Report # 918

Hey everyone, I hope that you’ve all been having an awesome week so far. Today marks the end of my first full week here in Lázaro Cárdenas. While I haven’t done much aside from watching movies and going for walks I think things will improve soon. Dora has already talked with some people and submitted my resume and work documents so that’s a real start. I know it’s a complicated process in the beginning and it will take time so I just have to be patient.

On Monday I watched The Possession, if not for any other reason but to sit inside a cinema for a few hours and stay cool. It was an entertaining movie but obviously so far fetched I certainly don’t believe in any of that stuff. Dora still hasn’t been able to spend much time with me, though she says it will be better next week so I have to be patient with that as well. I did go for a run yesterday morning so I was happy that I finally got myself to get a run in. Later today I’m going to try and get laundry done and maybe work a bit out of my spanish books.

I have a friend that will come over for the day on Saturday so that will be nice. She wants to figure out stuff about going to university in Canada so she will come early in the morning and we will have the day to look up stuff and go to the beach. (which I still haven’t been to yet) A few days before I came to Mexico there was a story about the Canadian $ 100 bill. Apparently some focus group had determined that the woman on the bill appeared to look asian so for that reason they decided to change the bill and make her look more neutral.

First off I think it was a used waste of money to be paying people in a focus group to be over analyzing a piece of currency while there are so many more important issues in the world. This was a complete and utter waste of people’s time and more importantly probably tax payer dollars. And next my question is there is a woman on the 100 dollar bill that looks asian to some people…. so what ? Canada is a multicultural society and I would think it’s an amazing thing to have people of different cultures and ethnicities represented on items that go with Canada.

And on the bill the woman appears to be a scientist which is a great career so whether this woman appears Asian or not, I don’t understand why a focus group was created to investigate this bill. And more stupid yet the focus groups suggestions have been accepted and now the woman will be change to look more neutral. I can honestly say that 99 % of the people probably never analyzed this bill or any other in any kind of detail and that 99 % of these people wouldn’t even care.

However like usual stupidity has ruled the day and changes have been made to appease some of the crazy people. Anyways here is a picture of the 100 dollar bill. You all can have a look and see what you think:

For the next question:

Do you see any need for changes to be made to this bill ? Was this whole story just ridiculous or was having a focus group look into this bill a good idea ?

I will leave you all with some more pictures from Calgary. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Sunday, bye for now.

Report # 917

Hey everyone, I hope that you’ve all had an awesome weekend. I’ve now spent three days here in Lázaro Cárdenas and it has been a little difficult for me. Aside from half a day on Saturday Dora has just not been able to really spend any time with me. There are a whole bunch of complicated reasons but she keeps changing her story. First she said give her the weekend and now she has give her a week. I can’t wait forever though and if things aren’t better after this week I will be extremely frustrated and disappointed.

She has done a lot for me when she has been here, and I do appreciate that, and she is helping me with finding a job, and I am very thankful, but it’s just been so frustrating basically being all alone in a place that I basically don’t know anyone. The climate here is not helping at all. The days are basically around 32 C (90 F) and the nights are still around 25 C. (77 F) There is extreme humidity every single day and it’s just impossible to stay cool unless I’m lying in bed in the room with a/c.

I enter the house in the afternoon or evening and it’s like entering an oven. The air is hot, the table is hot, the floor is hot, the bed is hot. This place is an apartment type house on a second level, but I am really hoping I can find a place much smaller and cooler. It’s frustrating because I’m always hot and sticky even just sitting here typing on the computer in the kitchen in the morning is tough for me. I did go for a walk yesterday for a couple of hours but when I came back I was just exhausted.

I’m just not a tropical person and I need cold at night, or at the very least a place that is cooler where I can at least walk around without feeling that I’m sitting in an oven. With Dora’s situation and the climate here I’ve just been so hot and frustrated. So I just really, really hope things will be better in a week. I’d love to be able to find a place smaller and cooler, but it’s must more important that I can find a job first. So I suppose I just have to man up and handle this for now and hope things get better.

I have seen two movies since I got here. On Friday I watched The Safe, and on Saturday I saw The Expendables 2. While neither is going to win an Oscar award, they were both great action movies. Last month while I was in Calgary on the front page of the newspaper was another article about the anniversary of the death of Elvis. This type of stories are just a bit much in my opinion. The man died like 35 years ago and ok at the time it was a big deal, and maybe every number of years to mark an anniversary, but it’s a bit ridiculous to read about his death year after year after year.

I think the same thing about former US President John F. Kennedy. Unless there is something new to add to the story it really doesn’t have to be in the paper every single year. And the stories get more ridiculous every year as well with conspiracy theories and all that. I just wish newspapers can put their efforts into coming up with important articles that deal with today’s issues instead of recycling the same old stuff year after year after year.

And I think the same thing about natural disasters and other worldly events. Sure they were complete tragedies and important events in history, but they don’t need to talk about them every single year for years to come, unless something very important like a crucial development to the story comes out. And it’s normal to hear about these stories on like the first anniversary or the 10th or 50th or something like that, but every single year is a bit much ! So that is just my little thought for today.

For the next question:

Do you think stories about the death of someone well known, or some huge event that took place in the world should be talked about year after year after year, why or why not ?

I have found a way to cut down on my pictures. From now on I’ll just show 24 pictures from every set. So I’ll leave you all with some pictures from Calgary. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Thursday, bye for now.

Report # 916

Hey everyone, I’m typing up my first entry from Lázaro Cárdenas in Michoacán. I left Mexico City yesterday at 12:50 pm and arrived here just after 9:00 pm. The bus ride went by pretty quickly as I listened to music for a long time on the small TV screens they had on the back of each seat and I watched two movies as well. They were both Hollywood movies, though I had to watch them both in Spanish. I saw one movied called Armoured, and another movie called the Vampire’s Assistant, which was a very good movie though extremely weird.

Dora picked me up at the bus station here and she took me to my apartment. It’s going to take me a little while to get used to this city as it’s very humid and I have to start from scratch in terms of buying things and setting myself up in the apartment and then of course the most important thing, finding a job. Dora felt that I didn’t like the apartment or the city, but it’s not that at all….. it will just take me time to get used to everything.

I bought a few things last night, though I have a number of other things to buy again today and over the weekend I’ll have to prepare all of my work documents. I took a taxi to this internet cafe and now I’m not exactly sure how I’ll find my way home again after, but I’ll worry about that later. I enjoyed my days in Mexico City though I had a couple of interesting experiences. On Tuesday I walked through the Chapultepec Forest which was a giant forested park with many paths .

The park had two lakes, and they were the greenest lakes I had seen in my life….. not sure what that means ! I also saw a totem pole that was given to Mexico for it’s 150th birthday back in 1960 from the Canadian government. I then walked up a long winding hill up to the Chapultepec Castle, which basically is a giant mansion that used to house the president of Mexico, but many years ago a president decided to open it up to the public and it was basically made into a museum, and now the president lives in a different residence.

It was absolutely beautiful seeing all of the different rooms, and even more amazing were the views of the city from the top of the castle. It took me a few hours to tour through the entire castle and the museum of Mexican history that accompanied it. Afterwards I headed down the hill and then walked the entire stretch of Paseo de la Reforma…. the most famous street in Mexico City. It’s a long straight street with forested paths in the middle, tons of cars and cyclists on the outside, and many hotels, museums, stores, restaurants, and historical buildings.

