the city of lights.

                                    

my stay in paris, initially, wasn't what i had expected.  i had heard such marvelous reviews about the city that i originally thought paris would win my heart my first step off the plane and that i would never want to leave.  this wasn't the case,  in fact, my reaction was the complete opposite. 

however, on the second day of my stay i took a trip inside the louvre, this is when paris started to redeem itself for me.  of course the art inside is incredibly stunning but what really did it for me was the inside of the building itself.  it is massive and is decorated in such a way that left me awestruck. then a visit to the eiffle tower, where I climbed all 1334 steps, yes I counted, it kept me from looking down and having a panic attack. i managed to arrive at the top just in time for the sunset. it was a sunset i will never forget.  it was by far my favorite moment i have had thus far on my trip. 

my trip to the palace of versailles was a bit of a nutty time as i swear every tourist in france was there at the same time. never the less, the palace and their gardens are rich with history and beauty.  i'm glad that i paid them a vist even though at times it felt like a cattle drive getting from room to room inside. 

lastly, i will share with you my greatest accomplishment while in paris. i successfully have made it an entire 4 days in this city without being pick-pocketed! that's not to say that they didn't try.  i don't think i have ever been so poked and prodded in my entire life.  after a few verbal altercations with scammers, a nice lady pulled me aside who spoke english and informed me of all the the different ways and methods they will try to scam tourists. her last piece of advice was to 'ditch the backpack, get a bag that you can carry in front of you.  carrying a backpack is just asking the sneaky mother f****** to rummaged through your stuff.'  needless to say my mission to find a side-bag was back on (see pervious post 'becoming european').

much love from 'the city of lights',
lo. 

The Louvre.   

  

A giant crowd and mass amounts of security can only mean
one thing....

                
                               The Mona Lisa.

             

                'Lovers Bridge'. Love birds from all over the world come and
buy a pad lock, write their names on it, lock
it to this bridge,  throw the key into the river, and then
have a hot and heavy make out session while everyone
watches them. Cute. 

Paris from the top of the Eiffle Tower. 

Gardens of Versailles 

The Palace of Versailles   

Gold gates of Versailles 

Crepes - so delicious!  

 

Because I'm on my own and not able to process things
verbal,  journaling (with a fabulous view) has
quickly become my favorite pass time. 

the land of long words.

i promise that i wont start off all my travel posts like this but once again, i'm still trying to sort through my thoughts from my visit to berlin. germany was my first, and what I will assume to be my most emotionally and intellectually demanding stop while in europe. as we all know, germany is a country with a very fascinating, but dark history. 

i spent most of my time at the many museums and info centers learning about the second world war. for years i have spent time in school learning about the several historical events that took place in this country. however, no textbook write up or picture will ever give you the feeling you get when you are physically standing at the foot of the berlin wall or at the gates of a nazi concentration camp were several mass murders took place.  

history aside, berlin is a wonderful city. it's filled with amazing architecture (as i'm sure most of europe is), beautiful parks, cheap but tasty beer, river canals, and strange but entertaining street buskers (see picture below). 

i am extremely thankful that i had the chance to visit this beautiful city. though it at times as a tourist it isn't the most cheery and uplifting city to visit on a holiday, it's an experience i would highly recommend.   i am glad that i am now able to understand a significant part of our relatively recent history in a new way. 

'Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe' tribute piece and museum. 

The Berlin Wall

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp 
A bunkhouse, originally built to hold 150 men.
Within 2 months of the camp opening they put up to 500 men in
each bunkhouse. Sometimes they would sleep 2 to 3 
men in each bed - 9 men per bunk. 

'Hard work will set you free'
The gates into the concentration camp.

Four fences all the way around the camp.

Completely random, I know.  It felt nessasary to add this picture because you
 see people all over the city playing the accordion. 

This beautiful building I was told is one of the 'newer' buildings in the city,
but it was made to look really old. When I asked my friend
how old is a 'new' building, his response of 200 years old made me laugh.
In Calgary, if a building stands for 100 years it becomes
a historicical building. 

Their words are miles long. I will never attempt to learn German. Why not
just keep things simple like we do in good old Canada with
our straight forward '17th Ave'?!

becoming european.

my girlfriends have always poked fun at me for always wanting to be more european... so i thought this was a funny story about my first day in europe.  

 

In my attempt to not be a 'tacky tourist', my first day in berlin i was on a mission to find a side bag to replace my backpack as friend from home told me she read in a book that it's unfashionable to wear backpacks, which I agree with. side-note: I personally believe that most europeans have great style, thus my (silly/joking) longing to be more european. 

back to my story... i made friends with an english lad named john who i was telling about my shopping mission. john stopped me mid sentence with his laughter and said "laura, it's not your backpack that you have to worry about. i would say that it's your giant camera hanging around your neck and map in hand that would be the dead give away'. 

needless to say that ended my search for a side-bag. my newest theory is that if i walk at a quick speed it will look like i know where i am going. i could be wrong, i'm starting to wonder if maybe that's why i got so lost in the first days was here. 

