Midway Musings

Well, nothing super deep or funny today, just some updates to let people know where I am and how I am doing.

I have made it as far as Saskatchewan and I spent today working in a science lab while my friend Carol did end of year stuff at her school. It was weird being back in a high school classroom, also disconcerting though as they were much more technologically advanced some of my university classrooms. The smartBOARD is a thing of magic, and I hope if I ever get a professor job, my university will give me access to one of these devices, they are like powerpoint but a million times better.

We had a great thunderstorm today, and I have had a few since I have been on the road, and for the record I have gotten 6 blackfly bites, 10 mosquito bites, eaten 8 peanut butter and jam sandwiches for lunch 8 days in a row. I have driven over 4000 kilometers, spent over 600 litres of gasoline (Ugh, carbon footprint). Done 15 interviews, slept at 3 different universities, and yes the Jetta is still working (now will everyone please touch wood).

My favourite city thus far (independent of the people I visit like Carol) has been regina, I really like the dorms, the city and the people, and I had a great meal there.

My Canadian history is getting better and better as I go to more and more places, even that is not monolithic, every region seems to have their own spin on Canadian history, it is quite eye opening.

I get to see my sister next week which has me excited and I have overkilled a little on Alberta Museums. I have started transcribing like crazy so that will be the next big project once I am done all my research. I miss my husband and my family and my friends but I am enjoying travelling on my own schedule. Oddly I have no trouble making myself do schoolwork, but I do hate recording my expenses and milage at the end of everyday. Running has been hard too, after along day of sitting and driving I can walk for hours but getting up the energy to run is tricky (and I have big fears of getting lost).

So those are some Midway musings, nothing earth shaking but it lets everyone know where I am and how things are going. I am off to Edmonton tomorrow, I will have a summary of Saskatchewan up as soon as I have access to internet again.

And thanks Carol for letting me crash, once a year is not nearly enough.

Manitoba in a Minute

Yes, I have fallen behind in these posts, you drive 6 hours a day and tell me if you can do better.

Manitoba, thus far, has been my biggest surprise in Canada. While I hated it when I first got here, it grew on me once I started exploring, and not in the fungus way (it's too cold here for many mushrooms to grow).

The original slogan for Manitoba's license plates was "Manitoba, its people are friendlier than its climate." They soon realized that this really wasn't that big of an accomplishment, and shortened the slogan to "Friendly Manitoba". The people here were very friendly, I attribute this to the large mennonite population, because everyone knows mennonites are awesome.

I divided my time between three areas, Winnipeg, Steinbach and Brandon. I have nothing to add about Brandon, you can drive through it and pretty much get the point (this isn't to say it isn't a good point, just an easily understood point). Steinbach is a small town outside of Winnipeg mostly inhabited by Mennonites. The interesting thing, I think this might be the skinniest town in Canada, which makes no sense. I ate at a Mennonite restaurant (which was very similar to a japanese restaurant in that I pointed at the food I wanted because I couldn't say the names). I could feel the fat in the food, but it was delicious, but all the Mennonites who claimed to eat there every day were, well...stick thin. However, I don't think there is a low German word for vegetarian yet, just a caution for my more fastidious vegetarian and vegan friends.

Winnipeg, well, it's a city with a slow seduction, and a city that has worked hard to make itself beautiful, there is art everywhere on the streets, most of it quite good. If you get off of portage (FYI to french people, plug your ears when they pronounce this street) the city is quite lovely. The red river gives you a new appreciation for the power of mud, but even that is surrounded by decorated polar bears. Saint Boniface is just cool.

Winnipeg also is home to something called confusion corner (really, this is the most accurate nickname in the world....ever), I think this here Winnipeg deserves the award for worst urban planning. To rectify this I would like to make an introduction, Winnipeg, meet the roundabout, roundabout, meet Winnipeg. Winnipeg I know you are generally suspicious of "Eastern Influences" but I promise that the roundabout was one great thing to come out of europe, and soon you will love it as much as you love bad british pub food.

