Dec 13
After a good sleep the night before, I woke up at around 8 am and had breakfast...slowly people started drifting into the kitchen for food, since there was a workshop on sex education at 9 am. As per usual, because I am such a slowpoke, I couldn't finish my breakfast despite the fact that I was the first to wake up and had to bring my breakfast to the sex ed workshop...which was happening in our living room. It had to be the first time ever that I got a sex ed with everyone (myself included) in our PJs on a Saturday morning, but it was good in an odd kind of way.
Anyways the person who did the workshop was a biology teacher in Eckat High, and I really like the way the workshop was done, because the angle they are taking with sex ed and the information they have are different from the ones in high school...remember the good old days of sticking a condom on a piece of wood, hehehe? But most of all the sex ed workshop does not promote sex unlike the ones in high school, hahaha...2.5 hours of interesting information.
So after the sex-ed, technically it was free time...but Maxime came up with the idea of doing aerobics in the house, to fill up the "exercise time" we didn't commit to on Tuesday because of interviews (more on exercise times and other fun things in the near future). So she starts bugging everyone to get up and do it, which everyone was kind of like "argh..." but we got up and obeyed her because she was very enthusiastic about it and well, she is Maxime...but she got to Cynthia and she was kind of massaging (or digging in, depending who was talking) her shoulder and bugging her to get up and start exercising, Cynthia completely snapped on Maxime and shook her away. All of us were just like "Ok..." and Maxime was in shock because she didn't expect this explosion of negative reaction. The bottom line was that Cynthia was NOT HAPPY doing aerobics, and she wasn't going to do it...or so she thought. Because Emilie thought it was a good idea and pretty much everyone was up and running by that point, it actually became an official activity and that means Cynthia has to participate (but it doesn't mean Cynthia has to be enthusiastic about it, which she wasn't throughout the aerobics). Anyways we pushed away the furniture out to have a clear area for exercising (which is still not that big, with 11 people in there) and we started doing aerobics with Maxime leading them (she is a swimming instructors and super-fit). It was fun, because we weren't doing things hardcore (although Maxime keeps making people jump up and down) and the music got us going. However, the downside was the space, because some of the stuff that Maxime had us doing was very awkward without the extra space (such up doggy-style leg-ups), but they did create humorous situations. So we exercised (more like danced) for an hour, and then some of the crew went outside to roll into the snow just for the heck of it (of course I wasn't one of them) while the rest of us rearranged the furniture. And finally, we ended the whole thing with 4 rounds of limbo:
King of Limbo - Charles (Zach may be able to beat him, but he went into the showers instead)
Queen/Princesses of Limbo - (Emilie, Maxime, Rebecca, Me - but only because I am short)
So afterwards it's lunch, which on a Saturday pretty much means fend for yourself. I just eat the leftovers of whatever, and looked for cheesecake recipes (I promised Cynthia that I would make her a cherry cheesecake for her birthday, which was this day). Since it was free time until 5:00, I decided to a) go to the hospital b) buy groceries for Cynthia's cheesecake c) make Cynthia's cheesecake.
Before I go on, most of you are probably wondering why I am going to the hospital...so here it is. The weekend before I left Vancouver for Katimavik, I developed a strange thing where the left side of my face was kind of paralyzed. My left eye couldn't shut as tight as my right eye, and I could not fully mobilize my left cheek to form a smile. As a result, whenever I smile or laugh I would look like I have a sneer on my face or some poor child with Down Syndrome when I laugh...not a good way to make a first impression eh? Before I left Vancouver, I went to a walk-in clinic and the doctor told me that I got a virus on one of my nerves that control my face, and hence I cannot move it. Because it's a virus, medication wouldn't really take effect so there's nothing I can do. However he said it should be gone in a week or 2 and if not I should go seek medical help. Well it's been 2 weeks now and there are no signs of improvement...and because all the doctors are in the one and only hospital in Blind River, I have to walk there (45 minutes from the Katimavik house) for treatment of any kind...so pretty much if you are sick, you walk to the hospital.
