We don't drink the tap water here. At least not unless it's been seriously boiled.
So, in light of that fact, we have to order water. This morning when I got up, I asked my husband: "What are the questions the lady asks you again when you phone for water?"
It's my experience that the people you order the water from talk so fast that some sentances are a complete mystery to me. I can understand "what's your address?" but that's about it.
My husband replied : When they answer you say "I want water." Then they will ask you for your water number. Then you say "I don't have one" then they will say "What? You don't have a water number? Something something something something something something." Then you say "I'm sorry, I am a foreigner. I don't speak the language. My address is .......................please bring 2 jugs." Then they'll bring the water.
You can get away with a lot as a foreigner. As frustrating as it is to not understand a lot of what's going on, in one way it makes life simpler.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Thursday, August 17, 2006
A taste of my day
I made a decision today. I decided it was time to make some chili.
In order to do this I realized that I needed some green peppers and tomatos. So, I rounded up my stuff and set out for the produce market. It's about a 7 or 8 minute walk from our house.
As I walked down the lane outside our house I passed a lady with her little black dog. He's the cutest little pomerainian you ever saw. I tried to take a picture but he ran past me too quickly. He was already some distance away from me when I think the owner told him to come back to me to get his picture taken, he came tearing up to me and ran around me and sat down in front of me for a bit of a petting, then he posed nicely like this:
In order to do this I realized that I needed some green peppers and tomatos. So, I rounded up my stuff and set out for the produce market. It's about a 7 or 8 minute walk from our house.
As I walked down the lane outside our house I passed a lady with her little black dog. He's the cutest little pomerainian you ever saw. I tried to take a picture but he ran past me too quickly. He was already some distance away from me when I think the owner told him to come back to me to get his picture taken, he came tearing up to me and ran around me and sat down in front of me for a bit of a petting, then he posed nicely like this:
Then, I tried to take a second "better" picture, but he was already already well on his way to his next destination.
The lady smiled, and we both continued on with our lives.
The market wasn't too busy today when I got there. I like going there. The produce is colourful, and there's lots to choose from. Here's a sampling of what I saw today:
More pics from the market
I picked up some huge tomatos and a green pepper. The chili turned out well. Have I ever made chili in my life before? I'm not sure. I made it with a mix, so it was a pretty sure thing.
Another thing I did today that I was pleased with was - wash the curtains. Just the bathroom and kitchen ones. Woo! were they dusty. Here's the sparkling clean new look:
My secret to the bright whites.... it's this detergent I buy here. It works. I don't even want to know what's in it....
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Woooops!
Since it is still the International Month of Embarrassment, thought I'd share another little something with you all.
Once upon a time(1996 or so), in a land far away (Saskatoon) I was driving along with my good friend Margie. We were not only friends but roomates(2 among 4 or 5.) It was a Saturday afternoon and we were feeling pretty cheerful returning home after an afternoon of errands at the mall.
As we drove up 8th street, traffic slowed and we found ourselves at a standstill in a traffic jam. So we waited. I was in the drivers seat and as I was talking to Margie I saw in the car next to us someone I recognized. Now I don't know who my brain thought I was seeing but my hand went up faster than my brain could control it and started waving enthusiastically... now this wasn't just a "hey there friend" wave, it was an exuberant, emphatic, eyebrows raised, wide eyed, "it's so good to see you again my very dear old friend, I haven't seen you in ages" flailing arm kind of wave.
Now, that would have been alright had I been waving to an old friend, or a relative, or even a very pleasant aquaintance would have been passable. But the guy I was waving to was our landlord. (cue crack of thunder in background) Now, many people have very very nice landlords. I myself have had some very nice ones, but this guy, yeah, well, not so nice. I'm sure he was nice to his family and friends... but we were.... his renters, and that made us something, well something undesirable, to be avoided like pond scum, or reruns of 3rd Rock from the Sun. He made it pretty clear in his interactions with us that he plain didn't like us. (Hey, we were nice girls! )
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that this guy that I was waving at like a maniac with a big goofy grin on my face was someone that we had this awkwardly cool "relationship" with, even small talk with him was painful.
You might think, "well good for you for being friendly", well sorry, no. A demure smile and a nice little wave of the hand would have been friendly, that would have been a nice gesture.
