back from the bread basket
i just got back to toronto after a fairly whirlwind, but amazing trip to regina beach, home to calgary and then to smalltown manitoba.
i flew to regina last friday and spent the long weekend with 10 others at a friend's family cottage in regina beach (about 40 mins northeast of regina). most people's response to this destination was "there's a beach in saskatchewan?" indeed there is, a pretty bumping beach. the word of the weekend was 'douchebag' because there were so many extreme dudes (aka douchebags) with nipple rings, surf shorts, butt cracks, and beer.
the long weekend was terrific. it was all calgary or ex-pat calgary kids. we ate lots of food, drank a little too much (pilsner...according to pilsner advertising saskatchewan is pil country. we bought into it...). we did a lot of fun/nerdy calgary things like mini golf, rock band on playstation, started water fights, and did photo shoots. good times. we also watched the euro cup final in which spain won. i found out a few days later that i had won the soccer pool i joined (the winnings were about $70). woot! i guess i will pay some bills...
we drove to calgary on canad-uh day. i was only in calgary for two days, but i still got to see everyone i wanted to see. luckily i saw most people out at regina beach, but i fit in some breakfasts and late night drinks. everyone was talking about sled island music festival (www.sledisland.com), which seemed pretty awesome. the line-up included yo la tengo, mogwai, jonathan richman and about 177 other terrific acts. i think i will try to get out to it next summer.
a bunch of us went to the stampede and gorged ourselves on mini donuts. i went on a couple of rides, the swings and 'euro-slide' (best name ever). i'm basically a chicken when in comes to anything more spinny. i just feel nauseous and get a headache. two friends came with their 5 year old son and their 3 week old daughter. she was cute, though still looked a little space-wormy.
i was sad to leave calgary so soon. all my friend there are amazing people. i miss calgary in serious ways. if only calgary had a major league baseball team and was closer to new york- i would move back in a heartbeat! though i wonder if when i'm back in calgary if it's a bit of a false economy? i'm usually there at christmas or summer when others are back and everyone is in a partying mood. it wouldn't be as go go go on a regular basis. i sometimes think about becoming a guidance counsellor in schools- which would give me the summers off. i could spend a bunch of time in calgary every year and this could satisfy some of my needs to remain connected to the city...
i left at 4:40am on friday to drive to pine falls manitoba (which in just south of lake winnipeg on the winnipeg river. it's just down the road from sagkeeng first nation at fort alexander). my mom wanted to visit some old friends there- she used to teach at the sagkeeng community school for about 6 years. we visited and old teaching friend and her husband. they live in pine falls are in their mid-eighties now. i was glad to visit them (my mom's friend is pretty cool and somewhat progressive- a bit of a shit disturber in her united church congregation). i was also glad to spend some time with my mom. i think it meant a lot to her. we also went to visit some other teaching friends and former students who live on the sagkeeng reserve. we were able to catch up with one man, which was lucky because he is moving to winnipeg in a month. stephen harper's recent apology for residential schools was a hot topic of conversation. most people seemed to think it was okay that an official apology was made, but aren't really that impressed with it as it doesn't create any real change. white people seemed to be more impressed with it than any aboriginal people we talked to, but that isn't much of a surprise...
i also liked going on the visit because my mom talked more about her time up there, which is usually a blackhole for information or remembering. i feel like i know my mom a bit better now and feel like i know more about my own history too.
i flew to regina last friday and spent the long weekend with 10 others at a friend's family cottage in regina beach (about 40 mins northeast of regina). most people's response to this destination was "there's a beach in saskatchewan?" indeed there is, a pretty bumping beach. the word of the weekend was 'douchebag' because there were so many extreme dudes (aka douchebags) with nipple rings, surf shorts, butt cracks, and beer.
the long weekend was terrific. it was all calgary or ex-pat calgary kids. we ate lots of food, drank a little too much (pilsner...according to pilsner advertising saskatchewan is pil country. we bought into it...). we did a lot of fun/nerdy calgary things like mini golf, rock band on playstation, started water fights, and did photo shoots. good times. we also watched the euro cup final in which spain won. i found out a few days later that i had won the soccer pool i joined (the winnings were about $70). woot! i guess i will pay some bills...
we drove to calgary on canad-uh day. i was only in calgary for two days, but i still got to see everyone i wanted to see. luckily i saw most people out at regina beach, but i fit in some breakfasts and late night drinks. everyone was talking about sled island music festival (www.sledisland.com), which seemed pretty awesome. the line-up included yo la tengo, mogwai, jonathan richman and about 177 other terrific acts. i think i will try to get out to it next summer.
a bunch of us went to the stampede and gorged ourselves on mini donuts. i went on a couple of rides, the swings and 'euro-slide' (best name ever). i'm basically a chicken when in comes to anything more spinny. i just feel nauseous and get a headache. two friends came with their 5 year old son and their 3 week old daughter. she was cute, though still looked a little space-wormy.
i was sad to leave calgary so soon. all my friend there are amazing people. i miss calgary in serious ways. if only calgary had a major league baseball team and was closer to new york- i would move back in a heartbeat! though i wonder if when i'm back in calgary if it's a bit of a false economy? i'm usually there at christmas or summer when others are back and everyone is in a partying mood. it wouldn't be as go go go on a regular basis. i sometimes think about becoming a guidance counsellor in schools- which would give me the summers off. i could spend a bunch of time in calgary every year and this could satisfy some of my needs to remain connected to the city...
i left at 4:40am on friday to drive to pine falls manitoba (which in just south of lake winnipeg on the winnipeg river. it's just down the road from sagkeeng first nation at fort alexander). my mom wanted to visit some old friends there- she used to teach at the sagkeeng community school for about 6 years. we visited and old teaching friend and her husband. they live in pine falls are in their mid-eighties now. i was glad to visit them (my mom's friend is pretty cool and somewhat progressive- a bit of a shit disturber in her united church congregation). i was also glad to spend some time with my mom. i think it meant a lot to her. we also went to visit some other teaching friends and former students who live on the sagkeeng reserve. we were able to catch up with one man, which was lucky because he is moving to winnipeg in a month. stephen harper's recent apology for residential schools was a hot topic of conversation. most people seemed to think it was okay that an official apology was made, but aren't really that impressed with it as it doesn't create any real change. white people seemed to be more impressed with it than any aboriginal people we talked to, but that isn't much of a surprise...
i also liked going on the visit because my mom talked more about her time up there, which is usually a blackhole for information or remembering. i feel like i know my mom a bit better now and feel like i know more about my own history too.