Back on the farm!

Well hello again,
I've been settling back into the country life, and boy did I miss it! Cities just don't have nearly as much to offer (at least for the things that I look for- beautiful night skies, fields and trees, fresh air, etc.) I missed it a lot!

I've been busily job hunting, and it looks as though it has paid off! I'm working at a bookstore called Titles in Peterborough Monday-Friday from 2:30-5:30 and all day Saturday. I love it so far! I missed the customer service industry! I keep seeing old friends and I'm learning lots.

I will also (hopefully) be starting at a cafe (it's supposed to open any day now) from 6am-2pm Monday-Friday. So I'm going to be keeping busy and hopefully saving up lots of money for the next part of my adventure year!!

And I now know what that adventure is! I will be heading down to a town in the Michoacan province of Mexico (Sahuayo, hopefully.) It's right near the southern coast about 6hrs south of Mexico City. (Michoacan google satellite maps)

I would be teaching 6 hours a day Mon-Fri and I would have paid sick days/2 weeks at Easter. It's only a couple hours by bus to the ocean (I think...) so that would mean many weekend trips to the beach!!! They also provide Spanish lessons as part of the contract, as I would be going there under a tourist visa as a "cultural exchange" because working visas are impossible to obtain, and because it is only for 5 months, I'm good to go.

So I'm really excited that an ESL position has finally worked out! I guess I have to start brushing up on my grammar or something now... I could be teaching all levels and all ages (ages 4-adults) so it's going to be a challenging, but exciting opportunity!!

Anyway, I guess that's it for now... Mom's 50th birthday party is coming up on Dec. 2nd so that should be a pretty fun time. I got a digital camera as an early X-mas gift from mom and dad, so I will be able so start posting photographs again! I promise I will...

Love, Hanah.

Times, they are a-changing

Well, it's been a long while since I posted, so I thought it would be good to catch everyone up on my life. I'll back track...

Damien worked at the warehouse with me for awhile, but they found out that we were dating and have some weird policy which doesn't allow boyfriends and girlfriends or husbands and wives to work together, so he got laid off which was too bad. The job was decent and would have been good to save up some money for both of us.

Mostly I've been working and doing a bit of exploring Vancouver on the weekends. We have had some nice dinners (greek, japanese, indian) and celebrated Damien's birthday with one of his friends who lives here which was really nice.

Also, on the Saturday before Halloween we went to Commercial Drive for the Parade of Lost Souls. There were thousands of people there, mostly all dressed up, and there were some awesome costumes!!! I went as a tree (covered myself in leaves) and Damien went as the newspaper man (covered himself-literally- in newspaper, with only eye holes and a mouth hole) It was quite the sight to see, and lots of strangers took our picture and laughed a lot. A couple of Damien's friends were there, so we hung out with Dale (who was dressed as a woman) for the evening. It was really overwhelming! So much to see! Lots of costumes, but also performances with fire and music and lots of foods and things. An interesting night for sure.

I'm trying to remember other stuff that has happened, but it's hard to remember so far back! Anyway, Damien and I have parted ways, and plans are changing for both of us. He's going to stick around Vancouver for a little while and make some money, and then I'm not sure what. I've flown back to Toronto to be with Nina and Jen, and hopefully Carly will be able to come visit this weekend, but she's very busy with school (she's coming to the end of her program!!) Then in a few days I'll head back to Peterborough to stay at the farm for awhile. My plan is to make some more money and keep travelling by myself. I think it will be really good for me to get some alone-travelling experience. Everyone should have at least one big trip by themselves, just to gain independence and also to really find out about myself. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm not exactly sure where it will take me yet!

I'm not sure when I'll be leaving either. I'm very torn because as much as I would like to just keep travelling after a short visit home, I need to make some money, and after a couple weeks of work, I'll definately want to stick around for mom's 50th birthday party, and at that point, it would feel silly to leave before Christmas! So who knows... I might not be leaving till the New Year at this point. We'll see...

Anyway, that's it for now I guess. It's sooooo nice to be back here and to see all the people I missed so much, and who I didn't think I'd see for half a year! There's always positive that comes out of negative. I feel very missed and very loved being back at UofT, so I think I'll stick around here for a few more days and soak it up. hehe. I think I deserve it...

And then it will be very nice to go back to the farm!!! I miss my family and Pippin and Margaret and Michael and Nate and all the chickens and good food!

So it might not be for awhile till I post again, but just thought I'd let everyone know what I'm up to. Sorry again about the long delay! Keep in touch everyone!! And try checking back now and then to see where I'm at.

Peace, Hanah.