What my wave communicated was totally disproportionate to what the situation called for. And in the end, he just stared at us, made no response, and then I have no idea what he did after that as I didn't look back. (and we had to sit there next to his car for a bit until the traffic moved again, ugh.) I don't know if he even recognized us (hope not.) I have this little fear that perhaps he thought we were mocking him,(we weren't) because a split second after I started waving, my dear roomate Margie incredulously exclaimed "That's Kevin*!" and then began laughing, no, howling at my stupid gummy grin and frantic waving.
What I want to know is - who did I think that guy was? I still don't know.
*name change
Once upon a time(1996 or so), in a land far away (Saskatoon) I was driving along with my good friend Margie. We were not only friends but roomates(2 among 4 or 5.) It was a Saturday afternoon and we were feeling pretty cheerful returning home after an afternoon of errands at the mall.
As we drove up 8th street, traffic slowed and we found ourselves at a standstill in a traffic jam. So we waited. I was in the drivers seat and as I was talking to Margie I saw in the car next to us someone I recognized. Now I don't know who my brain thought I was seeing but my hand went up faster than my brain could control it and started waving enthusiastically... now this wasn't just a "hey there friend" wave, it was an exuberant, emphatic, eyebrows raised, wide eyed, "it's so good to see you again my very dear old friend, I haven't seen you in ages" flailing arm kind of wave.
Now, that would have been alright had I been waving to an old friend, or a relative, or even a very pleasant aquaintance would have been passable. But the guy I was waving to was our landlord. (cue crack of thunder in background) Now, many people have very very nice landlords. I myself have had some very nice ones, but this guy, yeah, well, not so nice. I'm sure he was nice to his family and friends... but we were.... his renters, and that made us something, well something undesirable, to be avoided like pond scum, or reruns of 3rd Rock from the Sun. He made it pretty clear in his interactions with us that he plain didn't like us. (Hey, we were nice girls! )
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that this guy that I was waving at like a maniac with a big goofy grin on my face was someone that we had this awkwardly cool "relationship" with, even small talk with him was painful.
You might think, "well good for you for being friendly", well sorry, no. A demure smile and a nice little wave of the hand would have been friendly, that would have been a nice gesture.
What my wave communicated was totally disproportionate to what the situation called for. And in the end, he just stared at us, made no response, and then I have no idea what he did after that as I didn't look back. (and we had to sit there next to his car for a bit until the traffic moved again, ugh.) I don't know if he even recognized us (hope not.) I have this little fear that perhaps he thought we were mocking him,(we weren't) because a split second after I started waving, my dear roomate Margie incredulously exclaimed "That's Kevin*!" and then began laughing, no, howling at my stupid gummy grin and frantic waving.
What I want to know is - who did I think that guy was? I still don't know.
*name change
Monday, August 14, 2006
| You Are Big Bird |
 Talented, smart, and friendly... you're also one of the sanest people around. You are usually feeling: Happy. From riding a unicycle to writing poetry, you have plenty of hobbies to keep you busy. You are famous for: Being a friend to everyone. Even the grumpiest person gets along with you. How you life your life: Joyfully. "Super. Duper. Flooper." |
Sunday, August 06, 2006
TDoTF
I was thinking about which embarrassing story to share with you, and in the end I decided to go with one of my oldest. It hails back to the time I was around 10. Now, please understand the context. I am a woman with 3 older brothers. If you don't have brothers, then please.......don't judge me. If you are someone with brothers, especially older ones, well, you've probably attempted something similar at some point.
Well, it all started one sunny morning at the lake. I was strolling through the living room of the cabin and I spied that one of the bedroom door curtains was closed. I could hear someone turning pages in the bedroom. I knew one of my brothers was on the bed right behind that curtain reading a comic book. It seemed too good to pass up. The living room was empty so the coast was clear. I very quickly snuck up and stuck my behind through that curtain, then in a clear, bold tone I proceeded to forcefully pass wind. Yep, I cut the cheese, and it was a doozy. I then withdrew my behind from said bedroom snickering to myself.
I thought it was pretty hysterical, until the only response from inside was "oh..." and at that moment the smile disappeared from my face as I realized that I'd made a grave, grave error. It wasn't one of my brothers in there, it was my brother's friend! UGH! Totally different situation! My heart sank in horror.