After a bunch of messing around at the Katimavik home, I left at almost 2 and walked along the Causley Street/Highway 17 westward to the hospital. So I got there around 2:30 ish? and there are several things I have to do before I get to see a doctor:
1) Rub hand sanitizer on my hands
2) See the receptionist
3) Tell her I am in the Katimavik program and I am from outside of Ontario...which means I have to do a bunch of paperwork
4) Do a bunch of paperwork
5) Create a hospital card for me (amount of Blind River cards to date - 2)
6) That's it
This whole thing took around 30 minutes to do, so by the time I got to see the doctor it was almost 3. I was sent to the actual clinic where there is this nurse who asked me about my symptoms and stuff, to which I explained what happened to me to her. After I finished, she (and the receptionist/nurse outside) both agreed that my previous doctor was right that I got Bell's Palsy. So I asked, "well is there any medication I can take or things I can do?" and then they started giving me all these tips and remedies on what to do (the reception/nurse said that her husband had it before and he used heat and massage to get better). So I thought that's it, but then the nurse said, "well, the actual doctor won't be ready to see you quite yet...but he will be with you in an hour." An hour? It already took me 45 minutes to walk here, and I still have to wait an hour? (Times when I wish I was in Vancouver)
But I guess this is Blind River, so an hour I will have to wait. So I told the nurse I will come back later, and then started heading back...no not back home, but to ValueMart (20 minutes) for Cynthia's cheesecake. It is so odd how the town is so small that you keep seeing the same people everywhere. On the way to ValueMart and at ValueMart I saw Emilie's friends (Matt and Alex), and some other people...I can't remember anymore. Anyways I bought what I need (came out about $25?) and started heading back. Just when I almost got back to the hospital I saw a black car on the highway heading towards me...with Emilie inside. I was thinking why Emilie is in a black car with a bunch of people in there when Emilie told the driver to stop and drop her off here, and then walked to me. Turns out she was all over town trying to look for me to see whether I am done with the doctor, because at 5 we have to leave the house to go volunteering in a dinner party held by a bunch of business people. So I explained to her my situation, and she said, "well just take whatever amount of time you need, and just go to the community centre (5 minute walk from the house) after you are done." With that, she grabbed my groceries and walked home.
What's the point of this story? It goes to show you how small the town is. She didn't have to try very hard to look for me.
Let's continue on with my adventures. So I walked back to the hospital and went to the doctor...again I waited in the clinic for another 10 minutes before a man shows up and claims he is the doctor (I don't know because he wasn't dressed like a doctor or carried the tools of a doctor). Pretty much it was the same as what the nurse did...he asked about my symptoms, and then told me to do some things with my face (smile, close my eyes, grimace, etc.) After a couple of minutes of that he pretty much just said..
"Well, looks like the doctor in Vancouver is right. You have Bell's Palsy. The good news is that you don't have complete Bell's Palsy, because you can still kind of smile and close your left eye, even though it's not tight. But because you came in much later than you should there's nothing I can do now. If you had come to me 2 to 3 days after you had it then maybe I can give you some steroids which may help you...or not...but now there's nothing I can do because you are too late. I don't know how long it will take you to recover, it can be anywhere between 2 weeks/1 month/3 months/half a year/year...or you may never recover. Jean Chretien had this disease and he never recovered. It may happen to you too."
Wow, the doctor really have a way to put words delicately. So I said, "wow you are scaring me here..."
All he did after that was giving me a pat on the shoulder, said, "try facial exercises", and left the room for me to deal with the news. And when I left the room, the receptionist nurse yelled again, "remember, heat and massages! Heat and massages..."
So...there is a possibilty that I won't recover...and I may look like the female version of Jean Chretien...how should I deal with this?
Well when I left the hospital, it was almost 5...and the sun was slowing setting. Good thing I brought a camera...so pretty much the whole trip back home consisted of me taking scenic photos along Highway 17, and you lucky people...the photos will be used for your postcards ;) So I got home at 5:30 ish...everyone had left the house already, and I was kind of tired from the constant walking I did during the trip. So I had a piece of cake to curb my hunger and called the nurses in the hospital (because I promised them that I would give them the number of the Katimavik house since I forgot what it is and my hospital card has "no number" for the phone number section)...it was nice to have the whole house by myself, but I eventually have to get dressed (black-and-white) for volunteering tonight. So after almost an hour of dilly-dallying I left the house (doors are never unlocked) and walked to the community centre to volunteer for a party filled with business people.
