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#TDBookWeek - Lesson's Learned

5/14/2015

Things not going well on the Wheel of Genre?

Things I learned on the TD Canada Children's Book Week tour are probably more than I can put into words.
I learned that kids are kids no matter where they're from. It doesn't matter if they're in a remote community or in a big city, they love to play, laugh, and will totally recognize the Pokemon theme song when you start reading it. I met Otakus in Cartwright, and Avatar fangirls in Churchill Falls, and a DC Universe follower in Wabush.
I met teachers and Librarians looking for new and better ways to engage kids and teens and was able to share the type of stuff we do at RIO with them (Reality Is Optional Creative Kids' Programming). Perhaps we'll even be able to start up some new RIO programs in Labrador, after all RIO is an idea and a philosophy more than an organization.
I learned that Labrador food is salty but good. That deep fried dough is better than it sounds. And I learned not to eat leaves I find on the ground. (Big lesson there).
I learned not to be scared of air travel - it helps if you imagine you are in a really defective massage chair rather than a turbulent airplane. I learned that the people of Labrador are ALL friendly and kind. I didn't meet a cranky one out there - and I was there for ten full days! Every place I went people showed me around, shared their culture, toured me, welcomed me into their homes, fed me, played games with me (good ones), talked with me, and smiled. Man, they smile a lot! They wanted to know all about me and they were happy to share everything about themselves.
I learned that when you are a passenger in a vehicle in Labrador, your job is to look for moose (and polar bears) - and it's not a joke. I learned that isolated communities are actually insulated communities and that kids aren't cut off but connected.
I witnessed amazing imaginations as the students created stories with Godzilla, dragons, and living mustaches. I saw advanced programming in regular schools, and teachers who work extra hard to bring real pizzazz to their classrooms. I learned that every woman is called Miss and if you're not called that, you are called Dear. I have never been called Miss or Dear so many times in my life.
I learned that my Red Robin toy was more popular than I was - no I'm not jealous (really), that bakeapple is a berry, and deer are caribou. I learned that people in Labrador move slow. They are totally relaxed. Plan for breakfast, it will take a while. I learned that Labrador is probably the most bi-lingual place in Canada - or maybe tri-lingual. The Innu still have their language if the family laughing their guts out on the plane to Newfoundland was any indication. They weren't speaking French or English. I learned that teachers really care for their students like family. That community matters and that they don't have family reunions, they have Come Home days - for everyone.
Labrador is a wild place. It's pockets of people who sometimes get ripped off by the government, ignored by corporations, and have to scrabble to make a living in a resource based economy (not unlike Alberta). But they don't let it get them down. They still find reasons to smile and joke. Their first response is one of kindness instead of suspicion. Labrador is a really amazing place - and I'm glad I went.

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#TDBookWeek - The Road Home Pt. 3 - Good-Bye and Thanks For All the Fish!

5/11/2015

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The final day of my TD Book Week had me feeling much better after the accidental poisoning the night before. This, of course was good, since I had been worried I wouldn't be able to fly back to my family.

Sandy had to leave me early as the ferry around here is pretty unreliable. The cabby I used to get to the airport told me that the ferry owner is paid for two trips a day whether or not they actually make both trips. So it's pretty much guaranteed for the morning run but in the afternoon it will slalom on through the ice and then give up and not bother with the trip. The people of the area have been promised a new ferry but it keeps getting canceled and delayed. On the other hand, because the ferry leaves Newfoundland and lands in Quebec (just over the boarder) it is the world's fastest ferry. With the time zone change the ferry leaves at 11:00 and arrives at 11:00 since the time change is an hour and a half and the ferry takes an hour and a half.

So I made the cab ride to the airport (which was in Quebec). The cabbie had no receipts in his cab and offered to send me one by e-mail. I really wasn't expected much. But true to his word an e-mailed receipt arrived safe and sound. I arrived at the airport WAYYY early. I pretty much just wanted to go home. Twelve days away from my family had me pretty homesick. Lunch was had out of a vending machine. I chatted with some people in the waiting room. People here are so friendly.

Because the airport is so small they do all the baggage checks by hand. My metal tin of tea raised a bit of alarm, also my metal water bottle - empty. I don't know what they thought they were but once I explained the security lady put them back and carried on riffling through my dirty clothes. After a three hour wait, it was finally time to board.

Not my plane, I flew with Provincial Airlines. This is another airline.

I flew from Blanc Sablon, Quebec, to St. John's, Newfoundland (a time change of 1.5 hours) and further away from home. The ride was bumpy, but I ran into one of the teachers I met on tour. She was taking three grade twelve students over to the island to see the university, college, and trade schools. One of her students had an appointment to see about becoming a nurse. All the kids were really excited. I don't think they leave their communities very often.

Even though it was a short flight, Provincial Airlines fed me a sandwich and cookies and gave me a drink (all free). I was really glad about this because I was trying to figure out if I could find a decent lunch at the next airport. Provincial Airlines really knows how to take care of their passengers.

At St. John's airport I had to pick up my luggage and check in with Air Canada. Because I had checked in so early at the other airport and because a plane left before I caught mine, I managed to convince myself that my luggage was lost before it even started to move along the belt. I was in such a panic that when it did arrive, I almost missed seeing it. Sometimes I'm my own worst enemy.

