daveandsarah.ca

A quick burst and a mild delay

2010-07-29T01:06:00.001-07:00

Tonight is our last night in amarante. This means it's the last night that I will have reliable wireless for a little while. I'm going to try to upload a few different things over the next 9 hours followed by a five day silence.

And then... All ofthe leftover details.

Amarante: Our work (Part 3)

2010-07-28T15:51:00.000-07:00

The last three days on the worksite have been pretty light. Habitat hadn't really anticipated having a group at all during this time, so the planned work was low.

We did manage to finish the tiling, and as much of the painting as they would let us do. The exterior of the house is cemented and painted as well, and the roof is done except for a tiny patch that is being left open until the very end so that people can access all of the wiring.

We also managed to build up some small retaining walls along the exterior, and change the orientation of the entrance a little to allow for a stoop. This is where Sarah spent the better part of her time this week.

Under the cardboard is tile that matches the wall. These are two of the bedrooms and the edge of the kitchen. Below is the rest of the same room.

We will be the last Habitat group to work on the house before it is handed over to it's new owner, Lourdes, and her family. As you can see, there is still plenty of work left to do. The rest of it will be finished off by private contractors, so that the final product looks as good as it possibly can. Habitat's mission is to build cheap houses for people in need, but they also put a huge focus on making homes that people will be proud of.

To close off our time here, we bought a small housewarming gift for Lourdes, and a case of beer for the contractors that had been helping. I think the construction team was trying to hide their mid-afternoon beer breaks, but it wasn't totally succesful. Finding the hidden cooler of beer was a good afternoon game for the group.

Amarante: The Chateau

2010-07-28T15:46:00.001-07:00

Last night we had a nice surprise. One of the sponsors of Habitat Portugal invited us out for dinner at the "Chateau", home to two Michelin star chefs.

For dinner, we had a three course meal with wine pairings. Our first course was giant prawns in orange froth, served over fruit salad and caviar. The main was a roasted pork dish, with a layer of dark meat, a layer of light meat, and a layer of cracklin', served with courgette, mashed yams and roasted carrots. For dessert, we had a trio of orange ice cream, chocolate lava cake and fresh strawberries topped with meringue.

All evening, we also enjoyed bottomless glasses of wine from local vineyards. Our white was light, cold and bubbly, while the red was smooth and buttery, with a faint hint of the sweet taste of port.

Amarante: R&R (Part 2)

2010-07-27T14:50:00.000-07:00

Our third day of rest was originally slated as a beach day; however, Miguel had other plans for us. We were invited to join his youth hostel for a trip to the mountains. But, before that, we would have a night on the town.

In small cities, it really helps to have a few connections. As it turns out, Alfredo's (one of the hired assistants on site) brother owns the local pizza joint, and the best nightclub in town. He hooked us up with private access to the VIP lounge -- a bean bag and couch laden balcony overlooking the ancient church and river -- our own dance floor, and discounted drinks all evening. After three hours out, our total bar bill for Sarah and I was just 18 euro.

The bus to the mountains left at 9 the next morning. The total trip out there ran about an hour and included a generous hike/rock climb. Once at the final destination, there was a bar-b-q and home made bagaço waiting beside waterfall fed lagoons. The rest of the afternoon was to be spent eating, drinking, swimming and lounging in the sun.

At least, this is what I'm told. When the hotel woke Sarah and I up to deliver our towels, the clock read 13:47, and the mountain folk were already sleeping off their meat-coma. We had opted out so that we could try and make up a few of those lost hours of sleep that we had been accruing over the last month.

I have no regrets.

I also didn't need towels that badly.

While our team was in the mountains, we spent the better part of the day in bed watching awful movies. Not wanting to miss all of the action though, we did eventually rouse ourselves for a trip downstream to swim in the river, and for a bit of a walk through the old town.

Our group was reunited again around seven, and we went out for another fabulous Portuguese feast to close off the day.

Amarante: Our work (Part 2)

2010-07-26T09:43:00.000-07:00

Our second stint of work was short, only two days, but it felt more productive. In the last two days we have been priming, painting, tiling and grouting. All things that are more visibly rewarding than mixing barrels of cement.