At the party: When I got there I saw Maxime in the coats section with 2 guys. I hung my coat up and chatted with Maxim about my hospital trip. Then I got a choice of either a) working in the kitchen b) working outside as a cheese-and cracker person (the waiter who holds a platter of cheese and crackers for rich stiffs to enjoy). Hahaha I choose the second choice, since the first choice consists of washing dishes 3 hours straight. And we all have to wear stupid hairnets since we are dealing with food, so pretty much we look like Princess Leia? (Natalie Portman from the Star Wars) in our black and white clothing (And this is why Zach chose to hide in the kitchen despite the fact that he loves dealing with people instead of dishes, haha), except for Maxime, because she was working with coats. Lucky Maxime, she always gets to look pretty. So nothing much was happening during the cheese-and-cracker part of the party and all the Katimavik kids just used that time to grill me on my hospital trip. However when they started serving the main courses, things went crazy...it's exactly like an episode of those restaurant tv shows where everything is chaotic and all the servers are yelling "table __ needs more chicken! More chicken!". It reminds me of the days when I was working in IHOP, so I didn't mind it that much. Pretty much all the kids are just running back and forth from the kitchen to the food table for different things, and finally when it calmed down, we were allowed to eat...in the kitchen. Because I ate cake, I wasn't horribly hungry but apparently the other kids didn't eat before they left the house so they were starving while they work, and of course they weren't allowed to eat until their job was done. So finally at 7:30pm, when things calmed down a bit, Emilie was like "ok, let's stop and eat..." and that's what we did. And when 8:00 pm comes around, we left the party...or so we thought. As per usual, because I am a slowpoke at eating and because Charles really loved his job as the dishwasher, we didn't get up to go as quickly as we wanted. When everyone left the kitchen, the cooks were like "why are they leaving? They are not supposed to leave yet...they still have to help us" and Charles and I were like..."iono huh?"...it was quite confusing and the head waiter ran out of the building to stop Emilie from leaving. A little later Emilie came back with the rest of the crew, but apparently things worked out...in fact we got some free food (ham, vegetables, and something else to be exact).
Before I left though, I went to grab my coat and that's where I had a chat with Cameron and Dennis, the two teenage guys who were doing coat check with Maxime. I had an interesting conversation with Cameron:
C: So the girl with dreads, who is she?
A: That's Emilie...she is our project leader
C: Really. Where is she from?
A: Um...Grand Falls, New Brunswick
C: Wow, these Project Leaders come from places so far away now...
A: (At this point I am curious to know what he wants) I don't know. What about her?
C: (Smiles) She is hot! How old is she?
A: (At that point I just laughed) Well, she may be in her 20s, but not only is she too old for you, but her boyfriend is really old...possibly in his 40s to 50s...
Both guys: Oooooooh!
So the crew headed home in the "coquette mobile", and meanwhile Emilie was explaining to us that she had previously agreed with the person in-charge that we would only stay until 8 pm, and she kind of felt that we were not treated very well by them (ie. we had to work despite the fact that everyone was hungry)...I personally thought things were ok (you guys shall find out that my opinion changes on next day's entry) but I do think that there was no real purpose as to why we were volunteering there - does it actually help out the community in a beneficial way when we acted as servers/puppets there? The only thing I felt that we helped out were the business people who were there...and honestly do they really need us there? That was one thing I wasn't very satisfied about.
Anyways after we got home, we had a choice of a) staying at home b) going to the hospital party in the royal legion. Except for Cythnia/Stephanie/Mike/Emilie/me, everyone chose to stay home for the evening. So to the party we go...
The party: When we got there, the party was pretty much in swing...there was a live band there but they were on a break when we arrived so people were just dancing to recorded music. Anyways Emilie only wanted to be there to look for a person and after she talked to him, she left the party. What was funny - when we walked in Emilie walked straight into the party without anyone stopping her. But with me and the other people, they stopped us and asked if we were going into the dance and if so, we need to buy tickets. In a flash of wit, I just said pointed to Emilie and said, "we are with her" and then quickly followed Emilie.
Before Emilie left, she gave us money for drinks, and so we did that (non-alcoholic though...don't feel like it/don't want news to get back to Emilie) and we danced quite a bit for the next hour and a half...Cynthia and me, Cynthia and Stephanie and me, Cynthia and Stephanie and Mike and me, Stephanie and me (fast), Stephanie and me (slow)...the slow dances that Stephanie and I had were funny...because I am so short and Stephanie was quite tall, my head pretty much snuggled against her boobs...Stephanie was like "Angel you are too short for me...", to which I replied, "I don't see any problems with this right now"....;)
Cynthia left half an hour earlier because she got a huge migraine
Mike is not a good dancer at all...but at least he is trying (and I am trying not to laugh, haha)
Another funny thing - whenever I was dancing there would be this old lady who would dance with me...which was ok, but she would keep bumping into me and grind on me...it was kind of weird...and she would keep grabbing my face and say "you are too young for me"...I was like "haha...ha...ha...ha" each time she does that. She must be drunk, so I forgive her.