Then I couldn't get my passport to work in the Air Canada check in machine and I worried I would never get home. The lady at the counter had me sorted out in minutes - so I really had nothing to worry about. Once everything was done I went to Tim Hortons for a cup of tea to calm my nerves. I think I was just over tired from being up half the night sick - I was also missing my family pretty hard core. I talked to my daughter on the phone and my mood improved.

After that I went though security and into the waiting room. There I hit pay-dirt. My husband had seen the picture of pineapple Crush - a drink we don't have here. He wanted me to bring him back one, but I hadn't see one yet. However, in the waiting room there was a whole machine full of them - and as I was already past security, I could take it in my carry on bag. I spent the two hour wait watching anime on my computer before it was time to board the flight to Toronto. Finally I was heading towards home.

On this plane we could watch movies. It took about three hours to make it from St. Johns to Toronto (and another time jump). I watched Guardians of the Galaxy and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The weather was bad and we got stuck in a holding pattern because of a really big storm that had the airport on red alert. We landed at the exact time I was supposed to be getting on my next plane. Luckily, everyone was running late because of the storm - so I had time to snap a few pictures of the giant aiport, go to the bathroom, and talk to my husband briefly.

It was raining when we boarded the huge plane for Calgary. There were two seats beside me, but no one in them. I sat back and chilled out. Home was only 3.5 hours away.

I had time to watch two more movies on this plane so I chose Paddington and the Box Trolls. I was really tired, my body thought it was almost three in the morning, so I nodded off at one point and was startled awake as one of the characters from the Box Trolls yelled for help in my ear.

The air was clear in Calgary. I guess it had snowed in the morning but it was nice at night. We landed and I made my way out of the plane and to the baggage check - and there were my favourite people in the world.

I want to thank the Canada Council of the Arts, Canadian Children's Book Centre, Newfoundland and Labrador Public Libraries, and all the schools who invited me to work with their awesome students.
Next post I'll tell you all the things I learned in this amazing province. But right now, I'm just going to enjoy being home with my family.
Thank You Labrador!

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#TDBookWeek - The Road Home - Pt. 2

5/10/2015

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I started the morning working on my reports for the tour and reliving all the awesome memories. The mini-report is only supposed to be about 300 words. It was really hard to pull that off but the more impossible task was the full report. That was mandated to be 2-3 pages. I ended up at ten. How do you squeeze this experience into so few pages? I did finally whittle it down to six but I guess I have to work on it some more. I very much doubt it will stay within the guidelines.

Around noon Sandy came to the door and asked if I wanted to go for a walk by the beach. By then I needed a break so I said I was game.

We saw three graveyards. Graveyards around here are by the ocean because that's the only place where the soil goes deep enough. The graves themselves are covered in berries.

We hiked for a bit, but there was still a lot of snow so we couldn't go too far. Sandy encouraged me to try a Labrador tea leaf. It turned out to be a bad idea. For people around here, they have pretty much acclimated to this plant. But for the rest of us, the only way to try it is as a weak tea - not a whole leaf. Labrador tea is slightly toxic and an irritant to the digestive lining. Sadly my digestive lining didn't like Labrador tea one bit and I ended up spending the night in the bathroom.

I'm looking forward to returning home tomorrow. This place is great but I miss my family and I just want to see them again.

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#TDBookWeek - The Road Home Pt. 1

5/9/2015

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While TD Book Week might be over, I was still in Cartwright this morning and nowhere near home. Cartwright does have a small airport but flights are few and far between. So instead of waiting around we hit the road on the way back to L'Anse au Clair, where I had stayed before I did the coast leg of my trip.

The morning was young and sunny. The smell of wood stoves filtered through the nippy air. Gulls cried and crows cawed. We hit the road at 7:30 in the morning heading towards Port Hope Simpson where the Alexis Hotel was located. We stopped to see the sights on the way and ate a few bananas in the van for breakfast.

They were just setting up for a banquet at the Alexis Hotel, but they had no problem serving us lunch in the mean time. I was getting pretty hungry by then. We had been on the road for a couple of hours. It is all dirt road out here and much of it is full of potholes. We did see the scraper taking care of that issue, but there is a lot of road to cover and they hadn't got to all of it yet.

The Alexis Hotel was really pretty on the inside. The dinning room had a great view of the port. The food was really good too. Sandy met a waiter who had just moved to Labrador from Nepal. Sandy used to live in Nepal setting up libraries and translating books. The waiter was really surprised when Sandy started speaking his language. They had a discussion about poetry. I was asked if I wrote poetry. The answer to that question is no - unless you count really bad poetry. I'm still a super newbie when it comes to writing in that form. Right now scripts and novels (and the occasional short story) are my only domain.

We headed out on the road once more. We stopped at Mary's Harbour for a stretch then drove on to Red Bay. Like I said in one of my previous blogs, Red Bay used to be a whaling town inhabited by the Basque. The Basque are indigenous people from north-central Spain and south-western France. They were known as the cleverest fishermen around. Wrecks from Basque ships have been found in Red Bay and they are a big part of the history of the area.

In Red Bay we stopped a at gift shop. I had very little room left in my luggage so I bought a puffin necklace and a magnet. I've bought other things back in Goose Bay, but I put them in the mail so I didn't have to pack them.

After that we drove over the Pinware river. It's a really powerful river. It even has a provincial park around part of it called Pinware provincial park.

