Snapshots of South America
I can hardly believe I’ve been in Colombia for seven weeks already. Here’s a few more photos of my experiences in South America.
Lightening flashes across the sky during a thunderstorm over Cali.
Mangos ... yummy!
A view of the city from dieceocho, a highway through the mountain range.
Playing pictionary with some new friends.
Siloe ... probably the most dangerous area in the city but it's beautiful at night ...
... bonita, no? I quite enjoy the view.
School’s in session
School began at Colegio Ekklesia last week, and here’s some photos:
… listening to some opening remarks and basic rules for the year.
… lining up for their next activity. (The covered area is where the church meets on Sundays.)
I’ll have more on my first day in front of a classroom and my growing respect for others in my new profession soon.
Photos from Cali
As promised, here are a few shots of my new home in Colombia.
The house I'm staying in
The school where I'll be teaching
A view of the city ... nearly three million people live in Cali.
A small glimpse of the beauty here
Right now I’m getting settled in, figuring out the curriculum for my classes and trying not to melt. The temperature is about what I expected, but it’s more humid than I thought it would be. It actually rained yesterday though, which doesn’t happen too often. It’s really quiet around the compound right now, but over the next couple of weeks preparation for classes will pick up and the children will start flooding the hallway – it will be welcome chaos.
Balloons, string and plastic wrap
There’s a tradition our family has. Well okay, I have. Or, started at least.
Over the years, there have been several additions to our extended clan as cousins get married. Each time a potential husband visits the cottage, we’ve arranged a few surprises for them. Tosses into the lake, attachments to random pieces of outdoor furniture, disappearances of personal items, etc.
Basically, we try and make them feel welcome.
This year, three fellow pranksters and I pulled off the best caper yet. The victim: Joel, beau of Chrissy – one of my best friends. Even close ties don’t deter me from masterminding special discoveries.
The night before the two were set to depart from the cottage, we waited until Chrissy was fast asleep in a tent and Joel was the same in a bunkroom inside. We blew up approximately 100 balloons and filled Joel’s Matrix with them. A roll of string was tied to random things all over the vehicle. The finishing touches were made up of plastic wrap, which went around the steering wheel, individual CDs and outside the doors.
Some photos of our masterpiece:
The trunk
The outside
Joel peeking through the driver's window - he was a good sport about it.
Another shot of the front seats
The photos aren’t great because of the reflections in the window, but you get the idea. Someone suggested our evil plan be voted the best prank carried out among our family members. I tend to agree.
Rock Lake
For the last summer, my extended family (aka. the Vogel clan) collected near Bancroft in a lodge/cottage on Rock Lake. We’re growing every year, and now we’ve become too large for the area to sustain us, so we’re searching for an alternative for next August.
Despite the sadness about it being the last year, we thoroughly enjoyed our time together. Especially because my immediate family was in one place for the first time in nearly two years.
Here’s some photos of the week.
There was some pretty intense volleyball games.
The three youngest babies, all in a row - Allie, Sierra and Beniah.
Rock Lake - so peaceful.
The three Brink grandkids - Allie, Jacob and Kellon.
The sun setting over lily pad lagoon, as we call it.
Allie celebrated her first birthday ... and quite enjoyed her cake.
The night sky over Rock Lake.
That’s a quick summary. Good times all around.
Charleston Lake
I spent a glorious week with my family at Charleston Lake Provincial Park. My parents have been camping there nearly every summer for around 25 years. We have our favourite islands, beach spots, cliff-jumping places and campsites.
Here’s some photos of the vacation.
I met my nephew, Jacob, for the first time! Sooo adorable.
My other nephew, Kellon, LOVES the water.
The beach. We spent most of our time there.
My parents at the lookout. Awwwww.
The distinctive rock of Whitefish Island.
The starry sky ... not quite in focus, I know. I'm still figuring out this shooting at night thing.
Dad goes windsurfing.
Allie (my niece) plays in the sand.
It was good times.
Bluesfest with a media pass
Bluesfest has been rocking the capital for a week already, with a whole weekend of shows still to come. I was able to snag a media pass for the entire festival, which has been a blast! Even though I wasn’t able to make it for some of the local performances, I have thoroughly enjoyed profiling Kanata bands, practicing my photography skills and shoving my way past screaming crowds to reach the pit.
