Help Again...

Hey All,

Looking for a place to sublet/rent for May-Aug (hoping to move in ASAP), any openings?

Wednesday

Just a quick update, not too much is new, had a pretty low-key weekend which was nice, although it meant I didn't even get the housework done that I wanted. Monday afternoon I attended a funeral and reception with Eric, so had the afternoon off and consequently did not work late and yesterday I chose to go home at 4:30 instead of sticking around, this way I got my housework done and a wonderfully long sleep last night!! Today I'm sticking around work to do some more upgrades and overtime, I am thankful for all the overtime pay, but we get supper here when we stay and my body is getting tired of eating junk food for supper so often, so I will be glad when we are done. Nothing much else to write about, next weekend is Easter already, I can't believe that it came so fast, another long drive home, but hopefully a refreshing long weekend! Hope life is treating everyone well!

Happy St Patty's Day..

Today is pretty uneventful at work, just enough stuff to keep me going though without getting too bored. My weekend was alright, Sandy came to visit me, as well as picked up Cathy and Benny from Camrose, and got to hang out with Ro, good friends always lead to a good time! Must say I am a lot less stressed about life than I was when I wrote the last post, from wonderful words of encouragement I have received from many sources, I have continued with the plan that I will attend the MBET program in the fall, and I am still extremely excited about it! The car situation is still in the works, but trying not to get too worked up about it anymore! Other than that, not much else to report on, I know this is pretty boring, but I want to try and keep it more up to date so people keep checking on me!! Hope everyone had a wonderful green weekend, especially those celebrating birthdays and anniversaries on the same day!

Ideas... Donations? Lol

Oh the joys and stresses of life! Today I wanted to put up a short post to see if anyone can help me out... first things first, yesterday I spent a good lot of time on the phone with different provincial registry offices, trying to figure out what I am supposed to do about my vehicles. Turns out there is no easy solution. I am no longer a student and live and work in Alberta, so technically I am supposed to register my vehicle here. Ok, so lets do that, BUT, first I need to have an out-of-province inspection, so i call a place that does such things and speak to a friendly, but honest lady. She says.. don't waste your money, the inspection is tough and even MUCH newer vehicles barely pass. Oh. So now what? There is also another catch, if I move to Ontario in September for school I can keep my Sask plates, but if I switch to Alberta, then I can't switch back to Sask unless I live there for three months prior to going to Ontario. Ha. So nobody has a solution that allows me to drive my car in Alberta. Next best thing, attempt to sell the car in Saskatchewan and then buy an equivalent car in Alberta, so anyone wanna trade?

Next issue, most of you know that I have been accepted into a Masters' Program in Waterloo, which I am really excited about and for which I have been granted a 15, 000 scholarship. Tuition for the program however, is 26,000 for one year (one year continuous Sept-Sept) after which I will be done!! On top of that there is living in Ontario. I have intended all along to take out more Student Loans to fund this excursion, as the general consensus, both from current students in the program and professors, is that there will not be time to hold down a part time job. However, there is major concern about graduating with excessive student loan debt and spending the rest of my life trying to pay it off... SOOOO, I am looking for some brainstorming ideas on how to get more assistance, I really want to complete this program now while I am still not settled in one place and excited to do it. Anyone know of any scholarships that apply to Business and Technology masters, Women in Technology, or anything else that applies? How about any great ideas for fundraising or odd job work I can do to get some extra cash? I'm open for any and all suggestions right now that will keep me in this program for Sept 2007....

Hope life is being a little less pressing for all of you...

Edmonton Life

Hey all! Well again it's been awhile, one of these days I am going to be able to start my post without that statement! I hope people haven't given up on checking on my blog once in a while at least! So what's new with me, you ask? Lol. I am living in Edmonton officially now, since about the middle of January I was done at The Source in Camrose. Looking for a job here turned out to be more interesting than I had first expected. Most of the technology jobs (or at least a good lot of them) are posted through staffing agencies, so there were a lot of hoops to jump through. Although I did have a couple interviews and offers prior to starting my job (after 3 weeks of unemployed life!), I am glad that I held out. Right now I am working at an engineering company called Statec. They are a pretty big company, and so far a great place to work (although officially, I work for Diversified Staffing, so complicated...). I am doing some pretty basic help desk tasks, mostly updating workstations from Windows 2000 to Windows XP, not exactly where I want to be, but for now, a nice job. The job is temporary, and I hope that it can hold out until August for me, because after that I'M GOING BACK TO SCHOOL!!!!! Can you tell I'm excited about that?! Lol. I am getting really excited for the MBET program, they have offered me a hefty scholarship for this September and the program runs straight through Spring and Summer of next year, so I will be done in August 2008! Other than that, life is pretty good, just trying to relax and enjoy little things as they come and go. Haven't been very good at keeping in touch with everyone since I've been living here, but please give me a call anytime, I'm always up for a drink (whether it's coffee or something stronger) or an interesting new adventure!! Hope life is treating you all well....