The Pinware River

We traveled on to L'Anse-au-Loup. I saw some icebergs on the way. They have this amazing blue colour under the water. It's hard to tell in the photographs, but trust me, it's really pretty. In L'Anse-au-Loup we looked for a store with bananas and Tylenol. We did find the Tylenol but no luck on the bananas.

We traveled on to Point Amour to see a native burial site from 7500 years ago. It belonged to a child who was buried with a bone whistle among other things. It is the oldest known burial site in the world.

After that we traveled a rather dodgy road - Sandy has some mad driving skills - to the Point Amour lighthouse. It is one of the few lighthouses left with the the light keeper's residence still intact. It's a working light house. The light was even on when we got there. It has a twin across the straight - though we couldn't see it in the fog. In the tourist season you can go to the top of the lighthouse, but tourist season hasn't started yet so we just wandered around the outside.

The wind was bitterly cold by this point and it was starting to snow and rain at the same time. Still we looked over the waters at the icebergs and saw the gulls. It's a really beautiful place.

Then it was time for the last leg of our journey to L'Anse-au-Clair where the Northern Light Inn resides. Sandy went to the local grocery store and found his bananas. I had to go to get some milk for my tea, Coffee Mate just doesn't cut it. They had worms for sale - I passed on those. I'm assuming they're for fishing and not human consumption.

The weather had gone from bad to worse. Wet snow blown by a sharp wind was trying to rip off my ears. We settled in to our rooms then went to supper. I ordered the Kaptains Platter (their spelling, not mine). It came in a bucket. This is a Labrador thing too. They take a bunch of stuff and throw it into a bucket, each restaurant is different - so what you get at one place you might not get at another. I was going to try cod tongues but they are super expensive. Though if I do get the chance before I leave I might give it a go anyway.

In my bucket I had scallops, shrimp (probably from the shrimp farms around here), fish, calamari, three kinds of fries, three carrot sticks, and three celery sticks. With the price of fruit and veg here - you never get much vegetation with your dinner.

Then it was back up to my room for some anime and the blog writing. Tomorrow I have to work on my TD Book Week reports and get my expenses sorted out. Once that's wrapped up, and if it's not too horrible out, I'm going to go for a wander and see what I can find. I fly out Monday at 1:45 Quebec time (the airport is just over the boarder in Blanc Sablon). Then I hop over to St. John's, then to Toronto, and on to Calgary arriving at 1:30 in the morning. It sounds exhausting. I'm glad I get a rest day before I go - even if I do miss my family like crazy. I'm even missing Mother's day. I kind of forgot that was happening. Ooops! I guess we'll have to celebrate it when I get home if we feel so inclined.

Oh, I almost forgot, I learned what a tickle is. A tickle is the water between the mainland and an island in a river or river mouth. Often both sides are called something different. They really do have their own language out here!

Until tomorrow's adventures - have a great night!

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#TDBookWeek - The Last Huzzah!

5/8/2015

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Today was my last presentation of the tour. I was at Henry Gordon Academy presenting to the grade 4-11s. They don't have a grade 12 class this year.

I had heard the night before in the bar (the only place to get supper) that some of the kids were into anime. I was eager to meet these young men.

It turns out Henry Gordon Academy is the oldest school on the Labrador coast. It's a nice place with lots of stairs. (all the schools seem to have lots of stairs). Out my motel window I saw some of the kids biking to school along the dirt road. This is a great time of year for them because it's warm enough to be outside and too cool for the black flies.

At Henry Gordon we made up a story about two ladies who loved to hunt and who were looking for the biggest duck. The bald Madam from Iran was stalking them and trying to take the biggest duck for herself. When that didn't work she hired ninjas. We got one of the students to come on stage and do translations from Japanese and Iranian to English. It was super hilarious. The kids talked in gibberish and the translator had to make up what they were saying. The best part was when one of the kids said, "Ahhh!" and the translator, translated it as "Ahhh!"

The kids also liked my comparison of a character with a goal and motive but no conflict to one with a goal, motive, and conflict. In fact they liked that so much they made me do it again at the end of the presentation. During question period we didn't talk so much about writing as anime, which was so much fun. They asked me what kind of anime I liked and I told them I liked Shonen more than Shojo. I think they were impressed I knew the right words (and could pronounce manga properly). And of course the kids asked to see Red Robin. I think that guy is more popular than I am!

After my presentation a boy who had read my Labrador Student page (where I had discussed my enormous love of fish) brought me some smoked trout he had caught and smoked over blackberry wood. Sandy was worried that I didn't have a refrigerator in my room. I explained the fish would not last long enough to require a refrigerator.

The anime loving boys and I got talking after the presentation - they came to put in some book orders. We discussed anime and I mentioned that I played Dungeons and Dragons. I asked them if they had ever played. They hadn't but they were interested in it. I invited them to come over to my suit after school (providing their parents thought it was okay) to play. I didn't have all my D&D equipment so we played a rather stripped down game. Still everyone had fun and we ate loads of snacks. I think they'll look into getting the D&D books for themselves so they can play here. I may just have had an influence on Cartwright youth culture.

Also after my presentation I was invited back to the staff room for some lunch. They had subs and cupcakes and tea. They also had
Bakeapple tarts. I had one and couldn't identify the apple flavour so I asked what kind of apples they used. Well, it turns out Bakeapple is actually a type of berry that grows here. It's also called a cloud berry. Boy did I feel uneducated! The tarts are quite delicious. I was glad I got to try them. It's a real Labrador dish!