It goes from all the way to the Chapultepec Forest, past the Angel of Independence and to the main square where the government buildings are and the giant Mexican flag. It was a great walk and I was very glad to be able to see everything on that amazing street. I stopped at Chili’s to have something to eat and on the way back a man and a woman stopped me and talked with me in English. They gave me a copy of the ‘Awake’ magazine, which was completely the same magazine as I would have received in Canada. Those Jehovah Witnesses must be everywhere !

They were friendly people and he said he might know a school that needs English teachers, so I gave him my contact information. He will probably contact me about the magazine though. On Wednesday I took a tour through Templo Mayor which was some ruins left over from what once was quite the temple. Heading inside a man asked if I’d like a tour guide and I just said yes. I really have to be better at saying no to these people, but at least he worked for tourism Mexico and was a legitimate employee.

He gave me a 40 minute tour of the outside part of the ruins and took my picture a few times so that was nice. He said he liked fishing a lot and heard that Vancouver was a great place to go fishing. Afterwards I toured through the museum and then headed out and began walking back. I had lunch at Sanborns and had some frozen yogurt after. I walked through the Zona Rosa part of the city which has lots of gay and lesbian people, and at around 7:00 pm I headed back to my hotel.

It was on the street Florencia where a man started talking to me and saying I should go into a club that had women and deals on drinks. I told him that I had to get back but he just wouldn’t leave me alone. He said I could come in for 10 minutes, and even though I kept insisting on no, he wouldn’t leave me alone and was able to take me into the club up some stairs. He sat me down next to two women who started talking to me. I said I should go back and get changed {an excuse to leave} but nothing really worked.

I told the man I didn’t drink and then he said I should buy drinks for the women. He brought drinks and then showed me a bill and said that I owed 90 dollars !!! At this point I knew I just had to find a way out, so I basically got up and walked fast down the stairs. A man outside tried to keep me from leaving, but I told him I didn’t order anything and than I just ran. I turned a street corner and luckily no one followed me so I was able to get away. The whole thing is a complete scam, they try to pressure people into that club and than they make their money by charging ridiculous prices for things.

It’s my fault for allowing someone to just pressure me so much, I should have just tried harder to say no and get away from the start, but I have learned my lesson. So I am happy to be out of Mexico City for that reason…. no more people like that will be pressuring me to do all these things I’m not comfortable with. Overall though it is really an amazing city with so much to see and do. Unfortunately there are some bad people, but I’m sure there are people like that all over the world.

Now I’m happy to be here in Dora’s city at the coast of Michoacán. While it will take me a while to get used to the climate, I am really hoping to find a job here and be able to work, so that is my next goal ! And Dora has done a lot to help me which I am very thankful. I am definitely looking forward to spending more time with her here as well. I will have to wait until I get internet to be able to start uploading photos on here again, but hopefully in a few days I can do so. I’m really going to make an effort to only show 24 photos a time though as I have so many I really have to cut down.

For the next question:

Have you ever been pressured/forced into a situation that you were not comfortable with ? What happened and how did you manage to escape ?

I wish everyone all of the best with everything. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Monday, bye for now.

Report # 915

Hey everyone, I hope that you’ve all had a great start to the week. I’m in a hotel in Mexico City right now and I’ve really enjoyed it here that I wanted to spend a couple of days before heading off to the coast of Michoacán. This city is absolutely gigantic, but considering it’s size it’s a relatively clean city and it’s not as dangerous as a lot of other cities in Mexico. The climate here is perfect, and actually the summer is not the hottest months here, April and May are.

Basically each day has been in the low 20′s (around 70 F) and at night it gets down to around 10 C  (50 F) so the climate here is just perfect. The only downsides to this city are the traffic and the population in general. For example yesterday I was walking the streets downtown and there were traffic jams of people. And on the roads a lot of times there is really no order and drivers don’t follow the signs. Trying to cross the street here is definitely intimidating ! Overall though it’s a great city and there is so many things to do here, and there is so much culture and history as well.

I said good bye to Maria in Hermosillo on Saturday morning. Her mom drove me to the airport and after waiting in line for a while I said good bye to both of them and thanked them for everything. I had such a great few days in Hermosillo and Maria and her family were amazing to me. It was tough to say good bye, but I’m sure I’ll visit again in the future as Maria did say I have to come back soon. The flight to Mexico City was just over two hours, but seeing as Mexico City is two hours ahead it was basically four hours and some.

I got my bag and then an employee at the Mexico City airport helped me find Dora, who was having lunch with her friend Alberto at a Wings restaurant. It was kind of confusing because there are 3 Wings restaurants in that mall ! We headed off for our hotel in downtown Mexico City and relaxed for a while before heading out in the evening. I saw the Angel of Independence, a nice fountain, and we took a tour of the big historical cathedral in front of the government buildings.

We took a tour where we got to go to the top of the church and see the bells and the great views of the city and learn about all of the history. Afterwards we stopped in Starbucks so Dora could charge her cell phone. The whole area there was getting ready for the Mexican Independence Day on September 15. That is the place where the president goes out from the balcony and shouts in front of thousands of people every year. It would definitely be cool to be there for that, though I imagine it would be extremely crowded.

In the evening we all went to a plaza filled with Mariachi restaurants. We entered one and got a table right in front of a dance floor and the whole night they had Mariachi performers and dancers. It was a great experience for me and I really enjoyed it. We all ordered a little to eat as well so it was a great evening. We all didn’t get back until it was kind of late so we went straight to bed. I was pretty tired on Sunday morning but we had to get up as we wanted to do a few things before we had to leave the hotel.

We had breakfast in the restaurant downstairs, but after I just decided to stay in the hotel for another night so we could all keep our bags here and I wouldn’t have to carry everything around town looking for another place. After breakfast we took a bunch of the metro trains to arrive at a place called Xochimilco. We lost Dora’s friend Alberto for a while as he got on the train but the doors shut before we could get on. In Vancouver if a person puts their hands in between the doors, they stop…. not here !

Unfortunately Dora’s cellphone was dead so that made things harder, but after waiting for him for a while we got on the train and luckily Alberto saw us walking a few stops later and we found him. Xochimilco is a place by the river with so many boats and you can rent the boats and have drinks as a person paddles you down the river. Along the way there are many people selling things, you can pay to have music played, and there are restaurants to stop at along the shore.

We stopped at one place and the food was brought out to us. We continued along the river afterwards and made a stop at a nursery which also charges 5 pesos (less than 50 cents) to use the bathroom. When we got back to the boat there was a lady selling sweets. You just can’t escape the sales people in Mexico. They are on the boats, on the train, on the streets, on the beach…. they are everywhere ! Dora bought this one treat and it was delicious so sometimes they do sell very tasty things and useful products, but not always.

After a while the guy paddling the boat turned around and we headed back to where we started. This was perfect timing because a storm had started and it was pouring rain with lightning and thunder as well. The boat was covered though so we weren’t getting wet. We got back to the land and paid for our things and started walking to the train. A lady who had worked for the boat rentals came running saying we didn’t pay for one drink. I never really liked that lady from the start she always seemed all about the money !

There are so many transit lines here with the metro train that it’s so easy to get confused, but I think Mexico City is the second largest city in the world so I shouldn’t be too surprised. We arrived back to the hotel and it was kind of cool and rainy. For me it was just normal Vancouver weather, but Dora, being a tropical girl was pretty cold. Dora and her friend Alberto booked tickets on a bus as she had to be at work on Monday morning and they left that evening.