The outside of the house has changed a lot since we first got here. We applied three coats of concrete to the original brick wall: one to seal the bricks, one to make the wall level, and one to smooth the wall out.

After the final layer, we primed and painted. This is the colour that the house will be in the end. The nice thing about working in this heat is that the paint dries really fast. We can get three coats in eight hours if we time it right.

Inside of the house things have been changing rapidly as well. We've had three teams in there rotating through all of the rooms in shifts. Between painting the roof, tiling the floors and walls, and doing the final grouting, things are starting to look finished.

I'm not sure what our last three days will bring. Hopefuly we will have a chance to do some cabinetry or install the toilet and shower.

Mobile blogging.

2010-07-23T00:12:00.001-07:00

Last year I didn't write much about our Habitat trip. My excuse being that it was a pain to get near a computer, and nigh impossible to upload photos.

This year, iPhone in hand, I'm experimenting with mobile blogging. Both of my previous issues now gone, I am free to write about our travels almost as fast as we experience them. Writing while driving back to the hotel at the end of the day is a nice way to conclude our work, and it helps keep my mind off of the rollercoaster bus ride through the hills.

The only difficulty I have now is getting a wifi signal long enough to actually post something. Amarante has free municipal wifi, but it is extremelly spotty. Consequently, my evenings in Portugal are spent very semaphorically. As I post this, I'm standing on a chair, one leg wrapped around a pole, waving my arms wildly at the sky, trying desperately to avoid the eye of any passing airplanes.

I'm also not totally sold yet on the blogging apps that I've found online. One likes to post everything twice, and the other sort of mangles the layout of text and images on upload. Neither has decent spellcheck. For the time being, though, I'm happy to make the quantity/quality tradeoff if it means I can actually journal some of our travels.

Amarante: R&R (Part 1)

2010-07-22T14:33:00.001-07:00

Part of the Habitat for Humanity Global Village experience is being able to go off the work site for some cultural exploration. During our trip this year, we will have four days of Rest and Relaxation to offset our nine labour days.

Our first R&R day was also our first day in Portugal. Our host for the day, Miguel, drove us out to a hidden swimming hole that's really only known to locals. It sounds pretty, and it was, but what he forgot to tell us about was the hour long hike in and out. It was lacking a bit in Rest, but swimming in the shade with the fish and the frogs was definitely heavy in Relaxation.

In the evening, some of us took a paddleboat down the river that runs through the city.

Miguel concluded our evening with a walking tour of Amarante followed by drinks and music at the county fair.

Our second R&R day was today. The idea this time was to see some other portuguese cities. Our final destination, Braga, was the site that we visited in 2009. Before we arrived, we made a short stop in gumares: the birthplace of Portugal.

As the story goes, there was a prince who wanted to be king, but he wasn't in order down the family line. So, he raised an army, and beat away the competition from the surrounding lands until a new kingdom was created around him. The center of this kingdom was the castle at gumares.

After the visit and a pastry, we drove the last few kilometers to Braga, and it's famous church, the Bom Jesus.

If it looks small in the picture, keep in mind that it's one km from the stairs to the front door.

The afternoon was "free time" in the big city. Some people went touristing, some people went shopping, me and the other two guys on our trip went and found a local watering hole, and exposed our young French companion to the Portuguese drink Bagaço. This spirit, made from the leftover grape product after making wine, tastes very much like kerosene mixed with boot leather and moonshine. Definitely a highlight not to be missed.

We took our chasers in a lounge down the way. This was definitely a fond memory from last year. The patio is unmarked, and almost totally hidden from the road. The atmosphere is very nice. Like someones backyard, but with sofas, a bartender, and soothing trance music. without a doubt, this is the best place for a beer and a siesta that I've found in western Europe.

To close the evening, the group met up again for dinner. The food that we've had in amarante has been gorgeous, but there are a few things that we could only get in a bigger city.

We split our group down the middle, between those that have been complaining that there was too much meat, and those complaining that there wasn't enough.