We left the party at 11:15 pm ish, before Mike ate too much cheesecake (before we left he went back to grab more food to take back home, haha)
When the three of us got back, Zach/Stephen/Rebecca were having a crazy time, discussing about their Secret Plan (which was dressing up in ornamental decorations - as a disguise, haha, and going to the convenience store to buy lemonade). Because I left my scarf in the community centre, Stephanie and I decided to go to the community to pick it up, and then go to the marina (very close to the community centre) and look at stars. However, when we got to the community centre (where the business folks were still partying at), we found Cheryl/Maxime/Charles there dancing also, and drinking coolers. When Charles first saw me, he immediately came to me, picked me up in the air, and said something like, "Angel so glad you are here, hahaha"...he was obviously a bit drunk. Cheryl/Maxime/Charles insisted that we stay to party with them (and of course Stephanie jumped in because she wanted to drink) and since I am not a party pooper, I joined them. The first thing Maxime did was to drag both of us to the bar and bought each of us a Smirnoff Ice. Things were fine and dandy until one of the ladies who was helping with the party looked at Maxime and said, "are you sure she is of age of drinking?" to which Maxime said, "yes, she is 20..." The lady just gave us a doubtful look and shuts up.
What's unfair - That. Plus the fact that Maxime is 17 and Stephanie is 18 but they do not get questioned. Moments like this irks me greatly...
So anyways we got our coolers, and we started dancing...it was fun, and Maxime and Charles are unbelievably good dancers...you could tell they go partying all the time. Even though the 5 of us were having fun, the weird thing is that everyone else there are at least 30 and over...so it feels kind of sad and unhip that we are partying with the semi-seniors (same thing in the legion). But I guess this is the problem with small towns. I was pleasantly surprised with the Smirnoff Ice...it was tastier than I imagined (although I would take juice any day) and through dancing and stuff, I finished it in 20 minutes. And as we were dancing this guy who was friends with the host of the party (Maxime and Charles' boss) bought all of us another cooler - Barcardi Breezer or something like that. Because I drank one already and I did not feel like testing my limits, I passed the offer but the rest of the Frenchees took it up, however Stephanie did not finish her Smirnoff Ice or the breezer. After a while, the alcohol effects started hitting me, and I decided to stop and take a break. I must clarify that I wasn't drunk or getting drunk, but my head was starting to get that slight dizziness that I am guessing was the "buzz"...however I did not enjoy that buzz and really do not see the point of achieving the "buzz" through drinking. I wanted to go home, but Stephanie asked me to stay a bit longer and wait for her to go home together, so...
... went and sat by the coat check, where Cameron and Dennis was. I chatted with them for some more, and Cameron was telling me more about his thoughts on Emilie...which I found pretty cute. I told him to feel free to drop by our house and chat with her, and he said, "well, I already have a girlfriend..."
I gave him my "What?" expression and said, "you have a girlfriend? Then why were you saying all those stuff about Emilie?" His reponse: "Well just because I have a girlfriend doesn't mean I can't look. I will look but I just won't touch." God, men are such creeps.
Finally, Stephanie did her thing and we went home together. On the way home, I told her that I thought it was so unfair that I got questioned just because I look young but Maxime and her did not have that problem. And then she told me that she was worried about our partying situation because a) we are from Katimavik which means people know who we are b) it's a small town and because it's obvious that some of us were underage so people would talk and this may eventually go back to Emilie. (Stephanie is from a small small town so she knows the deal). Because of that she did not finish her coolers. However, Maxime was partying it up pretty hard so there may be problems. And then we vow (more like she made me promise) that this will not be mentioned in the house.
When we got home, it was around 1 (Cheryl/Maxime/Charles weren't back yet). I was super popped, buzzed and really wanted to go to bed. So I dragged myself into the showers/brushed my teeth and hit the sacks...ah sweet dreams.
Thanks for hanging on for so long, guys...it's a loooooong email I know.
