Survey says, 6 out of 7 dwarves not Happy

Not that that has much of anything to do with my life, other than it made me chuckle.  And that's worthy of sharing isn't it?

Well, it's our last day in Winnipeg - we're meeting up bright and early tomorrow morning to drive over to Banff.  And when I say bright and early I mean it... we're meeting up at 5:30 am tomorrow.  Although, I'm not gonna lie, I do enjoy driving into the sunrise!  Unfortunately we're driving west, which means the sunrise will be behind us.  Shoot.

As to what's been happening over the last week... not too much really.  It's been super relaxing and full of laughs (as you'll see when we get to the photo section of this post... which will be, now!)

Raf, Sandy, Myrielle, Steve

We had a coffee house and it was just hilarious!  Us leaders got the ball rolling with that age-old "Is it time yet?" skit... Thank-you Town Family Reunion!

Raf, Myrielle, Joseph

Along with the funniest "Jebi Fight" I've ever seen (starting right off the bat with a typo - he meant to write 'Jedi' haha), we managed to trick a couple of guys in the second leader skit, who unknowingly got their toenails painted hot pink.  The double takes when they actually caught sight of their toes just made my day!

We've also spent some time just playing.  Ultimate Frisbee and Rugby have been the popular choices.  I have also discovered that I bruise really really really easily... I looked slightly battered at the end of the rugby game, but it was so worth it.  It's such a fantastic sport.

the boys hauling brush into the woods

Part of the deal with the camp we were at included us working with the maintenance crew for a couple service days.  We grabbed our work gloves and (well I guess I can't say this for everyone) had an absolute blast!  I just loved being outside and working hard and I even got to use a chainsaw at the end of the day!  Woohoo!

Nadine, Christine, Aly and Allison splitting firewood

We threw a couple dress-up days in there for a laugh, and I decided to show you a picture or two from "Twin Day", since I don't think the boys would have appreciated the pictures from our "Dress up as someone else" day...

Joshua, Caity, Tessa and Jake

I think the best part of this shot is that Jake taped... well I'm actually not too sure what that is, but he taped twigs (?) to his chin to make a goatee

Raf and Mimi might have won the day though...

The next entertaining event was our synchronized swimming competition... I nearly died of asphyxiation at the poolside because I was laughing SO hard!

Once again, we leaders started things off with a routine to the BeeGee's famous "Staying Alive", complete with the Dead Man's Float during the chorus.

the girls showing off their mad skills

Mike diving... I believe his sternum was the first thing to enter the water...

But the highlight of the night was the last group of boys - they spent 5 hours practising and making their own song!  It was totally weird, but just hysterical.  

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Needless to say, we all just had a blast.

group synchro shot!

And the winners got a fantastic prize: brownies and ice cream by the fire at our place!

Lots of love
Sandy

I took the Plunge...

Last week Outtatown headed into the North End of Winnipeg for our Urban Plunge.  It was one of the most challenging weeks of my life.  While in Winnipeg we stayed at a church in the downtown core, with the purpose of learning about life on the streets; issues of poverty and homelessness and how we fit into them.

The first day was fantastic.  The students went on a "Learning Tour" - they were split up into groups of 3 or 4 and walked around to different locations in the city to learn about they myriad issues going on in the city: community living, gangs, child prostitution, how shelters work.  They were also challenged to invite someone out for coffee and chat with them.  I'm not gonna lie, I was rather jealous - having never worked in an inner city situation before, I too wanted to learn about these issues first hand.  But this year is not about me, and as a staff member I sat at a shelter downtown from 11:30 til 5:00 signing in students.  This actually turned out to be a blast.

Not 10 minutes after sitting down, I had made two friends - their bantering just had me in stitches all day long.  Those hours just flew by.  It was incredible how my expectations for the day were turned completely upside-down.  My ideas about the homeless at the beginning of the day were rather stereotypical - those sad, down-on-their-luck characters we see on tv.  I expected to bring a smile and maybe even a bit of joy into the lives of the people I talked to that day.  Instead Ray and Keith spent the whole day making me laugh - an that made them happy.  The entire shelter was filled with laughter and  jokes - the sense of camaraderie there blew me away.

I left that day marvelling at the brightness of the human spirit.  The following day rocked me to my very core.

That evening, the pastor of the church we were staying in brought in a woman who was so drunk, that she couldn't even walk straight.  She had fallen over on the sidewalk, and he wanted to make sure that she was ok, maybe offer her a place at the church to crash for the night.  I was there as he was talking to her and it broke my heart.  For, as we chatted, we learned that she was also 9 weeks pregnant and in an abusive relationship that she was afraid to leave because her boyfriend was threatening to kill her.  So many things in that just left me reeling.  Here was a woman who was so desperate to escape the pain in her life she was drinking while pregnant - and might not even know that was a bad idea.  She also came from a situation where a pastor had to explain that he wasn't hitting on her, he was just trying to love her as a brother; he wanted to make sure she wasn't getting beaten, or was going to sleep on a sidewalk.  Here was a woman who had so little love in her life.  I was crying so hard at this point in time that I had to leave the office (luckily my colleague had joined us in comforting this woman, which left me free to leave).  I ended up sitting on the floor, sobbing, and crying out "why?!" over and over again.  How could something like this exist?  How could I reconcile that sort of pain with the loving God I believe in?

