I was able to come home for a week before going back to school. It was a bit rushed, but still nice. I wish I could have seen more of my grandparents, or had a chance to take my dad up on his offer of canoeing, but unfortunately one week isn't really that long. Today is the move back to Hamilton, where I'll be living with 5 other girls, including the ever-amazing Alessandra Gage, and another fellow Artsci, Negine. I'm excited to be moving into an actual apartment for more than 2 months, and to meet my new housemates.
My computer has finally been resuscitated, thanks to a family friend, and I am incredibly grateful. Or well, I will be more so when I get it back, but still, it's exciting to hear that Lil Veevie is alive again. I guess since she's further along in her life maybe she's now Lil WW, or Slightly more beaten up Veevie, but those just don't sound as nice.
So bedtime for now, and then the next chapter of my life begins. Time keeps rolling along, and I'm enjoying every minute. Thanks to everyone who helps me do it.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
A Final Morning of Calm
Composed Saturday, August 22, 2009; 7:08A.M.
It is 7am, and I just got back from using the internet behind the band office. The morning is beautiful, if a bit cool; I was wearing a scarf and light sweater, but was still chilly. Last night we stayed up late with our friend Danno, playing cards, going for a walk, and watching two movies. On our walk we saw the Northern lights, in a beautiful display. For a short time they even had a few colours and were dancing, although apparently it’s even more extravagant in the winter. Along with hanging out and just enjoying our last night, we finished up a lot of business – community books are now finished – and packed up most of the house. Today we just need to do a few final things at the school, conduct some interviews, and say our goodbyes.
This week we only had camp for two days, Thursday and Friday. Late last week a community member passed away, and so we assisted with the wake on Monday and Tuesday and funeral events Wednesday rather than running camp. This was in line with community procedures, as some other businesses and workplaces were also shut down this day, or devoted to funeral preparations. Although it could tend to be tedious work over long days of cleaning and cooking, it felt really good to be helping out in the community in another way. We had a few people mentioning how much it was appreciated, and on Thursday the family of Josh, the man who passed away, came by camp to thank us and give us each a pair of moccasins, which each member of the family put money toward buying. It was an incredible and completely unexpected gesture, and definitely made us feel that our work was recognised, despite the fact that the recognition was not necessary.
Thursday and Friday were both smaller days of camp, and we ran them in a fairly laid-back manner, sometimes allowing campers to decide between activities, and offering many prizes. Thursday night we sent campers home with a scavenger hunt and Human Bingo, both of which had many participants follow through with, and some even got their family member involved!
Now I’m back in our team kitchen, a bit cold, but running high with enthusiasm from the summer and excitement to get back to Thunder Bay, and back home. I haven’t been in Chatham-Kent since 2008, making this the longest I’ve ever been away from home. I can’t wait to see my grandparents and the highschool friends that are home. I will only be back for a week, and if this year has taught me anything, it’s that that week will fly by. Time’s been racing by, but I’ve been enjoying every moment. Since starting this blog just over a year ago I’ve lived in about eight different cities, towns, and villages, but could not decide which one has been best. There are no comparisons possible. For now I will just say that Sachigo has been an incredibly strong community, and I’ve been very impressed with how well people come together, how forward everyone was in approaching us, and how accepting they were of having us as newcomers in their community. I’ll miss Sachigo Lake, and I hope today isn’t the last I see of it.
Now I’ll finish off, while only a handful of others in Sachigo are awake, except for the crows and ravens that greeted me on my walk to the band office, and the soft sun that is just starting to burn its way to life for another day.
Wishing everyone all the best, and a wonderful end to the summer,
-V.
It is 7am, and I just got back from using the internet behind the band office. The morning is beautiful, if a bit cool; I was wearing a scarf and light sweater, but was still chilly. Last night we stayed up late with our friend Danno, playing cards, going for a walk, and watching two movies. On our walk we saw the Northern lights, in a beautiful display. For a short time they even had a few colours and were dancing, although apparently it’s even more extravagant in the winter. Along with hanging out and just enjoying our last night, we finished up a lot of business – community books are now finished – and packed up most of the house. Today we just need to do a few final things at the school, conduct some interviews, and say our goodbyes.
