July 2007 posts

July 27

Last Day of Summer School

Well, it was finally the last day of school today. I can't say I'm horribly upset about it. It was fun while it lasted, but three weeks wasn't really long enough to develop any relationships with very many people, students or staff. I guess my feeling is more one of indifference. Next week, I'll start my next job doing research full time for the month of August. It's the same job I was doing before in Occupational Therapy, but rather than doing casual hours, I'll be full time just for the month of August. It should be nice. While I'll be on campus, my hours will still be flexible, so if I want to take a lunch hour longer than an hour, I can put in the extra time before or after the fact, or I can put in a couple of hours at home if I want to go home early. I'm excited about it.

Saying goodbye to some of the grade 2 kids was a little harder, though. They are so cute, and many of them gave me big hugs goodbye when I was leaving and said they were going to miss me. Beautiful little creatures they are.

Other than that, I've been fence painting for the last couple of weeks, which is why I haven't been on my blog for a while. I'd come home from school and only relax for about 15 minutes before going out to paint the fence for the rest of the evening. I find it quite relaxing, actually, although my not-so-relaxing moment came when I accidentally stepped on a nail Tuesday night. Thankfully, it didn't go in that far, although I still had to pull it out, and I've had a tetanis booster recently enough that I didn't need to go to the doctor's for one. Using the first aid kit at home, my mom was able to treat it quite well, so that was good.

So, not an overly exciting blog update this time around, but I must admit that I'm feeling somewhat melancholic at the moment and will only succeed in writing deep, philosophical drivel if I try to write anymore. By the way, I hope you've seen my latest photos. That storm on Monday was frightfully inspiring.

7:49 PM | Permalink

July 15

Smells like Summer

No, I'm not making a reference to the Smells Like Teen Spirit song, just to clarify. There are rare smells in winter that make me think, oh, it smells like winter. But every other season seems to have its own scent. Spring is often scented with fruit blossoms of various kinds as well as lilacs and mayday trees, and this other tree whose name I don't know.

Fall smells of drying leaves and harvest--if harvest can have a smell. I can't explain it.

But the other day, I remembered the smells of summer that I love. Clover. There are fields of blooming clover that smell so sweet. Weeds--actually some kind of wildflowers, those yellow or white ones that grow in empty fields or along the side of the road. I was driving to my friend's house the other day with the windows open, and I smelled it. I just wanted to soak it all in, it was so beautiful. There's something to aromatherapy.

Outside of that, I have had my first week of teaching and TA-ing in summer school. I'm working with a new age population: elementary kids. It's a challenge. I don't know what to do with them! I haven't been a mom, and I haven't really grown up around a lot of them, so I don't really have a lot of strategies on hand. Help!

I also added some pictures of my cousin Maria's wedding last weekend. The ceremony took place at my cousin Cindy's place. The canola field is not completely ripened, but it's a beautiful sight. I love bright yellow fields of canola. Anyways, the wedding had a somewhat Scottish theme, in case you're wondering about the kilts and bagpipe.

8:46 PM | Permalink

July 06

Venting

We all need a little breeze in this heat, don't we? :o) Well, these are just little clips of little things I feel like venting about this morning:

Brown eggs. They are not better for you than white eggs. They are not more wholesome or multigrain. They are not analogous to brown and white bread. White eggs come from white chickens, and brown eggs come from brown or black chickens. That's what I learned gathering eggs on my grandparents' farm as a kid. So stop charging more money for them! If you don't believe me, you can read the info on the Get Cracking web site!

Canadian Idol singers. Please, get a real singer on there! I saw Tuesday's episode, and there was maybe one or two at the most actually on key and could sing. Oh my goodness people. OK, I'm too old to be a contestant now, but if they want to make an exception, I'll show 'em!

People that don't know how to merge onto the freeway. You MUST drive 80km in order to merge successfully on the freeway. Even if you remain in the exit lane, you are still supposed to drive 80 so that people behind you that are merging onto the freeway can merge properly.

These are my rants for the day :o)

9:18 AM | Permalink

July 02

Happy Canada Day!

OK, so July 1 was yesterday, but I didn't know how the day would turn out completely until it was over! I celebrated it with two of my Colombian friends, who are both Canadian citizens, so what better way to spend it! The cool thing was that from my friend's balcony, we could watch the fireworks both in downtown and Millwoods--and the ones that people were illegally throwing off their balconies! Mm...that one, I was a little concerned about, but fortunately, we didn't get hurt. I hope no one else did either.

Last year, I was in London on Canada Day celebrating with my cousin and Carmel along with a number of Canadian ex-pats watching some famous Canadian talent that I never heard of perform for the crowd. It was still fun, but given the choice of where I'd like to be, I still like being in Canada on Canada Day. I know, I know...from the politically apathetic girl to someone who even has a sense of patriotism. Go figure!

