House being sold

Hi all,

Well I'm mostly recovered from the giardia and shock of finding out that my folks are selling the house. The giardia only took some time and some pills for my appetite to come rushing back. Getting over the house change will probably take a bit longer but I'm pretty stoked for the long term. It's a good move for my parents. Dad can design a house that he's probably been dreaming up in his head for the past 20 years and they can have somewhere a little smaller, on the Kam River (which has voyageur connections, I love that), closer to Mom's work etc. Of course there are some drawbacks. I'm a little nervous about having all my boxes and boxes of stuff sitting in the old house and needing to be moved. Partially because I feel really bad for my parents having to deal with that and partially because I'm worried what will happen to it in transition (and what might get "accidentally lost" (I'm kidding... no offence or hurtful things implied here)). I figure, also that I haven't spent more than a few days here and there in that house in the past year, and for Sky it has been much much longer.

Ok, Mom and Dad, can I put in requests now? You've got the nearby running water which is great but the new place will need a fireplace as well. And not one of those gas fireplaces. Those things don't count.

As much as I know it shouldn't be, it's hard to let go of really familiar things. Writing about the fireplaces I'm reminded of all the patterns in the rocks of the fireplace at my folks house that I have memorized (and the scar on my head that I got from that same hearth). A new place will make good opportunities for new memories though.

Ok, so it's official

Yup, that's right. I do indeed have Giardia.

Not that I doubted the diagnosis of fellow teachers (after all, they MUST have extensive medical training), but a real live doctor told me today that I have it.

I'm a perfect 5 for 5 for all of the major symptoms.

1) Persistent yellow diahrrea
2) Burbs that smell like sulphur
3) Lack of appetite
4) Bloated feeling
5) Inability to not strangle annoying adolescents

Sorry if that is a little too graphic for anyone, but I'm grumpy because I don't like eating anymore. Don't worry, I'm sure that will change soon. Hopefully I won't have lost too much mass before it does (and if you find my use of the term "mass" rather than "weight" strange, I apologise but it's a physics teacher thing.... gotta use the right terminology).

Back from a trip to Selento with my best friend Giardia

Right near where we stayed there was this trout farm where you can pay 2000 pesos (about a dollar) for entry and bag of food. The little trout go CRAZY for the food. It's absolutely hilarious to watch them swarm. As you might have guessed it's hard to get much besides trout in Selento. These ones come as eggs from Canada.
The Valle del Corcora (right near Selento) is famous for its Wax Palms. They are enormously tall and skinny (kinda like me). Just to give you an idea of size that's me standing at the bottom.
Giardia caught up with me pretty bad on Sunday so I wasn't able to make it to the hummingbird sanctuary. Sigh...... This one was taken by my friends Aaron and Aloni.


Ok, as you might have guessed from the title I've contracted giardia (or beaver fever as we Canucks call it sometimes). I've pretty much had the runs pretty bad since Friday morning. That didn't stop me from going away thought!

This weekend was a long weekend (didn't take long in the school year to get to one of those hey?) and I went to the town of Selento with my friends Aaron, Aloni, Regan, and Caroline. It was a 4 hour bus trip to Armenia (the town) and then another hour to Selento. We stayed there (I felt awful by this point) and then traveled to the Valle del Corcora, a beautiful nearby valley where we stayed. I did some swimming, walking (I want to say "hiking" but I wasn't up for hiking), visited a trout farm, and spent lots of time in the hammock near the bathroom. It was a great view but the Giardia symptoms were getting me down a bit. It's not that bad but I just don't feel well and I have to force myself to eat anything. Tomorrow I should be able to get some meds for it. I haven't seen a doctor yet (that's tomorrow's plan) but apparently having your burps taste like sulphur is the number 1 sign.

Anyway, a fun weekend had by all and a lot of time spend in the company of the necessary on my end.

First Week of school all over

Cool bug in my apartment. Emily told me the name but I've forgotten it now.

Well, I've survived the first week of school in style. I feel a lot more stable, capable, and experienced this year..... It really is a big difference in feeling. I did a good job last year but I'm a lot more focused this year and everything is flowing smoother.

The class I've got now has had a bad rep in the past but I'm having a lot of fun with them. The classes are TINY as well. One group had on 11 students this week. 11!!!!! Just nuts. My biggest is 17. Yes Ontarians you can officially start getting angry at me.

I haven't done much of any science with the students this week because it has been all community building stuff. They've got to feel safe/included/respected first so we'll get there soon enough.