This week we only had camp for two days, Thursday and Friday. Late last week a community member passed away, and so we assisted with the wake on Monday and Tuesday and funeral events Wednesday rather than running camp. This was in line with community procedures, as some other businesses and workplaces were also shut down this day, or devoted to funeral preparations. Although it could tend to be tedious work over long days of cleaning and cooking, it felt really good to be helping out in the community in another way. We had a few people mentioning how much it was appreciated, and on Thursday the family of Josh, the man who passed away, came by camp to thank us and give us each a pair of moccasins, which each member of the family put money toward buying. It was an incredible and completely unexpected gesture, and definitely made us feel that our work was recognised, despite the fact that the recognition was not necessary.
Thursday and Friday were both smaller days of camp, and we ran them in a fairly laid-back manner, sometimes allowing campers to decide between activities, and offering many prizes. Thursday night we sent campers home with a scavenger hunt and Human Bingo, both of which had many participants follow through with, and some even got their family member involved!
Now I’m back in our team kitchen, a bit cold, but running high with enthusiasm from the summer and excitement to get back to Thunder Bay, and back home. I haven’t been in Chatham-Kent since 2008, making this the longest I’ve ever been away from home. I can’t wait to see my grandparents and the highschool friends that are home. I will only be back for a week, and if this year has taught me anything, it’s that that week will fly by. Time’s been racing by, but I’ve been enjoying every moment. Since starting this blog just over a year ago I’ve lived in about eight different cities, towns, and villages, but could not decide which one has been best. There are no comparisons possible. For now I will just say that Sachigo has been an incredibly strong community, and I’ve been very impressed with how well people come together, how forward everyone was in approaching us, and how accepting they were of having us as newcomers in their community. I’ll miss Sachigo Lake, and I hope today isn’t the last I see of it.
Now I’ll finish off, while only a handful of others in Sachigo are awake, except for the crows and ravens that greeted me on my walk to the band office, and the soft sun that is just starting to burn its way to life for another day.
Wishing everyone all the best, and a wonderful end to the summer,
-V.
Monday, August 17, 2009
One Week Left!
Composed Sunday, August 16, 2009
This past week was incredibly diverse. We had widely fluctuating numbers, anywhere from 38 to 50 campers throughout the day, and we didn’t know whether or plan for a morning of 12 or 27 campers. We worked it out, switching last-minute from rotations to full group plans or vice versa, and being thankful for the two summer students who have been working with us. We had a bit of violence in camp, which caused a bit of stress (nothing too dangerous, and not malicious, so all is well), but I think we have it worked out now. Overall, Ryan, Lizzy and I figured that it was a successful week, and we were really excited for this upcoming week.
After a stressful Thursday, I had baked a chocolate peanut butter cake to release late-night stress, and we were pretty excited to eat it on Friday. The cake, however, was nothing compared to how happy we were when on my trip to the post office Friday I picked up 3 care packages – we each received one last week! We jumped around the kitchen squealing like schoolgirls, and then opened our packages. They contained dried fruit, Belgian chocolate, trail mix, books, and a Cosmo magazine. Many thanks go out to Lizzy’s mom (whom I am now in love with), Ryan’s dad, and the wonderful, beautiful, amazing Carrie Rudolph. Our dentist/children’s author friend who we made while he was in town for two weeks had given us his leftover groceries when he left, so now we’re definitely set for our last week. I also received a letter from Lauren McWhinnie, the angel of a girl I worked with last year that is back in the same communities, which made me miss her and Webequie incredible amounts.
On top of all that excitement, there is also a lot of sorrow in Sachigo this week. At the Chief’s meeting in Chapeau, one of the community members of Sachigo passed away. He had been acting as a translator at the meeting, and it seems that he was a highly respected man, and with such a small community, most people knew him, were related to him, or are close with someone who fits into those two categories. The wake will be taking place tomorrow and Tuesday, and the funeral is on Wednesday, and these will be making use of the school, so we had to move out early. It looks like we won’t have camp this week except for Thursday and Friday, but tomorrow and Tuesday we will be trying to do something informal on the baseball field if council approves and the weather holds out.