Africa in a nutshell

where to start? my mind is chalked full of thoughts when it comes to writing a post that will acuratly capture my experience while in africa. i'm still in the processing stage so i will just try and give a quick synopsis of what took place in this beautiful place. 

the main mission of our trip to zambia was to work with  a organization called Hands At Work to run an educational program for 40 youth ages 12-18 as well as encouraging the teachers and caseworkers in the community. the program information was mostly based around sexual education (contraceptives, abstinence, STI's ect). Through talking about these things it also allowed us the oppertunity to talk about sexual abuse, exchanging sex for money, sustance abuse, terminal illness's of friends and family members, grief, and other issues that these teenagers are facing on a daily basis. 

in order to run this program with the kids we needed to have some sort of relationship with them. we spent many hours in their community interacting with them at their school and at the different feeding posts in their area. we also had the opportunity to visit the homes of various people in the community  who are very ill with some of the Hands At Work caregivers. The time spent in the community allowed us to have a greater understanding of the children's background in which  we would be working with.  it also helped to form a foundation for the work we wanted to do in our program. 

our group then hosted a 4 day vacation bible school based on the story of noah's ark. in the mornings and evenings we played silly games, sang amazing african songs, danced (or at least us white people tried), and played lots of 'football'. in the afternoons we ran our 'sex ed' program. 

the kids responded really well to our program. but what was even more encouraging to me was that the teachers and some of the careworkers from the community also attended the camp and participated in our program. it is encouraging to know that when our team leaves africa, there will still be adults to talk to our kids about the issues going on in their lives. 

my hope is that our time with the kids and careworkers will be just enough to have broken down some walls and that now the topics of sex, abuse, and sti's will no longer be taboo to talk about. 

all in all, i had a wonderful time. Hands At Work is an amazing organization that is working within many communities throughout africa. as of late I have become a little unsure about short term missions, but while working with Hands At Work, their sustainable development model is fantastic and made me feel that the work we accomplish while in zambia was in fact life changing for all people involved and would continue once our team had left. 

this is an extremely brief snapshot of some of the things we did while in africa. I have plenty of pictures and personal stories that i would love to tell but those will have to be saved for coffee dates upon my return home. 

Much love to all,

Norah (my african name, as no one could pronounce the  'L' in my name) 

ps - as of right now i don't know if i can figure out how to post pictures. when and if i figure it out, i will post a few. 

Sky high emotions!

written: july 18

As i sit on the runway at heathrow airport waiting to take off to south africa. i ignore the"please put your electronic devises away" announcement that faintly plays over the music on my ipod as i write on my ipad - double electronic whammy. i'm such a rebel!  (let's be honest, when was the last time you read in the news 'plane goes down due to girls ipad usage during take off.' - never.)

a snip-it from my journal explains best what's going on in my head and heart at this moment;

   'i feel like i'm in a dream world. africa; a place that stole my heart without even visiting it many years ago, and now i'm finally on my way.  after patiently waiting for years for the right opportunity, now that it's here it's a bit overwhelming. things really started to sink in when we flew in over london. the fairy tales of kings, queens, and castle suddenly became a reality right before my eyes. I almost yelled in excitement when I spotted my first castle from the plane. 

i feel like a little kid getting a birds-eye view of disney land. everything i have seen in the movies and hoped was real - old brick houses everywhere you look, small tiny cars, the layout of this old historical city, it's all real! 

london, thus far you haven't disappointed and I have only seen you from a plane. i can't wait experience you when I return for an extended stay in september!'

much love from across the pond (i have always wanted to write that),

lo. xo  

BL#23 - road race. check!

 i did it!  today i ran in my very first road race.  it was the annual mothers day race in calgary.  14 000 people participated in the cattle drive... i mean road race.  i beat my goal time by 4 minutes.  definitely a success i would say! 
bucket list item # 23: 
run in an official race.  CHECK! 

My Bucket List

before it's my turn to kick the bucket, i will conquer this list (and perhaps a few more things that will be added on at a later date)!  

1. Go Skydiving
2. Learn Spanish

3. Swing from a vine like Tarzan 

4. Go in a hot air balloon

5. Get my degree

6. Learn and become good at two-stepping

7. Meet my sponsor child

8. Shower in a real waterfall

9. Be in two places at one

10. Buy a house

11. Go to a professional baseball game

12. Go to Alaska

13. Visit 6/7 Continents (North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, South America)

14. Swim with dolphins

15. Ride a donkey in Greece

16. Get my scuba-diving certification

17. Go on the longest zip-line in the world (in Costa Rica)

18. Own a standard car

19. See the Northern Lights

20. Visit the Grand Canyon

21. Ride an Elephant

22. Own a speed boat

23. Run in an official race

24. Live in the country on an acreage

25. See a Cique du Soleil show

26. Go to New York

27. Be apart of a big food fight

28. Crash a wedding

29. Ride in a cable car in San Fran while singing the Full House theme song

30. See U2 in concert

31. Participate in a flash MOB dance

32. Skinny dip at least one a year - (so far I'm right on track!) 

33. Own a pair of cowboy boots
34. Treat my parents to a tropical vacation

35. See Coldplay in concert

36. Swim in a pool of noodles

37. See a black sand beach

38. By a one way ticket

39. Read the entire bible

40. Kiss someone in the pouring rain

41. Own a horse

42. Go on a African safari

43. Donate blood

44. Snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef

45. Ride the EuroRail

46. Reach my goal weight

47. Have a baby or two, or three

48. Go to a professional soccer (football) game and sing my heart out to all the chants.

49. Retire early

50. Take a picture on Abby Road

51. Sleep under the stars

52. Have a picnic in a wheat field

53. See a Killer Whale in the wild
54. Do yoga in Bali

55. Go backpacking

56. Go whitewater rafting

57. Go to Iceland

58. Go to Mardi Gras

59. Get married to the most amazing, and gorgeous man!
60. Drive across Canada

61. Adopt a child
62. Cut down my own Christmas tree
63. Own a Great Dane

64. Visit all 10 Canadian provinces (BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, Newfoundland)

Whats on your bucket list?