For the meatatarians, we took a trip to a rib and bar-b-q restaurant; something that is a true rarity in western Europe. Our French worker, Niko, told me afterwards that this is the first time he had tried this kind of food.

The rest of us went to the only vegetarian restaurant in Braga, and the best veg restaurant that I can remember eating at. Vegetarian lasagna, soy stroganoff, and mushroom paella filled our plates and bellies, but left just enough room for spicy chocolate pie.

My evening capped off with a photo.

As we were walking back, a few of us spotted this old guy.

Somewhere amidst the reams of photos taken today is a picture of me, and one of our team mates riding high and ringing the bell.

Amarante: Our work (Part 1)

2010-07-21T10:24:00.001-07:00

This year we are entering the project the equivalant of one week's worth of work after when we left last year, so there is a nice sense of continuity for our team.

Most of the work is in the finishing of the house. It's the kind of work that you might do on a more extreme home renovation. The floors and walls are all up, and about half of the shingles were in place when we arrived. Our work involves tiling the floor, insulating the roof, painting the interior, and installing some of the larger appliances and cabinetry if we have time.

We are high in the mountains this year, with an excellent view; but, it's HOT!! Our first day of work was more than 35 degrees in the sun.

This is the front of the house on the first day. We are working on the middle (where the family lives) and top layers (the roof). The bottom layer will be turned into a root cellar after everything else is done.

And this is our view as we work.

Lunch is held at a campsite further up the mountain. For an extra twist, this year all of our lunch is catered vegetarian cuisine.

So far, I've been spending my mornings on the roof trying to fit large pieces of styrofoam insulation into awkward spaces.

After three days on site, the house already looks very different. We have finished the front and back sides with smooth cement, and tiled about 70% of the floor space. The insulation is done except for one small corner, and we will be filling any remaining gaps with foam on Friday.

Location:N15,Amarante Municipality,Portugal

Arriving in Amarante.

2010-07-18T07:12:00.001-07:00

We managed to make it safely to our Habitat for Humanity build, albeit we had no shortage of bumps along the way.

Let me back track a bit and recount the craziness that was our trip planning process.

A Long time ago, our team took a vote to decide where we wanted to go for H4H 2010, the top choices being Ireland, Portugal and Hungary. As it turns out, Ireland is for US groups only, and the only spot in Portugal didn't fit our team vision. So, we picked a build in Miskolc, Hungary, where we would be building a home for autistic adults.

About four weeks ago, which happens to coincide with the week before my vacation to Canada, I got an email letting us know that the Danube had flooded out the city of Miskolc, and the city would no longer be able to support a build. So, we scrambled to adjust the trip to the other build location in Hungary, Varpolada.

Well, Varpolada was looking good for a while too. It lacked the Unesco World Heritage site of Miskolc, but it did come with a giant inland lake, which means beach time! Unfortunately, roughly 10 days ago, smack in the middle of my vacation, I got another email from Hungary. This time to let us know that the homeless shelter in Varpolada had decided to see other people, and would be hiring a contractor to do their work.

Getting over the "it's not you, it's me" emails from H4H was pretty easy, as we didn't have much time to organize our yet-to-be-determined Plan C. We managed to get lucky, and our friends in Portugal still had a spot for us. A few thousand euro in flight change fees later, and we had the makings of a new trip planned.

With a little extra money, we would be able to make the trip just fine. We hit a bit of a snag with our accountant and his four week vacation, but I can't exactly complain as I'm taking five.

And so, Sarah and I left PG on the morning of the 15th, and arrived (two layovers, three late planes and a missed flight later) in Paris on the night of the 16th where I picked up a giant (7700 euro) wad of cash that would bankroll the trip. As long as I could hold onto it for 24 hours, we would be in the clear.

Did you know there are pickpockets in Paris?

On the way to the airport the following morning, a kerfuffle started up behind me that culminated in a slap fight and yelling match between two older women and a young man. While I didn't catch most of the wording, I did get the idea when the woman pointed at my backpack. Once firmly shut, the outer pouch was now fully open, and the contents were displayed for all to see. Luckily, the thief opened the 'tampon and kleenex' part of my bag, and not the 'camera, iPod and wad-o-bills' compartment.