Since we didn’t need to be planning for camp this week, we spent the weekend helping to clean out a house and attempting to access our own. Ryan locked the keys in the house, so we had quite an adventure trekking around town to find alternate keys, and eventually finding out there were none, and instead we were told to resort to hatching through the drywall in a crawlspace underneath the duplex, and crawl from our side of the building into Ryan’s. Watch for photos, which should be going up next week. We’ve also been playing a lot of cards, and our new friend Dan (a.k.a. Danno), a 21 year old from town, has taught us how to play Hockey, Elimination, and Steal (my favourite so far), as well as a 2-person version of President, and Lizzy taught Ryan and I how to play Spite and Malice. I hope I’ll have some willing students upon my return to Chatham/Hamilton/Toronto!
One week until I’m home. I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone – I miss you! England friends – I miss you too, and I’m sad to be gone!
Hugs and Smiles from Sachigo!
-V
This past week was incredibly diverse. We had widely fluctuating numbers, anywhere from 38 to 50 campers throughout the day, and we didn’t know whether or plan for a morning of 12 or 27 campers. We worked it out, switching last-minute from rotations to full group plans or vice versa, and being thankful for the two summer students who have been working with us. We had a bit of violence in camp, which caused a bit of stress (nothing too dangerous, and not malicious, so all is well), but I think we have it worked out now. Overall, Ryan, Lizzy and I figured that it was a successful week, and we were really excited for this upcoming week.
After a stressful Thursday, I had baked a chocolate peanut butter cake to release late-night stress, and we were pretty excited to eat it on Friday. The cake, however, was nothing compared to how happy we were when on my trip to the post office Friday I picked up 3 care packages – we each received one last week! We jumped around the kitchen squealing like schoolgirls, and then opened our packages. They contained dried fruit, Belgian chocolate, trail mix, books, and a Cosmo magazine. Many thanks go out to Lizzy’s mom (whom I am now in love with), Ryan’s dad, and the wonderful, beautiful, amazing Carrie Rudolph. Our dentist/children’s author friend who we made while he was in town for two weeks had given us his leftover groceries when he left, so now we’re definitely set for our last week. I also received a letter from Lauren McWhinnie, the angel of a girl I worked with last year that is back in the same communities, which made me miss her and Webequie incredible amounts.
On top of all that excitement, there is also a lot of sorrow in Sachigo this week. At the Chief’s meeting in Chapeau, one of the community members of Sachigo passed away. He had been acting as a translator at the meeting, and it seems that he was a highly respected man, and with such a small community, most people knew him, were related to him, or are close with someone who fits into those two categories. The wake will be taking place tomorrow and Tuesday, and the funeral is on Wednesday, and these will be making use of the school, so we had to move out early. It looks like we won’t have camp this week except for Thursday and Friday, but tomorrow and Tuesday we will be trying to do something informal on the baseball field if council approves and the weather holds out.
Since we didn’t need to be planning for camp this week, we spent the weekend helping to clean out a house and attempting to access our own. Ryan locked the keys in the house, so we had quite an adventure trekking around town to find alternate keys, and eventually finding out there were none, and instead we were told to resort to hatching through the drywall in a crawlspace underneath the duplex, and crawl from our side of the building into Ryan’s. Watch for photos, which should be going up next week. We’ve also been playing a lot of cards, and our new friend Dan (a.k.a. Danno), a 21 year old from town, has taught us how to play Hockey, Elimination, and Steal (my favourite so far), as well as a 2-person version of President, and Lizzy taught Ryan and I how to play Spite and Malice. I hope I’ll have some willing students upon my return to Chatham/Hamilton/Toronto!
One week until I’m home. I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone – I miss you! England friends – I miss you too, and I’m sad to be gone!
Hugs and Smiles from Sachigo!
