August Break

Big plans, guys. I had big plans. This summer, I wanted to paint my walls, clean out my basement in hopes of starting to develop it, and fit in some other creative projects along the way.

Then life got in the way. I got some really exciting news at the beginning of July. A colleague and I had applied for a grant through the federal government's international development brach, and we found out that we got it! The grant would twin our school with a school in Jamaica, with the aim of engaging more Canadians in international development. One of the perks of the grant was that my colleague and I would be going to Ottawa for a week at the end of July for training and planning. Then in August, we'd be going to Jamaica!

So my summer suddenly took a different turn.

I had also committed to going to visit my grandma in southern Ontario with my mom and sister the second last week in July. So the last two weeks in July were spent in Ontario.

Now I'm home for a week before we go to Jamaica. I am so so so excited for this!

To add another wrench, before I knew that we got the grant (by the end of the school year we just kind of assumed we didn't get it), I accepted a contract with Alberta Education to develop some lesson plans for them.

So suddenly, I have absolutely no free time to do the creative stuff I had wanted to do this summer. That's okay, though, as I am super thrilled to have gotten this grant and the opportunities it will bring my way. Still, I want to do something creative this summer...

Enter: the August Break!

I am going to try to post a photo per day as a part of the August Break, just to show a glimpse of what's going on in my life, and to allow myself a bit of creativity through the composition of the photograph. To start us off, I'll post a few photos I took in Ottawa, to make up for the first nine days in August.




The Parliament buildings.



Canadian geese, the Ottawa River, and Parliament Hill.

Parliament Hill has a Cat Sanctuary for stray cats! How cool is that?!

Inside the big tower, the Peace Tower, on the front of the main Parliament building.

We actually stayed right across the Ottawa River, in Gatineau, Quebec. This manhole cover translates to "One life, one city."

I went to the Canadian Museum of Civilization. This is part of the First Nations Hall.



Parliament Hill at sunset.



We went to this light and sound show called Mosaika, which was projected onto the Parliament Building. It was really neat.

As part of our training, we did a video conference with Mali.



My colleague Lisa, my "twin" from Jamaica, Rono, Anna from the feds, and me!


 There we go! Hopefully (fingers crossed!) I can keep up with this! One photo a day... I think I can do this.