Ahh internet… It’s been four days since I was last online. A lot has happened, and my back is sore to prove it. This might not seem so summar-ary in length, but here’s a shot recap of what’s been going on with us.
Day 1 – Sunday
Sunday was brutal. In order to economize, our organizer booked us the cheapest tickets available with the Portuguese airline. Unfortunately, that meant being at the airport at 5:30, which meant waking at 4:00 am, which meant that most of us were pretty out of it for the actually travel portion of the trip. It’s a two hour flight from Paris to Porto, and another 2 hours from Porto to Braga by train. By the time we hit our hotel, it was around noon, which left us plenty of time to tour the city.
Braga is a city of about 160,000 people. Most of the houses are small townhouse style places with bright colours (either pain or decorative tiles) along the outside. The city center, where we are staying, is quite small (it feels like the downtown core of my hometown) and full of huge open spaces, churches and gardens. There are no sidewalks here, just one cobblestone street that snakes between all of the buildings. Because there aren’t a lot of cars people just walk in the middle of the street, which makes the street feel much wider than it would in most cities.
The other notable thing about this city is the prices. Compared to Paris, it feels like I’ve gone back in time 50 years. Two coffees and a tart? €1.55 (Paris Price: 6.50€). Dinner for two? €12 euro (p.p. 30€). A beer? That will be a €1.20 (p.p. 5€). We later discovered that we paid too much, most people drink beer at about 75 cents a glass. On our first day, we reveled in the prices as we toured around number the “snack” shops of Braga. This is a city that loves having a quick bite. For every Starbucks in Vancouver there is a pastry shop here.
So far, everyone here is loving the trip.
Day 2: Getting down to work
Day 2 marked our first day of work, as well as our first casualty. One of the people on the trip fell ill over night and spent the day sleeping back at the hotel. The rest of us drove about 30 minutes to the work site to get down to work.
The project we are working on is a small piece of a very large tract of land. The entire area is owned by a single family, split between several brothers and their mother. The plot that we are working on is a small percentage of everyone else’s land, donated to one of their brothers who did not have a stake in the farm and was suffering financial hardship.
We met with the receiving family that morning. Jose, his wife and two children (aged 10 and 13) are helping to build the house as well. Habitat requires that the people receiving the donation put in what they call “sweat equity hours” during the project. Jose is working on the site when he can get time off of work. His little boy helps out with some brick laying work when he can, and his wife, daughter and mother are cooking our lunches each day.
Lunch is always home made from their garden, delicious and massive; apparently the people of Northern Portugal are hearty eaters. One of the really cool things that I found out later is that we are actually paying the family for the meals that they cook, which means that they are getting a chance to earn for their work as well. We only pay a little, but for the two weeks we are here it ends up being the equivalent of a months wages at a minimum wage job, or 450€. Considering that the mother would otherwise not be able to work as she has to tend to the farm and kids, I think that this is actually a really great part of the program.
As for the work, well, it was definitely a good introduction to labour.
We are building a 99 square metre brick house. When we got there, the floor, walls, and roof had been roughed out. Our team split into three groups for the days work. The first group spent their morning digging trenches along the back of the house for the second group, who was setting up scaffolding in each of the trenches. The third group was in charge of carrying a pallet of cinder blocks up onto the roof. Sarah split her time between groups two and three. I spent my day digging, and breaking up the people sized chunks of granite that lined the hill.
The hammering work was great as a way to start as it helped remind us of the value of skill over enthusiasm. Our foreman came by at one point in the afternoon and said something to us in Portuguese that roughly translated to “You’re doing it wrong”. After we hammered away at the boulder 12 or 14 times a small chunk would come off. He picked up a hammer and shattered the whole stone in just two swings.
By the end of the day we were all bagged and went home for a shower and an early bed time.
Day 3 and 4: Roofing, flooring and mixing.