After they left I started watching some anime when Sandy knocked on the door and asked if I wanted to see some Labrador Husky puppies. How could I say no to that! We waded though the snow. At times it was up to my hip! I could hear the dogs well before I could see them. They were barking up a storm and howling. They looked like they would rip you right in two, but when you got close enough for them to touch you, they just licked you to death. It was cuteness overload - and then I saw the puppies. They were little balls of fur with adorable faces.

Labrador Huskies are a species at risk. The government ordered a cull on them when the snowmobile came in. There was also breeding with the Siberian husky and the Malamute. Now there are very few Labrador Huskies left. These puppies are pure bred though. I really hope the species survives.

After that we headed to the library. It's attached to the school and only open to the public in the evenings. It was really nice. I used their internet to contact home and let them know I was okay. I had only a very brief phone call on the motel land line to tell my family I had arrived safely. I met up with another student who had been at my presentation. Of course I had to show her my puppy pictures.

With contacting home out of the way I headed over to a town meeting. The people here are so accepting. They had no problem with me observing as the Metis council (most of the people here are metis, Innu, Inuit, or another aboriginal nation) as they discussed their on going negotiations with Parks Canada as they open their newest National Park right near here. The Metis (and other nations) are worried that their traditional way of life is going to be ruined or unable to continue. At the same time they do want part of the wilds preserved. It turns out that the Metis council has done a phenomenal job of working with the government to not only allow the Metis and aboriginal people to continue on with their berry picking, fishing, trapping, medicine finding, etc. And also find a way to take advantage of the increase in tourist traffic. I wish them all the luck in the world with all their new projects.
Now, it's almost midnight. I can smell the wood smoke in the air even in my motel room. It's a great smell. I can hear the people leaving the bar. They had a barbecue there tonight for one of the social groups. It's nice not to have to worry as people pass by. The crime rate here is almost non existent. I can hear seagulls and crows. This really is quite an amazing place.

During this journey I've been trying to figure out why people live in such a harsh and isolated place. One teacher summed it up nicely. He said he doesn't think of the place as isolated so much as insulated. The kids are kept safe from the pressures of the outside world. Everyone knows everyone else. They learn their culture. They make lasting friendships. And really, in a place where you're always going to run into the same people day in and day out, there's no point in staying angry.

I've decided that Labrador is the Jamaica of Canada. It's just so chill here.

Tomorrow I hit the road bright and early - looking out for moose and that one polar bear someone saw to day on the highway. I have a couple more days in Labrador before I fly back to my bustling city of Calgary. It's going to be different. I think Labrador has actually taught me to relax. It's the weirdest thing in the world.

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#TDBookWeek - Labrador Coast

5/7/2015

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After spending the night in L'Anse au Clair, I hopped into Sandy’s van and was zipped off to Dot’s Bakery and Coffee Shop for breakfast. I had a great breakfast sandwich and then bought some banana bread for the road (it was a good thing too as you will see later).

Our first official stop was in L'Anse au Loup (or Wolf Bay – so close to being a Doctor Who reference) at the Labrador Straits Academy. There I presented for the grade fives and sixes. We had a great deal of fun making up a historical drama about a Sheshatshiu woman who’s long hair can’t be cut due to a cursed flower she picked. It turned out that a sasquatch had created the curse to make her look more like him so that he could have a friend to play checkers with. After a bunch of misunderstandings and some magic (and poking dead people with a stick because that is evidently how one does first aid) the sasquatch was accepted by the tribe and shaved down so he could be more human. He even made a friend to play checkers with.

While I was at the school I got a tour of the whole thing. The school has all the grades from K-12. Not all the high school classes are available in the building so there is a remote learning room with computers. The music room was amazing, and all the kids were awesome. They also have a thing for sharks. AND I saw my first live iceberg. Actually I saw a whole bunch of them. They are very impressive in real life.

I didn’t have much time to stick around though, we had to rush to get to the next school in Red Bay called Basque Memorial School. This was also a K-12 school, but unlike Labrador Straights – Basque only had 17 students (and only one high schooler). Using all the students (not all 17 were in attendance) we made up a story about a dragon who liked to paint but was lacking inspiration and a poet who really didn’t want to provide the dragon with inspiration by being eaten. Although one human was sacrificed in the end, the story had a happy ending as the dragon started doing illustrations for the poet’s writing. Together they made thousands of dollars on the poems (this was a fantasy story after all).

Red Bay is an old whaling town. It still has some of the old whaling buildings. The Basque were the ones who settled the place. Red Bay is still home to fishermen, but they also take part in the tourist industry.

Then I had only minutes to hop back in the van to head off to St. Mary’s All Grade in Mary’s Harbour. We drove over lunch – and I was really glad I had some banana bread to munch on. We arrived with minutes to spare and I got to work setting up. As usual all the kids wanted to see Red Robin. He’s always the first thing they ask for. The kids were really interested in my books and had questions about them before we got started with the presentation.

All the kids in the school (except the lone kindergartener who only went to school in the morning) came into the gym. There were probably around 70 kids or so. We made up a story about a girl who was looking for a guy but was being plagued by her ex-boyfriend. After his many failed attempts to get her to marry him, the girl decided that she really didn’t need a man and went off to start a dancing Ski-doo show. (The girl with the camera only took video, so I don't have any pictures to share of this school).