So I just spent less than two short days with Dora, but I will be going to Lázaro Cárdenas very soon and then we will see each other everyday. I was so happy to see Dora as I hadn’t seen her in five months and I’m excited about arriving in her city and getting to spend lots of time together. I will have to talk to Dora tonight, but I am thinking I’ll be leaving Mexico City tomorrow and taking a long bus ride to her city where the apartment will be ready.

Yesterday morning I was on my own so I headed out and just walked around discovering everything I could about the city without reading any information. I think I did alright as I was walking for hours and I discovered parks, cool buildings, the historical part of downtown and a very cool neighbourhood called Coyoacán. This is a neighbourhood which has the old houses of artist Frida Kahlo and Russian Leon Trotsky.

I took a tour on a trolley and it was very interesting. The guy on this tour was so much easier to understand than the one that was on the tour in Hermosillo. I’m not sure why but it was just a lot easier for me to understand this guy. The only thing I would change about these tour trolleys is to have one without windows. There is so many interesting things to see an take pictures of, but it’s so hard to take a good picture with the windows on the bus. Then again I’ve taken almost 1,000 pictures since I arrived in Mexico so I need to be cutting down on picture taking !

Today I’ll look up on the internet and see what sort of things I can do and then I’ll head out and do some more exploring. That’s pretty much where I’m at now, so I’ll finish up here. For the next question:

What is your favourite city in the world that you’ve been to and why ?

The internet connection here is way too slow so I’m not able to get any photos uploaded today. I’m going to have to find a way to cut down on my photos though as I just have way too many. I wish everyone all of the best with everything. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Friday, bye for now.

Report # 914

Hey everyone, I hope that you’ve all had an awesome week and are ready to have a fun weekend. I am typing this up once again from my friend’s house in Hermosillo. After spending four days here I will be catching a plane early tomorrow morning to Mexico City. I was treated so well here by my friend and her family and they did so many things for me which I am so appreciative of. They are kind of sad to see me go and I will miss being here as well.

There is just so much to see and do in Hermosillo and the state of Sonora in general that four days just isn’t enough to see everyone. I said that I would love to come back soon and spend more time here. It’s such a wonderful family and all just great people I can’t say enough about how amazing they all are. I am super excited that I will be seeing Dora today for the first time in five months. I miss her so much and as sad as it will be tomorrow morning, it will be so wonderful to see her in Mexico City tomorrow afternoon, so I am overall very happy and excited.

My past few days here in Hermosillo were so packed it’s no wonder the time flew by so fast. On Thursday I went with Maria and we took a bus to the downtown part of Hermosillo and we walked through some government buildings. It was definitely close to 40 C (100 F) though there was no humidity like there was the first couple of days I was here so it was more manageable.

Maria and I went into the art museum of Sonora and it was a very modern building which had just opened three years ago. There was a display on short films from around the world so we got to watch a bunch of them. Some of them were very interesting and others were kind of boring, but overall it was very cool for me as I had never really seen short films before. After we passed through the film section we walked through some gallery rooms and saw some very fascinating pieces of art such as pictures made completely out of human hair.

After passing through the museum Maria and I went into a mall which was also very new. I just had some pizza and after a frappuichino. It’s amazing with this heat how cold it feels as soon as you step into an air conditioned building and as soon as you step out feeling the super hot bursts of air. We took the bus back home and relaxed at the house before going out with her parents in the evening.

We headed towards the main part of downtown where there is a very old church, a town square and some government buildings. Maria and I walked through a government building and a new arts type building. Hermosillo has so many new buildings so the government here has really put a lot of new additions into the city over the last couple of years. Afterwords I bought some churros and we walked around a while longer before we headed back to the car to drive to Parque Madero.

Parque Madero is the largest and oldest park in Hermosillo I believe and it’s a very beautiful place. Lots of tall trees, lawns, and of course the people selling food on the streets. I tried some sort of snow cone thing with milk and strawberries called a raspado and it was very good. Afterwards we walked over to a fountain that was shining with blue lights. I thought that was cool but I had seen nothing yet.

Eventually music started and the water shooting up in many places in the fountain put on a show that went on with the music shooting the water up at different levels and in different colours. It was like nothing I had ever seen before and it was awesome. About four songs were played and I must have taken 30 pictures of the fountain and the changing colours. Thinking back the whole fountain thing is such a simple idea but it gives so many people joy so it’s an amazing idea and one that should be used in other cities as well.

Before heading back to the house Maria’s dad showed me an old cathedral which was one of the first in Hermosillo and an old prison that was now a museum. It was actually the last prison in Mexico to have an execution so it was a very interesting place to see. Yesterday Maria and I took the bus in the morning to go see a movie. The movie theatre wasn’t open yet so we walked around the Liverpool store for a good half hour.

We got back to the movie theatre but it was still not open. Maria snuck through the parking gate and I followed her and we were able to get into the theatre only to be told it wasn’t going to be open until 1:00 pm. We helped hold the gate open to let two other people in but after that we just waited until it was almost 1:00 pm to go in and buy our tickets. Seeing how cheap the movie theatre tickets are here makes me so mad thinking about back at home. What a rip off !!!!! For the price I paid to see a movie here I could probably see five movies back in Vancouver.

We bought some popcorn and some drinks and headed in and watched The Raven. It was a mysterious thriller about a serial killer who was taking his ideas for his murders from the stories of Edgar Allan Poe. It was a very well done movie and we both enjoyed it. After the movie we headed home and relaxed for a while before heading out downtown again to take a trolley ride. The guy who was giving the tour didn’t speak English really, but he threw in a few words for me.

I can understand Spanish generally well when someone is talking to me or I am watching a movie, but hearing a super fast talking tour is another thing ! Maria helped explain some things to me so that was helpful. The guy giving the tour was very funny and he made lots of jokes. We toured through a lot of the places that I had seen from previous nights and a few other ones as well. We stopped into a place where they make Coyotas, which are a type of Mexican pastry, and almost everyone on the tour wanted to buy some.

I was thinking that the people who own that place must make good money as all of the tours make a stop in her store. After the tour Maria’s dad showed me his rental house that he has in another part of town and we made a stop in the super market to buy dog food, but it was so busy we just ended up leaving. After stopping at home for a few minutes we all went out to have some carne asadas. They are basically a type of tacos with roasted beef. The tacos had tons of flavour so they were very good.

So while I have had some pizza and other non Mexican foods since I’ve arrived, for the most part I’ve been trying lots of Mexican food and I’ve really enjoyed it. Before going to bed we watched Soul Plane on the TV. I had never seen this movie before but it was hilarious. I don’t know but the so called “black movies” are just so funny. I really should find more of them to watch !

Anyways I really got to get to bed and get ready for a big day so that’s all I have for now. For the next question:

Have you or anyone you know been arrested before ? If so, for what ? If not, has there ever been a situation that you have seen the police involved before ?

This is a completely different type of question, but I think it’s a fascinating question to ask, so I’ll see if I get some interesting responses. I’ll leave you all with some more pictures from Calgary. I wish everyone all of the best with everything. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Tuesday, bye for now.

Report # 913

Hey everyone, I hope that you are all having a great start to the week. I am typing this up from my friend’s house here in Hermosillo Sonora and it has been super hot to say the least. I spent my last day at home on Sunday and basically had planned on relaxing the whole day until I got a surprise call from my friend Domingo. It was his and his twin brother Pedro’s birthday and they were in town as Pedro had went for a job interview.

