Ok, so after my last ranty post about snow, it’s been more or less melting!! We had another snowstorm this past weekend but otherwise it’s been disappearing pretty quickly. So nice. I’ve actually seen a few blades of grass that don’t look completely dead, maybe spring is coming after all.
We also hosted a kinball tournament this weekend. Four katimavik groups showed up, as well as a bunch of people from the community, and it was a good time. For those of you not familiar with kinball, this is sort of what it looks like:

The goal is to keep the ball from touching the ground. So three people have to crouch down and hold it, while the fourth person yells “omnikin” followed by the colour of another team (eg, omnikin rouge). Then the red team has to catch the ball.. and repeat the process. You gain points when you serve the ball and the team called doesn’t catch it. It’s actually a lot of fun, though I am still sore & covered in bruises. But, my team won the tournament, so it’s okay ; )
Josh and I were house manager this week, and we made a gigantic brunch beforehand for us & the Baie St-Paul group, who slept over:

It is rare to have a meal like that in Katimavik.. crepes, tons of fruit, bacon, eggs. Vegan sausage and crepes too, of course. It was also a lot of work to make something like that for 20 people but totally worth it.
This is a terrible picture and I will probably regret posting this in the future but, I still think it’s funny, and very “katimavik” so… this is what I look like, making bread at 7:30 in the morning:

Note the one piece pjs, the coffee that clearly hadn’t been touched yet, my squinty eyes and the unimpressed look, despite the fact I am smiling. But I have bread.
Since this post is all over the place already, I might as well keep going. Every week we have some sort of theme dinner.. I am not sure exactly what is going on in this picture, though, other than togas. Flowery togas.

also, the Chute Montmorency.. brilliantly, I forgot my camera in the van when we went up, so this is as good a picture as I got, but it was fairly impressive. Taller than Niagara Falls, apparently.

Yep, those little black specks at the bottom are people. We went over that bridge, too, which was terrifying, because the bridge was swaying but did not seem to be the type that’s SUPPOSED to be swinging..
And to finish things off here, if there is one thing I miss (that is not a person) it’s my bike. I am practically drooling when I see other people biking around town here… I think I need to find a garage-sale bike, or something, because I am aching to get out there & our house bike (which spent the winter in a snowbank under our stairs) looks like this..

Big ol’ pile of rust. Not something I would trust if I were to bike to work, for example, which requires going on the highway. Any better ideas?

6 comments
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April 16, 2008 at 1:58 am
Jason
lol @ your pic
April 16, 2008 at 2:09 am
katimakat
which one?
April 18, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Sierra
Wow! I love your blog!
I’m in Katimavik, on the home stretch, and had placements sort of close to yours (Vermillion AB, Smiths Falls ON, Cheticamp NS), and I’m from the Winnipeg-area. I was actually attempting to find the Winnipeg Katimavik House, when I ended up here.
It’s nice to see someone elses bizarre adventures.
-Sierra
April 18, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Sierra
P.S.
I had my bike shipped to me, because I quickly learned that every single Katimavik bike is actually just a pile of rust formed into the shape of a bike.
One of ours in Alberta had no brakes, and a tire that was more square than round. Picture a twenty year old guy being unpleasantly violated as he attempts to peddle to the grocery store. The ‘bump’ that the tire shape generated was more or less a ‘hump’.
-Sierra
April 18, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Aisling
Hey there Kat!! I think your blog is fantastic! I kept a blog throughout Katimavik as well, and it is such a valuable way to look back on everything. I miss it so much!! My brother is currently doing Katimavik as well. He is in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec at the moment.
I remember visiting the chutes!! My last rotation was in La Pocatiere, which is 2hrs East of Quebec. We were there in the summer though. It was crazy!
Anyway, just thought I would say hi! Also, I’ve started a new project. It’s called Katimapedia. You can see it at http://aisling-b.net/katima. Essentially, it is a Wikipedia-type-thing, but for Katimavik! I would love love love it if you could find time to add stuff to it!! Ask your group members, PL, etc. too, if you want!
April 20, 2008 at 12:00 am
katimakat
hey sierra – that’s cool, a friend of mine from winnipeg did the same rotation! I would assume in a different group though, I’ve never met a group with more than one manitoban.
and I thought about having my bike sent here, but I can’t really afford to fly it every time we move (I already have two pieces of luggage). this is actually the first house we’ve been in that had a bike at all.
sure do miss mine like crazy though…