These kids had obviously been looking at the website. They knew exactly what books they wanted and it didn’t matter to them that I was sold out of many of the titles. We just made an order list and I promised to sign and send them the books when I got home. They bought me out of the books I had left.

After that it was a quick stop for lunch and then we were off again headed down some incredibly potholed gravel roads on the way to Cartwright. We traveled over 400 kilometers and for over 6 hours in the day. I was instructed, as I was the passenger, that it was my duty to look out for moose. Running into one is a real danger out here. I kept my eyes peeled and was both hoping and terrified to see one. Things became particularly dodgy when the clock ticked past six PM. Evidently the most moose hits happen between six PM and two AM. Luckily we made it to Cartwright without an incident.

Cartwright is a small fishing village. We arrived with a cold north wind spreading the scent of wood smoke. Many people around here heat their homes with wood. They had some ice fishing huts on the bay. Our motel is right on the bay, which is really cool. Sadly the hotel burnt down a couple of years ago. It used to be the hub of the community and lots of the locals worked there. They told me it had the best food in town. Now, without it there is only the small motel and the bar to get supper at. They do have a grocery store but it was closed when we arrived. We had some supper at the bar but I’m really glad I have that banana bread now as the bar doesn’t open again until 4:00 PM tomorrow.

I’m really looking forward to visiting my last school, Henry Gordon Academy. I’m a little sad I won’t have any books to show them. I had to make a best guess when ordering books and I ordered too few. I am actually really excited to meet these kids. I met one of the moms at the bar and she was telling me that her son started an anime club. I guess there’s a bunch of kids who are right into anime and video games. I think we’ll get along famously.

Sadly though, I can’t get the internet to work (which is why this is late) and I can’t get any phone signal either. I’m going for a walk tomorrow, hopefully I’ll be able to pick up a signal somewhere and shoot a message home. I don’t want them to worry!

Here’s another silly Robin picture to hold you over until the next blog.

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#TDBookWeek Goose Bay Adventures

5/6/2015

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Today I visited Our Lady Queen of Peace middle school in Goose Bay. There were about 200 kids at each session. Of course the first thing the younger crew asked me was, “Did you bring your superhero?” Of course I had Red Robin with me and I brought him out for the kids to see. After the presentation they posed with him. I’m starting to wonder if he’s upstaging me!

As per usual we made up stories using Character goal, motive, and conflict and a simple narrative arc with randomized genre curtesy of the Wheel of Genre. The first group made up a story about a Martian who travels to the future to see if pies can fly and runs into a villain who wants to stop pies from flying due to a terrible pie related incident. After some zombie pie escapades the plot was resolved using some well-placed tacos.

The older kids created a story about two dirt bike racing princesses (both played by boys). They were both after the prize money, but the evil Purple Princess kept cheating by using sparkle glue, a cloud of sparkles, and glittering knives coming out of her motorcycle wheel. The Pink Princess was run right off a cliff but luckily landed on a trampoline. She was then stabbed in the heart with a unicorn horn. Luckily her road crew patched her up with duct tape and she won the race. Being the gracious princess that she is – she shared the money with the Purple Princess, so all was well.

After my presentations I went for a walk around Goose Bay. I went to a tourist gift shop and bought a few things for my family, then I found a wonderful little restaurant called Cozy Kitchen and had a traditional Labrador dish – Pan Fried Cod with Scrunchions. Scrunchions it turns out are fried bits of cured salt pork. They were nuggets of smoky saltiness sprinkled over the fish. I actually ended up liking them quite a bit but I think they need to be in the same category as Toutons, nice for a treat but not something you should eat every day. The waitress was super nice and even gave me dessert on the house. I really can’t get over how awesome Labradorians are.

After eating I wandered around a bit more then holed up in the Library. While my bag was stored at the Royal Inn (a great place to stay if you are ever in the area), I still had quite a few hours to kill before I needed to head to the airport. So I found a comfy couch and started reading an apocalyptic/dystopian book about a boy who is a pioneer on the ocean floor. I got half way through before I had to go. I might have to see if I can find the book when I get back to Calgary so I can finish reading it.

By the way, there is a lot of sand in Goose Bay. It’s not even near the ocean and there is beach like sand everywhere. People were telling me how they get blowing snow in the winter and blowing sand in the summer. I wonder how hard it is to grow a garden out here. I visited a cemetery along the way. It was a Catholic cemetery but it looked like something out of Mexico. Really cool.

Finally I headed back to the Inn to check my e-mails and get my stuff. The reporters who were supposed to interview me didn’t end up contacting me. So I was glad I didn’t miss them. I was kind of worried about that while I was on my walkabout. Finally I had a cab called and took the trip back over to the airport. My driver had only been living in Goose Bay for four years. He originally came from Newfoundland. He told me how he had briefly lived in Calgary (well Pridis) and said the life style was way too fast for him – so he went back home. It’s so true though. Everything here moves super slow. Everyone is really relaxed. Labrador is the Jamaica of Canada I think.

I finally caught my plane and flew from Labrador time (3 hours ahead of Calgary), to Quebec time zone (2 hours ahead of Calgary), to Western Labrador time zone which is the same as Newfoundland time zone (3.5 hours ahead of Calgary). My poor watch doesn’t know what time it is anymore!