Happy New Year!!!!!

Welcome to 2007, and just for the occasion I thought it was definately time to put up a new post, particulary since its been so long I am guessing people have stopped checking :-S So, I am currently still working in Camrose, at least for the next week, but I am also officially moved to Edmonton, so I am really excited about that. I got the chance to take a week off and head home for Christmas, was so nice to see all my family, it felt like so long, although I guess it wasn't so bad, only missed Thanksgiving... made it back to Edmonton for New Years Eve and had a great time hanging out with lots of friends I had also not seen in awhile. I am really excited about moving to Edmonton, and this morning I woke up to a call for a job interview, so I have my fingers crossed that will work out for me! Nothing much else is new I guess, I'm still pondering the idea of going back to school in September to do my masters, but will have to wait and see how the next few months go. I'll put some pictures of New Years and Tiana's new lil baby up now for your enjoyment!!

Christmas Day


Jada Isabelle


New Years Eve 2006/2007





Well there's a little update for you all :-) Enjoy!

Life Goes On

Hey all, I know its been too long since I posted, too lazy to get the last of the pictures up today, but just wanted to write a quick note to let you know how I am and what I am up to. Been working now for a couple weeks at The Source in Camrose, staying with a great friend and keeping super busy. I am also tutoring a girl from Augustana who is the cutest thing ever.. I think we'll turn out to be great friends! Plan on sticking around here for a short while until I can get back on my feet and then look for a place of my own in Edmonton. Can't wait for that, just so excited about life again and as happy to be home as I was from day one.... hope everyone is doing well and that I will see you around now that I am back... Lots of love...

Good-bye Brasil

My last weekend in Brasilia was some of the most fun I had in the entire time I was away. Are you all asking what does she mean her last weekend? Where is she? Lol, ya, I am back in Camrose for right now. I think I am finally ready to write this entry for you all. Most of you are probably aware that I was not enjoying my time in Brasilia that much, and for those of you that didn't, don't feel left out, because I was having a pretty rough time but I didn't want to get everyone back home worried. Last Friday I finally decided that I would change my ticket to come home as soon as possible. The decision was based on a million different reasons, but ultimately, I am so happy to be home. I have no regrets about leaving Canada or leaving Brasil, I have come back with a great new appreciation for home, for English and for friends and family. If it wasn't for the many people back home that I could talk to and cry with I wouldn't have made it past the first week or two. So now, what am I going to do? That is the big question I guess and I don't have all the answers right now, but ultimately I feel that if I am happy and excited about waking up in the morning, then I can make things happen and things will work out just the way they are meant to, so this is just a short post to give you all an update, my old cellphone number is working again if you want to call and I will be making my last post in Brasil soon, as I have a ton of pictures from the last weekend. Hope everyone is well and I look forward to seeing you all very soon!!! Lots of Love from one girl who is happier than ever to be home :-)

Brasilian Coast

Okay, so two posts in one day...trying to catch up!! I spent the last four days or so in Salvador, a beautiful city on the coast of Brazil. I had a somewhat mixed experience, however, getting away from home and work is always a plus. I went for an AIESEC regional conference (I had been told conferences in AIESEC Brazil would be in English, NOT) so anyway, I arrive to find everything is in Portuguese, and become bored very fast. Also we were staying at what they called a 'hotel' but it was more like summer camp, bunk beds and such, not a huge deal, but we all know how much the mosquitoes love me...however, the food was amazing and some things I hope were accomplished in improving the reception of trainees here. The time I did get to see some of the city however, I enjoyed it. Salvador has a rich culture and wonderful beaches, apparently there is also lots of night life, concerts and shows, however, inevitably, I was not there on the "right" days for these things (I am tired of what has been called my bad luck in Brasil, not seeing anything of this partying and fun). But I also got a bit of a tan, so that was good. Back to work tomorrow though, not looking forward to it really...



First night in Salvador, went for a drink..



The house we stayed at the first night (Viviana (a new member of AIESEC here) and I)



Me and the ocean (we were at a lighthouse, something about a fortress for defense, hmm...was I listening that much?!





A taste of the coast of Brazil (gorgeous...)