Luckily - and I truly mean that - I was surrounded by a group of people who were all too willing to carry me when I was broken.  I had people to give me a hug, to cry to on the phone to, to bring me a plate of dinner because I just needed to sit in silence and to pray for me.  It seems a little ridiculous, but the hardest part of my night was being brought a plate of food from one of my students - he had put extra cheese on it because he remembered how much I love cheese.  It was such a little thing, but after meeting someone who had probably never seen kindness like that before, it meant the world to me.  I'm not gonna lie, I burst into tears again when it happened.  

That night was one of the most challenging nights of my life.  And yet, I am so thankful that it happened.  One of my friends even went so far as to say she was excited that I went through it.  It sounds funny, but I agree.  I had my eyes opened to the reality of what goes on in our world - just how broken it can sometimes be.  I had my heart broken for the pain some people feel.  But I know that I will heal stronger than ever before - I know that I will never again be able to turn my face away from the people who need me.  I know that God is shaping me through all the experiences He's throwing my way this year.

And the best part of it all?  After all this craziness went down, I woke up the following morning to watch our 32 students go out into the city to bring love to those who need it.  They volunteered in shelters, handed out food hampers, baked cookies for a community and played with children who just wanted a friend.  I watched them go out and change the world and I knew that the situation wasn't hopeless.

making thank-you cards

serving lunch at the shelter

baking cookies for the community

It was a gong show...

But it was a fantastic experience nonetheless.  It was out 2010 Outtatown Canoe trip and I loved it... despite the fact that I was bone-crushingly cold the entire first day!  Ok, so maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I was stinkin' cold.  

We drove from Camp Arnes (which is located just outside of Winnipeg) to Manitoba Pioneer Camp (which is in Ontario... figure that one out!) and it was a great drive in our convoy of 15 passenger vans.  It was funny, but I could actually tell when we were getting close to the Ontario border because the landscape started to feel like home.  I didn't think that Manitoba would be all that different from Ontario, but it's waaaay flatter.  Which makes the sky absolutely HUGE... kinda like it wants to eat me or something.  On the plus side, it does make for some fabulous skyscapes.  Gotta love the clouds.  

Anyways, we crossed into Ontario, took the first right after the border, hopped onto a ferry and landed at MPC.  Which is roughly when I started shivering.  

See?!  Everyone was cold!

Because we're a group of 36, we had to split into 2 smaller groups just to make sure we were going to be safe on the water.  We still had 9 boats on the water, which was a bit crazy at times.

Now, I don't know who was doing the praying for good weather back home - but it worked!!  Friday was about 5 degrees, rainy and COLD as all get out.  Saturday looked like this:

A little chilly (see the toques and sweaters?!), but sunny and a tailwind.  Couldn't ask for anything better.

We arrived at site rather early, so we paddled over to an abandoned mine and checked out all the abandoned equipment and buildings.

Day 2 was another beautiful day... The only thing missing were the loons

This is where things started to get really crazy.  We paddled up this stunning river...

...to our portage.  There were a couple trail options, so one of our guides was going to leave markers as he led the way.  I managed to trip over a giant branch with a canoe on my back and it slipped off my shoulders about halfway along... and next thing I knew, our guide was running up behind me asking if we were going the right way. 

"Umm... yes?  But weren't you leading us?"

Turns out our guides knew 2 different routes through the portage.  It was a little hairy, but we all arrived safely at the put in ready to paddle onwards.

We did have to stop for Katies photo-op with a snake:

I would like to add that I kept my feet off the bottom of my canoe and stayed far far away.  One snake bite is enough for me. 

By the time we arrived at our next campsite, it was warm enough that we were able to go swimming.  Or at least stick our toes in the water!

And this is what my hair looked like... I love trip hair.  

You might have noticed the scowl.  I was trying to figure out if I actually wanted to go swimming... The day was lovely, but the water was still blasted cold!  Once the mentioned gunnel-bobbing I was sold though.  

And it ended with an epic fall.

ker-splash!

This site was also a little creepy, because there were all these random bones lying about.  Which, of course, the boys played with.  I believe this spine eventually turned into a light saber... Go figure. 

We had a really neat topic for devotions on the trip.  We talked about Beauty and Brokenness; what they mean to us, how they fit into the world, where we see them.  The discussions brought up a lot of really cool points - I think my favourite was the idea that the act of trying to fix brokenness (eg. working in a soup kitchen, fighting AIDS in Africa) is beautiful.  And I'm super excited to be in a program where I can watch my students step up to the challenge to try and change the world.

We went on a hike before we left camp on Day 3 - we walked up a big hill to this beautiful lookout that was a panoramic shot over the forests and the lakes.  But, boys will be boys, and along the way we had to stop for some tree tipping...

It was a rough trail, but it was totally worth it when we got up there.  I mean, check out that view!

It was pretty hard to think about brokenness, when you're surrounded by so much beauty.  