It was dark when I arrived so I couldn’t really see the ocean. Sandy Chilcote, who is the person organizing the tour, met me at the airport. He took the fairy over. It was supposed to be an hour and a half ride but there was a lot of ice on the straight and the little ice breaker in front of the fairy got stuck. The fairy (which is 45 years old now) had to break the ice itself to free the ice breaker! In the end it took him 3 hours to get across the strait.

Tomorrow we’re driving a bunch and I’m doing presentations to three different schools. I can’t wait. I love hanging out with the kids. They are so amazing!

But now bed. I’m exhausted and all the clocks are liars.

PS: I almost forgot. At the airport in Goose Bay I found Pineapple Crush. So weird. I never knew such a thing existed. Of course I bought it. It tasted really good but it was basically pure sugar. The lady at the counter thought it might only be sold in Labrador.

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#TDBookWeek - Too much fun in Goose Bay.

5/5/2015

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I have a confession to make. I had way too much fun today and totally forgot to get pictures of the kids. I do have pictures to share with you - just not of the kids. It's too bad, because they were awesome.
This morning started out at the Sheshatshiu Inu School. This school is run by the Innu community and it's a really nice building. Liz Dawson, the wonderful lady who was driving me around, gave me a tour of the community before we went to the school. She's a librarian now but she used to be a nurse there back in the day. She's originally from Ontario, but moved to Labrador and fell in love with the place. She confessed to me that her first love was Labrador and her second was her husband. Sadly he's since passed on and she lives in the nice little house with her dog by the lake - but more on that later.
The Innu community is also on lake Melville. It's a rapidly growing community to keep up with the population growth. There were a lot of dogs roaming around and lots of garbage melting out of the snow. I have a feeling the dogs were probably responsible for the scattering of the garbage. Of course there's nothing anyone can do about that right now because most everything is still frozen. There were some nice log cabins and some more rustic looking homes, as well as some houses under construction.
We looked for seals on the lake ice (the lake itself is brackish) but we didn't see any. It turns out that the Innu don't really eat seal. It's mostly just the Labradorians who do. That was a bit of information I didn't expect.
The school itself looked like a museum. It was really beautiful on the inside (the outside is pretty spiffy too). When I arrived the high school students were in a suicide prevention seminar. I was a little worried about following that. My program is fun and active and I thought that would be the last thing these kids would want after the emotional roller coaster they were going through when I arrived. Luckily they had a half hour break while I ran a very shortened program (half hour instead of the usual one hour program) with the younger grades. I didn't bother reading from my book and just got into the meat of how to write a story and what goes into one. The kids were really shy. It took a bit to get them out of their shell. I did finally get them to open up though and we had some fun.
Then the high school students came back. They still looked haggard so I decided that story time might be in order and read from the second chapter of Stupid. The seemed to enjoy that. Then we talked about where stories could be found and I asked a couple of questions to make sure they understood. You could almost hear crickets chirping. Luckily there was one enthusiastic gamer guy who was more than happy to step up and answer the questions. He kind of broke the ice and soon a few more of them were talking. But again with the shortened program and the emotional state of the kids - it was a tough crowd.
Before I left the school gave me two books about Innu history, so I gave them two of my books that had aboriginal main characters. I was really happy when one of the teens picked up Hook Up to look at. It has a native kid on the cover - something you don't see too often. He didn't buy it, but now he can read it in his school library and that is an awesome thing.

I was packed up and out the door around noon and Liz, who lives nearby took me back to her place for a traditional Labradorian lunch. We had rainbow trout, squash, and salad. And, because it had been her son's birthday the day before, cake for dessert. She also had a drink her friend made out of low bush cranberries. It was amazingly good. Then we chatted over tea. It was really nice. She has a great dog who was super affectionate and kept giving me those puppy eyes as he tried to scam me out of my food. Her house is gorgeous and compact. She heats it with a wood stove, so the place smelled amazing when I went in. I can see why she love living here - right on the lake.
After lunch we zipped off for Lake Melville school. It's a K-12 with just over 100 students. The kids are super happy and really nice. I did my Action Scenes presentation with the grades 8-11 (I think). The kids were really attentive and right into the process. We talked about how any scene, but particularly action scenes can be broken down to acts like a mini version of a novel or story. We then acted out an action scene which took place during the cold war in Cuba. Sadly the heroes didn't win, but they did live to fight another day. We also talked about pacing and the rhythm of an action scene. The I answered some questions.
Because I was getting a ride back with one of the school board members I had half an hour to kill. The English teacher (who was obviously much loved by his students) picked up on my enthusiasm for teaching kids and suggested I hang out with the grade five students who were in the music room as the music teacher had no objections.
Of course I jumped at the chance. Instead of running a formal program with them, I decided to just lead them through some writing games I do with my RIO writing club kids. We played with the Wheel Of Genre twice. They were a little rusty on the first round but by the second time they really took to it. Then we made up a live action story which involved an apocalyptic world, a comedian, and zombies. Because the class was so small, everyone was able to get in on the action. They asked some questions at the end of the game and then I had to zip off with my ride. It was too bad, the kids were so awesome I wish I could have stayed all afternoon hanging out with them.