This little adventure was bad for my psyche, but was a good reminder about the dangers of putting all your bills in one basket.

After this, the rest of the trip was more or less uneventful. Weade our (delayed) flight OK with all participants, and checked in o our hotel in Amarante. The first 12 hours have been great. We had a delicous welcoming dinner for the group last night, including mixed grill, fried octopus, salt cod, wine, "duck fish", baked jalepenos, and the best mushrooms that I've ever had. This morning involved sitting on a sunny terrace and sunbathing by the river.

Tomorrow, we begin our build. It's been a long road to get here, but I'm sure glad we've finally arrived.

The French lessons are paying off; belatedly.

2010-06-08T04:36:00.001-07:00

Sarah and I have been taking French lessons through the City’s Continuing Studies program for the last few months. The progress is slow, but I’m definitely starting to pick up some of the finer details that help to turn a conversation from ‘Quoi?’ to some basic level of understanding.

The details in some cases are truly subtle though – at least, for me – and often come a little too late.

Take this example, Sarah spent a good portion of Friday with a bad bout of dizziness. After I got home, I popped over to the Pharmacy and said:

Ma femme a des vertige. Avez-vous medicaments pour les vertige?

Whatever I had said was clearly wrong. Yesterday our class focussed on medical ailments, and I learned that the correct form is actually:

Ma femme a les vertige. Avez-vous medicaments contre les vertige?

Apparently, instead of asking for pills to prevent dizziness, the small change in words actually meant:

My wife has a fear of heights. Do you have any pills to make her dizzy?

Now, knowing why I got that particularly strange ‘I will not be an accomplice’ look from the clerk, I think I should be better able to avoid the mistake in the future.

Next step: Pronunciation. I really need to get to the point where I no longer walk into a bar and ask for a pint of butter.

Digital Torch

2010-05-07T05:45:00.001-07:00

UVic folks will be familiar with the school’s alumni periodical: The Torch.

It looks like they’ve made the move into the online world, and decided to keep the traditional magazine layout in the process. The implementation is really nice. I think this is the first online ‘paper alternative’ that I’ve seen that still feels like a magazine. (Albeit, the NYTimes Reader does a super good job of Newspaper emulation as well.)

The format replication is definitely appreciable for this months photo-heavy issue. All of the material retains the same stunning look that the paper copy would have and is very easy to flip through.

Very nice.

Hey, where's that guy been?

2010-03-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

This space has been dead for a long time. Normally, I'd chock that up to typical blogger laziness. Searching the blogosphere reveals that this is a common problem, with most sites split equally between over active mommy-bloggers, people who post "I've been gone a while, but I'm really going to blog this time," and pictures of kittens. I've been second tier twice.

But, this is not one of those times!

Actually, I've been offline for the last few weeks on a lent-related internet fast. Sarah and I started practicing lent last year. So, this is only our second time through. For those unfamiliar with the history of the practice, here's a short primer.

In the Christian calendar, the period of time between Fat Tuesday and Easter - not including Sundays - make up the forty days of lent. Depending upon the particular traditions of your Church, you might use this period of time to fast from certain foods, engage in specific activities, or abstain from something. Most non-catholics I've spoken to follow the abstinence part only. On the subject of abstaining, the reasons again fall into one of two main categories. Either it's a form of penitence (I will give this up to invoke some personal suffering for some reason or another) or it's to make room in your life for spiritual reflection. I'm not a big believer in the benefits of personal suffering... but I can see the benefits of making space for things often left undone.

And so, this lenten season, we've both elected to give up some sort of addictive element from our life in order to make room for something better. In my case, that thing is 'wasting time on the internet/computer outside of work.' And hence, I haven't been spending much time here.

What about this post? Well, it's Sunday so that's OK.

Giving up such a large part of my life at home has definitely been a huge challenge. Made more difficult I think in that only one of us actually stepped away from the computer. Although, I've balanced the scales in the number of cadbury mini-eggs I've consumed during Sarah's 6 days a week of 'no junk food'.