I had a strong bout of the runs this morning which was a great way to start Friday so I'm feeling pretty worn out but it's a long weekend coming up witch hopefully will leave me regenerated. I'm going to Selento with some other teachers (2.5 hours north of Cali). Don't worry, I'll bring the new camera and post some pictures at some point. For now I leave you with some pics of this cool bug that was in my apartment. Emily told me what it is called but I forget. Feel free to write a comment if you know.

Yikes for the newzies

The wife of one of the new teachers working at the school (she's not working at the Bolivar) got mugged at gunpoint and had her wedding ring taken.

Talk about a bad end to your second week in a new country.

She was walking near her house (which actually isn't that far from my place.... but don't worry about me. If anyone ever mugs me they can have whatever they want) and some guy came up on a bike and pulled a gun (not sure if it was real or not) and took her ring. She speaks spanish as her first language so I'm not sure if that makes it better or worse.

Anyway, she is pretty shaken up about it. Understandibly.

As one of collegues says, "a lot of people here have nothing, and they're angry."

Just a little reminder that although I live in a pretty nice neighborhood, Cali is a city with a lot of poverty problems.

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One more work day before the kids show up on monday. I'll be at school this weekend for sure. I feel pretty relaxed but I have a lot to do yet.

Em gets back from her canoe trip tonight:)

Blog accessibility

You know... blogs are funny things. They are special because you can view them from anywhere, anytime (ok, not anywhere)

The catch to that is that there are times I can't write as much as I want to because anyone could check this (and, in fact, if you look up my name on Google you will find this Blog).

Which means that there are certain things that I'd love to tell people about but that really have no business going on a site that ANYONE can acess from home. I don't really have to do that much self-editing but but sometimes I almost start writing something and then remember the profession that I'm in and that I need to keep a professional appearance to some degree.

Sometimes I also catch myself writing about a friend or colleague in such as way that I have to erase it. Some people wouldn't want stories about their lives put up on a public space on the internet, which I totally appreciate. Especially for teachers with teach savvy students.

Of course I have to think about people who read this ..... my university friends might not apprecitate the same anecdote that my grandparents would be interested in etc...

I just find it funny how a blog seems like it would be a journal but ends up being COMPLETELY different.

P.S. How did you like that story that my friend in Mexico sent to me?

More pre-student ramblings

Well the view just outside my classroom that I posted about this time last year (see the archive if you care to) is not quite as pretty anymore. They are tearing down the pre-primary building just across the fence so now I get a pretty view of construction. On the plus side the rest of the school is just as pretty as ever.

We're trying to implement a new middle-school wide program called "lifeskills" that aims to focus kids on the five major lifeskills of Truthfulness, Trustworthiness, Respect (appreciation), Active Listening, and Personal Best. It takes a little bit of a change from the normal way that teaching has gone on at Colegio Bolivar in the past so that people are using the same language and emphasizing (sp?) certain things. Some people (myself included) are really jumping on board but some people are a bit resistant. I guess if you've gotten comfortable with what you are doing you don't want change. I guess that means I never got to comfortable doing this job (I mean that in a good way... I remained challenged). It'll take some working out for sure but hopefully all goes well.

I feel like the first day of school with kids is coming really quickly and I'm not sure how I'll be ready.... But I still feel WAY more prepared than last year.

Emily is on a canoe trip with the rangers right now so I hope that the weather is good.

I forgot to bring bars of Ivory soap this year and thankfully Julie Hew came through and brought some with her after I emailed. Go out and buy a bar and put it in the microwave. Trust me. It's great. I promise it won't explode.

I'll probably be in this weeked making sure that things are all preped and ready to go. It has been a nice quiet week though so I don't mind putting in a little more time.

Scott and Sonia's new place

This is where my friends Scott and Sonia have moved to. They used to live next door to me in an apartment but when this little house became available they jumped at the chance. I'm sure you can see why. I'll be spending a lot of my weekend time here, no doubt.
A pic of Scott and Sonia's porch just before some frisbee golf. My new roomate Michael is on the far left followed by Scott, Sonia, and Regan.

Summer Pics

I took a trip to the Grand Portage Historic Site with some Forters. This is the lookout on the way there. I know it looks like I'm drinking beer but it's actually one of those fancy root beers that they sell at Rydens.
Emily and I on our roadtrip down to the Souix. We're at Neys park here where we almost ran into her Ontario Rangers who where doing some work in the park.

Pictures Tomorrow

I'll try to post some pics tomorrow to add a little flava' (as all the cool kids are saying these days).

A great story

Hi all,

Just to give you an idea of how nice my teaching situation is here I pass on a story sent to me from a friend at the Faculty of Education. She is teaching at an international school in Mexico and has just started her second year.

