Overload of Posts

After a week of not even a peep on the blog, I'm going to bury you in a plethora of posts today. That's how all the lazy successful bloggers do it, right? I could just make it one really long blog, but I think this way works better. And it's my blog so there :P

Yes, I just did a 'tongue stick out' emoticon. I'm mature like that.

For my Victoria peeps (or Victoria-adjacent-and-willing-to-travel), Saturday night is Matoto's AGM. Once the AGM portion wraps up (which you are also invited to attend), then we're going to have a celebration because...

*drum roll*

...our school in Kubian, Guinea officially opened its doors on October 5th of this year!! There is more information about our AGM and Celebration Gala on our facebook event page. We'd love to see you out!

Shoot for the Moon. Earth's Gravitational Pull Will Prevent You From Obtaining Orbit But Maybe You'll Land Somewhere Interesting.

After a fabulous weekend in Nanaimo during which we visited Gabriola for the Theatre Festival, played a total of 11 games of rummy (so, roughly 100 hands), drank a few bottles of wine, drank a few gallons of tea, and discovered I had injured myself, the rest of Summer has flown by.
Did you know it's September 1st today?

I know!

I realised that out of all my plans for the summer, very few of them actually happened but I'm okay with that.

Camping plans fell through at the last minute. Hiking plans never happened due to something else happening pretty much every weekend. Travel to Vancouver and Seattle never materialised for the same reason. I did a lot of running but conflicting schedules and then injury stopped my goal of four-times-a-week.

I did get to catch up with some old friends at Shawnigan. I sat in the gardens at Government House and read a good book. I had multiple BBQs with awesome people. I verbally committed to going to Guinea in December 2012 and teaching the Kubian village ladies to sew school uniforms.

Wait, what?

Yeah, you read that right. But don't worry, go back and reread it just to make sure. I'll wait.

Through the magic of links, I'll remind you of the time I said:

5) MoonDance is talking about going back to Guinea for another dance/drum intensive learning holiday in 2012. Actually, Lynn suggested it a few years ago and then later said it wasn't a firm plan. Tonight Erin and I decided that we're just going to talk about it like it's happening because then it will. So, I'm totally going to Guinea in 2012. You heard it here first.

Erin and I were (sort of) joking but it worked. Moondance is going to Guinea in 2012 for dance and drum lessons. (While I have verbally committed to doing this, I will refrain from saying I'm actually going until I can sit down and do some accounting math and planning.)

Moondance is very closely related to Matoto as Matoto was born out of Moondance's last trip to Guinea. At at working bee last week, we were discussing our school in Kubian which will begin teaching students this October! (very excited about that) when the topic of school uniforms came up. I remembered a project in Tanzania where the local women were taught to sew the uniforms which in turn gave the additional income to the mostly single women.

Why can't we do that?

Except we need someone who sews.

And that, my friends, is how I ended up verbally committing to going to Guinea.

(Actually, I told them that if I am able to make the trip to Guinea, I would teach sewing but that the *if* is quite substantial at this time. They gave me a 'uh-huh' look which clearly states they expect me to fully make it happen. I do, after all , have 15 months to get it sorted.)

Something else I need to get sorted out in that time? French.

Guinea's only offical language is French. While I know that many of our teachers will have some English and many of my fellow travellers will have some French, I'd like to be able to do most of the teaching with as little translation as possible. In other words, I should have started learning French yesterday.

I'm nothing if not ambitious... and slightly crazy.

Mostly crazy.

Dribs and Drabs

It's been over a week since I last posted and the list of items I want to talk about just grows longer and longer. There is no smooth way to segue from item to item so I'm going with ye olde list option. And because the list is a little on the long (and boring) side, I'm throwing in some random pictures BECAUSE I CAN!

Spring is finally here! Sorta... still a bit cooler than normal but hey! Flowers!

1. I didn't read a single book in March. Not one. It was just not a good month for getting anything done that wasn't 'essential' (eating is essential, bathing is essential, reading is not essential). That puts me at roughly three books behind for my two a month goal, but I know I can make it up because I'm halfway through three books as we speak. I never really was one for reading on book at a time.

That's me getting arrested for not reading.Mounties totally do that right?

Arrest children for not reading enough?

Because they probably should.

