the bread n' butta of Canada

Grandville island.

we took a water taxi to this island. soo picturesque.. we saw a bride taking wedding pictures, there are cruises that run out of this island..dinner and dance on a fancy boat. It seemed like a very 'date-ish' place to go to ..on a date obviously. *miss you*

There is this market where they ppl have their little booth type places and sell very interesting things...quite expensive tho. the food looked delicious it was all very fresh.

they also had the most beautiful orchids i've seen....loooved it!

It was so relaxing to just walk around, the weather cleared up by now...blue skies..bright sunshine. Perfect weather...not hot..not cold..not humid...perfect. Its soo calming..you can't help but be happy here...honestly, I'm just missing one thing.... ;)

it doesn't feel like Canada

the Grind!!!

So I had my 36hrs off from Wed at 7 to this morning at 7am.

Tio German picked me up at SFU again.

The night was quiet, had a great dinner again and just hung out with the family. There was more family this time. Tio German's brothers from Montreal are visiting for the next two weeks with their family so its 11 of us now living in the one house....and there is still room for more!

Yesterday we all got up early and headed in 3 cars to GROUSE MOUNTAIN! We were going to hike up this mountain that is 2.9 km high at a 70 degree angle the whole way...it was reDONculous!

It took me exactly 1.5 hrs to finish. it was soo high, when I got to the top we were in the clouds...it was a cloudy day

my CN tower climb seemed like a piece of cake after climbing for 1.5 hrs straight!!

at the top it was very cold! we we quickly walked around and took a wicked gondola ride down which was a total of 7.5 minutes...ha!

11 yr old China doll

so two nights ago.....

i had 'night duty' which is till midnight..make sure the kids aren't making babies and in their own room and such...12:18 I get to bed...immediately into a deep sleep because i'm exhausted.

I get a knock on my door...FREAK OUT! thinking its 9am and i've slept in.

no, it's another counsellor...Sarah...'can you help me?' I have a little girl who is histarically crying and can't sleep'....its 1:12am

long story short. this 11 yr old girl from china is extremely homesick and very jetlagged..she has just arrived at camp.

She is crying saying she misses her mother and family...she is not tired...she can't sleep...right now in china she should be having dinner...she can't sleep...' can you help me?'

omg. my heat its breaking. i'm not even upset that is 2 in the morning and i'm not sleeping..my hear its breaking for this girl...So i console her...but she continues like this till about 3pm. pleading me to help her sleep...crying to the point she can hardly breath

deep breaths...just close your eyes..think of things you enjoy (she liked drawing and reading), told her i wasn't going to leave and that she wasn't alone, touched her forhead and held her hand

she is 11..barely speaks the language and she is away from her whole family for 14 days (she told me "how am I going to do this? I have 14 days left!" HECK! I'M HOMESICK! I miss you guys guys soo much..and i'm 26 and i speak english! I can't imagine doing what she is doing at 11yrs old!

I felt so bad for the kid..and on top of this...she is apologizing *tear* 'i'm soo sorry..you are tired? I can't sleep..can you help me please? i'm so sorry' *tear*

I was relieved at 330am.

Week 3- aka. crazy week

So its sunday...intake day. Its 542 and we've already had about 50 new students arrive...about 4 have left. We are supposed to have about 300 this week!!!

its supposed to be a crazy week! we'll see. apparently week 4-6 are nice and calm because all the brazilians will be gone. It'll be mostly asians. Good thing: they follow rules and are very polite
Bad thing: their english is terrible..it is very had to communicate with them.

This morning I was at the airport again picking kids up. I always end up going because I speak spanish and there have been some spanish people always arriving every sunday. Anyways..I was trying to ask some of the japanese girls if they wanted to go to the washroom...they didn't understand what 'washroom' was! I had to call the japanese girl on staff to translate!!
oh boy...

they are very cute...they all remind me of the hurushiku girls..or whatever they are called...the ones from gwen stefani's music videos..u kno? hahahha i'll post some pics of them. classic.

Tia Ana's house

So friday night until Sunday morning was my time off this week.

