Thomas says Merry Christmas

...or something like that

What an educatory day. And I don't care if that's not a word.

Life lessons learned today:
Never go to Safeway on the way home from work.
Always use the self check-out line.
Never expect people to give you a break (like letting you skip them in line with your 4 items) just because you look like you're about to pop out a baby tomorrow and your back is killing you.
Don't stay late at work. It's not worth it.
Do everything you can to live in a city where you don't have to drive. Anywhere. Ever.

Living Room

Although it's definitely still a work in progress, here is our living room...we're getting there. In this first photo, you can see the house across the street (since we still don't have any blinds or curtains...) which is what our house looks like. Dave's dad and I are in the process of building a bench in this bay window. I think I've finally found the fabric to cover it in! :D


Our lovely Ikea 'book'shelf...still pretty empty.



Our free couch - not bad! Plus our avocado-green lamps.
We're in the process of refinishing this buffet - it's out in our garage for now.

Once upon a time...

There are many things I love about Canada - stupid people are much less outspoken than in the states, we have $1 and $2 coins, I don't have to worry about doctor's bills, and it's not a bad thing to be a socialist. But one thing I really hate is the weather. Well, I shouldn't make such a sweeping statement...Canada is, after all, the second largest country by land mass in the world (although a lot of that is in the arctic circle and I don't think any of you would like the weather there anyway). But to be more specific, I hate the weather in Calgary. Summer didn't happen this year. We had one day that was 29 and another that was 31 (celsius, not farenburger as dad would say...you'll have to look up the conversion yourself because I am too lazy). Those were the 2 'hot' days of the summer and they happened in August. I thought perhaps that summer would come in September, but alas, it is supposed to snow on Thursday. No summer here. On top of having no summer, which is pretty depressing, what's even worse about the weather here is that it is completely unpredictable. It could be 75 degrees in January or it could snow in July. Or the opposite. No weather is outside the realm of possibilities. Montreal's winters were much colder and much much snowier, but you could count on those things. Winter = cold + snow. Summer = Hot + humid. Predictable. Once upon a time, I lived in a place where you could count on summer.

Maybe I'm just not adventurous...

Mormons and Muslims

By now, I’m sure everyone has heard about the so-called ‘mosque at ground zero’. I first heard about this a couple of weeks ago when a Muslim fb friend of mine posted an article about it (at the very start of the controversy). I was surprised and annoyed by all the fuss then and have only gotten more annoyed and increasingly shocked/disappointed in the general public’s reaction to the proposed project since. I can’t understand why people can’t distinguish between Muslims and terrorists. The men who took down the WTC were terrorists. All the experience I have with muslims (through school and work) tells me that those men were not true muslims.

I recently read a blog post on Mormonism-unveiled which compared the building of the mosque on Park Place to our church building a temple on the site of the mountain meadows massacre. I still trying to decide if the writer is not from NY or if they just don’t have a brain. The site of the MMM is the middle of nowhere. If we were to build something there, it would be because of the massacre. That is a far cry from building a mosque on Park Place. If I began to list how many other things are within a 2 block radius of the WTC site, you’d be reading this blog for several hours. The people behind building this mosque are not building it there because of 9/11. They are likely building it there because they already own the property and there’s a need for a community center and prayer space due to the number of muslims working and/or living in the area. Anyone who believes that they are building it there because of its proximity to the WTC site is simply a paranoid conspiracy-obsessed individual. Or just straight up ignorant I guess.

Anyway, aside from the general public’s opposition to the project, which I find ridiculous considering people’s obsession with second amendment rights while seeming to ignore first amendment rights…or just relegating them to certain individuals, I’m more disturbed by members’ opposition to the project. And it’s not just because I expect more from members of the church (although I am constantly disappointed and should probably flush that expectation down the toilet). First, there is the 11th article of faith: We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may. I don’t think it gets more straightforward than that…and I don’t know how you can justify opposing the project and claiming to believe this. Integrity, anyone?