I was going to send them both messages to wish them each a happy birthday but I never imagined that they would be in town so it was a very nice surprise to see them and their mom before going to Mexico. My dad drove me to the Arby’s in Langley (not so sure why they wanted to be there and I had something to eat and we just all talked for a while. They all came over to see the house quickly and say hi to my mom as well and after they were on there way as they had a dinner at the Keg to get ready for.

So it worked out very well that Domingo just happened to call me the day before I left…. talk about perfect timing. I was up way too late on Sunday night getting my bags ready as I wanted to make sure I had everything. On Monday morning my brother helped me weigh my luggage and I was able to get it just under 50 pounds so I could get it on the plane without paying extra for over-sized bags. I had to stuff some of my Spanish books in my laptop case but it worked so I  was happy.

My brother had a little trouble finding the airport once we got super close but we found it after using the GPS on his phone. I had so much time that it was no worry at all though. I checked through with my bag in the airport very fast and I had one last meal at Tim Hortons. While I was awaiting to board the flight at the gate I really thought I saw a girl who I had worked my internship with about two years ago and for the longest while I thought it was her, but when she got close to me and I heard her talking I knew it definitely wasn’t her….. they definitely look alike though.

On the flight I watched The Avengers, ate, and closed my eyes for a while, so the five hour and fifteen minute flight went by pretty well. When I got to Mexico City I had to wait for a while to get off the plane as I was near the back, and then I had to walk quite away, just like in Vancouver, to get to the customs. It was very convenient to get through and I was past everything in less than 20 minutes. I had dinner at a restaurant called Wings when I noticed a big storm starting outside.

It was pouring rain and there was lightning and thunder. I spent a few hours talking to a guy and a girl in the airport and before I knew it, it was just after 2:00 am. At this point it made no sense to rent a hotel room for just a few hours, so I stayed at the booth in the restaurant and closed my eyes and rested until after 4:00 am when I got ready to board my plane to Hermosillo. I definitely wasn’t the only person who was “sleeping” in the restaurant so I didn’t feel too ridiculous. The staff members basically told me it was ok anyways so I was glad I was able to do that.

I boarded my plane to Hermosillo at around 5:45 am and the plane left half hour later. I basically kept my eyes closed for the majority of the flight, though I actually sleep. I picked up my bags at the carousel, where they had a dog sniffing each one, and then I walked over and found my friend Maria and her mom. We drove back to their house and had something to eat and talked for a while before I went to take a nap. I actually slept for about 3 hours so I definitely felt better afterwards.

In the afternoon I ate some tamales and then Maria and I walked to the bus station to go to the Sonora Zoo. It was a fairly cloudy day but I definitely felt the heat as it was close to 38 C (100 F) and even hotter with the humidity. Every once and a while there was a somewhat cool breeze and while the clouds were covering the sun it was bearable. I’m still amazed that people can wear jeans and long sleeved shirts when its this hot, it’s truly amazing how well they can handle the heat.

The zoo was huge and we saw everything from antelopes, llamas, tigers, crocodiles, lions, lynxs, ostriches, and so many more. We did manage to miss the Giraffes though ! Maria’s dad came to pick us up and we went to buy some horchata and coco, which was a coconut filled with water. I had another type of coco with pieces of the coconut that everyone else was putting salt and salsa on but that would have been too much spice for me. We drove to a place with many stairs that led up to a huge painting of the Virgin Guadalupe on the mountain side.

There were plaques commemorating all of the miracles that had happened and giving thanks to the Virgin. It was such a cool place to visit and the view from on top the mountain was very nice. Afterwards we drove back into town and we went to eat hotdogs. Maria’s dad was telling me there were the best hotdogs in the world so I had to try them. Basically it was a hot dog with chili and cheese and pretty much all of the ingredients possible to put on it. So I have to say it was one of the best hot dogs I ever had.

Afterwards we walked through the University of Sonora and a plaza downtown and made a stop to pick up some churros before returning home. I just love churros and it’s always great to have them ! It was a great day and I slept very well, sleeping about the eight hours that I needed. I was woken up before 8:00 am as we had to get up early to drive to the beach. I had some quesadillas and eggs for breakfast and than we were off to go to Bahía de Kino which is a coastal town in the state of Sonora.

We drove for about an hour and it wasn’t too hot as a lot of wind was being blown into the car as we went down the highway. The beach was absolutely beautiful and as it was a weekday it was almost empty. We arrived on the beach and walked down a fairly long pier that had a lot of pelicans and seagulls sitting. Some guys started talking to us and convinced us to take a boat tour to an island off the coach.

It was great fun as the boat sped super fast out into the ocean riding the waves. We save a number of seals sitting on the rocks of the island and swimming in the water as well. I told Maria that the seals were the owners of the island as they were really the only ones there. The island was fairly rocky though there were tons of super fascinating seashells, some that looked so human made that it was incredible knowing they were 100 % natural. I was surprised I didn’t get sick on the boat though obviously very happy.

After taking the boat back to the shore we all climbed up the ladder back up to the dock and set ourselves up under a canopy, or a palapa as they are called here in Mexico. It reminds me of the time I was in Oaxaca with Pili where we ate at a restaurant called La palapa de Raul, and that was under a giant canopy.  We had sandwhiches for lunch and there were lots of cold drinks as the cooler was filled with ice.

I swam in the ocean with Maria’s dad and brother for a good hour. It was some of the warmest water I had ever been in before as it just felt like warm bath water. It was definitely perfect ! Unfortunately Maria’s dad got bitten by what they call aguas malas which are a small type of jellyfish. I saw one in the water but I made sure not to let it touch me as I had no intention on finding out how a jellyfish sting would feel like. Her dad ended up being ok as it just stung for a while.

I had my own misfortune as I went to use the bathroom. I couldn’t get the door open so I was basically a prisoner in the bathroom. I  banged on the door with my 5 peso coin and eventually someone heard me and I explained that I was stuck. He let me out and I gave him the 5 pesos as they were being charged to support the community. Overall though it was a wonderful day and I took so many pictures and left with many memories.

Maria’s dad is very proud of Sonora and everything that there is here which I think is great. It’s wonderful for me to meet people who are passionate about where they live and the wonderful places there are to see. The whole family has been very good to me and I am very appreciative of everything that they’ve done for me and how welcoming and friendly they’ve all been. They have already said they’ll take me to even more places in the future. So it’s wonderful that I have met such great people.

We returned home from the beach just before 5:00 pm and we all took turns having a shower and after we went to Maria’s grandparent’s house. They were very friendly as well and it was very nice to meet them. They live in a nice rural property within the city limits of Hermosillo and they have chickens, roosters, dogs, goats, and sheep. I got along great with the little dogs that they had. We all sat down and had some coffee and talked for about an hour and then we headed home.

On the way home we could see all the lights of Hermosillo at night but there wasn’t really a place to pull over. I’ve taken sooooo many pictures so far so I suppose it won’t kill me to miss out on a few. I talked to Dora as well the other night for a while before bed and I’m so excited that in just three days I’ll see Dora in Mexico City. It will also give me a break from the heat for a couple of days before we go to Lázaro Cárdenas together.

So overall my first few full days in Mexico have been incredible and I’m really looking forward to my next couple of days here in Hermosillo and my days with Dora in Mexico City. After arriving in Lázaro Cárdenas it will soon be time to get around to finding a job. I am here in Mexico so I can find a job and stay with Dora not as tourist, so it’s very important for me to be able to do that. Anyways, that’s all I have for today. For the next question:

Who is the nicest person you know ? What makes them so nice ?