-V
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Our first week of Sachigo Lake camp!
Composed Friday, August 7, 2009
Today was the final day of our first week of camp in Sachigo Lake. We had a community treasure hunt, and it was the best day all week – in terms of both weather and camper behaviour! Campers went around town to six stations, where they completed word searches, jumbles, decoding, jigsaw puzzles, and scavenger hunts to lead them back to their starting point, and then claim their prizes of having their faces painted! We were lucky that our numbers went up again after yesterday, where there were only 10 campers in the morning (but still 20 in the afternoon). Today was back to normal, with just under 40 campers in total joining us.
At the end of the day, Ryan and I went to have a radio slot from 7-8pm, and we were joined by a number of our campers. Two of them read the crumpled word stories that they completed earlier in the week, and then five girls and Ryan read out the Radio Play adaptation of “SpongeBob’s Slap Shot”, which I organised a couple days ago. We went a bit over time, but it wasn’t a big deal, as there was nothing scheduled after us, and it was just proof of how successful the slot was going!
Earlier this week was quite hectic fairly consistently. Our activities have been going really well, but campers have a tendency to go out into the halls, where school staff members are working on cleaning the area. Discounting this, things are running really smoothly, and Sachigo has been draining, but amazing!!
You might think that the lack of internet would make me, an internet addict, have more free time than imaginable, but this has not proven accurate. Instead, I have found myself even busier than last month, prepping different areas of the camp and classroom. Lizzy’s taken to teasing me about the fact that I am rarely without paperwork in my hands. It works well though, because I keep occupied and there’s less paperwork for other people! It also pays off because I haven’t had to make as many meals!
Last week the Dentist came to town, and he’ll be here until next Friday. He’s a 30-year-old U of T graduate, and has started joining Ryan and I on our morning runs, so we are now up to a full three people in the running club! There were three other new faces in town this week; two girls were in to run a Science Camp, and a third woman was here doing evaluations of the camps in the community. Having the science camp meant a bit of competition for campers, but we were able to meet with them and arranged it so that our hours were opposites, and that seemed to work out pretty well! Next week we should have some people returning from CLE in Thunder Bay, but a local baseball tournament is on, so our numbers could skyrocket, drop completely, or stay constant. In other words: who knows?
I’m hoping that the nice weather stays for a while yet (I had two days in shorts!), and that next week runs smoothly. Lizzy’s feeling a bit ill, but hopefully a relaxed weekend will fix that, and then we can all be on our feet running for Monday.
I can hardly believe we only have two weeks left. Muskrat and Sachigo have both been astounding, and I hope I keep myself posted on them in the following year.
My favourites from this week:
Just kidding! (Really? No! Just kidding! So no? Yes! Just kidding!)
Ut-ta bun-ga shoon-i-ah. (Give me money.)
People in M.D. have been talking about us to their friends here!
Book borrowing!
Jumping into a freezing lake at 10:30pm under a full moon.
That’s all from me for now!
-V
Today was the final day of our first week of camp in Sachigo Lake. We had a community treasure hunt, and it was the best day all week – in terms of both weather and camper behaviour! Campers went around town to six stations, where they completed word searches, jumbles, decoding, jigsaw puzzles, and scavenger hunts to lead them back to their starting point, and then claim their prizes of having their faces painted! We were lucky that our numbers went up again after yesterday, where there were only 10 campers in the morning (but still 20 in the afternoon). Today was back to normal, with just under 40 campers in total joining us.
At the end of the day, Ryan and I went to have a radio slot from 7-8pm, and we were joined by a number of our campers. Two of them read the crumpled word stories that they completed earlier in the week, and then five girls and Ryan read out the Radio Play adaptation of “SpongeBob’s Slap Shot”, which I organised a couple days ago. We went a bit over time, but it wasn’t a big deal, as there was nothing scheduled after us, and it was just proof of how successful the slot was going!
Earlier this week was quite hectic fairly consistently. Our activities have been going really well, but campers have a tendency to go out into the halls, where school staff members are working on cleaning the area. Discounting this, things are running really smoothly, and Sachigo has been draining, but amazing!!