But more than that, it’s the failure of members to see the similarities between Mormons and Muslims that really makes me sad. We have seen lots of opposition when trying to build temples (the Plainview temple which was announced but never built due to opposition from the community is a local example of that – thank goodness since that led to the building of the Manhattan temple – saweeet!). The entire church is routinely blamed for the stupidity of either a few members or for the actions of people who are not even members of our church , but of a church which others confuse with ours (ya’ll know what I’m talking about). Additionally, I often feel I have more in common with Muslims than with other Christians. Muslims I know believe in the importance of the family. They don’t drink, they don’t swear, they dress modestly, they live modestly, and their beliefs seem to really impact the way they live their lives. In a world where most people think you’re backwards for having any traditional values (like believing in the importance of virtue for example), I believe Muslims (especially Muslims in America) are Mormons’ greatest ally on that front. Anyway, there’s a lot more I could say, but if I wrote everything that was on my mind, I would never post this…it’s already been brewing for over a week…

Ch-ch-changes

Well I am officially one of the lamest (if that is even a word) bloggers out there. Oh well. I will redeem myself one day. But I am not going to pretend that today is that day.

Dave is in Haiti and has been for the past 5+ weeks. I moved on Thursday-which bled into Friday-which bled into Saturday. So yes, I moved 'by myself'. I put that in quotations because I had lots of help with the physical moving - thanks to my in-laws and a few good friends. However, it's a lot to ask someone you're not super-close with to pack or unpack your personal belongings. And since I've lived here for just shy of a year, I can't say that I'm super-close with anyone yet. So that part has been done by myself. Not that it is done. In fact, the unpacking is far from it. I leave tomorrow night to meet up with Dave in the Bahamas and I've resigned myself to the fact that we are going to return home to a huge mess.

That being said, I am VERY excited to be in our very own place. Well, we are renting, but no one else's stuff is in here! Amazing! Plus we finally get to use all of our beautiful wedding gifts. Plus we live within walking (and I mean less than 2 minutes) distance from several friends. Plus we can (read: I can) start to get baby's room set up. Plus we live 2 minutes from the bus that will take Dave to the hospital (it even goes to another of the hospitals in the city where he will have to work during clerkship). Plus we have a back yard. Plus a garage (not having to heat your car up for 20 minutes while you scrape inch-thick ice off of every surface and try not to freeze to death all while muttering under your breath that now you're going to be late to wherever you're going because you had to spend so long getting the car in a state to be driven is not to be underestimated). Did I mention I am VERY excited about this new place?!

So our kitchen is a sort of eat-in set-up. I say sort-of because it's pretty small for an eat-in. BUT we will make it work! Due to some design flaws (in my humble opinion) there are some unused spaces that I will just have to make useful. I've looked at some kitchen carts at Ikea and I may *MAY* just be able to fit this cart next to the fridge - thus increasing counter space by probably about 1/3 - and maybe even this cart next to the stove. All while hopefully squeezing a small rectangular table with 3 chairs into the corner. I don't need those carts exactly, but they are the cheapest ones. The cabinets in the kitchen are a light-to-medium wood and the countertops are medium tan color (photos to be posted next week, I promise). Any thoughts on how to finish the carts to make them usable and easy to clean? Also, should I leave space for a high chair rather than get a kitchen cart?

Calgary Temple Groundbreaking!

So the Calgary temple, which was announced at October conference in 2008 has finally received approval from the neighbo(u)hood council or whatever and the groundbreaking date has been announced! May 15! Celebration! One can only attend the groundbreaking if you have a ticket. So this week at church, a sign-up sheet went around for those who were interested in obtaining tickets. The fields of information requested on the sheet were name, if you could drive there and how many spaces are in your car, and your desire to attend (ranked 1-5). What? Desire to attend? I put 4 for us. Coincidentally, so did Dave. I hope we get tickets!

Dual citizenship: win-win or lose-lose?

I’ve been thinking a lot about this topic due to the recent Olympics. I had a roommate in university who was a dual citizen of the US and Germany. When people would criticize the states, she would claim her European-ness. And when people would criticize Germany/Europe, she would claim her American-ness. It seemed like a win-win. You could always weasel your way out. And when it comes to moving across borders, it is definitely a win to be a dual citizen (although I’ve yet to experience this).

But I’ve recently come to realize that when it comes to living in Canada, being a dual citizen is more like a lose-lose. When I’m in the states (or just interact with friends/family that live there), I relentlessly get snide comments about living in Canada. The usual stuff – it’s so cold everyone lives 5 minutes from the border, they love curling and hockey, don’t know what baseball is, it’s winter 7 months a year, or their dollar is worth pennies – all of which is true (the dollar is worth about 95 pennies). And while in Canada, I’m definitely seen as a yank (partially because I don’t think Albertans consider Quebec to be part of Canada) and people feel the need to share their reasons for hating Americans with me. It’s grand. The really frustrating part is that I’m always seen as an outsider. I’ve been living outside the US for 6 of the last 7 ½ years…but I suppose I’ve moved too much to be considered an ‘insider’ when it comes to any of the places I’ve lived.