Umm...a dance..or fighting..or a martial art...very Brasilian...



A living sculpture...he was pretty good at it too, don't think I could hold that still for that long..



Sunset over the Atlantic...





Why would we let a minor thing like a broken foot stop us from going to the beach?! (Roberta from @Brasilia)



Group Shot



And I bought another wrap...got ones from Tanzania, India and Brazil now :-)



Another shot of the girls



A shot of the beach



Checking out some of the tourist areas...



Oooh...the girls got their hair done ;-)

Well that's all for Salvador...hope everyone is doing wonderful, enjoy the updates!! Lots of Love from Brasil...

"Home" in Brasil

Hey All! Just wanted to (finally) put up some pictures of the place that I am living at. I know these should have been the first ones, but I just never got around to it. I don't have any pictures of work right now, but I will put up one from the website so you can get an idea of what the building looks like!



This is the building that I live in, a lot of people in Brasilia live in these type of buildings, I have not seen that many houses.



The dining room, what you see when you first walk in the door.



The living room, if you turn to the left...



The 'veranda' (Through the living room)...



The tiny kitchen...where 5 cats reside most of the time...



And finally...my room....the place I spend a lot of my time here...



This is a picture of Politec from the website, I realize you can't really tell that much from it...but its an idea!

So I have been trying to upload these pictures for a week, and finally its deciding to cooperate with me...hope everyone is doing well...I miss you all!!

Trying to Keep Busy

Ok, so I guess it is time for an update, because I get so frustrated with anxiously checking everyone else's blog just to find there is no new updates and then here I am taking my own sweet time! Lol. So things are alright here, started work, joined Yoga and trying to keep myself busy. I still find Brasilia rather boring of a city (for my type of a good time anyway), but the general consensus even from people who live here is that it is a political/business city and just not that exciting. I guess I will have to travel around a bit to find the party. So here are the pictures of the places I have been since the last update.

The next couple pictures are at the Templo Da Boa Vontade (sure got that from the postcard cuz I would NOT have remembered). Anyway, this was the most brilliant place ever, I am pretty sure it will be my favorite thing about Brasilia. It is a temple, built for worship but not designated to any particular religion or belief. It is GORGEOUS and such a peaceful feeling overcomes you when you enter. They have all kinds of pictures and symbols from all religions and any person you could possible follow. I loved these statues of heads- they are amazing!



They also have a whole room full of these pictures with all kinds of influential people on them...its just great! (Can you tell how much I loved this place?!) These were the only things I could take pictures of, but there was way more to this place than that- a beautiful open place for walking and worship (that is the main pyramid of the temple) and then a great, quiet room downstairs (where there is a tomb, however I am not sure if there is actually a body in it or it is just for display) but that was my favorite place, carpeted and comfy and quiet, a great place to sit and meditate.





The next two pictures were taken at two other churches in the city, (my "mom" here took me to these places one day, it was interesting because we can't really communicate, but very kind of her to take me out) these ones I belive are both Catholic, but very beautiful as well.






This is a picture from a lakeside place I went with Cris (my younger "sister") to participate in a day with the NGO she works with (the same one that I visited the village with). This bridge is named after the president who build Brasilia and was voted one of the most (if not the most) beautiful bridges in the world, it really is stunning).



Some pet parrots of the person who lived (?) at the lakeside place we were at, not very friendly creatures, but pretty.



The next two pictures are from the zoo here, it was nice, been a long time since I went to the zoo, but here it is VERY spread out, which I am sure is great for the animals, but meant we would walk a bit and then drive a bit. I got sunburned, as you'll notice in the next evening pictures! :-)






The same night as the zoo (Saturday) I attended a graduation party with my "family". This place was gorgeous, I guess in Canada it would be what we consider a hall (intended for parties and the like) but this was more like a mansion, it was gorgeous and great food and drink and music, anyway, I couldn't believe they had such a fancy place! And I got to see just how crazy this family is ;-) But it was a good time, although it was a long day and I was pretty tired!









All in all I'm surviving and trying to entertain myself, I miss everyone at home though and love to get comments and emails and the like! Please keep in touch...take care!! Lots of Love from Brazil...

Adventure Begins..