I’ll leave you all with some more pictures from Calgary. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Saturday, bye for now.

Report # 912

Hey everyone, I hope that you’ve all been having a wonderful weekend. I arrived at home on Friday afternoon and my dad picked me up from the airport. I wanted to stop at Scotia Bank to see if it would be possible to get an account set-up in one day. The guy at the counter told me something about BOl’s or some three letter word all being booked up so I wouldn’t be able to get anything done that Friday.

It’s not too big of a deal as I will just have to try not to withdrawal too many times while I’m in Mexico, and if everything works out I can start a bank account with a bank there anyways. It was a super hot Friday as it got up to just over 32 C. (90 F) I went for a run with my brother and I beat him back to the house for the first time so I don’t know if I just ran faster or he was slower but it was nice to win. I definitely wouldn’t recommend anyone going for a run when its any hotter than that though !

I jumped in the pool afterwards and swam around for a while and relaxed the rest of the day. Yesterday morning I took the bus and the skytrain into Vancouver and I walked through Coal Harbour, up to English Bay, down Davie Street to Burrard, through Gas Town and China Town and finally made my way back to the skytrain station. I wanted to take lots of pictures of the city one last time before going to Mexico.

It was quite the crazy day in Vancouver as there were so many events going on. There were people all bloody and gouled up as it was Zombie Walk, and there were so many people dressed up as Anime characters as it was some sort of Anime convention as well. Aside from that there was a huge Brazil fest going on. I was looking for the Latinfest and I thought the Brazil event was part of that, but there was just Brazil and nothing else so I kind of wondered. When I got home I found out the actual Latinfest wasn’t until today.

It’s not a big deal that I didn’t get to see Latinfest as I’ll be in Mexico tomorrow anyways so I’ll get to see Latin culture every single day. While I was walking through Gastown I went into a gift shop and bought two shirts for Dora, one pink Vancouver shirt and one red Canada shirt. I hope they fit well and that she likes them ! I’d never actually been buying any clothes for a girl before so that was completely new for me. By the time I had finished walking I was pretty exhausted…. probably just as much as I was when I did the Calgary walk.

I took the skytrain back to Surrey and stopped at the Tim Hortons on King George Highway before heading to Surrey Memorial Hospital to visit my grandmother who had just had a knee surgery the other day. I had no idea where she was but a nurse saw me walking around and was able to direct me to where my grandmother was. When I arrived my grandmother was awake though just barely. She told me she didn’t feel any pain but she had been given so much medication she was very drowsy.

I helped my grandmother do some of her exercises and she was able to sit up and stay more awake for a while, but I could tell she wasn’t feeling very well. I can’t imagine going through a knee surgery, and this was her second as she had the other knee done five years ago. The nurse brought in dinner after a while and my grandmother kept saying how our dogs wouldn’t even eat it, but in all honesty it wasn’t bad. She got a carton of milk with a salad, cauliflower with melted cheese, mashed potatoes and a hamburger pattie.

While it’s certainly not award winning cuisine, I don’t think anyone could really be complaining about it too much. I guess when people are in a hospital and not feeling very well all of the food just tastes horrible to them. But if all of the meals were as decent as the food she was served yesterday than people should give the hospital food a break, it’s not terrible ! I spent about two hours with my grandmother and I helped her get her face washed and her teeth brushed before I said good-bye.

From what I’ve heard she will be out of the hospital on Monday and then she will spent a month or so with her friend until she feels a lot better. So I am glad that her surgery went well and I hope she gets back to 100 % super soon.This morning I ran to Tim Hortons and went to the grocery store to buy some sunscreen for Mexico. I will definitely need to use it as I will be flying to Hermosillo on Tuesday morning and its going to be around 36 C (97 F) and feeling even hotter with the humidity so I’ll roast.

So today I have to pack my bag, type up some of my reference letters into Spanish, and look after a few other things, but I won’t be going out anywhere today so I should have lots of time. I just heard my brother will drive me to the airport early tomorrow as my grandmother will be picked up afterwards so I’ll get there with lots of time remaining which is what I like as it’s always good to be super early instead of being in a huge rush.

I will definitely miss being here after a while I’m sure and my pets and family, but it’s time for a change and I’m ready to embark on this adventure and see how this goes. Dora has already been talking with the people she knows about possible jobs for me, so it seems to be off to a good start. I will admit I am a little nervous and scared about the unknown but I am as prepared as I could be and I am ready to give this all that I can and see what happens.

At the end of the day we all have to do what we think is best for us as individuals. Unfortunately many people never do get to take the steps they need to in order to really do what they want in life, for a whole variety of reasons, but I am fortunate enough to be able to take this huge step. And while I can’t be assured success, I am excited what the following weeks and months will be and to see what actually happens.

I will continue updating my blog every three days as always, and I hope to have internet access to regularly comment everyone as well. I never have taken a break on my Xanga no matter where I have been ! So that’s about all I have for today, for the next question:

What is the biggest decision you have made in your life, how did it turn out ? What is something really big that you plan on doing in the near future ?

I will leave you all with some more pictures from Calgary. I wish everyone all of the best with everything. Take care and I’ll talk to you all from Hermosillo on Wednesday, bye for now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Report # 911

Hey everyone, I hope that you’ve all been having an outstanding week. Today is my last full day in Calgary and tomorrow I’ll be flying back home, still with many things to do. My home coming will be super short as on Monday I’ll be catching a plane in the afternoon to Mexico City. My week has just zoomed right by here in Calgary, probably because every single day I’ve been super busy.

On Monday morning after breakfast my aunt and I drove to Big Hill Springs Provincial Park. This is a park outside of the city of Calgary and it is kind of mountainous with lots of trees and fields and rolling hills. My favourite part of the park has to be the Toufa Falls which are water flows going over the toufa rocks, which are some sort of geological definitition. There are streams flowing in different directions and connecting and little waterfalls as well.

I was at this park about three years ago but I didn’t have my camera that day so I missed out on tons of pictures. There was a part of the park where it felt kind of cool and there were piles of hail last night from a huge storm. It kind of looked like snow on the ground, but it was just lots of hail that had accumulated from a wild storm the previous night. It was nice to get that fresh cool wilderness air because it got up to around 27 C. (81 F) After my aunt and I walked through the park we drove through the town of Cochrane.

We stopped at a small park called Cochrane Ranch and then we went to Glenbow Ranch. I was at Glenbow Ranch with my aunt last November but it certainly wasn’t as nice as its all green and lush in the summer. We also walked in a totally different direction so I got to see very different scenery. By the time we got through this park I was absolutely exhausted walking for so long under the hot sun. It was a great day though and I was so happy to see these parks.

When we arrived back home I was ready to finish painting the fence outside with my grandmother. I was a little tired but I wanted to get the fence painted before having a shower and relaxing for the day. We had painted the larger portion of the fence in the backyard the other day so we didn’t have too much left to do. The only tricky part was painting the fence behing the pine trees. And I can say the pine trees here are soooo prickly and sharp ! We got the whole job done in an hour and it was nice because we were in shade the whole time.

My grandmother who is 88 years old was out helping me the whole time on both days of the painting. I was truly impressed, though I hope she didn’t work too hard. As I can imagine having 61 years more than I do it would make the work seem a lot harder. I probably should have said I would do it myself and she could go inside and rest ! After we finished I headed in and had a shower and that was it for the day.