We woke up on Day 3 tired, but with still a little energy left. The casualty from Day 1 was feeling much better, but it seemed that the day had claimed someone new. I’m fairly certain that he had just drastically overworked himself – I watched the guy busting boulders for the first part of the day, and Sarah said that he was dead lifting huge bricks over his head all of the afternoon. Between the two, I’m pretty sure he blew out his abs and back muscles. With a little R&R he ended up fine for Day Four.
The rest of the group spent our day building support beams out of bricks on the roof, and pouring concrete flooring into one half of the building, which we finished on the fourth day.
Day four was February-in-Vancouver rainy, and nearly the entire group was inside finishing the floor from the previous day, or applying concrete to the walls. The concreting part was a blast – we picked up a gob of material with a trowel and flung it at the wall as hard as we could so that it would stick. Repeat until done. We were basically having a mud fight with the inside of a box – you’d think it would be no contest, but we all have horrible aim and there were a lot of friendly fire accidents. By noon, we were all covered from head to toe in concrete or freezing rain water. Graciously, the organizer gave us the afternoon off.
That brings us to now… We are heading out for dinner in about an hour with the head of Habitat Portugal. Rumour has that we are going out for Bar-b-q somewhere which will be awesome. Tomorrow is our first day off, and I think we will be heading out to the beach.
More updates to follow at an unknown point in the future.
Wednesday, July 22
Saturday, July 18
A Month of Celebrations
The last four weeks have been full of celebrations.
Fete de la Music
In the second to last week of June, we celebrated the Fete de la Music: An international celebration of Music, with it's roots in Paris. The entire city turned into a huge party, with bands on nearly every corner. At one point, we stood at an intersection with three different groups while a marching band walked between them. I have some short video of some of the acts that I will toss up on youtube at some point.
Quebec
Next, we had Quebec Day towards the end of June. The embassy (Yes, Quebec does have it's own embassy in Paris) threw a giant party, with a rockabilly band flown in from back home, a poutine truck and Unibrou beer. Unfortunately, no one in this country knows how to pour from a bottle, so everyone ended up with three inches of head in their glass, but I can't complain. Good beer is good beer, no matter how much head it has.
The highlight of that night for me was listening to a fight between a French man and a Quebecois girl about whether or not Quebec was a Country.
Movies
The following Saturday marked the beginning of the Fete de la Cinema - the first of two Paris film festivals. Basically the way it worked is you had to pay full price for one movie, and every subsequent movie you saw for the next week, at any theatre and at any time, costs only 3 euro. With every venue participating, it would be hard to find something not worth watching. (A challenge that we were able to meet, mind you.)
Canada
During the middle of the Fete de la Cinema, we celebrated our second national holiday of the season. Canada Day!!! In what I assume was an attempt to play catch up with Quebec, the Canadian ambassador hosted a party at the embassy during the early evening. He did one up Quebec on beer - serving the same Unibrou variety, but at a euro cheaper - but I'm afraid that the food and music didn't quite match up. Chips and candy were the night's gnosh, and the musical guest for the evening was an older French gentleman in a pink shirt singing the national anthem. I think that this might have been our ambassador, but I'm really not sure.
Wil (my cousin) and Katja (his SO) were in town for that week, and were able to make the party. This worked out really well, actually. As the night wore on, people started playing that Canadian Classic Party game 'Do you know Joe from.' Wil, to my great amazement, actually did. I figure since Sarah and I brought him as our guest this qualified as a team win.
Post embassy, we headed out to a bridge for a drink-a-long with some other Canadians, and finished at the Canadian pub. Sarah had met the bartender earlier in the evening and would not be deterred in coming by to say hello.
America
Following just behind Canada day, of course, is July 4th. Surprisingly, the Independence Day celebrations in the city were few and far between, so some friends of ours organized their own event. Along with about 10 other Americans that they had met while in Paris, we headed out to Parc Monceau for a picnic, where we ate delicious flag themed cake. The park closed a little on the early side for our tastes, so when someone mentioned that they knew a fun place with good beer we couldn't resist. As it would happen, we ended up at the other Canadian Bar in Paris; although, for the occasion they had covered their beaver with Stars and Stripes. Most of the rest of the evening was spent appreciating the finer points of Budweiser, teaching drunk teenagers from Alabama how to play Jungle Speed, and shooing Irish men off of our table. (The table jig was popular that night.)