The biggest lesson that day - I am not the partying type, even if I try. One cooler and I already buzzed (7% alcohol)...honestly this is the most I have ever drank in my life. It's sad =)
Angel
PS. If you want to know more about my disease, here's the link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell%27s_Palsy
And here's a picture of Jean Chertien, just for kicks
After a good sleep the night before, I woke up at around 8 am and had breakfast...slowly people started drifting into the kitchen for food, since there was a workshop on sex education at 9 am. As per usual, because I am such a slowpoke, I couldn't finish my breakfast despite the fact that I was the first to wake up and had to bring my breakfast to the sex ed workshop...which was happening in our living room. It had to be the first time ever that I got a sex ed with everyone (myself included) in our PJs on a Saturday morning, but it was good in an odd kind of way.
Anyways the person who did the workshop was a biology teacher in Eckat High, and I really like the way the workshop was done, because the angle they are taking with sex ed and the information they have are different from the ones in high school...remember the good old days of sticking a condom on a piece of wood, hehehe? But most of all the sex ed workshop does not promote sex unlike the ones in high school, hahaha...2.5 hours of interesting information.
So after the sex-ed, technically it was free time...but Maxime came up with the idea of doing aerobics in the house, to fill up the "exercise time" we didn't commit to on Tuesday because of interviews (more on exercise times and other fun things in the near future). So she starts bugging everyone to get up and do it, which everyone was kind of like "argh..." but we got up and obeyed her because she was very enthusiastic about it and well, she is Maxime...but she got to Cynthia and she was kind of massaging (or digging in, depending who was talking) her shoulder and bugging her to get up and start exercising, Cynthia completely snapped on Maxime and shook her away. All of us were just like "Ok..." and Maxime was in shock because she didn't expect this explosion of negative reaction. The bottom line was that Cynthia was NOT HAPPY doing aerobics, and she wasn't going to do it...or so she thought. Because Emilie thought it was a good idea and pretty much everyone was up and running by that point, it actually became an official activity and that means Cynthia has to participate (but it doesn't mean Cynthia has to be enthusiastic about it, which she wasn't throughout the aerobics). Anyways we pushed away the furniture out to have a clear area for exercising (which is still not that big, with 11 people in there) and we started doing aerobics with Maxime leading them (she is a swimming instructors and super-fit). It was fun, because we weren't doing things hardcore (although Maxime keeps making people jump up and down) and the music got us going. However, the downside was the space, because some of the stuff that Maxime had us doing was very awkward without the extra space (such up doggy-style leg-ups), but they did create humorous situations. So we exercised (more like danced) for an hour, and then some of the crew went outside to roll into the snow just for the heck of it (of course I wasn't one of them) while the rest of us rearranged the furniture. And finally, we ended the whole thing with 4 rounds of limbo:
King of Limbo - Charles (Zach may be able to beat him, but he went into the showers instead)
Queen/Princesses of Limbo - (Emilie, Maxime, Rebecca, Me - but only because I am short)
So afterwards it's lunch, which on a Saturday pretty much means fend for yourself. I just eat the leftovers of whatever, and looked for cheesecake recipes (I promised Cynthia that I would make her a cherry cheesecake for her birthday, which was this day). Since it was free time until 5:00, I decided to a) go to the hospital b) buy groceries for Cynthia's cheesecake c) make Cynthia's cheesecake.
Before I go on, most of you are probably wondering why I am going to the hospital...so here it is. The weekend before I left Vancouver for Katimavik, I developed a strange thing where the left side of my face was kind of paralyzed. My left eye couldn't shut as tight as my right eye, and I could not fully mobilize my left cheek to form a smile. As a result, whenever I smile or laugh I would look like I have a sneer on my face or some poor child with Down Syndrome when I laugh...not a good way to make a first impression eh? Before I left Vancouver, I went to a walk-in clinic and the doctor told me that I got a virus on one of my nerves that control my face, and hence I cannot move it. Because it's a virus, medication wouldn't really take effect so there's nothing I can do. However he said it should be gone in a week or 2 and if not I should go seek medical help. Well it's been 2 weeks now and there are no signs of improvement...and because all the doctors are in the one and only hospital in Blind River, I have to walk there (45 minutes from the Katimavik house) for treatment of any kind...so pretty much if you are sick, you walk to the hospital.