2. My Aunt Joan who reads this (Hi Joan!) put me in touch with her friend who is going to Ghana to volunteer. Her friend was looking for information about volunteering. I was hesitant at first because I really didn't think I could be that helpful having volunteered in Tanzania (it's like asking for information about Vancouver from someone who's only been to Toronto). Through our email exchanges, however, I realised that there's a lot of information that I have about volunteering in Tanzania that can be applied to volunteering overseas in general (and especially in developing countries).

As a result of this, I'm going to work on a volunteer page for this blog which will contain this information. It is currently a work in progress and it may be a good month before I actually get it up, but if you have volunteered overseas and have any tips, tricks, secrets, hints, suggestions, or warnings, please share.

This was before I realised his diaper was leaking and he had peed all down my back.

True story.

3. In the same vein, a huge, HUGE thank you to everyone who has supported Matoto in our Ten Days event. We are still collecting all the money before we confirm out total (it's a chicks hatching thing), but we are eternally grateful for all the support we have received. I nu wali.

Education helps level the playing field.

(I really need a drummer to just follow me around.)

(BUT IT'S TRUE!)

4. Shannon started doing OrgJunkie's 52 week organize challenge. I had a few too many things on my plate to start the challenge at the time but kept it in the back of my mind for later. Well, it's later. On Friday, I had to conduct a search under the bathroom sink for *ahem* feminine hygiene products. I'm sure the cupboard under my bathroom sink is like many other such cupboards: plenty of items go in but toilet paper, the aforementioned FHP, and cheap bulk purchase toothpaste are the only items that come out. After five minutes, I finally found some FHP. They weren't mine. I can only assume they were my roommates. She moved out three years ago this June. Note taken; 52 week Org Challenge will start shortly (although I will not be doing the weekly blogging questions, I will occasionally talk about it on here).

Important question: do I organise these alphabetically or by amount of geek-cred they give me?

5. Last year, my old high school started an Alumni Band. We practiced for about six weeks and then opened for the current senior and jazz bands at the annual Mother's Day concert. Well, they decided to do it again and I decided to rejoin. Let this be a lesson for you children: once a geek, always a geek.

I miss band trips. Why couldn't we redo that part of high school band?

Who wouldn't want to be stuck on a bus for 10 hours with

people you barely talked to 15 years ago?

6. Playoffs are in full swing. For those who are not Canadian, I'm referring to ice hockey playoffs. (Seriously? Do the Americans really need to specify ice hockey on their broadcasts? When was the last time they televised a field hockey game on national television?) My boys were doing really well until last night (when they got trounced 7-2 by Chicago but when you obviously forget to show up to a game, that's what happens). Assuming they don't completely choke tomorrow night, expect a few hockey-related, beer-fueled posts on here. Just a warning.

The Canucks' skill level on Tuesday was somewhat akin to these guys.

Still, love my boys. My dad told me to cheer for the underdogs because when they win, it's a sweeter victory.

I have suffered through a lot of bad years and it really has made this year so rewarding.

M dad also told me not to be a damn fool about it which is why I don't cheer for the Leafs.

7. I have to speak German in three weeks. Granted, this lady speaks English but where would the fun be in that? Ich muss Deutsch sprechen!

YAY GERMANY!

Wait, this is the flag of the Swiss Canton Wallis. My bad.

I can't wait until she starts laughing at my Canadian-Swiss accent in German.

Grueesächt! Chuchichäschtli! Chässchuechli!

8. There's more but I haven't been in bed before midnight once in the last week. I might have been able to pull of working on five hours sleep when I was twenty but now it just makes me moody and short-tempered. Actually, it did that to me in my twenty's as well but we were all so sleep-deprived and hopped up on caffeine that we didn't notice each other's foul moods.

8.a. I'm a little obsessed with the mini-series on HBO called Game of Thrones (of which I am currently reading the book--almost done--and am also obsessed with) plus Doctor Who starts up this weekend... I'm just saying that my writing might be a little distracted and/or very sci-fi/fantasy/hockey heavy for the next few weeks/months. I'm sorry but I'm a dork. You all knew this when you started reading this... unless you're new here in which case: hello!

I got chills when I first saw this and not just because Winter Is Coming!

Donation Button

Just a very quick update, a follow up to my last post, I have added a donation button on the right hand side of the blog for Matoto's Ten Day Event. The button is HUGE so you can't miss it. If you need any paypal help (the way to donate online), let me know. If you want to donate but don't feel comfortable doing it online, let me know.

