New Brunswick

Just crossed the 13 km confederation and am now in P.E.I! Using the free internet at a visitor's center. Wanted to let you all know that I am still alive and well - and already in love with the Maritimes. AmyLou and I spent the last couple days driving around New Brunswick (in our lovely Nissan...something - i.e. a nice rental car), camping in Fundy National Park, exploring pretty beaches, taking way too many photos, enjoying the pretty houses and farms and forest, watching the highests tide in the world come in,... People here are super friendly and life is generally more laid back than anywhere I've been.

Now we're off to find a campground on PEI before heading to a B&B in Charlottetown. (We decided the skip Nova Scotia altogether because of the time factor - saving it for the next maritime trip...)

I'll post some pics as soon as I can! See ya!

Taking care of the little details

A few days ago, I read in 'My Utmost for His Highest' (by Oswald Chambers - I highly recommend if you want to be challenged in your walk with Christ) that we will not receive until we ask. Another author also challenged me this week in regards to prayer: he wrote that if distracting thoughts come into your mind when you are praying, you should view them as stepping stones to prayer rather than barriers. By this he meant that you can take these thoughts and turn them into prayers. Chances are, if you are thinking about something, it is something that is on your heart - so why not bring it to God? So, earlier this week I was realizing once again that my employer still hadn't emailed me back regarding getting my criminal record check done and a doctor's note as proof of my medical fitness, and I was starting to worry about it and wondering whether I could get everything taken care of before I started work and wondering whether I should email for the third time or call my work... so I prayed about it. I specifically asked God to have my employer email me that day. And, God being the faithful God that He is,... when I checked my email that evening, it was there! Not only that but the whole process of getting all the little details done before my first day of work has turned out easier than I had expected. Just wanted you all to know that God really does care about the little details in your life! You just need to ask him!

In regards to my Quebec experience... we went on an excursion to Tadoussac on Sunday which is a cute little village on the St. Lawrence River. We went whale watching - actually saw a lot of whales but not a lot of them (Hmmm, don't think that made sense... I mean that we really only saw their backs - not stunning jumps or anything). But it was a fun excursion and the St. Lawrence reminded me of the ocean because it was so big (just didn't smell the same). Afterwards, we visited a beach where we had to climb down a massive sanddune to get to it - and climb up it again! Here's a pic.

Yeah, it was gorgeous. Looks like the Pacific Ocean, doesn't it? But don't be fooled - it really is a river.

Sorry, this comp is simply too slow to upload anymore photos on here. Will have to show them to you another time!

Windy Sunday and Cheese Curds

My apologies for abandoning my blog for an entire week! It has felt like a busy week, with most evenings spent at the university for various activities. Yeah, I did a lot this week: went hiking, watched a movie in French (The Great Seduction of Dr. Lewis - I believe that is the English title), had another dance lesson (modern), went swimming, learned some more Quebecois dances and songs, visited the puperie in Chicoutimi, watched students do improvisation theater, went to a costume party with a circus theme. All this in just five days, and all this was organized by the program at the university! Oh yeah, and I have also been attending French class every morning and wrote an exam on Friday.

And, in the midst of all that, I realized that more than half my time in Quebec is already over and gone. Wow, I don t know how that happened! Time is wizzing by. So, how is the french, you are asking? Well, I have definately learned a lot already, but boy there is a lot more to learn... I can now speak in sentences if I have enough time to think about it. But only in the present tense. :) And I prefer the sentences starting with Je (I) because conjugating verbs is really complicated and I have to stop and think about them every time I want to use them! But it is exciting to discover that I can understand a word that my Quebecois mom used, because I learned it in class that day. Or when I can impress her with words like habitullement (ususally).

Today, Pauline (my Quebecois mom), Najat (her friend from Morocco who is living here for the summer) and I drove up to a look-out from which we could see all of Chicoutimi. As you can see from this photo, it was rather windy!

Before going home, we drove to the local cheese factory, since the region is famous for its cheece. Now, I visited some cheese factories a few years ago when my family and I were in Oregon. So I expected something similiar - you walk in, get a little tour of the big machines and the whole process of cheese making, and then you buy some sample cheese. But, with my very limited French, I didnt really know what was going on (something which I am starting to get used to). What really ended up happening is that we drove through gorgeous farm country with rolling hills covered in dandilions to a cheese factory (fromagerie) in the middle of nowhere. We waited in line for about 15 minutes to buy a little bag of cheese curds which we consumed outside the store in the lovely sunshine. And then we drove the 20 minutes back home! That was it - but the pretty drive was definately worth it and it was fun to do a little cultural thing (the place was really busy because its weekend). Here is what my cheese curds looked like - their cheese here is very white.

They were quite salty and - they squeaked when you chewed them! Yeah, pretty fun cheese.

Yesterday afternoon we went on a little cruise down the river. Here is my Quebecois host Pauline (in the red) and her friend Najat. Both are really neat people and I have enjoyed spending time with them this weekend.