It's also been a huge challenge in terms of getting things done. For whatever reason, the tail end of March has a ton of things crammed into maybe a week of real time. But, the pre-planning for this week is intense, and is being made unnecessarily difficult by the lack of weekly computing.

At the moment, the lack of a computer is feeling like less of a spiritual sacrifice, and more of a pain-in-the-neck.

That said, some of the upsides have been huge. For example, during the first Saturday of lent, I managed to kill 2 things from my monthly to-do list, and 4 things from my 'do this before leaving paris' list. Some of these things I'd been procrastinating for 10 months or more. The lack of my normal outlet for free time has really forced me to leave the apartment, and see the city I live in, and to meet real people face-to-face.

Also, I think 40 days away from the time wasting aspects of my computer have reminded me of some of the more valuable things that I could be doing. Certainly during the first few days/weeks I missed surfing youtube, fark and slashdot, but eventually that faded away, and I started thinking more about some of the other things I'd like to do that have real value, but are often overlooked due to procrastination or the perception of a lack of time. There are some professional development activities that I've been putting off for far too long, as well as finishing getting some photos online, backing up old data, and writing about some of the more interesting things we've done so far in 2010 (it's been a really good year, on the whole).

Easter is coming up soon, and I'm definitely looking forward to spending more time on the laptop. But, I think... I hope, that I'll get back into this activity with a renewed sense of balance as to what sorts of things are important, and what things can perhaps be left in 2009.

Assiette de Beurre

2009-12-31T04:31:00.001-08:00

This week, a friend of ours is hosting a high-school-aged family-friend from the US. This has given Sarah the opportunity to play part-time tour guide for Aric (that’s the friend-of-friend) during the week, while his host family has been working.

Their time thus far has been split between Versailles, and a shopping/cafe/chocolate tour through the downtown core. Sarah has some experience with the latter, and I think she’s getting pretty good at finding some of the finer choices around town.

I met up with them last night towards the end of their day, just in time to catch a quick dinner before Aric had to run off to Zorro: The Musical. They’d both already had the standard quick bites that the city has to offer (sandwich, Panini, kebab, etc) so we opted for Brasserie fare instead. We managed to find a reasonably priced menu that included dinner and dessert and would give our guest some choice in what he’d like to try.

Between us, we ordered one of each of the dishes offered that day...

A Duo of Fish, in a butter and chive sauce, served over ratatouille.
Tortellini Primavera.
Chicken Fricassee (basically roast chicken and boiled potatoes, swimming in buttery chicken broth).

...with Apricot Pie, Apple Tart and a cheese plate for dessert. The cheese plate was a little unusual compared to what we usually find in France. Typically, you’ll get either an assortment of three cheeses, or a single type cut very large. Aric’s plate came with two slices – one blue and another cream coloured.

I’m sure if you understand the title, above, you know where this is headed at this point. Unfortunately, poor naive Aric, and his not-so-bright hosts, did not.

Aric dared the blue first, but I don’t think he’d really developed a taste for it just yet, so it didn’t sit well. At this point in the evening we were running behind so we counted out our change for the waiter, and rushed to pull our bags and coats together before running out the door. “Eat the white one then…” we encouraged, “I don’t know what it is, but just cut a big piece and let’s get out of here.”

OK, so that was a bit of a fib. I was actually pretty sure it was comte, a harder cheese that’s a little like a mild cheddar. Or possibly a gouda of some kind. In any case, it had to be tasty, there are very few cheeses that are not worth eating in this country.

“Well, what do you think?” I asked.

“I think…” he quietly started, interrupting himself to take a bite of bread and a large gulp of water “…that it was butter.”

Fail Whale

2009-12-29T07:03:00.001-08:00

I’ve finally caved and decided to sign up for a twitter account. For a long time, I’d passed on the basis that the platform was unstable and unreliable; then I avoided it on the basis that my preferred user name was taken by someone that doesn’t even use it. Both pretty lame reasons, actually.

Now that I have a shiny new iPhone, I feel the need to be in constant connection with the rest of the world, and so a twittering I go.

The very first thing I saw after account creation made me feel very welcome. I think this is part of the authentic Twitter experience.