Tio German picked me up from SFU on friday and took me to Langley (where my aunt lives).

There, I finally had a nice home cooked meal....relaxed...we started watching Harry Potter ..the first one with the kids. I passed out half way through so I finished it Sat. night.

Saturday Leo and Ana (cousins) has swimming in the morning. After that we took off to Washington!!! We crossed the boarder and did some shopping! We also had lunch a a wicked Mexican restaurant. and the best part of it all was a mani pedi i got...I wanted one sooo bad! Felt soo nice!

Their housei s absolutely gorgeous...total model home! In the basement they have 2 basement apartments they can rent out. One of them is the size of the condos I had been looking around!!! the other is bigger!!! craazy!!! such a beautiful house...

Best part of the whole weekend: sleeping in till 11am on Saturday!!! in a comfy bed with no interuptions!! I hadn't slept in since June 26th!!!! lol

Shannon Falls and Whilstler

Its all just extremely breathtaking...inspiring...relaxing..beautiful..calming...exhilirating...*sigh*

Shannon Falls is on the way from Vancouver to Whistler. Gorgeous.

Whistler was our day trip on Thursday the 15th. Left campus around 8...returned home around 930pm. Long day. But again..my job consisted of counting 16 kids in the morning...everytime we got on the bus to head somewhere..at the top of the hill...and on our way home. No big deal.

The rest of the the time I walked around either by myself or with Jen..shopped..we had the most AMAZING burger i've ever had...no exhageration...its called Splitz Burger. (Jen's friends drive from Vancouver to whistler just for the burger sometimes..). We took lots of pictures and just enjoyed our time in whislter. Overall, a fabulous day.

We took a Gondola ride up to the top of Blackcomb Mountain...thats where that Olympic rock thing was. There is another gondola from the peak of blackcomb to the other peak (don't know the name)...called Peak2Peak...but we didn't get a change to go. The view is spectacular going up the gondola..soo cool..it takes almost 10 min to go up!

At the top..as you can see there is quiet some snow...it was so funny the kids from UAE, Mexico and some of the Brazilians went nuts! snowball fights and everything! they were soo excited!

Home of the 2010 Olympics

OMG! I have visited the most beautiful place EVER!!!

whistler.

Stanley Park and the Aquarium

So on Monday the 12th we went to Stanley Park. this is like their Central Park in New York...like High Park for us. Its beautiful. We walked around a bit I bought some souvenirs. We didn't even see a tenth of the park though. There is never enough time. On my time off I want to rent a bike and bike around the park. We'll see if I get around to it.

So the totem poles are obvious to the Native Culture here. there are alot of natives around. From what I understand they have taken the poles from different places around the park and brought them together here.

In the park is the Vancouver Aquarium. Totally cool. I saw a bit of a dolphin show and a bit of a baluga show! I had never seen a baluga!

What part of this was I working you wonder? well...here is how it goes. "ok guys, you have until 420 to walk around. Meet me HERE! at 420. What time?"..they have to say 420. " Where?"..they have to say..here..with some sort of hand signal.

And then off I go and enjoy the aquarium by my wonderful self...and they go around with their friends. then at 420..just have to round them up and get them safely on the bus back to campus.

Its a pretty sweet job :) Especially cuz alot of the Brazilians speak pretty good english. they say they're here to learn..but I really think they are here to shop..lol

Terry Fox/Mile 0

So, turn out I didn't know the whole story on Terry Fox. oops! RE: 'MILE 0' post: Just so you all know..here is the whole story.

Terry Fox was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and raised in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, a community near Vancouver on Canada's west coast. An active teenager involved in many sports, Terry was only 18 years old when he was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma (bone cancer) and forced to have his right leg amputated 15 centimetres (six inches) above the knee in 1977.

While in hospital, Terry was so overcome by the suffering of other cancer patients, many of them young children, that he decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research.
He would call his journey the Marathon of Hope.
It was a journey that Canadians never forgot.

