Dinner Party at Graeme's

 

Weekend in Vancouver

From Fraser to Main with heavy luggage...

 

Casa Rosa Reunion

Hey all,
Sunday, November 12th will be the day for a long-awaited Casa Rosa Reunion in Vancouver. Better than your high school reunion, we promise. Wish everyone could be here!
Hugs,
Sarah

here i am

hello all,

i'm currently living in Vancouver working at a bunch of different things. i'm doing arts administration for EDAM dance and arts admin and event planning and teaching and performing for Jungle Swing. i also babysit the little girl who lives upstairs sometimes. that stuff usually keeps me out of trouble.

last summer (and the one before) i was in Sweden at the Herrang dance camp-all swing dancing all the time. last year i worked and danced, this year i worked the whole time. i was information manager. i made sure that everyone knew everything that was going on (it was rather insane). i travel down to Seattle on a semi-regular basis for swing events, and i just returned from a big weekend in Minneapolis. i still go home to Toronto every Christmas, and sometimes during the year for friend's weddings (that makes me feel rather grownup).

i'm living by the Drive with my friend Lucy and her cat Kasir. we moved in a year ago and i still have 3 boxes of things that i have to unpack. i need to get a bookshelf, and one day i will and there will be no boxes on my floor any longer.

that's what's up with truant me.

cheers,
stephanie

old friends

amigos mios!
how's life? i thought i had invited y'all to join when i made this blog a year ago, but i guess i didn't. now you're all invited, and you can invite others to join too. there are entirely too many photos of me here, so please post your own! let us all know what you're up to these days!
miss you all lots.
hugs from brazil,
sarah

dawn and sarah in the yukon, 2003

king's throne mountain, kluane national park, 2003. awww...what a fun day that was! i miss dawn!

Beira Rio youth

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 70% Spider-Man 60% Supergirl 60% Hulk 45% Robin 42% Green Lantern 40% Wonder Woman 35% Iron Man 35% The Flash 25% Batman 20% Catwoman 10%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

São Francisco River, Minas Gerais

Places in Brazil

View of Edi's apartment in Santo André, São Paulo.















Beira Rio, the neighborhood where I currently live.
(Across the São Francisco River from Três Marias, Minas Gerais.)















São Paulo from the airplane.

new photos from Brazil

Here are a few photos of life in Minas Gerais, Brazil! Will try to post photos here regularly from now on, so keep checking this site...
Sarah

NB: Edi and I don't actually know how to pilot a boat--we are just posing! The other photos are of youth environmental education activities I´ve been involved with.

Here's a memory from a long time ago... Sarah and I in Gaspésie standing on the edge of a cliff...

...and another of Sarah just before she lept off the cliff and started flying around like superwoman. While Sarah will vehemently deny her own superpowers abilities, luckily, I was around to witness this spectacular event... I know the truth Sarah!!!

just checking if any pink people are still reading this...

Santo André, São Paulo (about 15 hours from where I'm currently living...)

Say Aye

Could all who visit this blogg say aye...

(ie, post your name as a comment).

I'm interested to see who our readership is...

On Mont Royal

8000km and a parking ticket

3 weeks later I am now seated at the same computer in Québec, typing up my message to a gang of distant friends who exist within the neurons of my mind and the 10101110s of cyberspace.

So here was the happenings of the last three weeks:

Highlights of my trip:

