I take it all back

Meeting up with old friends are great. Until you have to part with them again.. Today was one of those days, meeting up with 6 new friends that I haven’t seen for at least three to 17 months. Shock, would be the word I will use to describe my feelings. Meeting one friend at the bus station was enough of a sucker punch to the emotional equilibrium centre of my brain. When I saw Linds at the station, I couldn’t believe my eyes. There was so much going on in my head, that all I said, was ‘yep, yep yep’ (Like an effing parrot!)  I was so flabbergasted, I didn’t even hear what she was saying. All I remember was a hug, and trying to find words to say to her. So, what did I manage to do? I just smiled. So you could imagine, seeing the rest of the crew was just a gong show for my rice-grained cerebral cortex.

Meeting up with everyone was nothing short of a blast. Laughs were had, but its different now. The disconnect with friends was blatantly staring in my face. The inside jokes, popular songs, news, gossip, status on everyone’s lives, are no longer at the tip of my tongue. I cannot just carry on from where we left off (BUT, if you have a few friends whom you can still do that with ease, make sure you make an effort to keep in touch, those are friends are keepers). I often find myself questioning the origin of the inside joke (which…cmon, kills it for everyone). NEVER question an inside joke, or a past event in a group social situation. It is just poor social etiquette.

As the night was closing in, I felt a wave of sadness over me. On the bus ride home, it left me pondering, if this career path is worth this. Is it? If 3 months was hard, what is the next visit going to bring? At what point of playing catch-up with friends will it get old and tiresome? What will be the one constant that will be something to look forward to when I come back? How long is too long for a work term out in the bush? All these questions, made me realize, that face to face interactions with friends is the pinnacle of all human interactions. The notion of just ‘catching up’ with no other ulterior motive is so pure and golden, that it is sometimes deemed as wasting time. Think about it, someone else, is using their time in their lives with you, however brief it is, in which they could be doing something else. Sounds stupid and naive, yet it was the one thing that I took for granted when I was in the city. So to my friends, I thank you for allotting time specifically to catch up with me, and to the random strangers I walk past on the street, I thank you for sharing the sidewalk with me.

(I would post pictures, but they're not mine, and I haven't had the permission of my friends. But they're a good look'in bunch)

Missing Home?

As I sit in my living room, stuffed with home cooked food, slumped on the couch, watching the high definition TV, texting, having conversations about girls, etc, I realized something. I really did not miss this all that much. All this plush is so unnecessary, yet we dive, indulge and make ourselves numb to it. One of the things I learned living in FA was that, you do not need much to live a healthy and happy life. All I think you need is: healthy food, a roof, and good company. So ideally, it would mean living out in the bush in a nice cozy cabin on fertile land to grow food with a life buddy. Don’t get me wrong, I love all the technology and reading everyone’s mistakes from all over the world plastered on the paper. But, all the chatter, noise and distractions in the city, ignites a small desire to head back to FA..

Day 1: Flying Up

October 18^th 2010

Waking up at 0430 to check in at 0630 for an 0830 provincial flight is nothing out of the ordinary for the good’ol Michael Li. He has a bad sense of time, and often finds himself late, even though he thinks he has given himself ample time to do things. But this time, its different. He CANNOT be late for this flight because he is going to Moosonee!! .. Why am I talking in third person? Geez Louise.

Anyhow, the itinerary was to fly from Pearson to Timmins, then transfer to another to Moosonee. Stay at Moosonee for a couple of days to get paper work and orientation. So here I am with Michelle (my partner in crime/work), on the plane flying to Timmins, and all I could think about is, “what the heck are we going to do in Moosonee?” We were not given anyone’s name, or what we were going to do in that town, or where we would be staying for the night. We reach Timmins, and the supposedly 40 minute layover became 2 hours. But no matter, being the social butterfly, we made fast friends with a couple of graduate students from University of Waterloo. They happen to also do their graduate work at Fort Albany, so it worked out perfectly. They were not all stuck up as I thought all graduate students would be. The one girl runs marathon’s (Skoko, if you’re reading this, she ran the same one that you did too) and was on the varsity figure skating team. The other girl rides horses professionally and can cook. (She was in my good books right when she said that).

So finally, we get to Moosonee and was told that our checked baggage didn’t come on the plane with us. Perfect. Air Creebec, I give you thumbs down. We meet the director of patient care for the James Bay General Hospital and he made sure we were acquainted with the staff at the Admin. Office. After a briefing from the Occupational nurse, we got chauffeured to eat! Finally some food! All I have had was a bowl of cereal at 0500 and random tidbits that the air stewardess graced us with. We settled for the Sky Ranch Restaurant for food. There was only 3 in town to choose from and we were told it was best one. Was it ranchy? No. I don’t even know what Ranchy is. We were shortly joined with the Director of care, and for the ease of my typing, we will nickname him JM. This guy is a 40-ish Frenchman originally from Quebec, who speaks English with a heavy accent, but is effing hilarious with a contagious laugh.

The company for dinner was nothing but fantastic. JM and his wife; an NP at the local clinic told us about the tips and who’s who at Fort Albany etc. It is always nice to have such energetic and welcoming people when you are at an unfamiliar place. I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated down to earth people that much, until now. So, for all the down to earth friends I have, I appreciate you.

Onto this B&B at Moosonee. Holy Mother of Ginger Bread House! One would not expect much from a B&B when the roads are dirt roads with pot holes, and mud puddles everywhere. What did I expect? An equivalent of a downtown hamilton motel with a half-functioning light sign advertising its cheap room rates. What is this lodge like? An extremely cozy and modern house with really welcoming hosts. I don’t know what the nightly rates are like, but since I’m not paying for it, let me be blissful about this. This B&B boasts 5 rooms, excluding the room that the owners live in. Each room has paintings, nice wall painting, clean wooden floors, equipped with homely comfortable furniture and up to date technology. When I am referring to technology, I’m not talking about outlets at the walls… I am talking about cable flat screen TVs, high speed router etc. Most importantly, everything is clean. If you know me, and maybe it comes with the profession, a clean living space goes a long way for me. I don’t have to inspect areas before using it, which is a great change from student housing. OH, and there is a live fireplace in the living room, where the logs crackle and warms up the room like it should. It is such a relaxing and quiet atmosphere, that anyone who stays here, wouldn’t want to leave. I am just hoping that our living accommodations will not disappoint us in Fort Albany. Damn this B&B for setting such a high standard!

Flying over Sudbury (Hi Marianne!)

B&B Breakfast Area

B&B Fireplace Area

Typing Up Blog From The Warmth of Fireplace

Pearson to Timmins. Legit.

My B&B Room

Michelle's B&B Living Room

Moose River B&B

Michelle checking on her frozen meats

Sad over broken meat stick

Happy about the rest of the meat sticks

My lovely partner in crime to FA