2 months later
It has been an incredibly busy two months, since I last wrote. Vadim has since come and left, and I am currently knee deep into my CWY programme. Vadim's visit here was short, three weeks, but a lot of fun! Despite the fact I was insanely busy with finding all my last host families and work placements and preparing for my participant orientation camp, we managed to do a couple little sidetrips! We went to the incredible natural hot springs, a couple hours south of Revelstoke, went to the commercial hot springs and hung out at the local beach at Williamson Lake. And then he left the day before I ventured to camp where I would meet my great counterpart and 18 participants from Mozambique, Namibia, and across Canada.
Ali, my sister, also came around the same time as Vadim, but stayed quite a bit longer - until last week. She got here and managed to get a job the first day she went around with her resume. She was hired on the spot at the main hotel in town, and was working at the bar as a waitress/bartender until last week. We had a lot of fun, however, coordinating both of our schedules was a little tough, as at times we barely saw each other, when I would come home after a full day of work, she would just be getting ready to go to work!
Last week Mom and Grandma came to Revelstoke and together we all celebrated Xmas in September. It was pretty funny and oddly enough almost like the real thing, with a gift exchange, fancy dinner and an artificial tree to boot!
My CWY group has been amazing, I feel really lucky to have such a great team. There have been a few minor problems/issues, but nothing really that me and Aggie(my African Counterpart) have not been able to work out alone! The Africans love to sing and dance, so their energy has been really great. All the Canadians are all super keen and interested, so I also thankful for their active and eager participation. Of course, issues of integration and cultural mixing has come up, but the team is conscious that this is an integral part of the program and are making efforts to remedy this situation, in order to maximize their learning and overall experience!
I am in shock that we are approaching the mid-project camp next week, which means that in only a matter of another 1.5 months we are off to Africa! Namibia will be very exciting, and I am very anxious to go overseas...
Ali, my sister, also came around the same time as Vadim, but stayed quite a bit longer - until last week. She got here and managed to get a job the first day she went around with her resume. She was hired on the spot at the main hotel in town, and was working at the bar as a waitress/bartender until last week. We had a lot of fun, however, coordinating both of our schedules was a little tough, as at times we barely saw each other, when I would come home after a full day of work, she would just be getting ready to go to work!
Last week Mom and Grandma came to Revelstoke and together we all celebrated Xmas in September. It was pretty funny and oddly enough almost like the real thing, with a gift exchange, fancy dinner and an artificial tree to boot!
My CWY group has been amazing, I feel really lucky to have such a great team. There have been a few minor problems/issues, but nothing really that me and Aggie(my African Counterpart) have not been able to work out alone! The Africans love to sing and dance, so their energy has been really great. All the Canadians are all super keen and interested, so I also thankful for their active and eager participation. Of course, issues of integration and cultural mixing has come up, but the team is conscious that this is an integral part of the program and are making efforts to remedy this situation, in order to maximize their learning and overall experience!
I am in shock that we are approaching the mid-project camp next week, which means that in only a matter of another 1.5 months we are off to Africa! Namibia will be very exciting, and I am very anxious to go overseas...
posted by Laura | 8:07 PM
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