After a bunch of messing around at the Katimavik home, I left at almost 2 and walked along the Causley Street/Highway 17 westward to the hospital. So I got there around 2:30 ish? and there are several things I have to do before I get to see a doctor:
1) Rub hand sanitizer on my hands
2) See the receptionist
3) Tell her I am in the Katimavik program and I am from outside of Ontario...which means I have to do a bunch of paperwork
4) Do a bunch of paperwork
5) Create a hospital card for me (amount of Blind River cards to date - 2)
6) That's it
This whole thing took around 30 minutes to do, so by the time I got to see the doctor it was almost 3. I was sent to the actual clinic where there is this nurse who asked me about my symptoms and stuff, to which I explained what happened to me to her. After I finished, she (and the receptionist/nurse outside) both agreed that my previous doctor was right that I got Bell's Palsy. So I asked, "well is there any medication I can take or things I can do?" and then they started giving me all these tips and remedies on what to do (the reception/nurse said that her husband had it before and he used heat and massage to get better). So I thought that's it, but then the nurse said, "well, the actual doctor won't be ready to see you quite yet...but he will be with you in an hour." An hour? It already took me 45 minutes to walk here, and I still have to wait an hour? (Times when I wish I was in Vancouver)
But I guess this is Blind River, so an hour I will have to wait. So I told the nurse I will come back later, and then started heading back...no not back home, but to ValueMart (20 minutes) for Cynthia's cheesecake. It is so odd how the town is so small that you keep seeing the same people everywhere. On the way to ValueMart and at ValueMart I saw Emilie's friends (Matt and Alex), and some other people...I can't remember anymore. Anyways I bought what I need (came out about $25?) and started heading back. Just when I almost got back to the hospital I saw a black car on the highway heading towards me...with Emilie inside. I was thinking why Emilie is in a black car with a bunch of people in there when Emilie told the driver to stop and drop her off here, and then walked to me. Turns out she was all over town trying to look for me to see whether I am done with the doctor, because at 5 we have to leave the house to go volunteering in a dinner party held by a bunch of business people. So I explained to her my situation, and she said, "well just take whatever amount of time you need, and just go to the community centre (5 minute walk from the house) after you are done." With that, she grabbed my groceries and walked home.
What's the point of this story? It goes to show you how small the town is. She didn't have to try very hard to look for me.
Let's continue on with my adventures. So I walked back to the hospital and went to the doctor...again I waited in the clinic for another 10 minutes before a man shows up and claims he is the doctor (I don't know because he wasn't dressed like a doctor or carried the tools of a doctor). Pretty much it was the same as what the nurse did...he asked about my symptoms, and then told me to do some things with my face (smile, close my eyes, grimace, etc.) After a couple of minutes of that he pretty much just said..
"Well, looks like the doctor in Vancouver is right. You have Bell's Palsy. The good news is that you don't have complete Bell's Palsy, because you can still kind of smile and close your left eye, even though it's not tight. But because you came in much later than you should there's nothing I can do now. If you had come to me 2 to 3 days after you had it then maybe I can give you some steroids which may help you...or not...but now there's nothing I can do because you are too late. I don't know how long it will take you to recover, it can be anywhere between 2 weeks/1 month/3 months/half a year/year...or you may never recover. Jean Chretien had this disease and he never recovered. It may happen to you too."
Wow, the doctor really have a way to put words delicately. So I said, "wow you are scaring me here..."
All he did after that was giving me a pat on the shoulder, said, "try facial exercises", and left the room for me to deal with the news. And when I left the room, the receptionist nurse yelled again, "remember, heat and massages! Heat and massages..."
So...there is a possibilty that I won't recover...and I may look like the female version of Jean Chretien...how should I deal with this?
Well when I left the hospital, it was almost 5...and the sun was slowing setting. Good thing I brought a camera...so pretty much the whole trip back home consisted of me taking scenic photos along Highway 17, and you lucky people...the photos will be used for your postcards ;) So I got home at 5:30 ish...everyone had left the house already, and I was kind of tired from the constant walking I did during the trip. So I had a piece of cake to curb my hunger and called the nurses in the hospital (because I promised them that I would give them the number of the Katimavik house since I forgot what it is and my hospital card has "no number" for the phone number section)...it was nice to have the whole house by myself, but I eventually have to get dressed (black-and-white) for volunteering tonight. So after almost an hour of dilly-dallying I left the house (doors are never unlocked) and walked to the community centre to volunteer for a party filled with business people.
