So with the exception of my friend Jen from Mississauga, prior to the month of July I had noooo visitors despite my pleas of despair for someone, anyone to come and visit me in Halifax. Well I guess I should be more careful of what I wish for because I had 5 visitors in the month of July and Holy COW was it exhausting.
First it started with Claire who came up the first weekend in July. We had a fabulous time playing Mario Kart, seeing the city AND drinking Caramel Frapuccino blended coffees, our signature drink. Next to follow were my mom and aunt (my mom's sister) who came prepared with a list of things they were set on doing despite my well-intentioned suggestions for other activities. Although it was sometimes challenging we did discover Susie's Cupcakes, a 1950's style cupcake bar with over 40 kinds of cupcakes. This has now become a favourite attraction among my visitors. The day my aunt and mom left Adam arrived. We did many of the same things as with my other guests but we also went to Peggy's Cove on a very rainy day and on to Mahone Bay where Adam ate some fresh Nova Scotian Lobster (which wasn't caught in the Halifax Harbour). Later the same day we attended a game of Manhunt, Adult Tag/hide and seek at the Tallships festival where we met Gabe a sailor on the Bounty one of the tall ships at the festival. Later that night Gabe brought us aboard the Bounty and gave us a first class tour. He detailed the movies the ship had been in and introduced us to the rest of the crew. Gabe would spend most of the rest of the next day with Adam and I beginning with breakfast a-la Kirsten and rolling down Citadel Hill. At this point its July 19th and I went to Ottawa which I'll talk about in a future post. When I came back from Ottawa Ben/Blair/Blen came back with me and by this point giving city tours was an old trick. Of note were an additional manhunt game, going whale watching, where we only saw a seal and having an impromptu party at my house for some of my friend's friends. Ben went home today and its another week before I can expect my next guest Kristen. I'm not going to lie I'm really looking forward to some down time.
Can you estimate how little school work I finished in this period?
Are you exhausted from reading this as I am from experiencing it?
Cheers!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Amazing Day!
So just a little note on my freaking amazing day! Things started going really well for me Friday and have culminated today with me being e-mailed about a possible one month job with foreign affairs in Ottawa as a Paralegal AND My ethics proposal was finally approved :D. WOW! More to come! stay posted.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Hey Jude
"So I'm going to go sit on Citadel Hill and Listen to the Paul McCartney Concert"
"Oh. Well Be Careful!"
"I'll be fine Halifax is totally safe"
"But there might be people doing... Drugs!"
"Uh... I've been at concerts where people have been doing drugs before..."
"Oh..."
Tonight I sat on Citadel Hill and watched the sunset behind Paul McCartney singing to me (and probably 100,000 other people) live. While it might not have been as great as front row seats, I'm unaware of anywhere in Ontario (or anywhere else for that matter) where you can sit, watch and listen to a concert for free among many other people who are singing (and dancing) along!
Good night.
"Oh. Well Be Careful!"
"I'll be fine Halifax is totally safe"
"But there might be people doing... Drugs!"
"Uh... I've been at concerts where people have been doing drugs before..."
"Oh..."
Tonight I sat on Citadel Hill and watched the sunset behind Paul McCartney singing to me (and probably 100,000 other people) live. While it might not have been as great as front row seats, I'm unaware of anywhere in Ontario (or anywhere else for that matter) where you can sit, watch and listen to a concert for free among many other people who are singing (and dancing) along!
Good night.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Moving Forward
Soooo while there's lots I could say about the past three weeks which included a surprise Birthday Party, a visit from Claire, a bunch of drama, a neck injury and a cranky x-ray technician, I thought I might instead speak to what my blog is actually about: my research trip.
Revisions:
So we'll get the most uninteresting thing out of the way first, last Friday I finally got my ethics revisions, a week and a half later than I had originally expected. The good news was its was only minor revisions so I didn't have to resubmit 11 copies only two. The bad news is that the revisions actually required me to take actions beyond just puking some more words onto the page.
However, with some mild perseverence and a trip to the ISES office (described below) I finished my ethics proposal a day earlier than I anticipated. So now its been sent off to my supervisor and is expected to arrive at the ethics office for further consideration next Friday! Horray!
ISES:
One of the major questions on my ethics revision list was what I was going to do to keep myself safe in South Africa as I spent probably 10 out of my 40 pages explaining how I would keep my research participants safe and little about keeping me safe (which I guess is important). So when I approached my thesis supervisor about how to tackle this question he suggested I go to the International Student and Exchange Services Office who were happy to sit down and talk about my trip for me. While the office is significantly smaller than Carleton's it seems to be much more focussed and carrying about the students. The representative who I was working with Amy, gave me so many pointers she practically wrote my revision for me and suggested some stuff I hadn't thought about like registering with their office and making sure that I have evacuation coverage with my ensurance. In any case, the session also motivated me to finally make an appointment with a travel health clinic where I'll be going tomorrow morning.
Contacts:
Ever since the first individual I contacted turned out to be quite firey and contacted my thesis co-supervisor to tell her how "incompetent" I was with no basis for doing so what so ever, I've been somewhat hesitant at contacting my ever growing list of potential interviewees or people who may be willing to help with my research. Last week I got around to e-mailing some more of them because time is getting short including a lady named Margalie, a Congolese woman who my co-supervisor suggested might be able to help find me accomodations in South Africa.