Fortunately, the only place I really feel like an insider happens to be the hottest city in the world: New York! What a place to know like the back of your hand (well at least some of it anyway)! So no matter where I’m living and no matter how much people put me down for being an outsider, I can always say quietly to myself – “wait, where are you from? I’m from New York. Beat that!”. Ha!

For Maryanne

K, so I took some photos of 'our' house because Maryanne is always asking for them. Of course I forgot that blogspot puts each new photo at the top, so these seem kind of backwards. So first is our workout room which I am ashamed to say we pretty much never (ever) use...
This is the downstairs living room. There's a pool table behind where the photo is taken.
This is the view out the back of the house. You can't even see the houses across the way!

This is the upstairs eat-in dining area. There's also a more formal dining room near the front door. We only use that if lots of people are over and we can't all fit at this table. I have a strange feeling that won't happen again for a good while.
This is the upstairs living room on the other side of the fireplace from the dining area seen above.

We will be sad to leave in June :( Especially because we will have to start paying rent...sigh...

Fundraiser for Haiti

Dave and I have been helping to plan and sell tickets for a Haiti fundraiser event on Friday, the proceeds of which are going to Team Canada Healing Hands (www.tchh.org). TCHH is the group Dave's gone with several times to Haiti (as a translator)

It's a group of physiatrists, physical and occupational therapists, and other rehabilitation specialists. They work primarily with parents and therapists of disabled children to teach rehabilitative practices. Many of these children have CP, Lou Gerig's disease, Hydrocephalus, or amputations.

Team Canada Healing Hands also provides wheelchairs, walkers, and prosthetics in an effort to improve the quality of life for these children.

After the recent earthquakes, newspapers have estimated that there may be up to 200,000 new amputees in Haiti because of injuries suffered during the quake. Friday night’s fundraiser will raise money to buy necessary equipment to help these new amputees to cope with their disabilities. Doctors, PTs and OTs that volunteer with the organization pay their own way to get down there, so all proceeds go directly to supplies.

Wishing I could wake up from this nightmare

I never thought that I would picture Haiti as it was when I visited and wish it could go back to that.

As you know, Dave and I had a lot emotionally invested in Haiti before the earthquake. He served his mission Kreyol speaking in Florida. He learned the language quickly. But he soon came to learn that to know a people, you need to know much more than their language. When he would write to me about frustrations he had with Haitians, I pushed him to figure out why he had been called to serve among them. I knew there was a reason. So he changed his attitude and opened up to a different culture. As he came to know the Haitian people, he came to love them. He learned their history, their expressions, and their stories. He learned that Haiti was the most productive slave colony in the 1700s and that the slaves there were abused far and beyond what was experienced in other slave colonies. He learned that Haiti gained its independence from France – who was the world’s superpower at the time – in the only successful Slave revolt in history. He learned that Haitians still celebrate their independence every January 1 by drinking soup jounmoun – a soup made with squash that was restricted to the French during slave times. He discovered the unbelievable generosity of even the poorest Haitians when he had 6 appointments with different families on Independence Day to share their soup with him. And as he learned the language and all these new things, he wrote to me about them. He often wrote a paragraph or two in Kreyol and I would do my best to write back in kreyol – he had sent me the missionary’s guide to learning Haitian-Creole that he had been given in the MTC. Living in Montreal, there were many Haitians around me, and between talking to them, learning from Dave, and listening to kreyol music, I started to know the Haitian people and also began to hold a special place in my heart for them.

Dave began to want to visit Haiti and see this country where many of his new friends were from. He wanted see what he could to help. Since he had become fluent in kreyol, he looked for a group for whom he could translate. He found the group Team Canada Healing Hands who is a group of physiatrists and physical therapists who travel to Haiti and train practitioners there how to rehabilitate children with disabilities of all different sorts. The group also takes much needed medical supplies and wheelchairs. They had a clinic and guest house in Port-au-Prince, but also travelled out to remote parts of the countries. After Dave’s first trip, he fell even more in love with the country and the people. He also began to realize just how desperate the situation was there. He committed to going to Haiti as often as he could to help there.