On my way out of Winnipeg towards the next province (sassafras or something), I learned the quirky joy of the side road. Museums in what look like war bunkers and beautiful parks in the middle of no where (and wicked ice cream ten minutes outside of nowhere). I think what this really means is all those Winnipegers who found out I was from Toronto and told me to get lost, they really were just being friendly, good old friendly Manitoba.

Awkward questions

There are two questions I get repeatedly that I always feel a bit weird answering (well there are many questions, but I will discuss two for now).

Question 1: When will you finish your thesis?

I hate this question because I have a goal, but if I don't reach it ultimately I am a failure. So for this one I have a very simple solution. I lie, to my advisor, my friends, my spouse, my parents. I think this is a good long term solution, the trick is to lie on an individual basis. My husband wants me to finish ASAP, but I know he will forgive anything so I hedge with the "just a few more months" answer. My advisor, I always say the deadline he has given me, because if I go over it there is no real skin off his back and (for now) it is sufficiently far enough away into the future that he still thinks I can do it!. Complete strangers, I say "any time now" This way I am never really tied dow to a date and I no longer feel awkward, just guilty for lying.

Question 2: Do you have funding for your project?

My project is big, and no I don't have funding..thanks for bringing it up. I am a complete failure who has not one a single scholarship and by the way I can't ride a bike and I came in 5th out of 7 in grade nine spelling bee. Seriously, I am not that bitter,but it is a hard question to answer, I usually end up saying something about a sugar daddy or how I really don't eat that much or a kidney I sold on the black market.

So I guess the real lesson is not "don't ask these questions" but rather "don't believe the answers."

PEI in a potato skin

PEI in a nutshell
OK, so it’s been a while since I was there, but I had to take some time to absorb PEI, here are my thoughts and reflections on this noble province, known for its potatoes and whiney red-haired teenagers.
From my understanding of history, PEI was created about 6000 years ago when God spilled some Ochre paint on his latest creation which landed in the shape of a croissant. The local Aboriginal people, the Mi’kmaq arrived about 12 000 years ago (and were slightly annoyed at certain clumsy God for subsequently spilling red paint all over their island). Anyway, the Mi’kmaq named this Island Abegeit which means land cradled on the waves. The white people who arrived in the 1500s eventaully decided that, like always they knew best and decided that this guy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Edward,_Duke_of_Kent_and_Strathearn_by_Sir_William_Beechey.jpg) provided a much more romantic name for the Island giving us the PEI we know and love today.

So that is history...how about some economics? Potatoes and tourism! That’s about it. Not kidding, there aren’t even that many fishermen, the lobster people ate at my hostel as actually flown in from New Brunswick.

OK culture, the most interesting thing about PEI, is the fact that despite the prevalence of Catholic Churches, the entire population seems to worship a red haired child goddess. As an amateur anthropologist I can infer that this goddess is a personification of the Island itself as her red hair matches the colour of the dirt. Somehow, this belief in this goddess must have been influenced by Eastern cultures as every year hundreds of thousands of people travel from Japan on as pilgrimage to pay homage to this goddess. Ritual performances of “the play” also serve as a rite of passage for every child on the island. The Green Gables house still acts as a shrine and is the centre of the entire ritual. Participants are encouraged to dress like the goddess buying red braids and straw hats while wearing checkered dresses (both male and female alike).

Like every other province, PEI has its eccentricities. First, from the ocean road you get a great sweeping view of ... farms, it’s only called the ocean road because everywhere you are on the island you are ridiculously close to the Ocean, you just can’t see it. Everyone in Charlottetown seems to have lived in Toronto at some point in time (and this was the first city I have been in where no one ever told me how rude Torontonians are, congrats Charlottetown) and everyone seems to either enjoy being or feel obligated to be an informal tour guide, not that I mind, but I am suspicious of men who drive pick-up trucks and offer me tours of a real potato farm.
OK, so that was PEI, stay tuned for updates about Saskatchewan and other research and planning posts.