What was I going to do? I mean, you can fart in front of your brothers, but you can't fart in front of your brothers' friends! How embarrassing! So, I did what any mature 10 year old would do, I took off as fast as I could, and never made mention of it again.
That guy and my brother are still friends, and even to this day I don't know if that guy knows it was me or even remembers "the day of the fart." But I do, boy do I remember it, but I'm not embarrassed anymore, in fact I laugh audibly when I think about it, even if I'm by myself.
Well, it all started one sunny morning at the lake. I was strolling through the living room of the cabin and I spied that one of the bedroom door curtains was closed. I could hear someone turning pages in the bedroom. I knew one of my brothers was on the bed right behind that curtain reading a comic book. It seemed too good to pass up. The living room was empty so the coast was clear. I very quickly snuck up and stuck my behind through that curtain, then in a clear, bold tone I proceeded to forcefully pass wind. Yep, I cut the cheese, and it was a doozy. I then withdrew my behind from said bedroom snickering to myself.
I thought it was pretty hysterical, until the only response from inside was "oh..." and at that moment the smile disappeared from my face as I realized that I'd made a grave, grave error. It wasn't one of my brothers in there, it was my brother's friend! UGH! Totally different situation! My heart sank in horror.
What was I going to do? I mean, you can fart in front of your brothers, but you can't fart in front of your brothers' friends! How embarrassing! So, I did what any mature 10 year old would do, I took off as fast as I could, and never made mention of it again.
That guy and my brother are still friends, and even to this day I don't know if that guy knows it was me or even remembers "the day of the fart." But I do, boy do I remember it, but I'm not embarrassed anymore, in fact I laugh audibly when I think about it, even if I'm by myself.
Friday, August 04, 2006
International Month of Embarrassment
I am a person who knows embarrassment. There are different kinds of embarrassment of course. When I say I "know" embarrassment, I am referring to just your everyday "something stupid just happened" embarrassment. For some reason, I am just one of those people who seems to have the faulty zipper, or who mistakes people's identities, or says something a little too loudly, or walks in the wrong door etc etc... you get the picture... I have also been known to let out the occasional snort when I'm laughing.
I sometimes have wondered why these things happen to me. I always end up trying to give it a positive spin by thinking "It's because I enjoy life!" But truthfully, sometimes it has nothing to do with enjoying or not enjoying life. Maybe it has more to do with hastyness, or being unobservant, or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time....but sometimes, yep it has to do with enjoying life. That's usually where the snort comes in.
A little while ago I was trying to recall various moments of embarrassment, and I decided that it's worth sharing some of them. Why let them go to waste? So, I hereby dub August- "International Month of Embarrassment." I will share some of my embarrassing moments with you starting tomorrow.... are you excited? Ok, see you tomorrow.
I'm going to go watch a movie just now with my husband...
I sometimes have wondered why these things happen to me. I always end up trying to give it a positive spin by thinking "It's because I enjoy life!" But truthfully, sometimes it has nothing to do with enjoying or not enjoying life. Maybe it has more to do with hastyness, or being unobservant, or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time....but sometimes, yep it has to do with enjoying life. That's usually where the snort comes in.
A little while ago I was trying to recall various moments of embarrassment, and I decided that it's worth sharing some of them. Why let them go to waste? So, I hereby dub August- "International Month of Embarrassment." I will share some of my embarrassing moments with you starting tomorrow.... are you excited? Ok, see you tomorrow.
I'm going to go watch a movie just now with my husband...
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
No no no
We arrived back in our city last night. It's good to be back. Last night and today we have been unpacking and cleaning up, and getting things organized. I went for groceries today. I went to a big grocery store. That store has the stickiest produce bags around. I find them incredibly difficult to open. My first stop was the produce isle, I could not get a single bag open, at least not before one of the produce attendants would come over and open it for me. It was amazing really, they could open those bags with one swift motion. After the second attendant came over to open a bag for me, I began to try to look casual so as they wouldn't feel the need to come over. Well, 3 or so bags later I had my own personal produce attendant. He just stayed with me. He was actually quite helpful, he began pushing my cart for me, and giving me advice on which potatos to pick. My favourite part was when he said "No no no!" when I picked up a potato he didn't think was up to par. Ah the life of a foreigner.
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