Steven Harper can play the piano

2009-12-26T04:38:00.000-08:00

I was browsing the 'Top News Stories of 2009' on the CBC, and found a picture of Harper in front of a Piano. How did I miss this news story?

OK, so it's definitely a publicity stunt ("Look, I can play piano! How can I hate the arts if I can play piano?"), but it's a good one. I hate to admit it but I like the guy a little more after watching this.

(There's a worse version sans advertising over here.)

Pandanggo Sa Ilaw and Filipino Christmas Dinner

2009-12-25T17:03:00.000-08:00

Sarah and I were lucky enough to be invited to a Filipino Christmas party this past weekend, and oh my goodness the mountains of food were absolutely incredible. While I know very little about the Philippines in general, I'm certain that this is a place that never let's you leave the table hungry.

Aside from the food, we got two glimpses into some more cultural events through traditional dances and games that went on throughout the afternoon. The most impressive dance by far was the Pandanggo Sa Ilaw -- in which each dancer balances a candle in each hand and on top of their head. I'd heard about this dance from a co-worker (she does this in her spare time), but had never actually seen it done before.

After the dinner was done, the adults had set up a pinata-like game for the kids. Someone had created a kind of chandelier out of bamboo, and tied pieces of candy to it using small pieces of string. The chandelier was connected to a rope, which in turn was connected to a Filipino woman standing on a chair on the other side of the room.

The way the game ran, the lady would slowly let the chandelier drop from the ceiling and then pull it back to just above the reach of the pirana-children below.

When the chandelier first dropped, it was like the raptor feeding scene in Jurassic park. The kids went wild, and all grabbed candy with both hands at once. The lady in the corner struggled to regain control of the chandelier as it shook violently from side to side, but eventually it rose above the masses, and the lady let the kids have a quick break to unwrap their goodies before starting a second time. She also used this time to get a much firmer grip on the rope.

The second time, she was a little more cautious, but her opponents were a little wiser in their approach. Instead of grabbing for the candy, they all jumped up and grabbed the chandelier itself. The combined weight of the kids managed to send the chandelier crashing to the ground - and the Filipino woman soaring through the air.

The kids, now covered in candy, had no idea that they had just introduced the other woman to the miracle of human flight. The woman, however, was not to be deterred. She dusted herself off, hung another chandelier from the roof, and kicked open a window so that she could dangle outside to give herself extra leverage. That was the last that we saw of that game, but I have no doubt that she gave the kids a good run for their money on the second round. That, or she was launched clear over the building and into the Seine.

The difference a Union makes.

2009-12-23T08:11:00.001-08:00

For five years I've worked for one company. Last year, I moved to a new geography, and with that came a lot of changes. One of these was the addition of a Union.

Sometimes, not always, I really appreciate that this group exists in our office. Typically it's the little things that I notice, like the ability to complain that the new cleaner the janitor is using stinks, and actually smell a change later in the month. Earlier in the week, I mentioned to a Union rep over lunch that the lock on my door had been broken for three weeks, and that my complaints to facilities seemed to be falling on deaf ears. A locksmith came by that afternoon to fix the issue.

Today, we got some great news in a global communication from HR (How often does that happen?). The short version is that due to some outside circumstances a few years ago, the bonus payout for that year was lower than it probably should have been. To compensate, they will be augmenting the payout this year.

Even though it probably doesn't amount to a lot (maybe €100-200 in my case), it was awesome to see that the company's good fortune is somehow related to my own.

Having been through very similar circumstances 3 years ago in a non-unionized office, I'm confident that this new addition to my wallet is in a large part due to having adequate union representation within the company.

What a difference.

Holiday Baking 2009 - Rumballs

2009-12-19T06:46:00.000-08:00

Each year we try to add a new recipe to our Seasonal repertoire. This year, living without an oven, our choices are a little bit limited. So, we hit the books and found a revised version of a previous favorite.

Rumballs!!

