Goodbye Gaspé

Yesterday was my last day in Gaspé. It's weird thinking that on Monday I will be back in school at home. I built a wonderful life in Gaspé that I will miss very much. The beautiful mountains, the colorful buildings, Charlotte's family, the French and of course all my friends are only a few things I am going to miss from Gaspé. I have made so many memories and I will always remember my wonderful sojourn.
I am really thankful for all the people who befriended me and who were so very patient with me. Everyone in Gaspé was extraordinarily friendly and I met many people who I will never forget. After many prolonged goodbyes I bid farewell to most of my friends, but it saddens me to think of those who I never had the opportunity to say "au revoir" to. Although it is not too upsetting that I missed a few adieux because goodbyes are much too sad and I really I don't mind my last memory that some of my friends have with me being happy instead of a tearful goodbye.
I am really glad to be able to say that in my three months in Gaspé there is nothing I regret not doing. I played volleyball, football and basketball, I joined cadets, joined the chess club, trained to run from Québec to Montréal for the Défi Pierre-Lavoie, made many great friends, saw Gaspésie and lived by one of my many mottos: "you're allowed to do it until they tell you otherwise" (which only got me in trouble once). There were so many new things to do in Gaspé that I would have never been able to do if I had stayed at home. I am extremely happy that I went on the exchange and I am ecstatic that I did everything I did do while there.
This experience was absolutely wonderful and I am really glad that I took the opportunity to go on the exchange, it was fantastic. I really loved all the new opportunities that i had from going to Gaspé and it was a great being on the mountainous coast instead of the prairies. I will definitely miss lots about Gaspé and I would really like to come back and visit someday; see the beautiful town in the Summer and see my friends again. I am not exactly excited about leaving, but in the words of Dr. Seuss, "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

Thank you to all who have been reading my blog, I really hope you enjoyed it. Adieu!

Easter Break

I spent our almost week long Easter break in Trois-Rivière, a city about an hour and a half away from Montréal. After our eight hour drive on Thursday we arrived at Charlotte's aunt and uncle's house. The house was full of energy with Charlotte's two cousins, their parents, Charlotte's parents, two dogs, Juliette (Charlotte's sister), Charlotte and myself.
We spent most of Friday in Montréal trying to find a grad dress. After searching through many boutiques Charlotte found a beautiful dress for her graduation "bal en blanc". Afterwards we went to a huge indoor street market. It was extremely busy with everyone negotiating with vendors for the delicious looking sweets, fruits, fish and other foods being sold. I was glad it was still Lent or I would have spent all my money on all the different French confections. They had macaroons, cakes, cookies, some foreign delicacies and of course much from Québec, like the Gaspesien fish and all the maple products. I ended up buying some maple syrup and the vendor gave me some maple candies "for Manitoba".
After shopping Saturday morning all of us, save the dogs, joined more of the family at Charlotte's other aunt and uncle's house where we celebrated a surprise birthday party. Board games were pulled out and I learned how to play two new games. One was a board game that I lost rather quickly and the other was called loup-garou (werewolf), but it is also known as mafia.
Since I came here I have been told by many people that I have to play loup-garou a game that seems to be frequently played, but I had never heard of before coming to Québec. The reason why I didn't get a chance to play it was because you need at least nine people and we never had that many until this weekend. At the end of every round the players have to perform a "lynching" after accusing other players of being a werewolf and the accusations that were flying where hilarious. With people accusing the person who spoke first to the person who didn't speak at all there was no way to know how to defend yourself. We played all night and into the hours of Easter morning before everyone decide that it was time for the party to end. I was sad to leave, but we were planning to all go back later Easter day so I joined the family members who had not already left and went back to where we were staying.
For Easter, after Mass at the famous Basilica in Trois-Rivières, the family got together again and we had an Easter egg hunt. With only five of us "kids" we all got lots of candy. After eating an unreasonable amount of candy we played loup-garou and a few games of ultimate Frisbee. After supper we all settled down and watched the Montreal Canadians play Tampa Bay before heading home for bed.
Monday morning I decided to go for a run, but because I didn't know the city I got lost a few times. After asking two people for directions I finally found my way back to the house. In the afternoon we played badminton and I received some pointers on how to improve my game from Charlotte's aunt. I was really proud of myself when, out of the two skill building matches we played, I beat her in the second one. When it got dark Charlotte's parents, aunt, uncle and the dogs took a promenade through the old part of Trois-Rivières. We passed a store called Planète Poutine sells at least twenty different types of poutine! The day was slow, but it was nice having a day to cool down before we left.
I ended the splendid weekend with another long drive back to Gaspé. It was weird driving and not being able to see miles and miles around me. I had a wonderful Easter break and it was great meeting Charlotte's extended family, but with only three days left of school I am ready to be back and see my friends before I go back to Manitoba.