Tomorrow I visit Our Lady Queen of Peace School here in Goose Bay. I do two one hour sessions with them. Evidently a couple people also want to interview me, and then I'm off to the airport once more to fly out to Blanc Sablon in Quebec for the next leg of my trip.
The funniest thing about going to Blanc Sablon is it's in the Quebec time zone and I'm leaving from the Labrador time zone. So I leave at 8:15 and arrive at 8:05. I'll be a time traveler. Sweet, eh?
I want to thank Liz Dawson for her amazing hospitality and great driving skills (some of the potholes are huge). And I want to thank the lady who drove me back to Goose Bay. Sadly I suck with names so I don't remember hers, but hopefully she knows who she is.
It was rainy/snowy/cold today and I needed to do laundry so there was no wandering around Goose Bay sadly. Hopefully the weather improves tomorrow and I can get some exploring done. We will see.
Until tomorrow. . .

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#TDBookWeek - Travel and Adventures

5/4/2015

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I guess we'll start with a little back tracking. After a leisurely breakfast and packing yesterday I decided to venture outside into the sunshine and what I found was amazing!
Labrador City sparkles!
Seriously. There is so much iron ore dust covering everything that the ground, benches, sidewalks, and even the beach all sparkle. It's amazing. No wonder everyone is in a good mood around her. Who wouldn't when you live in a glittering city.
I had a few hours to kill before I was getting moved along to the airport, and since I was out of my room, I went for a wander down to the lake, then found a park to sit in and soak up the sun, and finally I went to Subway to get some food stuffs.
This last thing turned out to be a very bad idea.

The lake shore. It's not really obvious in the picture but it sparkled.

A small park where I got to watch some kids doing scooter tricks.

I was picked up by 2:30 and heading off for the airport. I felt great (sunshine will do that). My luggage went through okay thanks to the kids of Wabush and Labrador City buying so many books. I originally was worried I'd have to pay extra to haul such a heavy load. The kids took care of that for me.
So there I was sitting in the airport, playing my 3DS when I realize - I forgot to take travel medication. Crap! It was too late to put on the anti nausea patch. It would have kicked in after I had already landed. So I took two herbal Gravol pills and hoped for the best.

So as I took photos and videos of our take off and the scenery below, it became evident that the ginger Gravol just wasn't going to cut it. But I was holding it together pretty well until we started to land. Well, landing might not be the right word for it. It was more like falling out of the sky. The turbulence was crazy. It was like the plane was taking a set of giant stairs down from the sky. My stomach did not appreciate this method of landing at all. I closed my eyes. Willed my stomach to co-operate by keeping lunch in it. Beads of sweat started to form on my forehead. It was pure agony. I really didn't think I was going to make it. And when things were most horrible, we were on the ground.
I got up quickly grabbed my bag and headed for the door. Except they were having trouble mounting the stairs on the plane - so I had to wait, standing in the aisle, ready to hurl at a moment's notice.
Finally I got outside, but my stomach didn't really care by this point. I went into the terminal (which had the most adorable tiny luggage carousel).
My bags came right as Pam Harris and her husband came over to say hi. Then I was off in their truck to Churchill Falls - a ten minute drive away. Mr Harris told me all about the Churchill Falls hydro electric plant. It was really interesting. I wanted to tell him that, but I was afraid to open my mouth in case I barfed.
I learned that Churchill Falls is the 8th largest hydroelectric producer in the world. That if you put all the reservoirs together, they make an area the size of New Brunswick. He told me how they pump the water down a thousand foot shaft, where it hits the turbines. The water is then fed back into the river. (Sadly, due to my schedule I wasn't able to take a tour of the plant. That would have been cool to see).
He also told me that they were adding a new section soon and once that was complete, Churchill Falls will be the second largest Hydroelectric project second only to one in China. Mr. Harris is super enthusiastic about his work.
So we finally arrived at the building that makes up the town. The town itself is owned by Nalcor. Every building, even the church, school, daycare, library, post office, and grocery story is owned by the company. The houses all look about the same and are rented out to the employees of Nalcor for $60.00 a month, utilities included. The main part of the town is all contained in one building (I did get a tour of that and took lots of video for my documentary I'll make when I get back home). The hotel, library, school, swimming pool, curling rink, post office, gymnasium, restaurant, bar, and grocery store are all in this one building. This is a good thing because in the winter (all 7 months of it) the weather can get down to -55. Pam told me what they make up for in housing the lose out on in groceries. It costs a lot to ship anything out here, and groceries are no exception.
She also told me how once you retire from working for Nalcor, you have to leave the town. So even if you grew up there, got a job right out of high school (which a lot of kids do since the company is really keen on giving the kids jobs), you would still have to go to live someplace else once you were too old to work. The place also clears out in the summer as the employees get one month of holidays and they take the kids and go to stay with relatives on the island. The place evidently becomes a ghost town. Not that I blame them - the flies are so bad the kids have to play in netted outfits. This was why they were so eager to go outside while I was there. It's warm and there aren't any bugs yet.
Anyway, back to my tale. We went into the big building and headed straight for the library to meet Christina Young - the head librarian. I chatted and smiled and tried to hold it together, even though my stomach was churning. Finally we were off to the hotel (down the hall) to check in. Pam helped me to my door. I shuffled my bags in side, and once I was sure I was alone I raced for the toilet and got to see my lunch all over again. Then I lay down for a couple of hours. Finally I felt good enough to head over to the restaurant (down the stairs and to the right).
Dinner was great (ribs and mash potatoes, with veggies). My stomach still hated me so I didn't finish but I got the rest wrapped up for later and ate it somewhere around 11:00 at night.

