Winter Winds and A Warm Weekend

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Happy Holidays!

I know that it has been a few weeks since my last update, and let me tell you it has been very busy!

Unfortunately we do not celebrate American Thanksgiving so that Thursday was a normal school day and a normal school week for us. I am not the only American in town, so a few of us got together and shared a home-cooked Thanksgiving dinner on the Thursday night. 

Winter has also arrived here in Mistissini, bringing us lots and lots and lots of snow. Below is a picture of Lily enjoying our favorite snow trail. The trail below now has 3 more feet of snow covering it, which makes it impossible to walk through with winter boots. I bought myself a pair of snowshoes so I can make the trek this winter and give Lily some much needed walks. I have yet to try the snowshoes, but I know it will be an experience.
Lily and my friend's dog named Nara are good friends and they enjoy playing together. They are both around 5 months old and are growing very quickly! As of this weekend, Lily weighs 30lbs and Nara weighs 50lbs! Needless to say they will both be LARGE dogs. 
This weekend a few friends and I took a trip down south to Quebec City and enjoyed a slightly warmer weekend. We ate as much sushi as our stomach's could handle and did our holiday shopping for the season.

It was a short weekend but we made sure to get in a good morning of skiing before we left on Sunday. Below is a picture of me at the top of the mountain. The day was beautiful and just above freezing, and the snow was amazing. Even though it is the beginning of the ski season, the snow was fresh and there were about 12 different ski trails open. My friend had fun as it was her 3rd time skiing ever, but she ended up on the ground more than on her feet! After our morning ski, we tasted famous Quebec City poutine and went North.
My friend adopted a border collie puppy while we were in Quebec City, she named her Neska, which is after the word Nesk meaning Goose in Cree. I very much enjoyed the puppy because I was missing Lily, who I left up north in Chibougamau for the weekend. 

At school we are preparing for the holidays and our holiday concert in 2 weeks. The school is filled with holiday art projects and festive decorations. My students are also very excited for the holidays to come. Soon I will be back in Boston for a busy 2 week holiday vacation. 

More updates to come this weekend! Hopefully my first time snowshoeing will be a success!

Until next time, stay warm!

~Vicki

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