Moncton Explore: Week Two Summary

Bonjour tout le monde,

Welcome back to my blog! Here's what's happened during week two of Explore 2013. Thanks for reading!

July 7th:

Tonight, after sleeping in and enjoying a relaxing day of studying and practicing, and our first sunday meeting, Paris and I met our friend Jeff at Café Archibald for some late night crépes and beverages. I swear, we're going to try just about everything on their menu before we leave... So good!

July 8th:

Today wasn't awfully exciting. Our atelier got out extremely early, after we were taught how to prevent and ameliorate a hangover (how useful!), we mostly goofed around, played French board games and practiced for our presentation tomorrow.

July 9th:

Paris and I presented our first project in front of the class today and did really well! It was all about French macarons. You can view it below if you'd like...

July 10th:

After class today, those who payed for the trip headed out to beautiful Shediac Bay for the "Conte de Homard" lobster tour.

We took some time beforehand to visit the kitschy little souvenir shops... 

...and grab some "créme glacée" before boarding the little lobster boat and heading out to sea.

While aboard the vessel, we were told all about Acadian lobster-fishing history and the lobster industry.

Then, some brave students pulled in the first lobster trap and the real fun started.

After, We were shown "the Acadia way" to dismember a cooked lobster: With our bare hands... The presentation was so intense, one girl started crying.

It was brutal!

However, all in all, it was pretty entertaining...

Cheers!

July 11th:

Today, after my first business-themed atelier, I used my free time to paint my nails! It felt good to pamper myself a bit after a hard week.

After, Erik and I went to The Pumphouse to harass Jeff and relax a bit. We stayed there forever just talking and drawing on napkins. I love that kid! 

July 12th:

Tonight, Paris, Jarrett and I walked through downtown to see the cars lined up for The 14th Annual Atlantic Nationals Automotive Extravaganza car show.

Main street was packed with people and impressive vehicles!

My camera hated the lighting situation, though, so I didn't get very good pictures.

Coincidentally, we ran into some of out friends from class and had a great evening out on the town!

July 13th:

Today, tout le monde got onto teensy school busses yet again and drove to the breathtaking Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park.

The views were incredible from the top of the viewing area.

One could see the mudflats created by the Bay of Fundy's extremely low tide for what seemed like miles.

When we climbed down, the mud was so squishy and difficult to maneuver in we ditched our shoes and got dirty.

But, a few students had a bit of trouble staying upright...

After, we went to Fundy National Park's Bennett Lake to swim enjoy the natural surroundings.

Across the lake there was a mama moose and her calf! I was so shocked and happy to good look at them before the meandered back into the woods. That's one check off my Canada checklist!

Shortly after, a group of students swam over to a small island in the center of the lake. A friend and I were following not too far behind until he began to panic in the water. Though I was able to calm him down and help him float on his back, I had to call for help! He was just fine when he reached the island, but it was really startling to imagine what could have happened had I been by myself. I'm so happy that there are lifeguards participating in Explore!

For the rest of our time at the lake, I caught gigantic tadpoles and palled around in the shallows with friends. Paris, however, went on to rescue another student on the way back from the island! She's amazing.

Bennett Lake trip: success! Death toll: 0.

I hope you enjoyed ready about my adventures!

Until next time,

Moncton Explore: Week One Summary

Hey friends,

Below is a picture-full summary of week one of Explore 2013! Enjoy!

June 29th:

After unpacking and meeting up with some of the staff and early arrivals, Paris, Erik (a friend from WIU) and I headed out to Café Archibald, a cute little restaurant close to campus that one of the monitors told us to check out. It did not disappoint.

Paris and Erik split a tasty-looking 'Egyptian Pizza..."

... and I opted for a Caesar salad that I promptly smothered in their signature spicy oil. Yum!

June 30th:

Today was registration day!

106 very eager "Explorers" collected their name tags and began to connect with one another.

I met lots of new people, and met up with some more fellow WIUers!

Everything has been very agreeable so far!

Awesome start to my week, check!

July 1st:

Today was our last day of freely speaking English, so we really tried hard to get to know each other.

We took our placement tests at 8:00AM, and then headed to lunch.

Unfortunately, the food is provided by Sodexo like at WIU.... It's going to be a loooong couple of weeks....

On a sweeter note, I tested into level 4, as did Paris: right where we needed to be to get the appropriate WIU credit!

After our evening meeting and the long-awaited and inevitable countdown to French immersion, we all went downtown to enjoy the Canada Day festivities en Français.

There was live Acadian music and tons of people and pets decked out in red and white.

Eventually, I found myself at The Pump House with a group of new friends, where we ate and talked, and joked with the hilarious and charming bartender until the fireworks started.

Or rather, until the fireworks were nearly done... We just barely caught the tail-end of the show! All in all it was a fantastic evening.