The next morning my stomach was a tad better, but I had developed a headache. Still, after a good breakfast at the restaurant, I was eager to meet the kids. After all, I really LOVE teaching.
I had two groups. The first one was made of grade seven and a high school writing class. Because they were taught at a higher level, I decided to do my action scene class with them.
We had a blast creating an action packed scenario involving a girl from Jupiter, the last of her kind, having to battle an Italian evil villain. Jupiter girl wanted peace, the villain wanted the world! In the end justice prevailed, but it was pretty touch and go for a bit - especially when Jupiter girl was almost dissected by the villain as he attempted to use her DNA to create an army of Jupiter girls.
We talked about the ins and outs of writing a good action scene, such as how to very sentence lengths, how the scene is really like a regular story, just told on a smaller scale, and how one needs to be specific when describing the action (but with out slowing the pacing).
One of the kids from that group is working on her third novel. They have some really amazing teachers at this school and all the kids work on a pretty advanced level.
During the one hour break between sessions, Pam took me on a tour of the building. It was quite the maze. It's amazing how much you can pack into one building! I took mostly video but here are some pictures.

The second group of kids were from grades five and six. They were super enthusiastic. They especially liked the fact that I brought Red Robin with me and that I used the Pokemon theme song to explain character. Together we made up a story about a Martian princess who was being forced to marry Yoda. But she had no interest in marriage. After a few escape attempts and some fighting, Batman showed up to save her and offered to marry her instead. Of course she wasn't the least bit interested. In the end she won her independence, Yoda died of old age, and there was a military coup.
You know it's a good story when there's a military coup!

With my presentations done for the day, and flight coming up in the next few hours, I opted out of lunch. Pam invited me back to her place for a cup of tea. Then she took me on a tour of the area one could go to without being on a tour. Of course, to do this I still needed to be with an employee. It was good thing she was there because at our first stop security pulled up - they wanted to make sure we weren't terrorists! That's one of the benefits to living here, the security is really tight and it makes all the parents feel safe having their kids wander around. Mind you, they also have a ton of black bears, fox, and wolves who also wander around. Because of this, no one locks their doors. That way if there is a wild animal chasing you, you can go into any door you see.
Pam told me a funny story about a lady who lived in one of the apartment buildings. She was baking bread and someone had left the front door open. A bear decided to let itself in to get the bread. She screamed of course, which startled the bear who then leaped out the window. There are bear traps around the community though and, like I said, lots of security including the wildlife officers.

Pam finished up the tour with seconds to spare. I had to be at the airport for 3:20. I was really worried I wouldn't be allowed on because I arrived a touch late. It actually didn't end up mattering. I was the only person getting on at that stop and they were expecting me. It is such a small airport that instead of being called to go through security, they just waved to me.
Another cool thing. The lady at the counter, Shirley, wrote a little note on each of my tickets - "Have a great flight!" Churchill Falls is a really cool place.
I was still worried about flying because I was afraid of getting sick again. I had my motion sickness patch and I took some herbal Gravol, but still. I was worried - and my worry was making me nauseous. Not a good way to start.

It turned out I didn't need to worry. I didn't end up feeling sick at all and had a really nice flight to Wabush. From Wabush I took the same plane to Goose Bay. They even fed me on the flight with a great sandwich, chips, mini tomatoes, and potato salad. I was happy about this because not only was I getting hungry, but I wasn't sure where the nearest food places were to the Royal Inn. Since it was 5:00 by this time - I just considered it my supper.
I arrived a Goose Bay safe and sound. It is a much bigger airport. It has a restaurant in it, a tourist shop, and a few other things. The security guy called me a cab and I waited outside in the rain. But no cab came. Just when I was about to go inside and see if he could call again, one showed up on a whim. Lucky for me. I was getting kind of cold.

I arrived at the Royal Inn without an incident. The lady at the counter had evidently heard all about me. We chatted a bit about my books and Gilligan's Island. Sandy phoned to make sure I made it in okay. Then I got on the phone with my daughter to help her with her math lesson. It doesn't matter if I'm at the other end of the country - I'm still a mom.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I get to visit two schools and Liz Dawson (my handler) is even taking me to her house for a traditional Labradorian lunch! I can't wait!
I would like to send out a great big thanks to Christine Young and Pam Harris (and her husband). You made my visit to Churchill Falls so rich and amazing!
And now it's just about midnight. Time to hit the hay. I have a lot to do tomorrow. But I'll leave you with on last ridiculous picture for your entertainment.

Robin meets his biggest fan.

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#TDBookWeek On the Move Again

5/3/2015

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Issues mining towns have.

The sun came out today! It looks really nice. I'm just having a breakfast of soy milk and an orange while packing and listening to iTunes on shuffle.
I leave for Churchill Falls this afternoon by plane. Churchill Falls is the second largest hydroelectric generating plant in Canada. The entire main town is in one building - school, hotel, restaurant, post office, library - everything. And it's all owned by one company. It should be interesting to see.
Anyway - the adventure continues - off we go (well after breakfast, packing, and a lunchtime wander. Let's not rush things. It's still pretty early in the morning.
I want to send out a big thank you to Trudy Andrews and Kelly Roberts for shuffling me around to the schools and airport, Kelly Barney for printing and delivering my flight itinerary after I some how misplaced it. I really don't know how that happened. I never misplace things. AND a great big thank you to Sandy Chilcote who is organizing this whole Labrador tour. You guys are awesome!