Ok...so finally, an official post to tell you about how I have been! I left Edmonton last Wed morning at 7:00am from the airport, sad to leave, and tired because it was early, but on my way! I arrived in Toronto about 3 hours later and spent the majority of the day there, sitting in the airport, mostly online, and somewhat on the phone, waiting, waiting, waiting. Finally, I left for my flight to Sao Paulo, I was tired, but not overly and expected to sleep most of the 9.5 hour flight. However, my feet could not touch the ground properly in the chair, making the flight very uncomfortable and my sleep very difficult, I think I might have slept about 3 hours in total. When I arrived in Sao Paulo I had to switch to a smaller, local airport. Oh no! Lol. But it turned out ok because there was a lovely lady who sat beside me on the plane who could speak both English and Portuguese, she helped me to catch the bus (the bus ride was about 50 minutes) but unfortunately she had left something behind on the plane and wanted to go back and check for it. So I arrived at the airport and found where I needed to check in, although it seemed nobody was speaking English, although a lot of people do know a little English it is not common at all. So I waited in line anxiously, hearing things called over the loud speakers, but not understanding anything, I could tell they were calling for flights and check-ins, but I didn't know how to ask in Portuguese and so I continued waiting in line. Luckily by the time they started calling my flight, the lady who had helped me before suddenly appeared behind me again! :-) She had made it back and helped get me to the front of the line to get my boarding passes, and then went with me to show me where the gate was...she was awesome!!! So I arrived at my gate just after the boarding was to have started, but I learned quickly that Brazilian time is also slow...they were still boarding the previous flight, we did not start boarding our flight until after it was supposed to have departed, but either way I had made it. I had lots of trouble staying awake on the flight from Sao Paulo to Brasilia, even though it was only about 1.5 hours, I was DEAD TIRED! So when I arrived I went to get my baggage and was very slow...but when I went through the exit I found my host family and about 4-5 AIESEC people waiting to greet me, with flowers and gifts :-) It was nice to know someone was there to take care of me, but all I wanted was a shower, and a bed! The family brought me to what is to be my new home and I took a fairly quick shower, as they wanted to go out and eat something. (See previous post) That night I slept well and didn't wake up until almost noon the next day. This house is great, the mom cooks meals, so everyday I get breakfast and lunch ;)

The first day I was here we went to the mall for a bit, and inquired about cellphones for me. Since I have been here I have gone out a couple of times. I went with Cris to meet a guy from AIESEC called Enzo for dinner one night at a resturant near the lake, he also brought a friend who spoke English well because he had studied in the US and his friend who is Canadian and works at the embassy here. It was nice to be around people who spoke English.





Then Cris and I went to a workmate of hers birthday party at a beautiful house. It was a low-key business type party, nothing too exciting, but very nice people.

On Sunday I woke up early with Cris and we went with a NGO she works with called Gente Nova (New Person) to visit and play with some children. The 'director' explained to us that in the area all the parents that lived there had HIV and some of the children did as well. We sang songs and colored and brought them candy, they were sooo sweet, I only wish I had been able to talk to them. Some of the older ones tried to speak to me, and Cris explained that I don't understand Portuguese, so then they wanted to learn things to say to me in English, it was very nice, they were quick learners!





When we got home we went out for lunch (the Dad, Patri, Nanda, Cris and I...the Mom wasn't feeling well) and then went to the mall to get my cellphone!!! Yeah!!! We also stopped to visit some friends of the girls, by the end of this day, I was very, very tired! And today was pretty slow. I woke up late because I had been so tired and started to work on the presentation I have to make about Canada. Later in the afternoon I went with the Mom for a walk to Politec (which is where I will work, and its very, very close by) and then around the City Park here, which is very HUGE and beautiful. This evening Patri and I went out to a fairly fancy place with some of her friends for dinner, it was one of their birthdays, nice dinner, very business like as well. And now I am here writing to all of you, hoping that everyone is well. I miss you all very much, I am having a good time in Brasilia so far, but stressed a lot about the language barrier and anxious to start work and see how that goes. I was told that I didn't need to know Portuguese to work at Politec, and I hope that is correct, otherwise this will be a very difficult barrier. Take care everyone, lots of love and please send me emails and leave me comments.....I miss you!!

First Supper

Here is my first picture in Brasilia (leave the ones they snapped at the airport when I was tired and dirty from being on a plane (and in the airport) for the last 2 days)...the picture is of my new family and a few people from AIESEC in Brasilia...we went out for Crepes the first night I was here, all you can eat...very nice! Will take more pictures and post soon!

Quick Update

Well, I arrived safe and sound! The family that I am living with came to the airport to pick me up along with some of the people from AIESEC Brasilia. Right now I am just getting settled, but I will post picture and write more soon when I get back to my computer with a regular keyboard :-P Well regular to me...I miss all of you, so PLEASE leave me messages!!!!!!

