Thursday, February 22, 2007
11:44:26 PM

Despite almost dying in traffic yet again this morning, today was an awesome day. We had fresh, home made waffles for breakfast topped with warm maple syrup; a true taste of home. I decided to cut back on the coffee today and so limited myself to 4 cups in the morning. Today they had out the hazelnut blend which was especially delicious. After morning meeting, we loaded onto the bus and drive for about an hour (it would have been shorter if we hadn’t gotten lost) to the headquarters of Mannarelief; an NGO (no governmental organization) relief organization. They provide nutritional assistance to areas and institutes of need in over 30 countries. I was pulled from the seminar and tour in order to prepare myself for advanced work in Utrecht in a few weeks. Lunch was one of the best yet with brisket, beans, potato salad, and an assortment of desserts. We’ve been fed surprisingly well so far. I checked the scales and I’ve gained about 2.5 lbs. I think I’ll be loosing that when we hit Europe for sure; hopefully sooner. We also got free t-shirts with the Mannarelief emblem on them. Yay for free schwag! After lunch we boarded the bus again and drove out to our CI site for the day; a place called happy hill farm. Its a boarding school for at risk children of all grade levels. We broke into teams and spent time working different classrooms doing fun educational games all the while teaching about diversity. We played “Have you ever?”; where the group forms a circle and someone stands in the middle and states “Have you ever... [insert something here]” anyone who identifies with whatever the statement was goes into the center of the circle and dances around. The activity is geared to help break the ice and find commonalities amongst the group members.
Later in the afternoon we regrouped and performed a selection of our show songs for them and taught them the “stomp” rhythm section and we performed it as a group. Afterward, some of the teachers that had been there for over 5 years had said that no one has able to motivate everyone to participate in an activity like that before. We certainly made our positive mark.
Happy Haven is an interesting place. Its actually a farm and boarding school. The facilities are quite modern. The thing that struck me most was the segregation of the sexes. In the assembly for example, they had to sit on different sides of the gym. There is a “6 inch” rule that states they must be at least that far apart at all times. If you are caught even hugging anyone you can receive a day of suspension. I personally can’t count the number of people I’ve hugged today; its certainly a lot.
Anyhow, we’ve got a show tomorrow So I’m off to bed earlier tonight. Its all Good™ Oh and I almost forgot to mention! yesterday when I was out for m walk I did some shopping. I bought a toothbrush (i'm on my third one now because I keep forgetting them places) and an el cheapo cell phone on a pre paid plan. Its mainly for emergencies say if I get lost downtown or something. I haven't figured out how to call Canada with it yet either. But in any case, its free to receive txt messages so send em! If you have questions or comments or just positive encouragement, its all good. I'd love to hear from the people who read my blog. Of course I can always respond via email when next I find myself online.

New Feature Added!!!! Located now on the sidebar is a Send TXT widget which allows you to message my cell phone in real time.