At the party: When I got there I saw Maxime in the coats section with 2 guys. I hung my coat up and chatted with Maxim about my hospital trip. Then I got a choice of either a) working in the kitchen b) working outside as a cheese-and cracker person (the waiter who holds a platter of cheese and crackers for rich stiffs to enjoy). Hahaha I choose the second choice, since the first choice consists of washing dishes 3 hours straight. And we all have to wear stupid hairnets since we are dealing with food, so pretty much we look like Princess Leia? (Natalie Portman from the Star Wars) in our black and white clothing (And this is why Zach chose to hide in the kitchen despite the fact that he loves dealing with people instead of dishes, haha), except for Maxime, because she was working with coats. Lucky Maxime, she always gets to look pretty. So nothing much was happening during the cheese-and-cracker part of the party and all the Katimavik kids just used that time to grill me on my hospital trip. However when they started serving the main courses, things went crazy...it's exactly like an episode of those restaurant tv shows where everything is chaotic and all the servers are yelling "table __ needs more chicken! More chicken!". It reminds me of the days when I was working in IHOP, so I didn't mind it that much. Pretty much all the kids are just running back and forth from the kitchen to the food table for different things, and finally when it calmed down, we were allowed to eat...in the kitchen. Because I ate cake, I wasn't horribly hungry but apparently the other kids didn't eat before they left the house so they were starving while they work, and of course they weren't allowed to eat until their job was done. So finally at 7:30pm, when things calmed down a bit, Emilie was like "ok, let's stop and eat..." and that's what we did. And when 8:00 pm comes around, we left the party...or so we thought. As per usual, because I am a slowpoke at eating and because Charles really loved his job as the dishwasher, we didn't get up to go as quickly as we wanted. When everyone left the kitchen, the cooks were like "why are they leaving? They are not supposed to leave yet...they still have to help us" and Charles and I were like..."iono huh?"...it was quite confusing and the head waiter ran out of the building to stop Emilie from leaving. A little later Emilie came back with the rest of the crew, but apparently things worked out...in fact we got some free food (ham, vegetables, and something else to be exact).
Before I left though, I went to grab my coat and that's where I had a chat with Cameron and Dennis, the two teenage guys who were doing coat check with Maxime. I had an interesting conversation with Cameron:
C: So the girl with dreads, who is she?
A: That's Emilie...she is our project leader
C: Really. Where is she from?
A: Um...Grand Falls, New Brunswick
C: Wow, these Project Leaders come from places so far away now...
A: (At this point I am curious to know what he wants) I don't know. What about her?
C: (Smiles) She is hot! How old is she?
A: (At that point I just laughed) Well, she may be in her 20s, but not only is she too old for you, but her boyfriend is really old...possibly in his 40s to 50s...
Both guys: Oooooooh!
So the crew headed home in the "coquette mobile", and meanwhile Emilie was explaining to us that she had previously agreed with the person in-charge that we would only stay until 8 pm, and she kind of felt that we were not treated very well by them (ie. we had to work despite the fact that everyone was hungry)...I personally thought things were ok (you guys shall find out that my opinion changes on next day's entry) but I do think that there was no real purpose as to why we were volunteering there - does it actually help out the community in a beneficial way when we acted as servers/puppets there? The only thing I felt that we helped out were the business people who were there...and honestly do they really need us there? That was one thing I wasn't very satisfied about.
Anyways after we got home, we had a choice of a) staying at home b) going to the hospital party in the royal legion. Except for Cythnia/Stephanie/Mike/Emilie/me, everyone chose to stay home for the evening. So to the party we go...
The party: When we got there, the party was pretty much in swing...there was a live band there but they were on a break when we arrived so people were just dancing to recorded music. Anyways Emilie only wanted to be there to look for a person and after she talked to him, she left the party. What was funny - when we walked in Emilie walked straight into the party without anyone stopping her. But with me and the other people, they stopped us and asked if we were going into the dance and if so, we need to buy tickets. In a flash of wit, I just said pointed to Emilie and said, "we are with her" and then quickly followed Emilie.
Before Emilie left, she gave us money for drinks, and so we did that (non-alcoholic though...don't feel like it/don't want news to get back to Emilie) and we danced quite a bit for the next hour and a half...Cynthia and me, Cynthia and Stephanie and me, Cynthia and Stephanie and Mike and me, Stephanie and me (fast), Stephanie and me (slow)...the slow dances that Stephanie and I had were funny...because I am so short and Stephanie was quite tall, my head pretty much snuggled against her boobs...Stephanie was like "Angel you are too short for me...", to which I replied, "I don't see any problems with this right now"....;)
Cynthia left half an hour earlier because she got a huge migraine
Mike is not a good dancer at all...but at least he is trying (and I am trying not to laugh, haha)
Another funny thing - whenever I was dancing there would be this old lady who would dance with me...which was ok, but she would keep bumping into me and grind on me...it was kind of weird...and she would keep grabbing my face and say "you are too young for me"...I was like "haha...ha...ha...ha" each time she does that. She must be drunk, so I forgive her.