We were on Whyte Ave and area, and I actually ran into two friends of mine on separate occasions during the night. I hang out on Whyte Ave so little these days, and as it is, many of my friends that I used to know that live in the area are now in other cities, that I had forgotten how much fun it is just to hang around there and run into people you know. I must say that I miss it a little. Well, while I'm looking for a summer job, I won't be able to afford to wile away my time in cafes and restaurants. And walking up and down is simply silly--not that I have anything against silly, since it's a frequent state of mind for me, but there have to be limits Anyways, I hope you had a happy Canada Day too, those of you that are Canadian readers.

2:42 PM | Permalink

June 2007 posts

June 24

Happy Birthday to Me!

My birthday day turned into a birthday week, which seems now to be turning into a birthday month as I have several people who still want to take me out for birthday dinners. I can't say I'm sad about that, and I'm also just so happy to be able to spend time with family and friends, which is the thing I like to do the most. I have some of the pictures of my parties uploaded now, most of which are from party #2 last night, and which was at the house of my friends, Leni and David. They were gracious enough to allow me to host a party in their home (thanks again, guys!). I only have two pictures from party #1 so far, which was a joint party for me and my friend Shivani. Sadly, there wasn't too much salsa dancing at either party, but the Friday before my actual birthday, one of my friends took me to another birthday party of one of his friends, and there was enough salsa there to get in a few dances, so I was satiated. For those of you that couldn't make it to either party, I did miss you there, and I hope to see you really soon :o)

2:08 PM | Permalink

June 17

Party Girl Days not Over Yet!

I've had two nights of parties already, tonight there is another one with my dad, and next week I have one on Thursday and then Saturday again. OK, they're not exactly all parties, like tonight, for example is just a dinner, but I'm still occoupied enough! Birthday parties, farewell parties, it seems there are plenty of them. Oh, and I had to go to a wedding engagement party--Moroccan style--yesterday afternoon as well. If I hadn't had a party at my place last night, I would have gone to another one as a friend of mine finally finished her dissertation--after how many years?--and had a celebration party last night.

I just realised yesterday that I hadn't update my blog in almost 2 weeks. Not that many of you were likely wondering where I was, considering my regular readers are so few in number that I think I know you all well enough for you to know where I've been. But just in case there are any new readers out there, I'll just let you know that last weekend was my big move home, so I had been spending a lot of time packing prior to that and then unpacking afterward. I also wanted to catch up with work, my research. With all the packing, I didn't really have much time for it and now want to make up a few hours. Besides my grandma coming tomorrow for a 3-week visit, I haven't many plans for my afternoons for the next little while outside of research, writing, writing, and research. And I have a couple of paintings I want to finish, a book that I'm creating for a friend, and start a new painting. Nothing like keeping busy! :o)

I wish I could post some of the photos of the engagement party yesterday as it was a traditional Moroccan event, but I have no way of obtaining permission from the bride and groom to post them in this public space. I do have some other new photos, though, of one of my favourite things--no, not more swans, don't worry--but...wait for it...yep, you guessed it: flowers! I know how much you've been missing them all. I need to transfer them from my camera first, and hopefully I can upload them to my blog soon enough, like today or so.

4:09 PM | Permalink

June 04

Airports

As funds are a little low this year, it seems that I won't be travelling anywhere too far from Edmonton, unfortunately, but as I'm packing my things up to move back home, I just came across an old entry I wrote a while ago while waiting at an airport for a flight that had been delayed. At least I can pretend I'm in an airport as I remember my feelings of that time. I wrote it down on a piece of paper planning to post it on the blog for my recruiting job, but I ended up misplacing the paper, and that was the end of the story. Anyways, here is my reflection on airports:

Airports are such emotional places. Amidst the computers and self-check-in terminals, besides the large hunks of metal we fashion into airplanes, are scores of people filled with anticipation. It's when your flight is delayed, like mine was, that you have ample time to watch people in airports. The anticipation that people have stems usually from 3 different reasons: 1. waiting for a loved one to come home; 2. seeing a loved one off; 3. the less emotional anticipation of lone travellers or business people needing to get a taxi or get to a hotel. You can probably tell by the direction I'm headed in this story that it's the first 2 that affect me the most. In the past, I have been brought to tears by greetings and partings at airports, not including my personal trips, and this time was no exception.

A group of French-speakers was waiting for someone from an African French speaking country or an African from France, by the looks of the name card they had waving. It was a rather large group, and they greeted him with a pointsettia and a bouquet of flowers. He was all smiles as he took the time to shake everyone's hands and be introduced to all those in the group he didn't already know. I don't know what he said, but everyone gave him a round of applause after.

It's events like those that make me wonder: who is this man, and why is he here? Is he a refugee? Did he escape the violence in France right now as is happy to be alive? Is he just visiting some relatives? Was he filled with excitement because maybe it is his first trip to Canada? I try to imagine, and that's what makes me emotional, in part, I suppose. I also remember my own comings and goings to Malaysia and India, the time when I moved to Mexico, and the countless times I've greeted and parted from loved ones at the airport. I guess I know how these people feel, and I find it hard to be detached. Yet this is only one aspect of the dynamic life at an airport.