On Tuesday morning I went with my grandmother shopping for a few hours. We took the bottles she had into the bottle depot and that took almost an hour as there were some people ahead of me and the line didn’t move so fast. I got just over 15 dollars so I shouldn’t complain too much. I swear the sun in Calgary feels hotter than it does at home. Just standing under it seems a lot hotter here and I’m not so sure why that is, but there is definitely a difference.

We also went to a car wash and I vacuumed out and washed my grandmother’s car. We had lunch at the chinese food place we go to sometimes called Gingerbeef. They had moved into a smaller building and instead of an all you can eat buffet, you can take one plate and fill up as much food as you want. It’s still basically a buffet and really no one needs to eat more than one giant plate of food. The only downside of this place is that the wonton soup costs extra and the egg rolls are not good for whatever reason. Overall though its a great place to eat !

We also stopped at a bank where I also had to wait for a while and picked up a few items at the grocery store. I stopped in Coles bookstore and got my dad a book for his birthday seeing as it’s on the 26 and I’ll be in Mexico then so I have it purchased in advance. My grandmother and I ended up being gone for three hours so it was quite the day out running errands and getting things done. When we returned home I thought I would go for a walk as I needed to burn off all of the chinese food and it was really nice outside.

I headed out and started walking towards Confederation Park, definitely feeling the super hot sun above me. When I got to the park it was still sunny and hot though after walking around for five minutes it started to cloud over. The sun was still poking out in some areas but it was really nice that it clouded over as it was a nice break from the sun. A few minutes later the sky was totally clouded over and it felt cooler. At this point I thought the sun was gone for the day, which didn’t surprise me as the weather people said it would cloud over and rain in the afternoon.

I walked through Confederation Park towards a cemetary. I don’t get an opportunity to walk through a cemetary very often so I went through and walked around and took some pictures. At this point the temperature had probably dropped 10 C (18 F) and high winds started picking up. I could see the wind hitting the trees and blowing things all over the place.. it was definitely cool to see. Unfortunately for me it started raining hard and lightning and thunder started as well.

At this point I knew I had to get home as I was stuck in the middle of a storm. It was soooo windy that branches from trees were falling left and right and dust was being blown all over the place. There was a baseball field and I just saw a cloud of the dirt from the outfield being blown around in the air. I took cover under a tree for a while as I didn’t want to get soaked. I didn’t know how smart of an idea that was though as some branches were falling and I didn’t want to get hit by lightning either.

The rain let up a little so I just started running home. As I ran closer towards my grandmother’s house the wind and the rain let out, and by the time I got to the plaza by her house I could even see blue sky. I stopped in the coffee shop and ordered an ice cappuichino though it was nothing what I was expecting. It tasted more like cold coffee, and there was no ice in it. I felt like I was drinking pure expresso (which I can’t stand) I tossed out my six dollar drink in the nearest garbage can and headed home.

My grandmother was surprised I had manged to stay fairly dry but I just told her I had taken cover. I watched a bit of my telenovela though I still have about three hours ago. I’d like to finish it over this weekend so I don’t have to bother dragging the dvd to Mexico. I will need all the room I can get and I don’t want to have a 50 pound suitcase either. I’ve been talking to Dora most nights and it’s super exciting that I’ll be seeing her in just 9 days.

On Wednesday I cancelled my cell phone seeing as I can’t really use it in Mexico without it costing me an arm an a leg. I used my Fido dollars to give myself 75 text messages that I can send while I’m in Mexico. Seeing as it takes 30 days notice to cancel my phone, it will be on until September 15 and that will be it. I didn’t know that beforehand so I’m glad I called when I called. I also found out that if I use Scotiabank atms in Mexico I won’t be charged surcharges for withdrawing money if I have a Scotiabank acccount.

So tomorrow after I arrive home I’m going to see if I can set-up a Scotiabank account, get a Scotiabank card, and transfer all my money into that account all in one day. I’m not sure if it’s possible, but someone on the phone for Scotiabank told us yes, so if I can do that I definitely will. Unfortunately then I’d have to set-up the whole online banking system again and it’s just a lot of work, but if it saves me money I definitely have to do it.

In the afternoon I went for a walk with my aunt to Nose Hill. We had walked there many times over the years, but I hadn’t been there in over two years so I thought it would be a nice close to home walk to do. It was a much cooler day as it got down to 7 C in the morning (45 F) and the weather people said it would only get up to 15 C (60 F) in the afternoon.

I can say that was definitely a lie as I was still super hot walking up on Nose Hill, probably because its pure prarie land and there is no cover from the sun. It actually did get up to 19 C (66 F) and under the hot sun it’s really still warm. The prarie weather here can be absolutely crazy sometimes ! My aunt and I have always stopped for ice cappuichinos from Tim Hortons after our walks. I’ve always been thirsty after and I love ice caps so it’s a nice treat after and seeing as there is no Tim Hortons in Mexico I have to enjoy all of the ice caps I can before I go.

Most evenings I’ve just played cards with my aunt and grandmother and relaxed, though I did run some evenings as well, and other times I ran in the morning. This morning my aunt and I went out for breakfast at a restaurante in an old lumber company building called 1886. I had never been here before but I was very impressed with the ambiance of eating in such a historical building. I had an omelette with bacon, ham and cheese with some hashbrowns. The hashbrowns were super flavourful but they were soooo spicy. I guess the restaurant wanted to prepare me for eating in Mexico.

In the restaurant they had displays of monetary bills from all over the world. A lot of them were from countries that I had no idea as I couldn’t even understand the language. I saw a Mexican bill for 20,000 pesos. I had never seen one before so I asked Dora about it and she said the currency was devalued in Mexico many years ago and they don’t use those anymore. And I was thinking with a 20,000 peso bill a person could have lots of money ! I was reading the history of the building and the surrounding area and I found out there was a person who came to the area with the last name of Prince.

At this point I realized I had been making a silly mistake for so long. I’ve always though that the Island in Calgary is called “Princess Island” but it’s actually an island named after Mr. Prince and called Prince’s Island. I am glad I read that bit of information or I probably never would have known otherwise. After eating my aunt and I walked back to the car and we drove to the Inglewood part of Calgary. We walked up Scotchman’s Hill and got a wonderful view of the city.

Afterwards we walked down to see a sculpture called The Device to Root out Evil. Basically it’s an upside church and it has been very controversial, though I don’t really see why. It was in Vancouver for a while but too many people were complaining so it was shipped to Calgary and now has been here for a few years. I’m kind of mad at myself for not managing to take a picture of it while it was in Vancouver still, but I got a picture of it now.

My aunt and I walked along the river for a while and we got to see a very cool historical house that is now a restaurant called the Dean House. Afterwards we headed back to the car and stopped at Tim Hortons and headed home. I have to say to everyone I’m so sorry for this super long entry. I’ve been sitting here typing this forever and I just haven’t been able to shut up ! I doubt that anyone has actually read this whole thing as it’s ridiculously long, though I am finally done. For the next question:

What do you think makes a great city ?

I will leave you all with some more pictures from around Stanley Park in Calgary. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Sunday, bye for now.

 

Report # 910

Hey everyone, I hope that you’ve all been having a great start to the week. I’ve already been in Calgary for five days and in exactly one week I’ll be heading to Mexico so it’s amazing how fast time has been flying. On Friday afternoon my aunt and I walked across a new bridge in Calgary called the “Peace Bridge.” It had a very cool design and was designed by a Spanish architect. Of course this caused some tax payers to complain about the price but I think it was worth it as it definitely adds something to the city.