We fought a pretty hefty wind that day - and we totally had whitecaps as we were trying to get into the cove where our site was.  Laura and I nearly swamped right at the end, but the fight across the gigantic bay in (what I am going to refer to as) gale force winds was hilarious.  An absolute gong show, but full of laughter. 

We fought a headwind on our way back to camp and it was one of those totally frustrating paddles when you don't seem to EVER move forward and just look at the same tree on shore the entire time.  But make it back we did, and it felt good to down a hot cup of tea.

We were the last trip that MPC ran this fall, so we had to put the canoes away at the end of the trip... And even that was hilarious. 

Here we are, reunited at last.  

Group hug!

I absolutely adore canoe trips - they're so challenging, and crazy and full of laughter.  It was a fantastic way to start off the year, and I can't wait to let you know what happens next.

Cheers,

Sandy

This is my team!

So I've started a new job this fall, as a Site Leader for the Outtatown Discipleship Program... and it's just about the COOLEST job ever!

I've been hanging out in Winnipeg for the last two weeks for staff training, and let me tell you, we work hard here at CMU.

The very first thing we did upon arrival in Winnipeg?  Head out to a retreat lodge complete with fire pit, comfy couches and... a dinosaur?

I kid you not, this is what we saw when we looked out the windows:

Want a close up?

Can anyone say random??

Ok, the rest of this is gonna go super quick cause I only get about 10 more minutes of free internet at Starbucks, and then I have to wait for my next day off to get internet connection... Hooray for living in the middle of nowhere!

Anyways, we had a day to hang out, just the four South Africa Site Leaders.  And we picked the coolest activity ever:

daisy, daisy, give me your answer do...

TANDEM BIKING!!

It was awesome.  And we had the best horns ever.  Well I should say that Raf and Mimi had a great horn.  Steve and I had an FM radio with the most pathetic sounding horn I've ever heard built into it.  It was all I could do to keep pedalling, I was laughing so hard

Mimi!

Raf, Steve and Mimi 

You can't see it, but there were several options for why you could take out a bicycle built for two - we opted out of the Romantic Outings and picked Staff Parties instead.

The next day we spent together as an entire group out at Assiniboine Park, just hanging out and playing around. 

Mimi and J-Fo

And my favourite shot of the whole week:

Mimi, J-Fo, James, Natalie

Mimi isn't really picking J-Fo's nose... it just looks that way.  Or does it...?

Much love to y'all, I'll write again as soon as I can!

Sandy

xo

When in Rome...

So it might be a little after the fact... ok so it's a lot after the fact, but I want to let you in on the amazing time I had travelling through Italy and Switzerland in my last week in Germany.

It started off as the worst trip ever.  Something went wrong with the electricity in Hannover, which meant that the trains stopped running.  So after waiting at my transfer station for close to 45 minutes, I started frantically running around the little tiny stop of Pferdemarkt (literally 'Horse market') looking for a bus, a cab, a lost pony... anything that would get me to the airport within the next 15 minutes so that I didn't miss my flight.  I FINALLY found a cab and got to my gate with minutes to spare.  Phew.

The first stop of my trip was Rome.  It was... amazing? incredible? astonishing? beautiful? breathtaking? Take your pick...

Triton Fountain

the Spanish Steps

Only moments before I took this picture, I dropped my camera - hard - on the cobblestones.  I was so relieved when it appeared to be just fine.  That only lasted another couple of hours.  Then it totally cut out on me.  I was SO ticked.  Here I was, in ITALY, and my camera broke on the first day.  Luckily, I met some incredible people at my hostel and they shared their pictures with me! :)

my newest friend!

inside St. Peter's Basilica

Vatican City was awesome - not only did I walk there (crossing 'walk into another country' off my bucket list), but I got to see the Sistine Chapel (breathtaking, but overrated - ask me about it sometime) and St Peter's Basilica (the most beautiful inside of a church I've EVER seen).

And those Swiss Guards... oh boy

words fail me...

St. Peter's Square

oh you know... just hangin' out by the Colosseum...

me, Kiersten & Brie in the Pantheon

Trevi Fountain

the Roman Forum

After Rome, I jumped on an overnight train (longest 6 hours of my life, squished into a compartment with 5 other people) to Venice!!  Getting lost there was the best thing that ever happened to me.

St. Mark's Square, St Mark's Basilica, the Doge's Palace

peace!

one of the many many MANY canals I walked by... so gorgeous!

After Venice, I hopped on another train to Milan!  This time I got to sleep in a real bed, which made the following day much much better.  

the Milan Cathedral

I took yet another train through the Alps, unfortunately, we went through most of the snow-capped peaks.  But what I got to see was stunning.

Before my overnight train home to Germany (in a compartment with much more room, but a lady who snored like a freaking chainsaw!) I got to spend 2 wonderful (albeit wet) hours in Zürich.

See?  Pretty!

And that concluded my travels through Europe.  I got home completely exhausted and with only a few more days to recuperate before I hopped on a plane and flew back to Canada.

My next adventure has already started, but you'll have to wait to catch up on that!!

'Till then!

Sandy