Long Hours in Toronto

I'm on my way....right now I'm sitting in the Toronto airport, it's about 3pm and my flight does not leave from here until 10:45pm tonight, so much time to wait. I'm doing pretty good though, starting to get excited about arriving in Brazil, although it was of course hard to leave home too. I'm starting to feel like I should have done more research about Brazil and learned some Portuguese first, but I guess I'll jump right in and I know that I will be fine. This is going to be an awesome experience both life and work wise and I also know that if something doesn't work out, then it doesn't and a great person is always in the back of my mind telling me to let life be. I know that whatever happens, it happens for a reason and I need to keep my head up and keep taking my own advice ;-) So I hope everyone is well getting back to school and ready for fall and winter again, I will be writing next from Brazil and lets hope I start having more pictures to keep things interesting!

One Week To Go

One week to go and counting....as slowly as I can. I am starting to freak out a little about leaving now, I think mostly because it has actually hit me that I am leaving. My visa arrived today, I have my ticket in hand and I've been packing up my apartment to be moved out tomorrow. Wow- for some reason this all happened very, very fast! AIESEC Brasilia has found me a place to live, with a family of three girls and their parents. I am really excited about that, good way to learn Portuguese and three sisters to help me adjust to a new life, I am excited, but I guess with every change there is always a fear of leaving the known for the unknown. Not much else to update about, been down with a bit of a cold the last couple days, but starting to recover. Hope everyone is doing well...

Waiting on Visa

Ahhhh...Well it just hit me yesterday that I leave in just two weeks and a couple days!!!!! Wow, I wasn't ready for this to come so fast. My ticket came today in the mail, so I feel slightly relieved and slightly more stressed as I still haven't received the original documents I need from Brazil to send on to Toronto for my visa and then they have to send it back to me, and now time is running really close. I have arranged a departure session with AIESEC Edmonton at Padthai on Whyte for Thursday at 8pm, for anyone who reads this and might want to attend. Other than that, I have just been robot building at work, and considering packing up my apartment to be able to move out next week...

Mild...?

So following the link on Nithya's blog I ended up with this....

You Are More Mild Than Wild

You're confident, and you really aren't concerned with how "hot" you are. Other people's ideas of what's sexy don't concern you. And this is exactly what makes you attractive.

Are You Hot?

Life

Well, its been awhile since I wrote, but not much has been going on really. I booked my flight, that was kind of scary, so officially I am leaving on Sept 6, however, I still have yet to receive some documents I need to send on for my visa to be completed, so lets cross our fingers that everything goes through before that. Other than that, nothing much is going on, just been working and chilling, spent at least half of this last weekend sleeping and lazing around the house, it was a nice break. Last weekend was Big Valley and also Heritage Days in Edmonton so I checked out both those events as well. Hopefully I'll do something more exciting soon to post about! Lol. Hope everyone is well and enjoying these last few weeks of summer.

Birthday Celebrations

Alright, so Julia keeps harassing me to add some pictures to my blog, so here are a few snaps from the last little while...Enjoy!



Here I am enjoying my birthday cake at the jazz place, the band even played happy birthday shortly before this! It was an amazing fun and chilled out night.



The INCREDIBLE black forest cake Miss Moriah made me on my birthday, it was gorgeous and tasted even more amazing!



We headed into Capital Ex (used to be Klondike Days) in Edmonton and got to visit with Kara who was working there for a bit (a good Augustana friend from Sask).



And for a THIRD bithday cake...haha, can you tell what I LOVE to do on my birthday!? Jill and I celebrate our birthday within 5 days, so we usually get to share a cake.



Us posing for next year's cake!

Well nothing too exciting, but there are some pictures for you all! As for what I have been busy with lately, not too much. Been working and getting ready for Brazil (mostly mentally), Moriah and Tyler have changed their minds about keeping out apartment and are moving to Hinton, so I have to figure out where I am going to put all my stuff sooner rather than later. I also heard back about my visa and am waiting for some original documents to be mailed from Brazil, so hopefully this doesn't delay my departure date, however, because my ticket it non-refundable, I have yet to book it, because I don't want to take that risk. Other than that hmm...went home to Sask last weekend, did a bit of visiting with the family, showed Bishop around the farm and got to bring the Nova back with us...oh Belinda (that's her name), I love her! Jill, Jeff, Nicole and Marco are here for this long weekend to celebrate Big Valley Jamboree, some HUGE, crazy party, so I will have to join them there tonight probably. Also it's Heritage Days in Edmonton, so I hope to get up there and look around and eat some good food, sometime this weekend. That's about it for now!