Unfortunately as I found out once I contacted her she had returned to living in Congo but she mentioned she might be able to help me find a few more connections. After not having heard anything from her in over a week I assumed the worst and started looking into accomodations myself. However tonight I checked my hotmail inbox to find that Margalie had not yet in fact found me someone to help find accomodations but had convinced an upper level United Nations official with the Congolese mission working Pretoria to help me with my research! On top of that she told me she was going to South Africa tomorrow and she was going to be in touch with two other women who she thought might be able to help with accomodations!
I was so incredibly surprised by this e-mail that I was nearly dumb founded. I am so incredibly greatful to this woman who I've never even met and have no way to thank other than through words on a computer.
I guess now I just have to worry about how to phrase my e-mail to the new UN contact :D.
Upcoming Excitement:
So the next few weeks are going to be chalked full of visitors and adventure. My mom and aunt are coming up from Mississauga tomorrow for 5 days and will depart on the same day Adam arrives for a visit next Wednesday! Following that Adam and I will hop on a plane to Ottawa Sunday where I will visit with my mom (Again!) my aunt and all of my wonderful friends!
Anxiety and Anticipation:
So I am experiencing a whoke range of emotions about my trip. I am extremely excited about going to Geneva and Pretoria for normal touristy reasons as well as for my research. I am excited to meet people from other parts of the World and talk to them about things which are close to my heart and I'm even more excited to experience a new cultures.
I'm a bit worried though as well. I've come to terms with the fact that I may experience crime for a second time abroad on my trip and while this makes me nervous I'm convinced I can handle it better than while I was in the Netherlands. I'm nervous about the potential short comings of my research or not finding what I'm working for. I'm also extremely nervous about how I'll deal with culture shock when I'm so far away from my friends and family in a place very different from what I've ever experienced before.
All that being said I continue moving forward, reading daily, working on my ethics proposal and shopping for "essentials" for my trip. And every day I inch closer toward a trip which is sure to be nothing short of life changing.
Revisions:
So we'll get the most uninteresting thing out of the way first, last Friday I finally got my ethics revisions, a week and a half later than I had originally expected. The good news was its was only minor revisions so I didn't have to resubmit 11 copies only two. The bad news is that the revisions actually required me to take actions beyond just puking some more words onto the page.
However, with some mild perseverence and a trip to the ISES office (described below) I finished my ethics proposal a day earlier than I anticipated. So now its been sent off to my supervisor and is expected to arrive at the ethics office for further consideration next Friday! Horray!
ISES:
One of the major questions on my ethics revision list was what I was going to do to keep myself safe in South Africa as I spent probably 10 out of my 40 pages explaining how I would keep my research participants safe and little about keeping me safe (which I guess is important). So when I approached my thesis supervisor about how to tackle this question he suggested I go to the International Student and Exchange Services Office who were happy to sit down and talk about my trip for me. While the office is significantly smaller than Carleton's it seems to be much more focussed and carrying about the students. The representative who I was working with Amy, gave me so many pointers she practically wrote my revision for me and suggested some stuff I hadn't thought about like registering with their office and making sure that I have evacuation coverage with my ensurance. In any case, the session also motivated me to finally make an appointment with a travel health clinic where I'll be going tomorrow morning.
Contacts:
Ever since the first individual I contacted turned out to be quite firey and contacted my thesis co-supervisor to tell her how "incompetent" I was with no basis for doing so what so ever, I've been somewhat hesitant at contacting my ever growing list of potential interviewees or people who may be willing to help with my research. Last week I got around to e-mailing some more of them because time is getting short including a lady named Margalie, a Congolese woman who my co-supervisor suggested might be able to help find me accomodations in South Africa.
Unfortunately as I found out once I contacted her she had returned to living in Congo but she mentioned she might be able to help me find a few more connections. After not having heard anything from her in over a week I assumed the worst and started looking into accomodations myself. However tonight I checked my hotmail inbox to find that Margalie had not yet in fact found me someone to help find accomodations but had convinced an upper level United Nations official with the Congolese mission working Pretoria to help me with my research! On top of that she told me she was going to South Africa tomorrow and she was going to be in touch with two other women who she thought might be able to help with accomodations!
I was so incredibly surprised by this e-mail that I was nearly dumb founded. I am so incredibly greatful to this woman who I've never even met and have no way to thank other than through words on a computer.
I guess now I just have to worry about how to phrase my e-mail to the new UN contact :D.
Upcoming Excitement:
So the next few weeks are going to be chalked full of visitors and adventure. My mom and aunt are coming up from Mississauga tomorrow for 5 days and will depart on the same day Adam arrives for a visit next Wednesday! Following that Adam and I will hop on a plane to Ottawa Sunday where I will visit with my mom (Again!) my aunt and all of my wonderful friends!
Anxiety and Anticipation:
So I am experiencing a whoke range of emotions about my trip. I am extremely excited about going to Geneva and Pretoria for normal touristy reasons as well as for my research. I am excited to meet people from other parts of the World and talk to them about things which are close to my heart and I'm even more excited to experience a new cultures.
I'm a bit worried though as well. I've come to terms with the fact that I may experience crime for a second time abroad on my trip and while this makes me nervous I'm convinced I can handle it better than while I was in the Netherlands. I'm nervous about the potential short comings of my research or not finding what I'm working for. I'm also extremely nervous about how I'll deal with culture shock when I'm so far away from my friends and family in a place very different from what I've ever experienced before.
All that being said I continue moving forward, reading daily, working on my ethics proposal and shopping for "essentials" for my trip. And every day I inch closer toward a trip which is sure to be nothing short of life changing.
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