I still would not call myself a professional, but I managed to snag a few shots that I’m pretty proud of. But with my brother’s 70-300mm lens and a blue paper that lets me slide past security to the stage, the accomplishment doesn’t seem quite as impressive.
Here’s a sampling of what I took. (Note: I don’t know how to remove the option of saving photos off this page, but please don’t do it! These pictures are not for public use.)
Saturday, July 11: Rachael Yamagata
Saturday, July 11: Hey Rosetta! lead singer Tim Baker pounds the keys.
Saturday, July 11: Hey Rosetta! violinist Erin Aurich added so much to the rock tunes.
Saturday, July 11: Josh Ward plays bass and belts it out for Hey Rosetta!
Tuesday, July 14: A typical Ice Cube expression.
Tuesday, July 14: The rapper opened for Our Lady Peace on the main stage.
Tuesday, July 14: Our Lady Peace rocked the main stage. I heart Raine Maida.
Tuesday, July 14: Steve Mazur, OLP guitarist, rocks out.
Tuesday, July 14: Raine Maida climbed the stage to take video on his flip cam while singing All You Did Was Save My Life (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nK4MwL5p_o).
Canada day recap
At the risk of overloading you with photos this week, I thought I would share some shots of my Canada Day adventures.
I learned something about my camera on Wednesday; when my lithium ion battery died after only about an hour at the first event I was covering in the morning, I took it out of my Nikon SLR and held it in my pocket. I kept removing it, holding it and snapping it back just in time to press the shutter and get the pictures I wanted. The battery lasted for another hour and I ended with a couple hundred photos from that event before I went home and charged it up. Good to know!
In the afternoon I hit up Parliament Hill to catch the shows.
The Snowbirds were fantastic. I think I have a new life goal: ride in one of the planes during the Canada Day fly-by. How awesome would that be?
It was weird to see the Governor General's flag flying above the Peace Tower instead of the maple leaf, but I guess it's protocol whenever Michaelle Jean is on the Hill.
Amos the Transparent played in Kanata that evening. Their energy was awesome and I'm now a big fan.
Check out the movement and enthusiasm in this shot. Love it!
The 80s' rockers Loverboy headlined the Kanata show. Awesome and hilarious all in one.
The lead singer decided he wanted to get in on the media’s action, so he asked for my camera and then took a picture of me with the crowd from the stage. The photo turned out terribly, but I gave him a high five anyway.
It was super entertaining to watch all the adults who grew up with this band rocking out.
The fireworks capped off the night. Happy 142nd, Canada!
Learning the ropes
Last Wednesday I was invited to hit the Ottawa River on a catamaran, as two veteran skippers from the Kanata Sailing Club gave me a quick lesson in tacking, capsizing and steering. The weather was gorgeous and I had a great time. You can read my story about it here.
Here’s a few photos from the afternoon, taken by Blair Edwards.
Jib, daggerboard, sheets were a few mariner terms I learned.
Man overboard: practicing rescues
A capsize drill
I hung off the side of the boat ...
... and controlled the rudders.
This shot is by moi. I like.
For more photos, go here.
Ready, ready
On Saturday, my dragonboating team – Crew 22 – took to the water at Mooney’s Bay for some racing action. It was super fun, though we kind of bombed the first race. Our downfall was our start; we were distracted by the other boats and not prepared when the gun went off. We came in third in our heat with a time of 2:29 – not great. We spent a few hours hanging around, absorbing the festival atmosphere. I caught a ride on the media boat and snapped some great shots of the other competitors.
A team celebrates their finish by splashing the caller.
Cathy Fowler screams at her team to keep up the pace to the finish line.
Gotta love the facial expressions on these guys, straining the last few metres.
For our second race in the afternoon, our team was much more focused. Once we reached the starting line, we all shut up and put our paddles in the water. Our start was 100 times better than the first one; we came out strong and in first place, keeping the pace and position for the entire 500 metres. It felt phenomenal.
Back at the dock and pumped after our second race.
We ended up with a worse time (2:32), however, probably due to shifting winds. Despite the disappointing finish and our inability to make the finals, it was a great race and we all felt pretty good about ourselves.
Crew 22 in all its glory.
Cheryl