Vegan hiking boots!

Mom brought up the good point a while ago that it was going to be hard for me to find leather-free hiking boots. (I don't eat meat except free range organic chicken and I think it would be totally hypocritical of me to wear fur, leather, suede, etc!)

Found some!

http://www.garmontusa.com/881252601.html

They got great reviews at http://www.backpacker.com/digital/article/0,1023,309,00.html. I keep hearing the hiking boots are absolutely necessary for where I am in the rainforest. Plus, I want to walk around all the Myan ruins and I'm sure I'll be hiking all over the place during my travels.

still not dead

no bleeding from the eyes yet.

Got my longer job description that says I get no language training (YIKES! But Claudia, my boss at CUSO, said she'll try to work something out) and they want me there May 2. I really can't leave that early because I have to check people out of residence, but that's great that they want me early! Hopefully my health insurance goes through without a hitch -those forms are being couriered by Nancy tomorrow- and I can get a departure date!

Still don't know my living arrangements. That part of the package should be coming in next week. With all of my stupid food intolerances, I don't want to have to live with people who want to feed me, lol.

Ottawa: wasting time, getting yellow fever and birthdays!

Well, my whole plan of getting my passport renewed, driver's licence renewed and police check definitely didn't happen when I went back to Ottawa last weekend.

I checked to make sure that I was 16 when I got my passport so I knew to bring my renewal application form. WRONG! I was 16 when it was issued but I was 15 when I applied. My cheap 15 year old self got a child's passport. So after parking in the Market and paying for parking after nearly 30 minutes of driving around downtown, running across downtown to the far end of Sparks Street and running through the door 2 minutes before they closed, I was sent away. UGH. I totally understand but was super frustrated.

Stop #2 on my super productive Ottawa trip was to get my driver's licence renewed. It expires on November 25, 2008. After getting totally lost and ending up at Hog's Back (don't ask me how), I managed to find the office at Merivale. Turns out you can't renew your driver's licence more than 6 months before it expires. "So that's, like, May 25!" Um, yeah, you know when I said I leave MID-May? Grrr.

So my two big errands were a bust. Fortunately, Tiana had the great idea of getting my international driver's licence. That doesn't expire for a year, so I have to get on that soon. The police check just didn't happen because I was having a good time hanging out at home with Jeffrey and Brendan, so I really don't have an excuse for that one...

Nancy noticed last Thursday that I had a rash where my yellow fever shot was. I didn't think much of it, but then on Friday started getting symptoms. There's a 1 in 200 000 chance of getting yellow fever from the vaccine and the nurse said I would know if I got a rash. Well, surprise! When I got off the bus to Ottawa on Friday, I was super dizzy. I actually called Jeffrey (55 cents a minute!) to tell him to call my mother if I didn't call him back in half an hour because something was wrong with my brain. I made it home fine but every time I stood or walked, it felt like the ground was moving. It was messed. I also had a headache constantly from Thursday until Sunday. I had muscle pain in my arms and jaw. Plus some other symptoms that aren't so fun...The Telehealth nurse who didn't know anything about yellow fever told me to see a doctor on Sunday. Instead, I emailed Dr. Wise, the travel doctor that's our contact for placement, who responded: "it will go away! don't worry". The dose in the vaccine shouldn't be enough to cause any serious symptoms but that hasn't stopped me from joking about bleeding out of my eyes. Yum.

Jeffrey has requested I don't die before he visits for Easter this weekend, so I suppose I should accommodate his request.


My little cousin Gerald turns 7 today and Brendan turns 15 (!!!!) on Wednesday, so we had their birthday parties on Saturday. Unfortunately, everyone couldn't be there (hockey and Florida), but it was good times. I stole some of Jeffrey and Daddy's ice cream cake and ate delicious salmon. (While everyone else ate pork...so sad.)





Daddy bought a Wii which was a blast all weekend. Jeffrey made me watch him play for over 70 minutes to become an expert at tennis...I spent the majority of my weekend parked on the couch (or standing in front of the TV) with Jeffrey and Bren. We also went out and watched "Be Kind Rewind", which wasn't as bad at the first 30 minutes make it out to be. Although Jack Black really lost a lot of credibility as an actor for me. Very sad. All in all, this means that I got no school work done (although I was very productive on the bus) and 0 Spanish studied. Woops.