I nu wali. Thank you.

And I'll only be doing this for eight more days.

And then again next year.

And the year after that.

And the... well, you get the point.

What We Can Achieve in Ten Days

I keep writing and rewriting this post. It is now 11:55pm and I have been working on it since 8:00pm. There are stories of Tanzania I want to relate, there are ideas I want to impart, but trying to cram it all into a blog post just isn't working. Instead I will sum it up with a personal story and a statistic

• While having a discussion with some men in Tanzania, it came about that they believed they were safe from contracting AIDS because they never sleep with a woman when she is bleeding. It is always the woman who carries the disease because women, I was told, were unclean. That was how God had made it.
• According to a UNICEF report, 79% of Guinean girls between the ages of 15-19 believe it is okay for a husband to hit or beat his wife under certain circumstances.

Beyond just learning to read and write, education helps slow down the spread of infectious disease and teaches girls that it is never okay for a husband to beat you. Eduction is key to breaking the cycle of poverty.

Today is the launch of Matoto's Ten Day Event and I would like to invite you to join us. We have built a school in Kubian, Guinea and now we need to fill it with desks, chalk boards, teachers and students. Ten Days is a deceptively simple idea. We have teams of 10 and each member has 10 days to find 10 people to donate $10. The goal is to raise $10,000 by the end of the event.

There has been a lot of smack talk between the teams about which team is going to raise the most (and by 'smack talk', I mean I've been threatening Team Snow Monkeys with total annihilation) but in the end, the team you donate to is nowhere near as important to me as your donation. Heck, you can even donate for Erin D (Snow Monkeys leader) and her underhanded tactics of cornering the beginners class before the rest of us have sign up sheets, I don't mind. The money will all end up in the same place and that will help educate five villages in Guinea that previously lacked access to education.

Clicking this link will take you to our event page where you can donate either to a specific team *cough*TeamMoondance*cough* or to the general pot.

From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all.

Dunna Day

We had our Matoto Gala last night. I'll hold off on saying it was a rousing success until we get the final numbers but we made a profit, everyone had a lot of fun, and even half our alcohol supply accidentally locked away in the kitchen didn't damped the spirits.

You know what did dampen my spirits? The realisation that I took my camera with me and then left it in my bag at the back of the stage. I don't have a single picture of the night. Oh well. Without a working TARDIS there's really nothing I can do about that.

I had big plans for today. It was the day that I was going to get all those little jobs done. You know those jobs, the non-essential jobs you tend to ignore when life is busy. I need to pour drain cleaner down my bathroom sink. I need to actually wash out the litter box. I need to get the vacuum hose underneath the heaters. I need to give the cats' their annual bath to get rid of the excess winter fur...

...Okay, maybe I've been procrastinating on that last one because I enjoy being alive. The point is, I was going to update the layout of the blogs, I was going to respond to a couple of overdue emails, I was going to clean out my fridge, I was going to do so much!

Here's what I did.

I woke up at 6:30 after five hours of sleep. I told my cats, who had come for their morning snuggle, to f* off. I then rolled over and went back to bed.

I woke up just before 9:00, cuddled with the kitties and then actually got out of bed. I showered, dressed, and some how managed to wander down to the coffee shop in time to meet a friend before the Matoto board meeting.

I made it to the Matoto board meeting in a bus driven by a lady who obviously thought she was part of the Melbourne Formula One race going on this weekend. Here's a hint, bus lady, Victoria BC is a long way away from Victoria, Australia.

See? BIG difference!

We had a perhaps surprisingly productive board meeting given our Saturday night, then I came home and I did nothing. Not one of my catch up jobs has been crossed of the list. Save for a 25 min foray over to Subway and back because I was too lazy to cook dinner, I have sat in pretty much the same place on my couch for seven hours.

My mom calls these 'dunna days' for 'do nothing days'. You'd never get anywhere in life on nothing but dunna days, but every once and a while, it's a fantastic way to spend an afternoon.

After The Ball Is Over...

