so that's the main thing.

other developments: my host family consists of two brothers, Steve (age 31) and Matt (23). Steve's a camp director, and matt just finished uni, bachelor of politcal science - i think. They're both really cool, and since it's just the four of us it's a bachelor pad of sorts. good times, gotta say. we just finished the deck out back they've been working on for some time now, so we had pizza yesterday. on sundays they go to church, sometimes i join in, and at 2 a bunch of us play basketball. it's cool doing things within the community, i've even started noticing people that i've seen before around town. The population is only 2 times as large as Halifax, so instead of seeing EVERYONE i know, i just see people sometimes, but it's not overwhelmingly big here.

also exciting! there's a place called the bike dump downtown that takes donated parts from bikes and supervises free builds for the public - anyone can come in and take parts or even whole bikes for free. its really popular though and difficult to get one, so after asking around joseph and i found a guy at work named Greg who works at a place called the Bike CAGE, not dump :P and long story short it's a little brother of the dump and we both have free bikes and soar around town on them now! and it was good bonding for us i think haha.

ok i'll actually try to make another post soon, no promises though.

miss you all! (minus creepers reading my blog that don't really know me muhaha)

Off to Manitoba

So now my time in Halifax has come to an end. I am leaving tomorrow morning, and still have lots of packing to do. I had an awesome three weeks off here in Hali, and can't wait for the adventure to continue to unfold. This may be the point at which some of you feel that there'll be something actually worth looking at, but I'm glad I posted some of the things pre-trip as well, even if only I look at those photos haha. But I have all my music, clothing and gear set, so now I just have to stuff it in a bag and try to cram some last minute family time into the day.

Hope you guys are still enjoying this, I know I am! Keep you posted on more later

Guelph

Sarah and I had an amazing time at Guelph. I met some of her friends, saw the campus, and we even made it up to Waterloo on Friday! We had a nice dinner the first night at this awesome restaurant, can't wait to return to Guelph in March!

Plane Ticket!!

Here's a screenshot of the plane ticket I've confirmed; going to Oz! I'll try not to overload the blog with photos in the future, but I felt that all the Mt.A should be posted, and here's just the one of my plane ticket

Grant

Mt. Allison Visit!

Welcome to Bennett is right.

Michael and Grant with
marker all over them

First time on the train since I was five, I got to go and see some friends and have a good time.