On that note, I'll be spending this St Patty's Day doing readings, Spanish studying and rounds since I'm on duty*

*for those of you who don't know, I'm a residence advisor at UofT Scarborough. So I'll be walking around dealing with drunk people all night and answering phone calls for noise complaints and lockouts. Whoohoo!

shot party with my husband

Health forms are complete! I gave Nancy (my co-op supervisor) my receipts for my forms being signed and my TB test this morning and my package of forms. I wrote up my page and a bit about all of my health issues :p Hopefully the insurance company doesn't make me do extra tests because of my asthma, chest pain and stupid stomach. *Fingers crossed* Also gave Nancy a present of maple syrup which caused her to squeal and give me a hug across her desk, haha.

Maple syrup is nothing since I owe her! CUSO and Oxfam-Quebec didn't ask for my resume based on a chart of everyone in my program. Nancy sent in my resumes anyway after I bugged her. And, go figure, I got hired by both! The Oxfam job wasn't as perfect, so my Guatemala job was an easy choice.

Dave and I went to get our shots today. We got typhoid and yellow fever shots. Technically I don't need yellow fever but I will need it if I travel to Brazil or Bolivia. Also got cholera booster powder crap that you mix with water and tastes like "raspberries". Or crap. Depending on what raspberries normally taste like to you. Prescriptions for Cipro (traveller's diarrhea) and Chloroquine (malaria) were given, too. So as soon as I get those prescriptions, I'm DONE with my health stuff! Woot.

The doctor was convinced we were married. She thought it was romantic that I want to go visit Bolivia. Uh, sure. "Do you always travel together?" Makes you a bit nervous when your travel doctor forgets you're going to two different countries/regions...

Our first Spanish lesson on Monday was good. Los palillos are chopsticks! Not the most useful addition to my vocabulary but it was relevant in the discussion because we were eating stirfry. Francis assigned me homework, which was helpful. Ania got some grammar tips. It was good times. Another "class" on Thursday!

I got traumatized by looking at Leslie's pictures of Costa Rica. I'll post some later on...scorpions, snakes, spiders and lizards...oye.

first entry!

About two months left to go before I head off into the Guatemalan rainforest. Well, technically I haven't sent in my signed contract to CUSO or been approved for health insurance, so there is potential I won't go. Technically.

I started a to do list on the side. There are approximately a million things to do in my last two months here in Canada. All of my health insurance sign offs from the doctor and tests were completed last week! Whoohoo! Remind me of things I'm missing. I don't want to forget anything!

And this week I'll be sending in all of my documents to the health insurance company and my acceptance letter to CUSO. Hopefully on Tuesday Dave and I can get our shots (or at least talk to a travel medicine doctor). On Friday, I'll be back in Ottawa. I'll be getting my licence and passport renewed that day.

Things are moving along!

I'm really happy to be leaving in May. The thought of spending a summer in Canada, anxiously waiting to head off to Central America, is brutal.

My placement is, at this point, 8 months long. Which is nuts because it means I'll be done before Christmas! However, I do plan on staying in Latin America for the holidays and travelling.

Three of my friends in my program are going to be in Latin America as well. Ania is going to be in Honduras, Francis in Nicargua (the jerk passed up a job in El Salvador -we would have been so close! Haha) and Dave in Bolivia (COCHABAMA! *hip wiggle*). We are all scheduled to leave in May. Dave and I are working for the Canadian placement agency CUSO (although we have different local partners we'll directly be working for). Francis and Ania were hired by Oxfam-Quebec but are also working for local partners.

We'll be doing Spanish practice sessions at my place twice a week starting this week. My Spanish is the weakest (the only verbs I recognize are the ones that are very close to French verbs). Dave is from Colombia, so his is pretty good, and Francis has become nearly fluent in only a few years -he tutors it now! Ania has taken classes and picks up languages really quickly. So hopefully they can whip me into shape in the short two months we have left...YIKES!

On that note, I have some residence stuff to work on and then should practice some Espanol!