You might think that the lack of internet would make me, an internet addict, have more free time than imaginable, but this has not proven accurate. Instead, I have found myself even busier than last month, prepping different areas of the camp and classroom. Lizzy’s taken to teasing me about the fact that I am rarely without paperwork in my hands. It works well though, because I keep occupied and there’s less paperwork for other people! It also pays off because I haven’t had to make as many meals!
Last week the Dentist came to town, and he’ll be here until next Friday. He’s a 30-year-old U of T graduate, and has started joining Ryan and I on our morning runs, so we are now up to a full three people in the running club! There were three other new faces in town this week; two girls were in to run a Science Camp, and a third woman was here doing evaluations of the camps in the community. Having the science camp meant a bit of competition for campers, but we were able to meet with them and arranged it so that our hours were opposites, and that seemed to work out pretty well! Next week we should have some people returning from CLE in Thunder Bay, but a local baseball tournament is on, so our numbers could skyrocket, drop completely, or stay constant. In other words: who knows?
I’m hoping that the nice weather stays for a while yet (I had two days in shorts!), and that next week runs smoothly. Lizzy’s feeling a bit ill, but hopefully a relaxed weekend will fix that, and then we can all be on our feet running for Monday.
I can hardly believe we only have two weeks left. Muskrat and Sachigo have both been astounding, and I hope I keep myself posted on them in the following year.
My favourites from this week:
Just kidding! (Really? No! Just kidding! So no? Yes! Just kidding!)
Ut-ta bun-ga shoon-i-ah. (Give me money.)
People in M.D. have been talking about us to their friends here!
Book borrowing!
Jumping into a freezing lake at 10:30pm under a full moon.
That’s all from me for now!
-V
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Ryan, Victoria and Elizabeth: Putting the R, V, and E in pRoactiVE!
Composed Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wait a minute, Victoria. Where are you again? Well, seeing as you did not realise you could just scroll down to the previous blog and see, I will just tell you. I am in Sachigo Lake, Ontario. It is, I believe, the third furthest north community in Ontario, and so we have been receiving approximately 40 minutes of summer every two days since we arrived on Monday. But wow, is it worth it.
Since having on Monday I have made myself very much at home. I filled my room with 67 photos and postcards, am set up comfortably on a queen-sized bed (I had a box spring and mattress on the floor in M.D.), and I have a closet, drawers with a vanity mirror, and a standing set of drawers, most of which are empty. I definitely see how people could live in this house for a year.
The house, however, is not the best part of arriving in Sachigo by far. When we first arrived we were able to meet all of the council, and although it took almost an hour to be set up in our house, it did eventually occur. Lizzy and I are in one half of a duplex, and Ryan is on the other side. We do most of our eating and socialising on that side so that he doesn’t get lonely.
In the past three days we have had the task of trying to get to know the community, and run registration for campers. After sitting for about 14 hours total in M.D. doing registration, and having it turn into a mini-camp, we decided to cut back those hours and focus more on set up and planning. We only had 6 hours over two days this time, but registered 30% more people in the shorter time span! Perhaps that’s because Sachigo is about triple the size, with about 600 people living here.
While we were shopping for some camp supplies in the store, one of the local artists, Richard, invited us to come check out the shop where he designs all of his art. On Tuesday night we visited him, and along with showing us a magnificent array of art, he invited us to learn some as well! On Wednesday we went back to make Tamarack birds, made from tamarack wood, which smells lovely. We went out to collect branches, came back to clean them, and then formed the birds using only string, twigs, and a ball of string, nylon, and tamarack clippings. Pictures should be posted within a few weeks either here or on facebook.
As well as nightly art sessions, Ryan and I are attempting to start up a running club, although we are currently the only members. We’re going out every morning at 8AM for a jog around the community, which takes about half an hour. We have put up some posters and hopefully soon some others will join us. Tomorrow I think we might even convince Lizzy to come along!