My aunt and I walked along Princess Island towards a newer part of the city called East Village. There were tons of people there as all of the city’s food trucks were gathered by the river for a special once a year food event. There was food from all over the world and I can definitely see why so many people were lined up to give the places a try. It certainly helped that it was a very warm and sunny day as well. Afterwards my aunt and I made our way back across the river and climbed up a steep hill and took tons of pictures.

That morning I had gone with my grandmother and while I was at London Drugs I bought a new Cannon camera. I probably could have stuck with my old Sony camera, but it was four years old and I figured since it’s not too much to get a new camera I might as well. My new memory card has 16 GB and my old one only had 2 GB so I’ll be able to store tons of photos…. even with the old one I could store close to 1,000 pictures. And this camera has 16 Mega Pixels while my old one only had 7.2 so its a nice upgrade.

I’ve already taken a few hundreds of pictures here, and I want to spend a day in downtown Vancouver before I go as well. And after with all the pictures I’ll be taking in Mexico I can imagine I’ll be super busy uploading for months to come. Most of the nights after dinner we’ve all been playing the card game 31, though I did play rummy with my grandmother last night, and I went down to defeat ! On Saturday afternooon I went for what had to be one of my longest walks ever.

I walked all the way from my grandmother’s house up a huge hill, down the hill, across the river, and up and down so many streets in downtown Calgary. I pretty much saw almost everything there was to see in the city so there is absolutely nothing left for me to see down there. As I slowly made my way back home I went through a festival in Chinatown where I saw a giant blow up Hello Kitty figure so I took a picture for Dora as she likes Hello Kitty. I kind of wondered what Hello Kitty was doing in the festival as it’s a Japanese thing and this was a Chinese celebration, but probably a lot of people wouldn’t know the difference.

I walked home through Princess Island, where they had an African Day celebration, and then up over 150 stairs to the top of Crescent Road which is a street with a view of the whole downtown skyline. I did the long walk on that street and made my way up to the main street and did a quick stop at Tim Hortons to get an ice cappuichino before walking another 30 minutes to get home. I was pretty exhausted when I got home so I certainly wasn’t going to go for a run.

I’ve ran around the golf course two times since I’ve been here, but I’d like to make it a couple of more times. I’ve walked so much that I’m not too worried about my running though. I’ve only watched one hour of my Spanish telenovela since I got here so I’ve slipped with that. Not too big of a deal I suppose as I’ll be in Mexico in a week anyways. Yesterday I went with my grandmother to Sears and she bought me a shirt and a new pair of shoes. I’m very lucky and thankful for that and I will finish painting her fence today in the evening.

I was talking to Dora on Skype yesterday and a huge storm started with some hail almost the size of golf balls and lots of thunder and sheet lightning…. as well as a few of the bolt lightning too. It was quite the storm, especially after seeing the one at home last week. I unplugged my laptop and I just went into the basement and continued talking to Dora down there. We actually talked for a few hours last night and afterwards we were both ready for bed.

Today I want to share with everyone a letter that was written to the Calgary Herald by a police officer from Kalamazoo, Michigan visiting the city with his wife. I’ve been so amazed at all of the news coverage this story has got. What started as a simple letter has been talked about on the news, lead to many letters and editorials in response in the Herald, and even more response on the internet from people in Canada and the United States. So here is the letter that has started what continues to be talked about today a week later:

I recently visited Calgary from Michigan. As a police officer for 20 years, it feels strange not to carry my off-duty hand-gun. Many would say I have no need to carry one in Canada.

Yet the police cannot protect everyone all the time. A man should be al-lowed to protect himself if the need arises. The need arose in a theatre in Aurora, Colo., as well as a college campus in Canada.

Recently, while out for a walk in Nose Hill Park, in broad daylight on a paved trail, two young men approached my wife and me. The men stepped in front of us, then said in a very aggressive tone: “Been to the Stampede yet?”

We ignored them. The two moved closer, repeating: “Hey, you been to the Stampede yet?”

I quickly moved between these two and my wife, replying, “Gentle-men, I have no need to talk with you, goodbye.” They looked bewildered, and we then walked past them.

I speculate they did not have good intentions when they approached in such an aggressive, disrespectful and menacing manner. I thank the Lord Jesus Christ they did not pull a weapon of some sort, but rather concluded it was in their best interest to leave us alone.

Would we not expect a uniformed officer to pull his or her weapon to intercede in a life-or-death encounter to protect self, or another? Why then should the expectation be lower for a citizen of Canada or a visitor? Wait, I know – it’s because in Canada, only the criminals and the police carry handguns.

Walt Wawra, Kalamazoo, Mich.

A lot of Calgarians have wrote in to the paper basically ridiculing this man and saying that he should have just stayed home and it’s a great thing that here in Canada we have different gun laws. While I think this police officer severely overreacted, what has been interesting is that the men who he said approached him in the letter have not come forward. I would think they’d like to come out and talk about their side of the story as well. So it’s certainly a possibility that they did approach the man and his wife in a way that seemed a little less than friendly, however talking about guns in this situation is a gross overreaction.

If anyone checks they will see that Canada is the safest country in the Americas and there are only 7 countries in the world safer than Canada to visit based on this list done by divine caroline.com

http://www.divinecaroline.com/30/82437-world-s-ten-safest-countries-visit

And I can’t see Canada being a safer country with less strict gun laws and a right for everyone to carry a gun on the street. While I certainly believe someone being threatened in a serious situation has a right to defend themselves, these situations can not be overreacted on and introducing guns to all of those possible scenarios will no doubt lead to more murders and a less safe society in general.

I have agreed with some letters written by people saying its important not to paint Americans all with the same brush as insecure gun lovers and that is very true. It’s unfortunate that this tourist has overreacted and created such a firestorm among Canadians here, but his comments just seemed so ridiculous that I can certainly understand why people have reacted the way they have reacted. It is definitely important though that the people here realize this is one man voicing his opinion, and while no one has to agree with it, he has every right to feel the way he does, as crazy as that may seem to many.

And obviously there are probably just as many Americans and people from other countries who find is comments just as bit as ridiculous. Somone from New Hampshire wrote in to the Calgary Herald and even said as much saying Canadians can’t just think all Americans feel as this one tourist did and that is very important for people to know. I have heard that the Walt Wawra (the letter writer) is planning on writing a second letter to clarify his comments, though I haven’t seen it yet.

Hopefully it comes soon because this story has lasted far too long and it’s about time that the letter page and the editorials in the Calgary Herald start being filled with some other stories. For the next question:

Do you feel the writer of this letter overreacted ? What are your thoughts on carrying guns in public ?

That’s all for me today. I’ll leave you all with some more pictures from the Stanley Park/Sandy Beach area that I took on Wednesday. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Thursday, bye for now.

Sources: divinecaroline.com – divine caroline: life in your words. World’s Ten Safest Countries to Visit. By TripAtlas. First Published: September 2009.

calgaryherald.com. Nose Hill Park confrontation makes visitors feel unsafe. By Walt Wawra (letter write) Published in the Calgary Herald. August 8,2012.

Report # 909

Hey everyone, I hope that you’ve all been having a fantastic week. I packed my bag for Calgary on Tuesday afternoon and it was the first time I used my new suitcase. It was actually half empty, but I always bring back a few extra things while I’m here so having all of that extra space will be very helpful. I woke up at 6:30 am on Wednesday morning and a few minutes later Dora surprised me with a call. It was very sweet of her to call and it was great to talk to her before I got going.