KM 300 Already been halfway around the world, yet only after 16 years do I get to Seattle.
1000 I'm in Montana. Speed limits fuzzy.
2000 I'm still in Montana.
2700 I'm skipping the turnoff to see Mount Rushmore and Devils thumb (= Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind)
3400 I'm stuck in a traffic jam in Chicago, crossing 8 lane freeway to reach exit unnerving.
4200 Speaking to a gas station attendant through 1/2 inch bulletproof plexiglass in Detroit trying to get directions. Apparently this is normal for all gas stations in Detroit. Lock doors, roll up windows and drive quickly for the border.
4600 I'm stuck in a traffic jam in Toronto heading east on the 401.
4900 I stop in Kingston to buy roses for Antoine. I'll say I brought them all they way from Vancouver.
5150 I'm stuck in a traffic jam in Montreal heading east on the 20
5300 Give roses to Antoine in Quebec City. He doesn't believe they're from Vancouver.
6300 Get a $42 parking ticket in Montreal because I think 9 - 3 on the street sign means 9am to 3pm, not 9am to 3am!?!
7000 See Sarah in Gaspesie. Sarah gets annoyed that I refuse to sign on to this blogg. Night of fires, drinking, camping and debauchery on the beach. Sarah remembers nothing the next morning. All Anglophones in the town of Grand Vallée (5) go jumping into the ocean off the pier the next afternoon.
7300 Take on passengers in Rimouski. Finds out one passenger just got out of same prison as Karla Hamolka. Interesting conversation ensues.
7700 Seeing Graeme, Sansan, and Sarom in Montreal. What could be more of a highlight? Maybe Graeme will join the migration east. Go in search of a bar to have a glass of water and an outdoor terrace only to sit inside once we find it. Homemade French toast the next morning. Sarom and Chee discuss chopsticks in Sarah's hair.
7750 Graeme gets a send off at the airport.
7780 Antoine and I go for an interview for another apartment
8000 Antoine and I return to Québec City to find out we have a new apartment in Montreal. A 2 bedroom place, 2 balconies and a place to park my car in downtown Montreal at only $515/month. You would't believe how big it is. To find out where we are, type 2041 la visitation, Montreal into Mapquest

So to end off I want to say it was great to see those of you that I did in Vancouver, and in Quebec. As to others, well, our new home is soon to be in Montreal (read, easier to get there from Vancouver). And I also found out today I just got accepted to McGill in the fall to begin taking extra courses. In a week I take off for my summer job cycling, and also see some of you again if you're around (read: Dawn?).

Friends (who you don't see) beautiful sunshine, and my next home... who could ask for more??? (except maybe a KFC right next to my apartment)

Highlights from trip to the Gaspésie

· Riding the “dome car” on the train, and surreptitiously using the first-class toilets
· Hiking up to, and then sort of climbing, the neon green cross overlooking the tiny town of Mont-Louis
· Seeing the ocean. Finally.
· Making wontons stuffed with Italian sausage, and discovering "fondue chinoise" (snicker nudge nudge)
· Bonding with Cognac, the sleepy and amiable dog, and trying to uncover the Mystery of the Missing Cats
· Meeting Sarah’s students on the streets, who call her “Madame Sarah” and giggle behind their bicycles
· Hearing Sansan speak French to Marcelle (the woman Sarah lives with) and Marc (the kind yet taciturn neighbour’s son who gave us a ride to Ste-Foy)
· Discovering that art can truly transcend cultural and linguistic boundaries. Sansan asked Marc politely during the ride s’il connaissait various Anglo-Canadian icons (e.g. L. Cohen, N. Young), to which he shook his head. There were two CDs in the glove compartment and after I had vetoed Shania Twain, she put on Nevermind, and soon the car was flooded with “Teen Spirit.”

Rough Seas: A grammar lesson
One of the most common mistakes that I hear is people saying, “I feel nauseous,” although this technically means “causing or able to cause nausea.” However, it is more correct to say, “The boat ride around the Rocher Percé was very nauseous” and “It made me feel quite nauseated.” One could also say, “It must have been nauseating for the other passengers to watch me throw up twice into a plastic bag.” That is all.

only a few more weeks in quebec, then i'm going to visit vancouver and whitehorse before going back to brazil...

chez moi in March 

bienvenidos a la casa rosa!

hello amigos!
we are far from the pink house, but here's an easy way to keep in touch. what do you think?
sarah