Sawubona my friends! Well I’m officially starting my third week in South Africa. Week one was basically adjusting to S.A time. And let me tell you.. I’ll never be getting up with the sunrise (which is around 5am) as the locals do. ( this also means South Africans call it a day around 8pm. ) Week two was spent getting into my daily routine- which consists of going to the Seed of Hope Centre during most days. The pace of life here is definitely different for this Canadian girl. But I so love it.
I’m staying in a place called Amanzimtoti… located in the KwaZulu-Natal province on the east coast of S.A…about 15-20 min from the major city of Durban ( about 4 million people) Toti is kinda like a suburb of Durban…. With quite a few townships surrounding the main area. I’m living about a 10 minute drive from the beach, which is the waters of the warm Indian Ocean. ( temperature hovers between 20 – 24 degress Celsius year round☺ ) And though the constant breeze makes high waves and strong currents… it's still nice to enjoy a dip and swim ever now and then… even in the shark infested waters!
Last week I taught my first class @ the Seed of Hope’s After-School programs. ( for 11-15 year olds) we looked at different careers available in the world. Let me tell you how much teaching/classroom skills are a bit rusty. You would think, that with all the teacher friends I have back home- I’d be a bit better. Alas… made it through and am ready to face the class again this week.For those of you wondering what the Seed of Hope is… I will get into it in more detail in later posts, but for now, please check out their website at www.theseedofhope.org
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sawubona! ( hello)
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Oh Coffee- How I Miss Thee!
Ok- so I do love espresso... but in the morning- i just want to savor a big cup you know the regular size. Not a mini cup thats adorably cute but the size of my thumb. That to me is not a morning wake up call. But their idea of une grande cafe- is an extra shot of espresso.
Ugh.
On another note, Bill and I went back to Lolo the restaurant with the fantastic gnoochi.
I just had to take photos of my meal. Moment of silence for out of this world food.
I'd come back to Lyon just for this dish. It was that good.
Wow- a salad not slathered in creamy dressing! Amazing!
And of course bread.... shocking!
Tomorrow I head for Paris! I'm tres tres excited.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Ahh Lyon
I do love this town. The fantastic buildings, the cobble streets- the hundreds of restaurants downtown ( take note Edmonton). I've been to more than a few restaurants, and I must say wow. Best food I've EVER had. Bill and I went to this one place- no idea what it is called, but it had the best Gnocci we've ever had. And for Bill to say that, it was ridiculously good. We're going back for lunch today. 
2 nights ago- Bill took me and Liz (from the Edmonton Journal) to a gay restaurant. He had happened to stumble upon it, and besides the staff being in love with him, the food was amazing. So he took us back. 
We had a BLAST... here's a pic of our waiter Tony. We now have a place to stay if we ever return here. 
A few things I've learned so far:
So before I came- the rumours that the French were rude were flying though my ears. I find in Lyon quite the opposite. You do your own thing, they do theirs. You attempt to speak French, and they may laugh at you with pronunciation,but they appreciate the effort. You do have to watch where you're going, because dog owners don't believe in taking their dogs to parks and picking up after them. Today when it is rainy out... the streets are particularly dangerous because of that. Bread is served with EVERYTHING. I mean- absolutely everything. If you have a wheat allergy France is not the place to come... and finally you eat from 12-2 or you're not going to get lunch. Alot of places close down. Me who is usually the late lunch eater is having issues remembering that one.
On another note... The shopping here is also fantastic. I remember why I loved European style... there actually is some! Shopping at home won't be the same after this. Today it is raining, and I just finished breakfast so I'm going to head out and roam the streets a bit. I'm meeting Bill and Liz in a few hours for lunch, so I may just spend a bit of money before that. Tomorrow being Sunday ( and all the stores are closed) I'm heading up to the hill where the beautiful basilica is. The old 5th quarter is apparently amazing to explore- so that's my Sunday activity. And then I head to Pariee! More later!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Pics from Day 1
Here's a few pics from my trip so far
Beautiful view in the plane as we leave the border of England and carry onto France!
View from my hotel room- ok.. maybe looks a bit ghetto, but it really is nice.
The Opera house in Lyon. Where I'll be spending all my evenings
La France
Bonjour Mes Amis! Je suis a Lyon France…
First let me start by saying, that somehow.., I always get the interesting flights.
The ones where there’s some odd technical difficulty that requires 2 hours to find out
That it is nothing after all. Well- that happened to me in Montreal… so of course- we didn’t leave until 10pm EST( which is 6am France time)..in the meantime crazy red haired French lady keeps staring at me. And whenever I say anything to her- its like I interrupted the tearing down of the Berlin Wall or something. Anyhoo… lets just say she is what we would call a “treat”.My conclusion is that I think she thought I was a famous person. What gave it away lady- the lulu lemon pants, the sunglasses or the crazy hair? Come on!
So we finally leave Montreal. And I realize I forgot to take sleeping pills out of my checked baggage. Nice. There goes my good nights sleep. Ce’st la vie! I did get in about an hour and a half.
Arrival at the airport. All is well- I get my luggage and notice it is incredibly hot in the airport. Or is it….