After 18 months and running over 5,000 kilometres (3,107 miles) to prepare, Terry started his run in St. John’s, Newfoundland on April 12, 1980 with little fanfare. Although it was difficult to garner attention in the beginning, enthusiasm soon grew, and the money collected along his route began to mount. He ran 42 kilometres (26 miles) a day through Canada's Atlantic provinces, Quebec and Ontario.

However, on September 1st, after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres (3,339 miles), Terry was forced to stop running outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario because cancer had appeared in his lungs. An entire nation was stunned and saddened. Terry passed away on June 28, 1981 at the age 22.

The heroic Canadian was gone, but his legacy was just beginning.
To date, close to $500 million has been raised worldwide for cancer research in Terry's name through the annual Terry Fox Run, held across Canada and around the world

*so MILE 0 was where he would have finished....*

A beach and a disco..all in a good days work!

So Saturday was a great day. Very quite relaxing and fun...pretty much stress free!! I had the morning off, then we took off to Kits' Beach, it was awesome. As you can see just a spectacular view. The water you see there (not the pool.lol) is English Bay..the mountains...I have no idea!
We just played frizbee...walked around...watched the kids relax..and then headed back to campus for dinner. After dinner was the DISCO!!!

So every saturday night is DISCO NIGHT!! and there is always a theme. Last night it was 'BACK TO THE 80s!!!!!" I had no idea of this...so I had no clothes...As you can see I just pulled off the look with extreme make up and a side ponytail...it was all good. Good times. the kids had fun! Our job was basically to dance and keep the boys off the girls...no grinding allowed! LOL

WILLY!!!

We saw whales on the ferry back!! soo cool! very entertaining.

Mile 0

Mile 0 is where the 'Trans Canada Highway' starts. this is where Terry Fox either finished or started..can't remember.

How did I get here? Tia Lupy picked me up at 3pm from the museus. So I left Ana and Richard and spent the rest of the afternoon with Tia Lupy. I got a quick tour of the city, went to her house (totally awesome..a cottage feel but super nice) and she dropped me back off where the group was meeting to catch the ferry back to Vancouver.

In the picture i'm at the southernest point of the Victoria. The mountains you see behind is the United States. Specifically the Olymipic mountains part of the the "Olympic National Park" which is in Washington state.

Very cool...what a sight.

Parliment+ Museum + wax museum

Once we arrived in Victoria, Ana (spain) and Richard (quebec) also had the day off with me. So we decided to separate from the group and do our own thing. We walked around the Parliment and went to the "Royal London Wax Museum".

There is a bylaw in Victoria that says no building is to be taller than the parliment. cool eh?

There are also alot of horse drawn carriges. veeeryy expensive...50$ for 15 min!!!

Victoria!

What a beautiful city. It doesn't feel like Canada...feel like something else..somethine better...

One foot on the street and all the cars stop for you. Everybody is very nice here. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. 30 degrees. Its the hottest they've gotten this year and most.

The ferry ride was long but what a spectacular view..no whales. Just a bunch of islands. It was very windy on the top deck.

This excusion fell on my 'day off' whick sucked but worked out okay in the end. Thats why i'm not wearing my 'tamwood' tshirt.

sick :(

I thought it was allergies last night after my run out on the track. Maybe it was the cold water lake, maybe its the lack of proper sleep, maybe the Unagi.lol. i dunno. but i'm sick :(
and i'm off today at 5pm..till friday at 7am. But i'm still going to Victoria. I want to take advantage of my days off.

can't wait to go to Victoria all day tomorrow...for now...sleep time...

Bunsen Lake

....I officially...for today...looved my job! I had the greatest day ever.

in a nutshell: breakfast, some time off, loaded kayaks on a truck, went shopping to stores on campus with some girl campers, lunch, some time off, went to bunsen lake which was a 30 min bus ride, kayaked for 3 hrs, bus ride back to SFU, some time off, dinner duty at 6pm, had a good work out, SUSHI w/ Jen cuz we had the night off! wicked.

Bunsen lake is where I will be 4 days of the week. It is absolutely spectacular. soo beautiful. (see picture that does not do justice) water was freezing, but the sun was out and it was amazing.

