The Last Few Days

I'm not really in a blogging mood, so I'll mostly let the photos tell the stories of the last few days.

Tuesday, Heather and I drove into St. John's, the capital and only city in Antigua. We walked down Market Street, poked our heads into some shops, and bought fruit from a fruit and vegetable market. As you can see, the streets were narrow and busy. And hot. After an hour or so, we were ready to drive home down the country roads and past the colorful villages.

That evening we met Dr. Gilbert and Vem for dinner at Club Havana. Sitting on the roof terrace under a coconut palm we were visited by a little green lizard and a million mosquitoes as we enjoyed some lovely seafood dishes.

Here are some of my favorite Caribbean foods: pineapple, mangoes, and finger bananas. And papays - the one Mr. Reynolds gave us is still ripening on the back deck.

Wednesday, Dr. Gilbert took Vem, Heather, and I to Nelson's Dockyard. This is where the British kept their Caribbean navy during the time that Antigua was a British colony. We checked out the docks and wandered through the little museum exhibit on the history of the dockyard.

Dr. Gilbert and Vem opted for food and drinks at a little dockside restaurant while Heather and I visited the stores and took lots of photos. Here is a pic of the ceiling of the restaurant. We all left our signatures, too!

Then Dr. Gilbert, being the wonderful tour guide he was, drove us up to Shirley heights where we had a view of not just the ocean, but also most of Antigua. This shot shows English Harbour in the foreground and Falmouth Harbour in the background. The body of water in between is actually part of English Harbour and is where we just were - Nelson's Dockyard.

Heather and I, sitting on top of the world.

I'm having a wonderfully relaxing time. I placed my watch in a drawer when I first got here and I haven't taken it out since. We've been to one beach or another every day. I've seen my first cockroach (and watched Heather pull out the BOP and spray the pest until it was dead). I've had my first coke and run (Liz, you're right, I enjoyed it. However, I did have coconut flavoured rum which might be what made me like it so much). My shoulders are glowing red and sensitive, my legs are covered in mosquito bites, and I have not touched pants, shoes, or a long-sleeved shirt since arriving here. One of highlights has been spending time on my own with God on the little rocky beach by the house without a time limit: reading my Bible, praying, listening. I am blessed with so much!

A Wonderful Day

Two blog entries is one day! As soon as Heather and Burton returned from writing their last exam, we got into our beach wear and headed out. All six of us squeezed into the rental car - Burton, his sister, Vem (one of Heather's classmates), Dr. G. (one of their professors), Heather, and I. After trying to avoid the goats and the millions of potholes on the roads, we arrived at Devil's Bridge. I'll let the photos tell you the rest.

Here's Heather walking across Devil's Bridge, a rock bridge.

Heather and I with waves crashing beneath us. It's so good to be together again!

Walking around the peninsula: Vem (far left), Dr. G. (kind of hidden), Burton, Jill, Heather.

Then we went to Long Bay, also known as Pineapple Beach. Here are Burton and Jill enjoying the sun. The dark patches in the ocean are the coral reefs where we went snorkeling. What a neat experience to glide through the water and see all kinds of fish swimming around you! The coral was not as colourful as I had expected but it's shape and texture was fascinating and varied. So much fun to explore! We hung out here for several hours.

Before heading home, we stopped at St. James, a nearby beach resort where Jill and I had been yesterday. We joined in on a volleyball game that some Antiguans and Americans were playing and then jumped into the ocean for another swim, just as the sun was setting. Then we came home and made pizza. Here we are on the back deck ready to consume our dinner. It was about 8 o'clock but already pitch black. We had some good conversations about God's guidance and hearing Him speak to us.

Goodnight ta ya'll! (That's how Jill and Burton talk - they're from Tennessee and it's starting to rub off on me!)

Adventures in Antigua

Narrow, windy roads. Goats wandering across the street. Humid air. Juicy mangoes and pineapples. Brown, slender mongoose. Ocean waves breaking. Fans blowing. Cars whizzing past on the "wrong" side of the street. Bright flowers. Vegetation I had never seen before.

These are just some of the sights, sounds, and tastes that I've experienced since arriving in Antigua. And, even with Heather and Burton having to study for an exam all day yesterday, I have somehow managed to experience so much already. Attended a white coat ceremony for some of the medical students at Heather's school. Got a tour of her campus, met many of her classmates and professors, sat through a two (or was it three?) hour ceremony, and never felt so white in my life before (everyone there was either African-American or super tanned).

Yesterday, Heather and I visited with Her Excellency, the Governor General of Antigua. Heather's friend and neighbor is a retired Antiguan and he and the governor general have been friends since they were little. We went over to his house to meet her and she turned out to be a most pleasant lady. Just before we left, Mr. R. walked with us through his orchard (full of trees and bushes I had never seen before) and he plucked three papaya to give to Heather.

Later in the day, Burton's sister, Jill, and I spent some time at a beach by a resort. And I got to see and touch that which I have only ever seen on travel brochures or my friends' honeymoon photos: white sandy beach, blue lawn chairs under palm trees, ocean water that was warm (but just cool enough to still feel refreshing)...

Heather is writing her last exam right now. Then we're going off to some other beach for some snorkeling!

Where is she???

Hi! I'm back. My apologies for not updating sooner. Last I wrote here I had just arrived in P.E.I. In a nutshell, I quickly fell in love with PEI (just as I did with New Brunswick); we slept one night in our car by the side of a road in the midst of red potatoe fields and two nights in a lovely Victorian B&B in Charlottetown; we explored several incredible beaches, found a cute fishing village, ate lobster, walked through the haunted woods of Anne of Green Gables, took a picture of Green Gables from the back (too cheap to pay to go in), ate lobster, listened to a Maritime band play in an Irish pub, and visited the room where the idea of the Confederation of Canada was birthed. Here are some pics to give you a taste of the beauty and tranquillity of this province:
Yup - the dirt roads really are all red! We drove down this one and walked past the little graveyard, through the wet grass, and down a little cliff to find a pretty spot to eat our breakfast.This is what we found - it was pretty much amazing.
A fishing village.

The lobster that AmyLou and I ate in Charlottetown.

Yeah, I almost didn't want to come home after such an amazing time in the Maritimes but once I was back in Vancouver I was happy to be here again. For the first time in over four years, I am spending the summer in Vancouver, living with my family. I've just completed my second week of work at a daycamp in West Vancouver - supervising and taking 30+ kids on fieldtrips every day is pretty crazy and sometimes tiring, but I'm loving it. The children are delightful and there is never a dull moment. We've also been having a lot of visitors from out of town staying at our house which has also made home a busy but fun place to hang out. Two of my roommates from my 3rd year stayed here last weekend so we could all go to Melissa's wedding together. I almost feel like I am having too much fun. :) I'm enjoying the fact that my job is just a daytime thing and that my evenings and weekends are free from homework or prep work!

What will happen to this blog now that my 2007 summer adventures are over? Or are they even over? Chances are I won't be writing quite as often, but I know that God will continue sending adventures my way, whether big or small, and at times I may feel inclined to share them. So keep checking back once in a while!

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.