We left the party at 11:15 pm ish, before Mike ate too much cheesecake (before we left he went back to grab more food to take back home, haha)
When the three of us got back, Zach/Stephen/Rebecca were having a crazy time, discussing about their Secret Plan (which was dressing up in ornamental decorations - as a disguise, haha, and going to the convenience store to buy lemonade). Because I left my scarf in the community centre, Stephanie and I decided to go to the community to pick it up, and then go to the marina (very close to the community centre) and look at stars. However, when we got to the community centre (where the business folks were still partying at), we found Cheryl/Maxime/Charles there dancing also, and drinking coolers. When Charles first saw me, he immediately came to me, picked me up in the air, and said something like, "Angel so glad you are here, hahaha"...he was obviously a bit drunk. Cheryl/Maxime/Charles insisted that we stay to party with them (and of course Stephanie jumped in because she wanted to drink) and since I am not a party pooper, I joined them. The first thing Maxime did was to drag both of us to the bar and bought each of us a Smirnoff Ice. Things were fine and dandy until one of the ladies who was helping with the party looked at Maxime and said, "are you sure she is of age of drinking?" to which Maxime said, "yes, she is 20..." The lady just gave us a doubtful look and shuts up.
What's unfair - That. Plus the fact that Maxime is 17 and Stephanie is 18 but they do not get questioned. Moments like this irks me greatly...
So anyways we got our coolers, and we started dancing...it was fun, and Maxime and Charles are unbelievably good dancers...you could tell they go partying all the time. Even though the 5 of us were having fun, the weird thing is that everyone else there are at least 30 and over...so it feels kind of sad and unhip that we are partying with the semi-seniors (same thing in the legion). But I guess this is the problem with small towns. I was pleasantly surprised with the Smirnoff Ice...it was tastier than I imagined (although I would take juice any day) and through dancing and stuff, I finished it in 20 minutes. And as we were dancing this guy who was friends with the host of the party (Maxime and Charles' boss) bought all of us another cooler - Barcardi Breezer or something like that. Because I drank one already and I did not feel like testing my limits, I passed the offer but the rest of the Frenchees took it up, however Stephanie did not finish her Smirnoff Ice or the breezer. After a while, the alcohol effects started hitting me, and I decided to stop and take a break. I must clarify that I wasn't drunk or getting drunk, but my head was starting to get that slight dizziness that I am guessing was the "buzz"...however I did not enjoy that buzz and really do not see the point of achieving the "buzz" through drinking. I wanted to go home, but Stephanie asked me to stay a bit longer and wait for her to go home together, so...
... went and sat by the coat check, where Cameron and Dennis was. I chatted with them for some more, and Cameron was telling me more about his thoughts on Emilie...which I found pretty cute. I told him to feel free to drop by our house and chat with her, and he said, "well, I already have a girlfriend..."
I gave him my "What?" expression and said, "you have a girlfriend? Then why were you saying all those stuff about Emilie?" His reponse: "Well just because I have a girlfriend doesn't mean I can't look. I will look but I just won't touch." God, men are such creeps.
Finally, Stephanie did her thing and we went home together. On the way home, I told her that I thought it was so unfair that I got questioned just because I look young but Maxime and her did not have that problem. And then she told me that she was worried about our partying situation because a) we are from Katimavik which means people know who we are b) it's a small town and because it's obvious that some of us were underage so people would talk and this may eventually go back to Emilie. (Stephanie is from a small small town so she knows the deal). Because of that she did not finish her coolers. However, Maxime was partying it up pretty hard so there may be problems. And then we vow (more like she made me promise) that this will not be mentioned in the house.
When we got home, it was around 1 (Cheryl/Maxime/Charles weren't back yet). I was super popped, buzzed and really wanted to go to bed. So I dragged myself into the showers/brushed my teeth and hit the sacks...ah sweet dreams.
Thanks for hanging on for so long, guys...it's a loooooong email I know.
The biggest lesson that day - I am not the partying type, even if I try. One cooler and I already buzzed (7% alcohol)...honestly this is the most I have ever drank in my life. It's sad =)
Angel
PS. If you want to know more about my disease, here's the link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell%27s_Palsy
And here's a picture of Jean Chertien, just for kicks
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