I have no idea when I wrote this, but I think it would have been around November 2005, which is the only time I flew for my job, and I remember my flight to Prince George was delayed due to fog. So hopefully that helps the context. Write me a comment about airports, what you feel when you're there. I'd love to know.

7:19 PM | Read comments (1) | Permalink | Travel

May 2007

May 30

I'm on YouTube

Que emocionante! OK, so I just wanted to let you all know that I'm on YouTube now. Gabriel, with whom I sang some duets at the Festival de la Cancion on Monterrey back in 2003, has posted the one solo that I had, called Habanera, from Bizet's Carmen. I'm so excited. The sound quality isn't great, but I hope you enjoy it anyways. For those of you that don't know, this is a fairly well-known opera aria. Here are two of the duets: La Vie en Rose, and Con Te Partiro (or Por Ti Volare in Spanish, which we did in both languages, I in Italian and Gabriel in Spanish). Apparently the two other ones we did aren't good quality enough to stream. But this will give you an idea for now :o)

4:46 PM | Permalink | Hobbies

May 20

Time for a Real Entry

I hadn't put any of those Blog things I'm addicted to on my site lately, so I added a couple of them just for the sake of posterity. I was about to begin my sentence by saying, "Lately, I have been thinking about something..." but the truth is that I've been thinking about a lot of things, as is almost always the case with me. Sometimes, I wish my brain would sleep.

During my Internet drought at home, I had been thinking about the state of multiculturalism in our country. I have been helping this person I know with her PhD dissertation, and she is in the same department I did my master's in, so we are always on about multiculturalism issues of some sort. We had a discussion about this Multiculturalism Act that was passed in 1988 in Canada (I actually thought it was passed earlier in 1972 or so, but apparently this was just a policy at the time). In any case, I started thinking back to that time; I would have turned 11 that year, and I remembered that was about the same time we got these buttons at school with cartoon drawings of people on them and a slogan saying: "We are all different!" I guess it was to commemorate the passing of that Act. The concept fascinates me, though, because, while I understand the idea that we are to accept (or in the terms of the Act, Respect, Tolerate, and Understand) our differences, this notion has always seemed to focus on what segregates us rather than what unites us. We can be united in the idea that we all have differences, but then we get into these nasty controversies of minority rights, which have no end. And our differences, I believe, are one of the factors that prevent Canada from having a defined national identity. Of course, without this topic of discussion, we might have nothing philosophical to talk about outside of hockey and beer, so perhaps it's all for the best! But seriously, as I concluded in my own thesis, the hegemonic powers would have use stay divided this way to continue the competition for resources and various kinds of capital in order to keep the status quo. I realise this sounds pessimistic, but until I run for Prime Minister and find out it ain't so, that's how I see it.

There has also been a lot of excitement in my life this past week. Excitement makes it sound like a good thing, but what I mean by that is that the week was eventful and full of surprises. Some of that, I can't share with you because it has to do with one of the kids I work with, and with confidentiality, a blog certainly isn't the place for that info. No, the other major news of the week was finding out that the landlady met with an emergency situation and must move back into her house here in Edmonton by the middle of next month. Kelly can move into the basement suite, where she lived before, but I am out of house and home because I can't afford to live anywhere on my own yet. I turn 30 next month, and my b'day present from life is having to move back in with my mom and her husband. Great. The two good things about it is that I will be able to use the money I used to pay in rent to put toward buying my own place next year, and hopefully also I'll get a chance to spend more time with my mom before she retires out of country next year as well. So a lot of changes.

As a side note, I just watched An Inconvenient Truth tonight for the first time. While the environment is of concern to me, I got the more subtle message in Gore's documentary slamming the Republicans. I mean, it kind of made it turn into a really long TV campaign ad like the Americans always have during election season. The subtle message was, " Don't vote for the Republicans next election, vote Democrat." He shows part of the election results when Florida's voting count went wrong and makes it seem like he would have changed the whole environment around had he been elected and boo hoo that George Bush has ruined the world. Well, I think Gore's more significant contribution would have been not going to war. I'm sure he would have ratified Kyoto as well, which would have been great, but I was a little disappointed with a political slant I just wasn't expecting. You know that these kinds of videos are going to have their socially conscious political message, but not a direct blaming the Republicans for all our problems kind of message. I do wonder, too, how much he could have done in office. I saw Bill Clinton being interviewed on the Daily Show, and Jon Stewart asked Clinton if he could have done as much for the country as he's doing now that he isn't president anymore, and Clinton thought he couldn't. He said there are so many other factors to consider when you're running the whole country, so sometimes you can't do what you want to do, no matter how much you want it. I don't really know what my thoughts are on that yet, but it's just food for thought, anyways.

12:01 AM | Read comments (1) | Permalink | News and politics