Katima Questions

So this post right now...Im trying to write an end post...its just...well difficult. Its not easy to sum up six months in one pathetic post. I'm trying but I don't know how long it will take to write.

Questions I had for katimavik
What would you bring that wasn’t on the list? Easy, a water bottle and a laundry bag

Anything on the list that you wouldn’t bring? The sleeping bag…well I used mine once. A lot of the people in my group didn’t even bother to bring one. A few people used their sleeping bags every chance they got. For me I didn’t and I wish I had left it at home because it is an awkward size and heft. BRING IT THOUGH!

How is dealing with homesickness? Hard, insanely difficult. I spent the first rotation being a homesick mess…it was only the second one I realized that I should be here and grew up. But then by the end I was just ready to go home

How do you cook for that many people? It’s actually not that hard…you might think it is but it’s not. You get like 7 dollars a day per person (when you billet it’s 10 dollars to your billet family), so roughly just under 500 dollars a week (for everything, groceries, hygiene products, medicine, soap) Just think of stuff you would cook at home, work together.

Is House Managing difficult? No, its not, well it is and isn't...its a lot of work but not difficult if that makes sense. Unless you decide to be a fool and split the kitchen and the rest of the house. Some people in my group one person cooked and stayed in the kitchen the other cleaned the rest of the house. I found it worked way better when you worked as a unit not separately. Also, don’t comment on anyone’s cooking…it is just easier that way. If you don’t like something just go eat cereal

How buzy are you? I found that you are either crazy buzy, or you have so much downtime you do not know what you are supposed to do with yourself! Generally its just five minutes here five minutes there. Nothing major. Although, usually you have free time after work until dinner. At my first placement (birds of prey) I ate dinner right when I got home since I was the last to arrive, but at my second placement (La Barratte) I got home at 4ish and got like two hours of time to kill.

Electronics? I brought a phone and used it a lot it was a great way to keep in contact with my family. I had my parents send me my computer because I really needed it (For writing protocols, using it for my KCC committees) AND A CAMERA! Bring a camera, and lots of memory cards that way you can take tons of pictures and if they don’t turn out great who cares because you have tons of memory cards and space.

Would you do this again?...ask me in a while, right now I would probably say hell no once is enough, but soon I will realize the amazing things that I did.

Did it help you get a life? No, I believe that Katimavik just gives you the illusion that you get a life because they take away all the comforts of your life and then give it back to you at the end of six months. But I do know what I like doing, what I absolutely hate doing now. I do have a clearer head I think, I am ready to go back to school, I have the travel bug out of me for the time being…so it did help in a way.

Was leaving your group hard? Insanely difficult, I live halfway across the country from most of them. It is hard to think I might not see them again for a very long while. (Although most plan on coming to B.C. very soon…but plans change) Some people I never want to see again, others…well we have our plans I cried like a baby leaving some of them, all of us right now are in a state of shock I think.

Where did you go? I went to Lethbridge, Alberta, and Ste-Foy, Quebec (Quebec City!)

What were your jobs? My two jobs were in Lethbridge, Alberta I worked at Alberta Birds of Prey Centre. It was the best placement I could have asked for. I loved it there, I want to go back and just see all the birds that I spent my summer with. It was amazing. My second placement in Quebec City was La Barratte. It was an industrial soup kitchen. Definitely not my cup of tea I can tell you that. But now I have a new appreciation for my friend who wants to be a chef. Its hard work, and definitely not for me. I didn’t enjoy my work there, but at least now I know that and have experience with that type of stuff.

Are protocols really that insane? Yes, they are. A couple of pages of death. I was involved in all three (two of them I had minor parts in) We did three, two in our first rotation and one in our last. Our first one our PL Erin helped us with (it was to go to the heritage acres farm festival and stay the night) I just got to help edit that one. We submitted that one on time (20 days in advance). The next protocol we did was the Banff protocol which Helena and I did by ourselves. We submitted it a week in advance and were very very lucky to even get it approved. That was the most stressful one because people kept yelling at us and getting frustrated. I wanted to yell right back. The third one caused a lot of stress in our group. It was the protocol to Charlevoix in Quebec. It caused a lot of stress because our PL didn’t give us all the information. In the end the protocol for Charlevoix wasn’t approved and we didn’t go.

How was billeting? Okay, here is the deal. I feel like billeting is the chance for my PL to go and give me to strangers with the hopes that my lack of social skills will not be a problem…this is never the case. I am a shy person naturally place me with a bunch of strangers and my awkwardness and shyness is visible from space. In Lethbridge I hated my time there, it was horrible. I wanted to quit billeting a day after arrival. I was alone with a bunch of strangers, I hated it so much! In Quebec City, it was WAY better. I was lucky enough to be placed on a farm (the only con no internet access and I only brought one book) with two other girls from my group. It was relaxing I slept in, I worked on a farm, had delicious tea, was warmed by the wood stoves. It was amazing. I want to billet a kid that way they won’t have to have a horrible time like I did in Lethbridge. Billeting…I really don’t like it. Even with the best family ever that I had in Quebec City, it still wasn’t for me.

Did you learn any French? I feel like I didn’t…but I know I probably did. When we first got to Quebec I refused to go out to buy or do anything. I was worried people would ask me questions in French and I wouldn’t know how to respond. Obviously it got better because I did start going out on my own, and did start enjoying Quebec. I think I learned more listening, but I still think my speaking skills are the same but my compression is increased now.

How was the job in French? Let me see…horrible, stressful, amazing, scary. The first few weeks were the hardest. I thought about quitting and hoping on the next plane home to B.C. It was insanely difficult. There were days where I would just call my sister and yell at her to speak English to me. It got easier over time, I understood a bit more. Could follow directions better, I still couldn’t speak it for the life of me but hey at least I understood. That’s all I could ask for. The job got easier the longer I had been at it, routine had been established. People knew that I was there to help not be some English spy (seriously though, at the start they would glare at me and speak French quicker…really really quickly. Towards the end, they did start talking to me at a nice pace, and politely)

How hard was it to understand your French group mates? For me personally, in my group the French kids spoke amazing English. I seriously used that as a crutch the whole experience. It did not help my French though, and even though I tried it was difficult to speak

Any other questions?