Crush 200g of Chocolate Cookies into a bowl.
Add 3 tablespoons of Sweetened Condensed Milk, 1 teaspoon of Vanilla extract, and 1/3 of a cup of Rum. Stir.
Pour 112 grams (4 ounces) of melted chocolate into the bowl and stir.
Chill for one hour.
Roll into walnut sized balls, and roll in sprinkles, cocoa or desiccated coconut.
Ideally, let age one day in a sealed container.

The real secret to Rumballs is in the odour of the presentation, not the actual taste. You get the best reception if you use cheap rum, and keep them in a sealed container.

Rumballs - Smells like a panhandler, tastes like Christmas.

Christmas Tunes

2009-12-14T03:01:00.001-08:00

A friend just sent me a great link to an online streaming Christmas music website.

http://www.accuradio.com/holidays/

They have a huge variety of Holiday related music (Christmas and Hanukkah). Some of the specialty stations are great, like the ‘Nothing but Chestnuts roasting on an open fire’ station.

Gold, Frankenstein and Myrrh

2009-12-14T02:53:00.001-08:00

Saturday and Sunday were caroling days for Sarah and I. She performed in a Christmas concert on Saturday afternoon and evening, that ended with a bilingual sing-a-long. It definitely took me be surprise when we switched languages, but I think I held my own (lyrically, not tonally) during most of the carols, due to some early childhood pageant experience in French Immersion Kindergarten. It’s amazing how that stuff sticks with you.

The following morning, our regular service at Church was taken over by the children. The older kids read the manger story from Luke, while the younger kids acted out parts of the story. The kids were awesome. Most were dressed in the typical Christmas pageant fare: tin foil halos and dish towel headdresses. One kid, who couldn’t find a proper sized robe, was sporting a bright red Superman cape instead.

My favorite part of the service was definitely the, slightly edited, reading of Matthew 2:12, when the wise men came bearing gifts to the new born baby Jesus.

On coming to the house, [the magi] saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and Frankenstein and myrrh.

Travelling in 2010

2009-12-11T01:05:00.001-08:00

Being in Europe is great for travelling. There are so many place so close together that are worth visiting.

One of the strangest things about the travelling, though, is the amount of planning involved. You have the option of either doing everything completely last minute (day of, kind of thing) or 3-6 months in advance. Anything else and you end up paying two or three times the price. Sarah and I are much more accustomed to thinking in terms of weeks, so we’ve been trying to bring a little forethought into our vacation planning. One thing that has been helping is that everyone around us is starting to talk about travel destinations for summer 2010, which is forcing us to think about it as well.

So far, we’ve lined up three trips, and are waiting to confirm on a few more.

Amsterdam – A friend of ours described this as ‘the best vacation you will never remember’. We are very lucky to have friends that live in the city, and will be doing an apartment swap at the end of January.
Canada – We are scheduling a trip back for a family related event in the summer. Probably early July. I’m going to try to swing a business trip in there as well, which will hopefully mean a week in Vancouver.
Hungary – Last year we travelled to Portugal for two weeks to build a house. This year, we will be doing a similar event, but in Hungary (near Budapest). The trip will be either the end of July or the first part of August. If anyone feels like cat sitting during this time, let me know.

It’s also the season for Company vacations. The Comité d'Entreprise (like a Union) plans trips for the employees. Since Tuesday they’ve announced 8 different vacation options. I’ve signed up for a few of them, but won’t receive confirmation until the end of the year. I have my fingers crossed on Venice.

Totally 80's weekend!

2009-11-15T04:50:00.000-08:00

There have been many times throughout our life together where Dave has turned to me and referenced some famous eighties movie, only to have me stare blankly as the reference went over my head. Usually this results in a "that was from such and such movie silly girl" "yeah but I never actually saw said famous movie" "WHAT WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU WHO DID I MARRY MY LIFE IS A LIE."

Then we typically go through a list of commonly watched 80's movies with me having watched a tiny fraction of our peers' standard repertoire. For the record, I missed: Ghostbusters, The Breakfast Club, Top Gun, Alien(s), Terminator 2, The Goonies....and that's a very short list. I didn't see Dirty Dancing until only a few years ago. I'd never seen a movie with Molly Ringwald in it.