France
Finally, the biggest even of the month, Bastille Day (Or July 14th, as it's known around here). The morning began with a military parade just down the street from us. I'd never seen an all military parade before, it was very cool. It began with a mounted marching band followed by Sarkozy (have video - will post one day). Then each area of the military marched a regiment past, followed by horses, an air fly bye, tanks, trucks, jeeps, and ending with 7 parachuters who used the French flag as their chute. The highest appluase was reserved for the Firemen and Doctors who each count as part of the service. The award for silliest hat goes to the Engineering School, Ecole Polytechnique.
The middle of the day is reserved as a time for people to meet (flirt with) their service men. Troops gather at different spots around the city and show people around the equipment, shake hands, talk, etc.
In the evening, we went out to the Champs des Mars to watch a concert and fireworks. The lead singer that night, Johnny Hallyday, was paid 500,000 euro for his performance - which is a steal, considering there were well over 700,000 people in the park. 70 Cents a head. The sheer number of people was mind boggling. The entire evening concluded with the coolest fireworks and light show that I've ever seen. It combined music, visual images projected onto the Eiffel Tower, and fireworks to represent France's history since the late 1700s.
There have been no shortage of weekend events in July, but I think that things are going to be a lot calmer in August. Nearly everyone has left for vacation, and most of my meetings at work are postponed until October due to everyone being away. It will probably be a nice change to recover.
Fete de la Music
In the second to last week of June, we celebrated the Fete de la Music: An international celebration of Music, with it's roots in Paris. The entire city turned into a huge party, with bands on nearly every corner. At one point, we stood at an intersection with three different groups while a marching band walked between them. I have some short video of some of the acts that I will toss up on youtube at some point.
Quebec
Next, we had Quebec Day towards the end of June. The embassy (Yes, Quebec does have it's own embassy in Paris) threw a giant party, with a rockabilly band flown in from back home, a poutine truck and Unibrou beer. Unfortunately, no one in this country knows how to pour from a bottle, so everyone ended up with three inches of head in their glass, but I can't complain. Good beer is good beer, no matter how much head it has.
The highlight of that night for me was listening to a fight between a French man and a Quebecois girl about whether or not Quebec was a Country.
Movies
The following Saturday marked the beginning of the Fete de la Cinema - the first of two Paris film festivals. Basically the way it worked is you had to pay full price for one movie, and every subsequent movie you saw for the next week, at any theatre and at any time, costs only 3 euro. With every venue participating, it would be hard to find something not worth watching. (A challenge that we were able to meet, mind you.)
Canada
During the middle of the Fete de la Cinema, we celebrated our second national holiday of the season. Canada Day!!! In what I assume was an attempt to play catch up with Quebec, the Canadian ambassador hosted a party at the embassy during the early evening. He did one up Quebec on beer - serving the same Unibrou variety, but at a euro cheaper - but I'm afraid that the food and music didn't quite match up. Chips and candy were the night's gnosh, and the musical guest for the evening was an older French gentleman in a pink shirt singing the national anthem. I think that this might have been our ambassador, but I'm really not sure.
Wil (my cousin) and Katja (his SO) were in town for that week, and were able to make the party. This worked out really well, actually. As the night wore on, people started playing that Canadian Classic Party game 'Do you know Joe from
Post embassy, we headed out to a bridge for a drink-a-long with some other Canadians, and finished at the Canadian pub. Sarah had met the bartender earlier in the evening and would not be deterred in coming by to say hello.
America
Following just behind Canada day, of course, is July 4th. Surprisingly, the Independence Day celebrations in the city were few and far between, so some friends of ours organized their own event. Along with about 10 other Americans that they had met while in Paris, we headed out to Parc Monceau for a picnic, where we ate delicious flag themed cake. The park closed a little on the early side for our tastes, so when someone mentioned that they knew a fun place with good beer we couldn't resist. As it would happen, we ended up at the other Canadian Bar in Paris; although, for the occasion they had covered their beaver with Stars and Stripes. Most of the rest of the evening was spent appreciating the finer points of Budweiser, teaching drunk teenagers from Alabama how to play Jungle Speed, and shooing Irish men off of our table. (The table jig was popular that night.)