As soon as we got engaged, Dave started pushing the idea of going to Haiti on our honeymoon. It looked like a beautiful place, I knew it meant a lot to Dave, and I wanted to see what it was all about too. So in May 2008, after Dave had spent a week translating for doctors with Healing Hands, I packed my things and met up with him there. I landed in Port-au-Prince and went straight to the ‘domestic’ airport to fly to Les Cayes. We spent a week on beautiful Ile-a-vache and then headed back to Port-au-Prince to see the sights there for a few days. I was overwhelmed by the poverty and the constant commotion there. Sidewalks were used to sell goods, so people, cars, and scooters fought for space on the street. When people saw us (blan yo), they tried to find ways to help us so that we would have a reason to tip them. We were there just shortly after the food crisis of 2008, when people there resorted to eating mud fried with oil and salt. The price of rice had gone up worldwide and Haiti was one of the first countries to be affected by it. I could go on about the people of Haiti, the country’s history, and the hardships that people in Haiti experience every day, but that would take a looong time.

The earthquake that has hit Haiti has destroyed much of the rudimentary infrastructure that was previously there. The destruction and loss of life there is absolutely heart breaking. Anyone who has seen the news coverage can see that. But take a minute to put yourself in the shoes of people in our country who have family and friends there who they can’t get in touch with. And then take a minute to imagine being there – to walk down the street and see dozens of bodies lining the street, to see your capitol building, your house, hospitals, and shops destroyed, to wonder where your husband or wife or kids are, if they’re ok…I could go on and on. It reminds me of 9/11 – when I was walking uptown away from the fallen towers, no phone calls were getting through, people were gathering around cars that had their radios on, and rumors were flying – that there were bombs at Grand Central, the Empire State Building, that there were more planes headed for the capitol building, and on and on. That was scary. But most of the city was fine. No bombs were detonated, response teams were already searching for survivors, machinery was on its way to start removing the rubble. In Haiti, much of Port-au-Prince was destroyed. Street after street is lined with fallen buildings. Roads are blocked by the rubble and there are no emergency response teams moving in to help. As my classmates and I walked up West Street, ambulance after ambulance, fire trucks, and police cars raced down. The streets of Port-au-Prince are quiet. There are no screaming sirens from vehicles rushing to help. On top of that, the aid groups that are there are running out of supplies and resources. The Red Cross reported running out of medical supplies this morning.

It is incredibly frustrating to be here in Canada. We wish so much we could help to alleviate the suffering there. Dave could be of help if he were there now – translating for countless people who are there who can’t effectively communicate with the people there (it’s a bit painful to hear some news reporters’ French – which most Haitians don’t really speak anyway), but he can’t miss school. I don’t think I personally have much to offer in the way of assistance, but there are ways everyone can help.

I think the most immediate need is medical assistance and rescue teams/support. For aiding in medical assistance, I would recommend donating to Partners in Health. It was started in the 80s in Haiti by Paul Farmer to serve a fairly remote area of Haiti – Cange. Paul Farmer is a physician and a critical medical anthropologist and has done tons in the way of increasing life expectancy for people in the region of Cange and lowering the cost of treatments for TB worldwide. He’s done so much more that I can’t even begin to list here, but if you want to know more, read Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. It will change your perspective on the world. See more on the PIH website for updates on what they’re doing to respond to the crisis. You can also donate there. http://www.pih.org/

Of course other great organizations to donate to include Medecins sans frontiers (Doctors without Borders) at http://www.msf.org/ or http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/, the Red Cross at http://www.redcross.org/ or http://www.redcross.ca/, or the LDS humanitarian aid at http://www.ldsphilanthropies.org/.

What has happened in Haiti is sad beyond measure. Please keep the Haitian people in your thoughts and prayers, and please please donate as generously as you can to one of these reputable organizations.

This is me in front of the National Palace - the equivalent of the White House - which has now been destroyed.
This is inside the National Cathedral, the roof of which has completely collapsed.
This is the Marche en fer (Iron Market). I haven't heard anything about what's happened to it, but I can only imagine...
This is on market day in the 'big city' of Madame Bernard on Ile-a-vache. There are no cars on the island - people travel mostly by handmade sailboat, horse (on very small horses), or foot.

Home?

On my way to work this morning, I drove under an overpass as a bus drove over it. I saw it out of the corner of my eye and for a split second thought it was the subway going over the Manhattan bridge....sigh....