Fiddle Dancing, Mountains and Puppies

Week 1 has flown by. My students are getting more comfortable with me every day, and I with them. The most important lesson I learned this week is: LET THEM PLAY! In my first few days, I was trying to have them do too much without a break, so now I give them free play time as a transition between activities. So far it is working very well, hopefully my success continues.

The most interesting part of my week was on Thursday night to celebrate Mistissini Day. Another fun tradition in the town is fiddle dancing. Unfortunately there weren't any live fiddle players, but there were live dancers! I got to watch many different groups, both youth and adult, dance to fiddle music throughout the night. Lucky for me, the host of the night asked all doctors and teachers to come out and dance to a song, so I, along with 25 other teachers and doctors, went to the middle of the plywood dance floor and danced my butt off to fiddle music for 5 minutes straight. It was the most fun I had in a long time.

The solar eclipse on Monday caused the school to have a late-release because they did not want the students staring directly at the sun. Because of this, we got an early release on Friday! I was able to go to Chibougamau with my friend Kate, do some shopping and eat a nice meal.

Saturday was a day for me to go exploring. I had noticed a water tower on a hill on my way to Chibougamau, so I wanted to check it out. At first I had trouble finding the path that lead to the top, but luckily a friendly man on an ATV was able to show me the way. It took me about 40 minutes to hike to the top of the small mountain, and the view was remarkable.

I think I could have stayed at the top of that mountain forever, but my tummy told me otherwise, so I made my descent and drove the 55 minutes back home for dinner. That night, a friend of mine was hosting a listening party for her boyfriend's new album. We all listened to his music for the night and ate her famous hand-made spring rolls. On the way to my friend's house, a puppy fell in step next to me, but I had to leave it outside. Later on, after I had gone home, I got a call from my friend saying that the same puppy was in her backyard. I asked if someone was going to take the pup for the night, because if not I was more than willing. In the end, I brought the puppy home and she slept right next to me all night. We even posted online that we found a puppy but no one has claimed her.

Sunday I took my new friend and I on a walk to pick (and eat) blueberries and walk along the lake. The path was beautiful and the puppy was so well behaved! I am very excited to have a potential new addition to my one-person family up here in the North of Quebec.

She still might have a family out there looking for her, so I have yet to name her. Tune in next week to find out if she becomes the newest member of my Northern family.

Thanks for reading!

~Vicki