Life lately has been crazy and awesome and difficult and amazing and stressful and invigorating and soul-destroying and life-affirming. In short, it's been life. And it's been busy. And after this weekend, that will change a little because then I will be done with this:

It's hard to believe all our hard work is actually coming together. I wasn't part of Matoto for their first Gala (nor did I even know about it to attend) so I'm excited both as an organizer and as a participant. I'm also nervous. What if it all goes spectacularly sideways? What if no one likes the silent auction items? What if you can hear crickets during the doundounba (circle dance) that closes the night? What if I trip walking up the stairs while carrying the bottles of wine and smash them all? Why am I more concerned about the wasted wine then the loss of revenue? At this point, I just have to sit back, take a deep breath and see how it all plays out.

I've been working on a vlog (video blog for those not 'in the know'). After all my Irish themed posts, I thought a short story showing off the words that I say 'funny' by North American standards was in order. It's coming... as soon as I can find time to film it.

There's so much more to say but it's late, my laundry is done, and I'm so tired I'm wondering if anyone will complain if I leave my laundry in the dryer overnight.

They probably will. I guess I'll go get it. Until sometime next week!

PS. The title is a reference to Showboat and it's when I plan to finally get some decent sleep!

Things I Learned This Week

I wish I could get paid for the work I do for Matoto. It's not that I feel I deserve compensation for it, but because I love it and if I got paid, I could quit 'the rat race' and actually love, not tolerate-and-sometimes-even-enjoy, my job.

Even if I'm not working Monday to Friday, my body finds Fridays exhausting.

I miss being on the phones at work. Due to a shortage of staff on Friday, I had to handle the phones. It's something I hadn't done in 17 months. I never realised how much I missed the direct contact with the clients, and how I get my satisfaction in life from knowing that I've helped someone.

I need to help people. It's who I am.

My body loves to dance.

A conversation with an old friend can turn a stressful Thursday into one that ends in laughter.

Coffee with a new friend can make a great Wednesday an awesome Wednesday.

No matter how many times I watch it, I always giggle when the captain yells "sheiße" in Das Boot and the subtitle says "oh no!".

I wish I knew enough about computers to take the scene I mentioned above from my DVD of the movie and upload it to YouTube so I could link to it and make all of you laugh too.

Sitting in a coffee shop for an hour with a large coffee and a good book is the most satisfying way I know to waste my time.

Fake dating website questionnaires and planning retreats go together better than I could have anticipated.

The Victoria Symphony has Bach's Brandenburg Concerto 4 and Beethoven's Symphony 6 coming up on February 27th and March 7th respectively. Is it every socially acceptable to roll the blue rinse set for their symphony tickets?

If you decide to go for an epic walk because it's bright and clear and you want to play with your camera, make sure your batteries aren't on the brink of dying.

Sometimes Saturday nights are best spent with a bottle of wine, a chick-flick and two cuddly cats.

Inspiration in Unlikely Places

Tomorrow I am facilitating part of a retreat for the Matoto Board. I thought I was prepared and ready last weekend but then I didn't sleep well on Sunday night. My mind drifted until I suddenly realised we had completely forgotten one of our objectives for the retreat when we reorganized our schedule for the day. Panic.

I was fairly confident I could work the forgotten segment into my section, and so after a quick exchange of emails to make sure we were all on the same page, I did just that. I was left with a problem. My original plan of how to present the information still kind of worked, but I need people's thought patterns to be more directed as they approached it. I wanted them to free flow ideas but within the boundaries I set for them. How could I do that without sounding like an elementary school teacher?

On Wednesday, I met up with Tigh* for coffee. The conversation, briefly, lit upon Plenty of Fish. Oh dating sites, with your never ending guided questions to help us all find possible soul mates using an algorithm which is as successful as going to a bar. Wait a minute, back up. Guided questions. On a dating site. Plenty of Fish...

And so my handout of "Portfolio of Fish" was born where we're going to 'speed date' with the portfolios. Trust me, it all makes sense in my head. Hopefully, it will all make sense tomorrow.

*Name has been changed to protect the innocent and because I already have someone on here I refer to as 'E' and this was the first name that came to me. It can be changed again for a one-time $20 fee.

First Goal Crossed Off My List

In a moment of gung-ho-why-the-heck-not feeling this evening, I became a member of the Board of Directors for Matoto. It's a two year volunteer post and my position within it (if I have one) will be decided at the next meeting of the board. Matoto uses the 'working board' model which means I will be expected to participates in committees/task forces as a member of Matoto. I think it's safe to say that #23 is crossed of my list even without have actually done the volunteer part yet.

Only 100 more items to go.