My grandmother picked me up and we drove to the Abbotsford airport. I almost always fly out of Abbotsford when I go to Calgary as it’s such a small airport and very easy to get to. I basically checked-in my bag and was through security in less than 15 minutes. I had a good hour to spend so I just read the paper and paid almost $ 10 for a bottle of orange juice and some egg and ham breakfast sandwich. The airport food is always overpriced and never really that appealing.

The flight was just an hour and twenty minutes so I just read the paper and watched TV. I actually got to the airport a few minutes before my aunt and grandmother. We headed home and I had some pizza for lunch with lots of small candies and chocolates after. I always eat way too much sweet stuff and food in general when I’m here. Luckily my aunt and I walked about 10 kilometers later in the day. My aunt dropped me off at another park and we were going to walk towards one another to find each other later.

I walked by a park by the river, through a nice neighbourhood and then by some more river before climbing a steep hill to get to the top. I took a wrong turn from the top of the hill, but my aunt and I stayed in contact with the cellphones and I was able to find her later. We took the long hike back to the car and at this point we were both pretty exhausted. It was close to 30 C (86 F) and there were some areas by the freeway without shade so we probably took in a little too much sun as well.

We drove home and we had some ham and potatoes for dinner and we played a card game of 31 in the evening. The weather in Calgary is really fascinating at times. The whole day it was humid and there was just no breeze…. the air was literally dead. Then all of a sudden at around 9:00 pm huge gusts of wind started up and some dark clouds were forming in other parts, though where we were the sky remained clear. I walked outside with my aunt for a while to get some fresh air and watch the interesting weather.

We weren’t the only ones out as some other people were walking and someone was even sitting on their roof. After seeing a rare lightning storm at home on Tuesday night and now seeing this it’s been a very interesting week. I woke up at 8:45 am on Thursday morning and went for a nice run around the golf course before having a shower. Afterwards my grandmother was saying that we had to paint the fence. She really was insisting that it got painted right then as she was worried it would rain later and it would never get done.

I kind of wished she told me before I had my shower, though it wasn’t a big deal. So I went outside and we painted the fence for about two hours. The whole back yard part got finished, and while there is still a little more to do, the majority of the job got finished. I headed in around 11:15 am and had some lunch and then my aunt and I went for another walk. This time we drove down by the river and I crossed a bridge and walked on a trail along the river. My aunt went back to the car and I eventually ran into her on the trail as she went walking from the other direction.

It was a really nice day, though it wasn’t really much cooler than it was the day before, it was almost exactly as hot and sunny. Afterwards we stopped at Tim Hortons and picked up Ice Cappuichinos and then we walked around another park and sat underneath the tall trees by the river. We walked a bit more and we could see all of the people floating down the river in their rafts. One young woman said something like “Why aren’t you out on the river ? I’m here enjoying my beer.”

She was going down the river by herself on an inflatable boat, though she was breaking two rules ! She was not using a life jacket which is a law for anyone boating or tubing down that river, and she was drinking alcohol. Of course I’m not the river police so I couldn’t do anything to stop her rebellious ways. Obviously tons of people really don’t care about the rules and will do what they want. Personally I think if they want to do that just let them do that, but they need to be responsible for their own safety if they choose to ignore laws which are put in place to keep people safe.

Dora called as we were walking through a picnic area by the river and she told me she had found a perfect place to stay in Lázaro Cárdenas. The rent was going to be super cheap and it had air conditioning and furniture, though the story ended up being too good to be true. Dora talked to the lady again in the evening, and apparently the lady doubled the price. Dora already gave her a 2,000 peso deposit so the lady better give it back. I just can’t stand people who lie and act in such an unprofessional way.

I won’t actually be in Lázaro for another 17 days so there is still definitely time to find something. Dora has been very helpful with everything and I think things will be ok. My aunt and I weren’t exhausted like we were the previous day as we didn’t walk quite as long and we didn’t stay so long under the sun. We came home and had some lasagna for dinner and had a relaxing evening of card playing, and watching a football game. I also showed my grandmother a bunch of the pictures I had taken.

Before settling down for the night I walked around a field by the golf course and I saw a group of four jack rabbits running around, and another group of two other jack rabbits. They are very big rabbits, bigger than cats. It’s always enjoyable to be outside and see the animals that are out. Though I was talking to Dora and while there are certainly some very cool animals in Lázaro it sounds like I’ll have to be careful as she told me there are lots of sharks in the water and crocodiles on the beaches !

Over the weekend I heard the extremely tragic news of another shooting, this one taking place at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin in a suburb of Milwaukee. What a horrible summer it’s been for public shootings. It’s like every couple of weeks there is another shooting tragedy. While the shooter was clearly as messed up as the shooter involved in the movie theatre shooting in Colorado, this was clearly a racially motivated attack.

First off I have to say its obviously incredibly wrong to attack anyone in any way based on their religion. It’s wrong to make fun of them, its wrong to say racist things, and to go beyond all that and attack and kill someone just because of their race is thoroughly disgusting. Fortunately the shooter was killed, saving families from going through a long and painful trial, though I can only imagine the pain so many people are going through.

Secondly the shooter and so many other people out there are just plain idiots. Whoever doesn’t know the difference between Muslims and Sikhs obviously has not gotten out much and needs to sit down and do some reading and truly educate themselves. I am thinking the shooter was probably wanting to attack Muslims as he probably developed such sick and twisted ideas about them while he was part of the military.

Now hopefully people won’t use the fact that the shooter was in the military as a way to think negatively about all of the other people in the military and serving overseas. He was clearly just a very racist person based on his connections to certain white supremacy groups, and really that has nothing to do with the military at all. This story is just so sad knowing that people died basically for no reason just out of pure hatred. Obviously it’s impossible to cure the world of racism completely, but clearly schools need to do a better job of teaching tolerance and equality between all the religions and groups of people.

And while it’s important that people understand that Sikhs are Sikhs, and Muslims are Muslims, the root of this shooting shows a clear need of solving a much great problem: doing all that can be done to get racism out of this society. Because at the end of the day this story would still be just as tragic had the shooter went into a Mosque and shot people just for being Muslims. If the racism itself isn’t fought, it really doesn’t matter how educated people are into who the different people are.

I’ve grown up in a city with many Sikh people and I can definitely say they are always doing things to help the community and have brought so much diversity to the city which is a wonderful thing. To think that there are people in this world who want to cause harm on a group of people based only on which faith they identify themselves as is horrendously horrible. We must all come together and fight the racism, hatred and violence that has been happening.

This is not a problem that will solve itself, though if people can come together, learn more about different types of people and really embrace diversity as a positive thing, there will be a better understanding of people between different faiths, and hearing about stories such as these will become less common. Clearly this world has a long way to come before truly becoming a 100 % equal multicultural society where we can all just get along and appreciate one another regardless of faith or race.

Unfortunately stories like these just show everyone how much further we have to go to achieve a dream of racial equality and religious acceptance. And while I’m sure things have improved greatly in the last half century, there is still so much further to go. And as sad as these tragedies are we must all keep up the push for a better world else nothing will ever change and more lives will be lost, and that is just not acceptable in any way, shape, or form.

For the next question:

What can be done to better the relations between people of different faiths and origins ?

Today I’ll leave you all with some pictures from my walk with my aunt on Wednesday. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Monday, bye for now.