Emergency House Meeting

Last night after birthday dinner, and birthday cake for Rob, things went downhill. Not as bad as other groups done, but the worse we had done so far in 2 months. We had our French and English activities last night for 3 hours, we mostly played games in both languages and we had a lot of fun. But a person in the group didn't feel like they were being respected and listened to while we played the games. This caused her to get upset and have a breakdown, so our first emergency house meeting was called. It lasted around 45 minutes and we talked about things to make the group function better. So it was agreed that communication is needed when you are not happy with something in the house. The group is better know, even though some were not happy with the 45 minute meeting. It lead to solve smaller problems in the house between people as well, which is good. Not many people knew of the smaller problems to begin with, so communication is vitally important.

Because of the meeting, out movie making has been pushed back another night. Tonight we are also celebrating Jessica's birthday, as some people won't be home on Friday night. Other then that I think all we have is physical activity. This will most likely be my last post until Monday, so you'll hear all about my 48 Hours.

Mid-Trimester

Last night our PC came over and had our mid-trimester reflection. I showed up late since I had to put pictures from my camera on to CD at Shopper's Drug Mart. I waited for a bus that was 25 minutes late in the strong wind and freezing cold. It wasn't a biggie though, I just had to get my food and I was able to eat before the meeting started.

The meeting lasted 3 hours and it was full of stuff to reflect on, like group life, our house, the city of Saskatoon, and of course the Project Leader. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be and it flew by for the most part. But since it took so long our movie making is going to have to be post phoned until tonight, because we only have to celebrate Rob's 21st birthday, and do a Language Activity.

So far work has been pretty good today. We got a new Warehouse manager and he seems like a pretty cool guy. Matt and I got sick of Katima-Food and Food Bank food and ran off to Burger King for lunch as its Whopper Wednesday. Post again soon.

Movie Stars

Yesterday was a pretty slow day at work, the produce man, Abdul, finished his contract and isn't working at the Food Bank anymore. So it was different not having a boss, and trying to find jobs for the Fine Option people to keep them busy. There wasn't much sorting going on, and not a lot of clients, so there was a lot of cleaning going on.

After work, I came home to three letters, which was good because I hadn't gotten many since I returned to the house. We had Sloppy Joe's for dinner then Erin, Matt, and I settled in for 3 hours of French lessons. We played Scrabble, Guess Who, and did some book work so it was a pretty easy lesson.

Then once French was over Erin wanted to make a movie about our house. So she got Sophie and I to give a guided tour of our house since usually Sophie and I can get pretty funny together sometimes. The movie was OK, there was lots of good parts, but we decided to make another one tonight with Erin and I since her family might want to see her in the movie when she shows it in Vancouver this weekend for her 48 hours.

Tonight, after dinner, we have a "Mid-Trimester" thingy-a-ma-jig where we talk to the Project Coordinator (The Big Cheese) and discuss what contributions we have made so far and how much we have improved. It will also be a time to discuss what we need to improve in our group and how Erica, our Project Leader, is doing. Then it will be movie making time again!

A cold weekend

On Friday night after work, the group went to get a "family portrait". It was a lot of fun, and the lady kept asking if we were sure we all lived in the same household since we had a coupon for a free family portrait. We have a couple of serious ones, but some fun ones too. After that we went home and had birthday cake for Noeime, she's now 18. After that North Battleford arrive and we had a whole bunch of fun hanging out until 1 in the morning.

The next day we all got dressed up for the -20 weather and went to the Saskatoon Zoo, I was amazed that most of the animals were outside. The wind wasn't bad, and the sun was shining so we had pretty good time. While we were at the zoo, the Snowbirds did their fly over for the football game. We drove by the stadium on the way home and saw all the crazy fans having a great time to stay warm. Even though the Huskies didn't win, there were still a lot of parties going on and the bars were still offering their Green Beer at the reduced price. In the evening North Battleford and our group went downtown to see Borat at Galaxy (it's much better then Peterborough's, only a couple months old), the movie sucked and had very few funny parts, after Sophie and I went to a bar to watch the hour long version of the Leafs game on CBC and had some of the Green Beer.

Sunday we did the regular Sunday stuff, cleaned, worked on activities and had our house meeting. Prince Albert came for a visit because most of them came to Saskatoon for their 48 hours. They stayed for around 20, but it was cool to see them because we got to see everyone in our cluster on that one day (N. Battleford left in the morning). We had some bread turn out as hard as rocks so I stayed up late and baked some more so we could eat today. I'm told that I make the best bread, I think its only because I haven't burnt any yet.

Tonight I'll have a nap to recover from the bread making, and then have French Lessons. There is also lots of planning to be done, more then you'd believe.

BLEEPING COLD!!!

I woke up this morning and stuck my head out the door realized how cold Saskatchewan can be. As I write this it is -19 and feels like -28, while in Keene, Ontario its a nice and tropical +8. So I have piled the layers of clothing on today and broke out the long underwear for the second time. Tomorrow is going to be just as bad, so I feel sorry for all the people heading out to watch the Huskies play Laval. Maybe Laval won't show up because they aren't use to this kind of cold, because I'm sure not use to it. Our snow storm never really came yesterday, it only snowed maybe an inch and a bit.

Lots is planned in the Katima-House this weekend, the other Katima-Group from North Battleford are coming tonight to spend the night and explore a bit of Saskatoon. We really aren't doing anything with them, just letting them stay in our house. There's a hockey game on tonight which I may go and see if there is enough people interested. Saturday night we are going to go rock climbing and use the money that Sam and I have left in our Leadership budget, we are getting a deal because we are pretty poor, so we are grateful for the generosity. Sunday will probably be the same as every Sunday, clean, organize, and have our big house meeting.

Well I'm going back to work now, lunch is almost over!

GO HUSKIES ! ! ! (WOOF)
(its a Saskatchewan thing)

Billeting

Last Friday I came home from Billeting. I was staying at Saba's house on the east side of Saskatoon. She is a single mum from Africa who has two children, a 16 year old boy and a younger daughter who has down syndrome. Her home is also a Care Home so she has two other girls with special needs living with her too. I didn't know what to expect when I first got there, but then I realized that they were pretty normal and could take care of themselves. Her son and I had a lot of fun hanging out, and he may think of joining Katimavik after high school. I learnt so much about African culture as I went to a memorial service for a man from Sudan who has family in Saskatoon, and a Baptism for a baby. At both I was able to learn about their language, music, dance, and food. The food was so good and It has been hard for me to come back to Katima-food.

When we got back we found out that our trip to Blue Mountain would not be happening because it didn't have any insurance. So this means that we have to sit through 9 hours of workshops at the Katima-House. So we are using out left over money and going rock climbing sometime soon. Our 48 hours is coming up soon and it seems like the people who miss home the most are going to see their families, so it will be interesting to see if people leave after the 48. I don't really have any plans, expect to stay in Saskatoon and hang out. Might go see a Saskatoon Blades game if they are playing.

Work is pretty crazy, we have a pile of food to give out and not a lot of people visiting. It has also been pretty cold this last past week compared to Peterborough so I have had some very cold walks to work with Emilie and Matt. Today we are going to get 10cm of snow, so tonight and tomorrow may be interesting if we decide to take the bus.

Other then that I am doing great, the last couple of nights we have had a lot of fun being crazy in the house. I hope to post again on Friday.