Mountains, Shrimp and (More) Poutine

I found something that is very originally Gaspésien: shrimp poutine. Yes, shrimp poutine. Last night, for supper, we ate at Brise Bise, meaning wind breaks, a restaurant overlooking the shore. Though the bowl of fresh shrimp they had on special looked extremely tempting, I had to try the shrimp poutine. I was not disappointed. It was absolutely wonderful and a great supper after the snowshoeing we had just come back from. After the meal I ended the long day hanging out with my friends and I noticed how much my French has improved since I arrived in Gaspé. I remember that the first time I was with the same girls I had trouble following one conversation let alone the three I was able to keep up with during night. There were still a few moments where someone would say something at light speed and I wondered how anyone can understand what was being said, but overall I think I did pretty good.
Earlier on in the day, after driving for almost two hours, Charlotte, her parents and I spent the day climbing mountains in the Réserve faunique des Chic-Chocs (Chic-Chocs Wildlife Reserve). Along with fourteen others, we made it to the top of Mont Vallières-de-Saint-Réal, the highest mountain there and climbed to the peaks of the surrounding mountains. Nearing the end of the trek I gained the title of "rabbit" because, as everyone else made their way down the mountains at a walking pace, I ran down every downward slope that there was. Seeing as we were going down the mountains there were quite a few opportunities for me to run. I thought that they might have been walking down because it was dangerous to run, but the worst that happened to me was a rather fun head over heals tumble that I took after my snowshoe sank into the snow.
They day was excellent for snowshoeing. Before we left I was warned that there could be fierce winds at the peaks, but when we got tho them there was barely any. The sky was clear and, with the sun glaring down on us, it got very hot very quickly. With all the climbing we were doing I decided to take off my winter jacket and just wear my t-shirt. At the end of the day, when we were at home, we noticed that I had been slightly burned by the sun, but it was nothing compared to Charlotte's new, scarlet tinge.
While on the peak of Mont Vallières-de-Saint-Réal with the other mountains all around me and the foreign language being spoken, though I was not that far from home I felt like I was in another world. It really felt like an adventure.

Mont Bechervaise

I finally went snowboarding! I don't know how I have lived five minutes away from Mont Bechervaise and haven't gone until this past weekend. It's a small hill with only a few runs, but it was still lots of fun. It was a beautiful day at the hill and I had a fantastic time. I was really worried that Gab, my friend who came skiing with me, would be way better than me because he skis almost every weekend, but although he was much more stable in bush runs, I was faster and could do jumps better making us about the same. I am glad I had Asessippi to prepare me. I also thought that I would have a difficult time understanding what he said, but I had no problem hearing him. The day went by way too quickly, and I am really glad I went, the hill is closing next weekend and this was my last opportunity to go.
The weather is beautiful here. There is still lots of snow and it is warming up so some of that snow is melting and turning into tiny streams that flow to the bottom of the mountain. I decided to go running yesterday morning before school. I set my alarm for 5:45 and ran around Gaspé for twenty minutes. I don't think I went very far, but it felt good to be running as the sun rose over the mountains. First, I ran up the mountain until I hit a dead-end, then I started back down. I ran to the bottom, to the bay, before starting the last leg: straight up to my house. I don't know whether I am glad we don't have hills like the ones here back home because it is painful climbing them, but it is also a nice change and it feels great when you get to the top.
It has started. I didn't think that it would start happening so soon, but today I saw my basketball coach for the last time before I am leaving. He is going away for three weeks so I won't get to say goodbye closer to my departure. I hope the two and a half weeks I have left don't go by quickly, I really don't want to say any more goodbyes anytime soon.