France
Finally, the biggest even of the month, Bastille Day (Or July 14th, as it's known around here). The morning began with a military parade just down the street from us. I'd never seen an all military parade before, it was very cool. It began with a mounted marching band followed by Sarkozy (have video - will post one day). Then each area of the military marched a regiment past, followed by horses, an air fly bye, tanks, trucks, jeeps, and ending with 7 parachuters who used the French flag as their chute. The highest appluase was reserved for the Firemen and Doctors who each count as part of the service. The award for silliest hat goes to the Engineering School, Ecole Polytechnique.
The middle of the day is reserved as a time for people to meet (flirt with) their service men. Troops gather at different spots around the city and show people around the equipment, shake hands, talk, etc.
In the evening, we went out to the Champs des Mars to watch a concert and fireworks. The lead singer that night, Johnny Hallyday, was paid 500,000 euro for his performance - which is a steal, considering there were well over 700,000 people in the park. 70 Cents a head. The sheer number of people was mind boggling. The entire evening concluded with the coolest fireworks and light show that I've ever seen. It combined music, visual images projected onto the Eiffel Tower, and fireworks to represent France's history since the late 1700s.
There have been no shortage of weekend events in July, but I think that things are going to be a lot calmer in August. Nearly everyone has left for vacation, and most of my meetings at work are postponed until October due to everyone being away. It will probably be a nice change to recover.
Monday, July 13
Burrard Bike Lanes are Open
The Burrard Bike lane is open as of today!
Vancouver Mayor, Gregor Robertson, made a promise during his campaign last year to open a single lane of the Burrard bridge to bike traffic. I wasn't sure that he would actually be able to follow through on that promise, but it sounds like he has. This should be very nice for cyclists that need to get into the downtown core, or out to the UBC Campus.
Apparently something similar was tried back in 1996, but it was only scheduled for a one week trial, with a followup trial to be scheduled within the following six months. It seems that after the first trial, so many people complained of the congestion that the second one was scrapped. This time around, the city has decided to run the trial for longer. It will run for a full month with a possible 2 month extension. Hopefully during this time people will have a chance to get used to the altered lanes and it will stick around.
One really strange thing that the CBC mentioned is that the eastern side of the bridge (where the bike lane is) has been shut off to both traffic AND pedestrians. This is probably OK, as I imagine that most of the traffic is along the western side of the bridge, but it does seem odd to me to group the cars and people in one lane, and bikes only in the other. I would have figured that bikes and people would have been lumped together.
If anyone reading this is in Vancouver, I'd be interested to hear what the new lane is like.
Vancouver Mayor, Gregor Robertson, made a promise during his campaign last year to open a single lane of the Burrard bridge to bike traffic. I wasn't sure that he would actually be able to follow through on that promise, but it sounds like he has. This should be very nice for cyclists that need to get into the downtown core, or out to the UBC Campus.
Apparently something similar was tried back in 1996, but it was only scheduled for a one week trial, with a followup trial to be scheduled within the following six months. It seems that after the first trial, so many people complained of the congestion that the second one was scrapped. This time around, the city has decided to run the trial for longer. It will run for a full month with a possible 2 month extension. Hopefully during this time people will have a chance to get used to the altered lanes and it will stick around.
One really strange thing that the CBC mentioned is that the eastern side of the bridge (where the bike lane is) has been shut off to both traffic AND pedestrians. This is probably OK, as I imagine that most of the traffic is along the western side of the bridge, but it does seem odd to me to group the cars and people in one lane, and bikes only in the other. I would have figured that bikes and people would have been lumped together.
If anyone reading this is in Vancouver, I'd be interested to hear what the new lane is like.
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