One of the things I am most excited about is that we were invited to have our own radio slot here! We’re on just before curfew, 10-11PM. It is a great honour, and an awesome way to be able to get into the community and advertise camp. Tonight we had our first broadcast, and we will be back on tomorrow. The three of us played music, had camp reminders, and read from the novel Twilight. We even turned it into a bit of a radio show for our last page, with Lizzy narrating, Ryan speaking for the father, and I played Bella. It was thoroughly entertaining. I’m pretty pumped to see what we decide to do tomorrow!
Well, it is now midnight, and tomorrow is our first day of camp (as well as another day of our morning Running Club!), so I should be getting to sleep. I only have access to internet at the school during working hours, so this will be posted either tomorrow or Saturday. Apologies that I haven’t been able to reply to emails and messages lately. I did not get a chance to access the internet at all until today, and I am not sure when I will next, but keep them coming. I love hearing from everyone, even if it’s just a short note.
Good night, stay well, and enjoy your last month of summer. I know I will!
-V
Wait a minute, Victoria. Where are you again? Well, seeing as you did not realise you could just scroll down to the previous blog and see, I will just tell you. I am in Sachigo Lake, Ontario. It is, I believe, the third furthest north community in Ontario, and so we have been receiving approximately 40 minutes of summer every two days since we arrived on Monday. But wow, is it worth it.
Since having on Monday I have made myself very much at home. I filled my room with 67 photos and postcards, am set up comfortably on a queen-sized bed (I had a box spring and mattress on the floor in M.D.), and I have a closet, drawers with a vanity mirror, and a standing set of drawers, most of which are empty. I definitely see how people could live in this house for a year.
The house, however, is not the best part of arriving in Sachigo by far. When we first arrived we were able to meet all of the council, and although it took almost an hour to be set up in our house, it did eventually occur. Lizzy and I are in one half of a duplex, and Ryan is on the other side. We do most of our eating and socialising on that side so that he doesn’t get lonely.
In the past three days we have had the task of trying to get to know the community, and run registration for campers. After sitting for about 14 hours total in M.D. doing registration, and having it turn into a mini-camp, we decided to cut back those hours and focus more on set up and planning. We only had 6 hours over two days this time, but registered 30% more people in the shorter time span! Perhaps that’s because Sachigo is about triple the size, with about 600 people living here.
While we were shopping for some camp supplies in the store, one of the local artists, Richard, invited us to come check out the shop where he designs all of his art. On Tuesday night we visited him, and along with showing us a magnificent array of art, he invited us to learn some as well! On Wednesday we went back to make Tamarack birds, made from tamarack wood, which smells lovely. We went out to collect branches, came back to clean them, and then formed the birds using only string, twigs, and a ball of string, nylon, and tamarack clippings. Pictures should be posted within a few weeks either here or on facebook.
As well as nightly art sessions, Ryan and I are attempting to start up a running club, although we are currently the only members. We’re going out every morning at 8AM for a jog around the community, which takes about half an hour. We have put up some posters and hopefully soon some others will join us. Tomorrow I think we might even convince Lizzy to come along!
One of the things I am most excited about is that we were invited to have our own radio slot here! We’re on just before curfew, 10-11PM. It is a great honour, and an awesome way to be able to get into the community and advertise camp. Tonight we had our first broadcast, and we will be back on tomorrow. The three of us played music, had camp reminders, and read from the novel Twilight. We even turned it into a bit of a radio show for our last page, with Lizzy narrating, Ryan speaking for the father, and I played Bella. It was thoroughly entertaining. I’m pretty pumped to see what we decide to do tomorrow!
Well, it is now midnight, and tomorrow is our first day of camp (as well as another day of our morning Running Club!), so I should be getting to sleep. I only have access to internet at the school during working hours, so this will be posted either tomorrow or Saturday. Apologies that I haven’t been able to reply to emails and messages lately. I did not get a chance to access the internet at all until today, and I am not sure when I will next, but keep them coming. I love hearing from everyone, even if it’s just a short note.
Good night, stay well, and enjoy your last month of summer. I know I will!
-V
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