Poutine

It was lunch time and normally I would work out then eat my lunch, but leaving the school I saw some of the friends I would usually eat lunch with. by the direction they were heading I could tell that they were going to La Banquise, a restaurant near our school that I had never bean to. I quickly grabbed my jacket (hoping my wallet was in it) and caught up to them. We got to the restaurant and I couldn't decide what to get, thinking about getting a burger I then saw the list of poutine options. There were fourteen different choices! Everyone suggested getting the red BBQ sauce once I mentioned that I wasn't too fond of the brown sauce and although some of the choices were very tempting I decided to keep it simple and went with BBQ. My poutine was delicious! I have loved cheese curds since I got here and the BBQ sauce was nice and sweet going well with the salty fries, it was excellent. Before I left I was told not to eat too much poutine while in Québec and if I had known that poutine could be this good I would never have been able to truthfully respond that I wouldn't.

All the poutine choices at La Banquise

My BBQ poutine, mmmhhh

Snow Day!

There was another snow day yesterday, and I feel that it was a pretty productive one. Besides eating maple taffy I finished all my homework, finished a French novel I was reading, shovelled and had volleyball practice. I also practiced saxophone and piano. I feel I am improving immensely on the piano. I have been working more on my left hand because I can play the first page of Hedwig's Theme with my right, just not my left and right together.
I have volleyball regionals this weekend. I hope that there is still practice after the tournament, I will start having free evenings if my sports keep on ending. On Tuesday I trained with the weightlifting team for a bit so I might continue with that if it is not too late to join. The coach seems really enthusiastic about training me, but I don't know if it's for me. At least it will strengthen me for my other sports.

Not that I haven't been splurging on enough maple already, but yesterday we had maple taffy in the snow! It was really good. I probably ate way too much of it, but no one told me what our allotted amount was so, with the fact in mind that I am not here for much longer, I enjoyed as much as I could. My teeth were glued together for awhile after I finished, but it was worth it!

My Very Active Lifestyle

Monday night was relaxed. I came home from school, did homework, rested from my snowshoeing the day before and didn't really do much. Tuesday I had my normal basketball then volleyball routine after school before I went home and did some math homework. Football started on Wednesday and after I got all my equipment I practiced until six o'clock. At seven I had range at cadets, so after football I ran home, ate quickly, then ran to cadets.
Thursday I had basketball then volleyball like usual, but later that night there was Secondaire en Spectacle at the Cégep. After volleyball I walked home, but there was a bit of an obstacle that I had to overcome: a Gaspé snowstorm. I left the school thinking that it hadn't snowed that much the paths I usually took to get home would still be there, but boy was I wrong. The first trail that I took had been plowed recently so the snow was only up to my ankles and not to far up my shins in places. The second path, I am using path as a loose term, was never anything more than a line of footprints leading up through the mountains into the forest then back out. I climbed up the hill of snow leading to the entrance of the trail and there was nothing in front of me but the slight impression that hinted at the passage of a snowmobile. It was too late to take another route.

Head down I started running. My pace was extremely slow, but I lumbered on through the snow. Up to my knees I barrelled through, following the direction that I had taken when walking home before. When it came to the turn off that went farther up the mountain and into the forest I decided to take a "short cut". Instead I went straight and trudged through snow that was at least waist high. I finally came to the end and climbed a hill leading to the end of my "short cut" and the exit of the regular forest trail. Finally back in town I tried to run the rest of the way home, but the balls of ice that had formed in my shoes coating the arch of my foot were hard to ignore.
After getting home I ate quickly before heading out again for Secondaire en Spectacle. I was walking right into the wind and the blowing snow was blinding. I am glad that there was no cars on the road because I had my eyes closed most of the run to the Cégep.
The show was amazing! The first performance was a cello player and a pianist, and throughout the night there were guitars, drums, vocals and even a fiddle player. With so much talent it was hard to pick who to vote for, but I felt the three guitarists and drummer really deserved my vote. When they had played I had given them a standing ovation, it was a bit embarrassing because I was the only one standing, but they were fantastique! The votes were counted and their group won! I made sure to congratulate them before going home.

After school Friday I left with my basketball team for basketball regionals. The bus ride didn't feel long because of how great they were and during the weekend it felt like I had known them all forever although it hasn't even been two months yet. We finished the tournament in third, which was a great accomplishment seeing as we didn't even win a game at our last tournament, and I get another medal to bring home!