Apparently I had food poisioning- broke out into a cold sweat and started vomiting in a garbage can. But man- I felt So much better after that! But then- suddenly my suitcase felt almost 10 pounds heavier when trying to get it on the train. Maybe I should have eaten something before I left the airport. Ahh well… I did make it to Lyon safely and can I just say- wow. What a great town! I’ve only seen small part of it- but apparently- it’s the good small part. Great architecture, fabulous cafes, etc etc etc.. and they have a starbucks! Right across from the opera house- so it makes it even better. After the 36 hours traveling- I thought I deserved one.
Met up with Elizabeth Withey from the Edmonton Journal- and we attended the Porgy and Bess Dress rehearsal last night. Great cast. ( and frikin hot too! ) Interesting way to stage the opera, and I will be seeing it 2 more times before I leave this place- so I wasn’t worried if I was going to miss anything!.... best part of the night? The Chocolate Mousse I had following the performance ( at midnight) yummy… the French know how to do it up!
Oh yeah- my hotel. Very cute- and seriously 2 steps from the sein River. Its beautiful! sounds of a band playing along the river put me to sleep last night!
Thats all for now! More later;)
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Nice and Toasty in Nashville
Well after 7 hours in a airport ( i know it could have been worse) and finally boarding a plane at 7pm- only to take off and turn back to Denver 20 min into the flight. And then fix the problem.. take off again and then turn back to Denver- right before the beverage service. At about 11:00pm- they decided to switch planes.
And at 2:15am I rolled into my hotel room. At least my luggage was already in Nasvhille waiting for me:) So far the conference is good... too much air conditioning in the rooms- and its like 30 degrees outside. Always enjoyable. I feel like a poll.. whats your most memorable travel experience? ( problems, long delays etc....)
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Disappointed in Denver
The last few days have been a bit chaotic! To say the least. Yesterday- my lovely car was hit by another not so lovely car. Unfortunately I was in it when it happened. No serious injuries reported- just some lovely marks where the seatbelt was, and a sore arm. Could be worse. My car on the other hand- though driveable, I think may be a write off. Totally the other person's fault- and they knew it so that was good I guess. This is my 3rd accident in 10 years- 3rd accident that wasn't my fault, and my 3rd Honda that is now no more. So sad. Maybe I shouldn't get a Honda anymore. I seem to have the worst luck with cars!
I won't find out until next week if the car is actually driveable or not- because I left early this morning for a conference in Nashville. And when I say early- I mean getting to the airport at 4;30am after 1 hour of sleep. Unfortunately- it seems as though the plane didn't want to get up that early and needed a nap, because we sat in the plane on the runway for over 2 hours- thus allowing me to miss my connection to Nasvhille and having a 6+hour layover in Denver. ( not the most exciting airport I must say). It's a good thing I decided to throw in a few dvds at 3:30 this morning. Apparently batting your eyes at the nice man at the customer service counter does not help you to get on an earlier- already overbooked flight.
I guess it could be worse right?
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Getaway to Bragg Creek
One of the things I love about Alberta is the hidden treasures that you can find throughout the province. This weekend Myla, Sabrina, Anna and I headed to Bragg Creek ( 1/2 from Calgary) for a fantastic little girls getaway!
toasting to fabulous times and friends!
Me trying to arm wrestle the tree. I'm pretty sure the tree won
Friday, September 29, 2006
More Pics From Days 8-14
(This is what a coffee bean looks like before it begins the roasting process)
the team at the top of the volcano
Zaak and I jamming on the gee-tar. (My fingers got very very very sore that day)
The ruins in Antigua
Me and a very very very tall tree...
Leia Mais…Guatemala Days 8-14
So here’s the continuation of the Guatemala Days 8-14. Yeah- so I'm about 4 weeks overdue for the update. My bad.
Sunday morning we woke up (got to even sleep in an hour) and hit the market in Tatic. We were split into random teams of 4 and had 1 hour to find everything on the list that was given to us. Lucky for those of us who knew a bit of Spanish- not so lucky for those who didn’t. Its amazing how much pointing and fast movements of the head can make you understood. ( My team tied for 1st place- yay team)
Then some of us headed to Zaak and Amber’s place and were greeted by a theatre-style set up to watch Zaak’s now famous documentary. We felt very special being one of the few groups of people that had seen it before it premiered at the Montreal Film Festival. During that final week in Guatemala, we also took corn to the grinders, and made a traditional Guatemalan dish for supper. We also got to go see how the Guatemalans did their weaving. We visited a coffee plantation and saw what the process was for it to be made. I am seriously considering a career as a coffee shop owner now. 
Wednesday dawned bright and beautiful and it so happened that it was Tami’s birthday. Guatemalan tradition uses fire crackers to wake the dead instead of your cake with candles. So we each lit 1 fire cracker at about 10pm and woke the neighbours. So fun. We left Tatic for Antigua and toured the ruins in Antigua ( Antigua is 11 x 11 blocks… and there are 26 cathedrals in those 11 x 11 blocks) Saturday- our last day, began very very early- as we left to hike the Volcano Picaya. 
Me with my asthma decided to take the easy way up and I hired a horse. He was a good horse. I was very very VERY happy I took the horse- even though it was still a 30 min hike once we got up there. 
The volcano is active- so lava was flowing right in front of us. It was the coolest thing EVER. I’ll never forget that. After that- we spent 4 hours shopping, had a fabulous goodbye dinner and then packed up and came home! The 2 weeks spent there- felt like a month. Guatemala is a beautiful place, one that I can’t wait to go back and visit- who knows… maybe even live there someday!
Leia Mais…