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My Health science class has a semester long project they normally do BUT this semester there is to be a change (I was told this at 8am this morning when my first class was to start at 9am). The change is that 2 of my 5 classes (which two classes I do not yet know) will be doing a different semester project then the other three class ....

'Details' of the New Project :
~ Has not yet been designed or the design has not yet been released to the teachers if it has been finished.
~ Is to be done in the new science labs...that do not yet exist (no floor or walls let alone material/benches/etc...minor details)
~ Is to be done in Spanish...but do not worry, there is a rubric (in Spanish) for me to use to mark them (them being the Spanish projects...In an English course with a teacher who does not speak/read/understand enough Spanish to mark a semester long Spanish project properly)
~ Is to be supervised by me in the new Fully Equiped Technological lab (which again does not exist) and were I have never once tried to use any of the new equipment ... let alone know how to teach someone else how to use it (such things as wind tunnele, race tack simulators, virtual everythigns, ect...really cool stuff but I know nothing about them let alone how not to break them)

Again don't worry...They will PROBABLY have SOME sort of training for the teachers who are teaching this mysterious project in a mysterious lab some time between the time we actually get a lab and before the end of Oct when the projects are due ....UMMMMMMMMMM?????


I gave this assignment to my students this morning...We all had a good laugh together...I think tonight I might have a good cry!

I hope this email finds you slightly less stressed them I am at the momment.

Back in Cali - YEAR 2 BEGINS

Hi all,

So I’m back in Cali after my lovely Canadian summer. It has been a really long time since I’ve posted so I’m sure that I would have lost all of my valued readers if most of them weren’t family members.

I had a great time being back in Canada. Things smell different (familiar). I got to spend time with Sky and Wendy and my Mom and Dad. I got to visit my grandparents, and see other family members. I spent Rendezvous and another day volunteering at the Old Fort, and I spent as much time as possible with Emily. All things that are pretty high on my “Matt’s favorite things to do” list. I’m sure that I’ve left out many important things and people….. it’s entirely NOT on purpose though. As Mom always said, I’ve got a good memory but it’s short. It’s great to be back but it was hard to say goodbye. Especially to Em. Don’t worry, I won’t get to gushy here.

I was supposed to leave Thunder Bay at 6:30am but there was a huge storm the night before and WestJet wasn’t able to bring their planes in. They wanted to put me on another flight but that would have me arriving a bit late in Toronto (and changing terminals) and the people at the Air Canada booth politely told me that if I didn’t arrive early enough I might just loose my $1000 ticket and have to buy another one (that would, most likely, cost $3000 at that point).

I HATE AIR CANADA – WITH THE FIRE OF A THOUSAND SUNS

Sorry if any of my faithful readers work for Air Canada or know someone who does. I don’t hate Air Canada employees. Just the company that they work for (and some of their co-workers). I ended up buying a stand by ticket through Air Canada and getting to Toronto on time so AC didn’t have to follow through with their threats. WestJet was kind enough to refund the price of the ticket even though I flew with their competitors. Ok, I’m done ranting.

So I’m back in Cali. It’s nice seeing everyone. There certainly are a lot of cool people here. Shortly after returning I went up to the pension Stein (the old swiss consulate that has been turned into a hotel… .see the beginning of my blog for pictures of myself there last year) to visit the new import teachers. It’s such a weird experience seeing these people going through what I was going through just a year ago. They are so full of energy, but slightly burnt out at the same time. They’re overwhelmed, excited, and a hundred other emotions. It’s strange seeing someone in a very different state of mind than myself, but a state of mind that I can totally empathize with.

We took all the new teachers out to the place that I went last year called Kukaramakara and danced, listed to an awesome band, had them try aguardiente (the Standard Colombian drink).

My new roommate, Michael, is great, not that I had any worries in that department. He’s pretty much exactly where I was last year. To be honest it has been a little hard to get used to sharing the space with another person though. I’d gotten so used to having the place to myself (really, a ridiculous amount of space for one person) that it has been a bit of a change having another person around.

Today is actually the first day of school and I officially have access to a fast internet connection again. No students yet so I’m got this week to get things mostly organized. Wish me luck.

I was watching the BBC news last night and they were focusing on the Israel-Lebanon conflict going on right now. Heavy stuff…. It got me thinking though…..

How can we think that we have a valid frame of reference? There are innumerable examples throughout history where people had opinions considered very normal that we find abominable today. Similarly, there are people reasonable, mature people all over the world who believe radically different things. How then, can we consider that our own frame of reference, and what we consider right, moral, important, wrong etc has any bearing on truth?

Any thoughts?