Sushi was delicious. we took public transit. not bad. very clean. comfy seats.lol. i'm in such a great mood.

greatest day so far.

still miss you guys!

p.s. best sushi I've ever had!.....aaaaaaaaaaaaa UNAGI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.... finish it off if you know what I mean..hahahhaa

Shopping!

Monday afternoon we spent half the day downtown Vancouver. 'Gastown' and Robson street.

Gastown has the feel of like...old Montreal/old Quebec. Really cute. they have this 'steam clock' which was kinda cool. They also have alot of souvenir shops. Alot of olympic gear is on sale. If any of you want something in specific let me know! or those red mittens! I think they're knock offs..but pretty good ones! 8$!

They Robson street was like...our young st. around the Eaton centre/ Queen street. alot of trendy stores. alot of stores we have in Toronto. (Picture: cupcake store! from the show!!)

theses kids are loaded..some of them have come with 2000$ to shop! and they're wearing Louis Vouiton shoes..its ridiculous! So Jen and I just walked around. No shopping for me don't you worry..i'm saving my money for my condo :)

oh and we also went to some tower...like..a third the size of the CN tower. the view was spectacular though. fantaboulous!

FML

I was asked to go pick up some kids at the airport sunday night. 8pm. No english, no problem..they are from Barcelona and Mexico. So I go. pick up at 8:55 and 10:00. We should be back on campus by 11 latest. No problem, happy to help.
We get to the airport. both flights are delayed. 11:25 and 12:25am! FML
I took a nap, waited, and finally they arrived. last kids came out at 1:40! FML
soo exhausted. so tired. got to bed at 3am
Monday 'morning huddle' was at 730am FML
lol
(i'm still enjoying myself...lol...but its alot of work)

Training is over..thank god!

Its been a quiet Sunday, finally! After 3 straight days of sitting, listening, eating, sitting, listening, eating, the 'campers' (ie: students) finally arrive today. I'm waiting for them as I blog.

60 from Brazil. A few other from Taiwan. Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Ecuador, Korea, Chile, Germany, Hong Kong, Colombia, United Arab and Spain. Some are staying at Simon Frasier Uni (SFU) with us here on rez, others have a Canadian host family and other have their actual family here with them and its just a day camp for them to learn english.

Its freekin freezing here! I had to go to walmart to buy a 12$ sweater...men's! bc womens didn't have any! but its supposed to wam up this coming week. I really hope so, cuz i'm scheduled to be on the lake three days a week kayaking! woohoo

In the past three days I've been off campus twice. Friday night Ben (Jen's super nice boyfriend)picked us up. We went to wal mart to buy some stuff, then we just went back to his place to relax and unwind. He has a wicked house with a hot tub, fire places and pool table. So we soaked in the hot tub for a bit, had a nice cold beer, showered and went to bed. We had to be up at 630 the next morning for a whole day of uneventful training.

Last night, Ben picked us up again. We had some very last minute plans to go out with Natalie, another one of Jen's friends here. It was her bday. So we went to Fahed's place (another friend.lol) we had some Margaritas!!! they were delicious. and then we went to a bar called....Bowers? something like that. It was basically a really dirty Picadilly's. It was like the Brunny i guess. We were only there for about an hour or so. We slept at Fahed's, cuz all of this is in Downtown Vancouver. SFU is on a mountain in Burnaby! about a 25 min drive from the downtown core. We made it back for our' morning hudle' for 9am.

Anyways, nothing really eventful has happened. I've met some cool people from all over. I'll be working for the next 6 weeks with people from Spain, Germany, England, Scotland, Australia, Mexico, and boring Ontario and Quebec. hahaha. ITs pretty awesome. I'm picking up a Spain accent in my spanish..and an english accent in my english. I really do fancy it! lol

Oh! and i've been nick named 'mama eagle', I don't know if it'll stick. i'll keep you posted. We were doing a skit..and i called my self mama eagle cuz I was the leader of the 'eagles'. it just came out! and now a few are like..oooo thats gonna stick! lol

quote of the day from an englishman "Why do you call it a hamburger? it doesn't have ham in it! its a beef burger!"