July 2nd:

Today was our first day of class. I can already tell that our professor Sébastien will be pretty cool. Also, we submitted our choices for ateliers, or workshops. I chose a health while travelling course for week one.

Later, we headed to the Co-Op grocery store in Dieppe with our meal stipend money to shop and practice in a French-speaking atmosphere. I bought mostly rice, bread, milk, potatoes, and simple things. No microwaveable garbage for me!

July 3rd:

Today, after class, tout le monde got on a bus and headed to Parlee Beach.

The drive was really scenic. I was shocked at just how pretty everything was!

Unfortunately, due to the chilly weather, I wore jean capris and a tank top. Nevertheless, when it warmed up a bit, I got in and swam out to a sandbar with some new friends. Luckily, I was able to wear my pashmina as a wrap dress on the way home.

Jellyfish, shrimp and crabs were everywhere in the water and in the sand. No one seemed to mind, though.

It was a really awesome time!

Later in the day, after a wee bit of a nap, Renee and I walked to Dieppe to do some supplementary shopping. I got coffee and some snackie stuff.

We then went to my new favorite store to pick up enough bulk chai latté mix to last the entire program and have some to spare.

July 4th:

Today was the first day of our ateliers and I got my first choice of "Destination Voyage"! Also, being as today is the fourth of July, I walked the line of being patriotic and being "that American." What can I say, I love me some red, white and blue!

Mostly, people though it was funny, and I got lots of compliments on my bow!

We even had a small group of Canadians ask if they could join us to celebrate. We agreed, and the 10 of us walked to Café Archibald to dine together.

I tried escargot for the first time, thanks to Tyler Boulay. It was garlicy and pretty good - almost like mussels! I was pleasantly surprised. 

We also got started trying out the Café's drink menu.

Afterward, we went to the park to light sparklers, compliments of Rebekah!

Such fun we had, and we took some great pictures!

After heading to the Pump House, and beyond, we returned to LaFrance more proud than ever to be American!

July 5th:

Bright and early today my phone fell onto the tile and shattered its screen! Plus, I can't find my debit card anywhere. How ever will I survive?!?!

Other than that, today was my second atelier. The professor was really easy going, so there's that to be grateful for... Hopefully I'll get everything straightened out soon.

For dinner, the 8 of us from WIU met up with Michele Terry, a representative from WIU, and her husband at Café Archi to discuss our first week's progress and go over the plan for tomorrow's outing. Because we couldn't decide, I shared a Smoked Salmon Crêpe and a Smoked Salmon Pizza with Michele. Both were really good.

After, we went to the Explore student dance and got crazy under the lights. It was so much fun to interact with the other students and dance to music from all over the world. The energy was incredible .Plus, our monitor Olivier is one heck of a dancer! It felt good to get out of my comfort zone and let loose a little. 

July 6th:

At 6:30AM the WIU group loaded up into a van and drove to Nova Scotia for an exclusive field trip to fulfill the requirements of our grant.

Most everyone slept on the way because of our late night, until our driver became lost! Then everyone just fidgeted awkwardly and watched our schedule 

Our first stop was the Grand Pré National Historic Site, a UNESCO World Heritage site that covers Acadian deportation history and the famous story of Evangeline. We were pretty late, we had to hurry through our guided interpretive introduction. However, I would love to spend some more time there someday.

Next stop, Just Us Coffee Roasters Co-op.

We toured their roasting facility and Fair Trade Museum, and sampled their yummy products including coffee and freshly made chocolate.

Their mission is to provide a fair price to small-scale farmers for organic coffee, promote awareness on development and trade issues and to "contribute to a sane world where peoples' needs and the well being of the planet are put before greed."

For lunch, we went to the Wolfville Farmer's Market: a bustling center of local commerce.

I had some awesome handmade noodles with garlic, basil and tomatoes, and fresh apple juice. We also got busy with some Iron Works craft liquor.

After, we went to the lovely Taproot Farms organic property.

We did an entire walk-through of their organic farm, which also provides the crops for the Wolfville CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) project.

It was really cool to see just how an organic grow operation really operates.

Our last stop was the breathtaking Hall's Harbor on the Bay of Fundy. I was absolutely awestruck by the view. It was unlike anything I've ever seen...

After a few minutes of exploring,

...our group sat down on the rocks for an awesome lunch.

Curry chicken, sweet potato and apple wraps with quinoa cucumber salad, crackers and dip. It was heavenly, even before they broke out the blueberry key lime tartlettes.

Then, after wandering down the the water's edge, and collecting stones, it was time to go far before anyone wanted to leave!

I loved every detail of this fantastic trip!

Thanks for reading, and keep a lookout for more trip-specific post to come. 

À bientôt!