SO, Dave and I decided that this weekend we'd have an 80's movie marathon! So far, we've seen The Breakfast Club, The Goonies, Sixteen Candles, and we have Ghostbusters, Alien and Pretty in Pink cued up.

These movies are pretty good! Not only that, but now I'll totally get all future references to these movies. Yes! I'll be cool! Finally! I can join in with the rest of my generation! HAHAHAHAHA!

Maybe if I'd spent less time continuously watching Back to the Future, Star Wars, What about Bob, and all those Ernest movies, I'd have done this years ago.

Now, I must learn why one must not cross the streams.

Whatever that means.

On Poppies.

2009-11-12T00:42:00.000-08:00

A discovery that we made this last week is that Poppies and Remembrance Day are not commonly associated in France. Or really anywhere other than the Commonwealth.

Our lapels had an empty spot until the night of November 10th, when Sarah stopped by the Canadian Embassy in the hopes that they had imported some for the expats in town. With our poppies firmly attached to our lapels, we spent two days fielding the common question: Nice brooch... where'd you get it?

To which we were able to share a bit of Canadiana in response.

I'd go on here about it, but I found a nice summary on the CBC this morning that I think is worth putting up.

Why the poppy?

The association between the poppy and war dates back to the Napoleonic wars, when a writer saw a field of poppies growing over the graves of fallen soldiers.

During the Battle of Ypres in 1915, Canadian Lt.-Col. John McCrae was inspired to write the poem In Flanders Fields on sighting the poppies growing beside a grave of a close friend who had died in battle.

The poem was a great inspiration in adopting the poppy as the Flower of Remembrance in Canada, France, the U.S, Britain and Commonwealth countries.

The first poppies were distributed in Canada in 1921.

Today the volunteer donations from the distribution of millions of poppies is an important source of revenue for the Royal Canadian Legion that goes toward helping ex-servicemen and women buy food, and obtain shelter and medical attention.

And of course, the referenced Poem.

In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

-- John McCrae

November 11 in France

2009-11-12T00:29:00.000-08:00

November 11th is a National Holiday in France, but it's not quite the same as it is back home.

In Canada (and other commonwealth countries), we set aside one day of the year to remember those who have lost due to the tragedy of War. In the US, this same idea is captured by Memorial Day, in May.

Here, they have two days in the year that they remember war, but for them, the days are tied to specific events. In France, November 11th is set aside to honor Armistice Day, or the cessation of World War 1. In May, they set aside time to remember World War 2.

Consequently the ceremonies around the city of Paris were much smaller than I had expected. At 10:45 yesterday I walked down a very empty Champs Elysees to Etoille to watch the ceremony taking place at the Arc de Triumph. At around 11 am, a motorcade drove slowly down the boulevard and stopped at the base of the Arch. Out stepped President Sarkozy, and the German Chancellor Merkel. After a quick promenade around the Arc they jointly carried a wreath to the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, listened for the Army chorus to sing their respective National Anthems, stepped back into their vehicles and left. While the ceremony carried almost as much somberness of the one I'm used to watching in Victory Square, it lasted only about 15 minutes from start to finish.

I think the most striking thing of the whole event was watching the crowd that turned out. While it was small, the crowd represented many nations. I heard voices speaking in French, British, North American (USA and Canada, I assume), German, and other dialects. No one nationality dominated the event -- this was really a world wide ceremony. And when the last post was played, each person there stopped, waited, listened, and remembered. Together.

House votes in favour of Healthcare Reform

2009-11-08T00:35:00.000-08:00

A vote went through in the US today to pass part of a healthcare reform bill in the US. This is truly amazing. I really didn't think that would ever happen.

More details here, and here.

From the second link...

The legislation would require most Americans to carry insurance and provide federal subsidies to those who otherwise could not afford it. Large companies would have to offer coverage to their employees. Both consumers and companies would be slapped with penalties if they defied the government's mandates.

Insurance industry practices such as denying coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions would be banned, and insurers would no longer be able to charge higher premiums on the basis of gender or medical history. In a further slap, the industry would lose its exemption from federal antitrust restrictions on price fixing and market allocation.