Merry (Belated) Christmas!!

Hello, hello!

I hope everyone has been having a great Christmas holiday! Being my first Christmas away from home, it's been kind of strange, but all in all I'm enjoying myself.

The family I live with doesn't really make that big a deal over Christmas. They're not super close to their extended family and they don't believe in giving excessive amounts of presents so it's been pretty laid back. Marielle (the mother) worked all day the 24th and 25th, so we celebrated on Christmas Eve. We didn't have turkey, but it was definately a feast! It involved shrimp, smoked salmon, lots of cheese, soup, salad, lots of dessert... it was basically a neverending meal which they tell me was small compared to most families' Christmas dinner. After dinner, my parents called me so I got to talk to them, Tim and my Grandparents for a while which was really nice :-) Then we proceeded to the present opening where it seemed like I had more presents than anyone else! From home I got a very nice Canadian Olympic team sweater (no longer Roots?), some shower stuff, a Tim Horton's mug and hot chocolate, a couple of cd's and a stocking full of goodies :-) Then on top of that, Marie made me a very nice bead bracelet and a collage of pictures from in and around Les Gets to put on my wall and take home with me when I leave and the family got me a pair of gloves to wear around town (not ski gloves). It was fully enjoyable and I received WAY more than I ever thought I would being half way around the world.

Christmas day didn't feel like it at all. I got up in the morning and went skiing for an hour or so, but it was the worst conditions since I'd arrived so I didn't stay out for long. The rest of the day was spent lazing around. Then I had to try to stay awake until my parents called again. It was tough, but definately worth it when I got to talk to my whole family including aunts, uncles and of course many cousins :-) After that was when I really wished I was home not missing Christmas dinner, but it was nice to talk to everyone!

What else have I been up to? Lots of skiing... not really a whole lot... I pretty much have all my own ski gear now (although I haven't actually paid for my skis yet :-p) and it's great to be able to go skiing whenever I want even if it's just for an hour (I can basically ski in and out of my house without walking more than like 3 minutes). I'm still getting used to the trails closest to me and haven't gone too far away by myself yet (being too scared to get lost :-p) but sometime in the near future I'm going to take a picnic and see if I can get all the way to Avoriaz (2 towns over) and explore some. It's snowing a little now, so hopefully we'll get enough to cover up the bare spots that have started to appear (since it hasn't snowed in a week and a half... poor me, we ONLY have a meter of snow :-p).

Other than that not much has happened... starting to feel more and more at home in the house here and getting to know the rhythm of how everything works. I've finally splurged and bought a cd/mp3 discman so that I can listen to all the music I got off the Pig computers and the cd's that Tim gave me for Christmas :-)

I think that's it! Again, I hope everyone's having a great break from whatever they've been up to! Have fun on New Year's Eve, I think I'll just be babysitting.

Talk to you soon!
Kaila

Skiing!!!!

Hello there!

So the season has began, and after only 3 days it seems to already be in the full swing of things. Saturday morning we were all up bright and early to head out skiing! It was me, Annaelle (16) and Manu (9) and the skiing was incredible! As a gift to me for coming for the season, the Alps decided to give me a snowstorm to begin the season :-) It started snowing Friday morning and didn't stop until Saturday night, giving us about a foot in total. It was beautiful with perfectly groomed trails in some areas and nice soft powder in others :-) For tourists here, they rent the condos by the week starting on Saturday, so apparently Saturday is the best day to ski because everyone is either arriving or departing and henceforth not skiing, so to top it all off we had the place practically to ourselves :-)

The hill here is arranged completely differently than any hill I've ever been on in North America (which is a lot) because we're surrounded by mountains so there are lifts in pretty much any direction you look in, but also unlike hills at home, each lift doesn't really serve that many trails. So although I have yet to explore the whole area, I wouldn't really say there are more trails than hills that I've been to like Whistler, but it's still incredible and I'm looking forward to a great season!

Saturday afternoon we met up with the girls' older cousin and a couple of his friends and did a bit of skiing with them. Sunday morning I took care of Manu at the house, so didn't get to go skiing, but in the afternoon went skiing with Manu (her father went to a skating competition with Marie for the weekend, so I've been helping to take care of her). Sunday night the fourth and final girl, Manon (18), arrived home for Christmas. I haven't had a lot of time to talk to her but, like the rest of the family, she seems very friendly :-)

This morning was my second day of work where I'm helping a woman, Annie, with cleaning and ironing because she's sick and can't use much of her left side, but this afternoon I once again got to go skiing with the girls, their cousin and a bunch of their friends. It's nice to have some people around, but in such a big group we seem to do entirely too much waiting and discussing and not enough skiing. I'm very much looking forward to having a full day to ski on my own to explore and get lots of miles in.

However, I do not think that is going to happen any time soon because I'm starting to get lots of work! I haven't even left my name anywhere that I want to do babysitting and already I'm getting lots of calls. Tomorrow morning I'm going to take care of a 3 and a half month old baby (I only really said yes because I think babies are so cute!), Wednesday I'm babysitting all day and then Thursday morning I work again for Annie and then Friday I'm babysitting again either all day or just the morning. So there is apparently lots of babysitting to be done and lots of money to be made! I may start saying no to the day jobs though because I'm not really in desperate need of the money and would rather spend my time skiing.

To make a long story short (again I think) the skiing's great, I've been skiing a few times but not enough to satisfy me yet :-P and there's lots of work to be done.

That about sums it up! Talk to you soon!`
Kaila

LES GETS

Hello, hello!!!

So here I am in, finally in the Alps :-) I arrived on Sunday, where I was picked up by Alain (the father and only male in the family) and Annaelle (16 year old) in Geneva and brought to Les Gets, which I will be calling home for the next 3 months or so. I'm very, very excited and will try to explain what it's like here :-)

I live with a which consists of the 2 aforementioned members, Marielle (mother), Marie (13) and Manon (18 and away at school... who I have yet to meet) They are all super friendly and making my adjustment as easy as possible :-) They are some of the most generous people I have ever met, pretty much making me another member of the family. I don't have any set responsibilities except to be a productive member of the family. I will be helping out with the housework and the kids as much as possible, but considering they are giving me a plce to live and my food, that is not at all a lot to ask. The day I got here, they were already taking me around town, showing me where everything is, trying to find me ski gear and also jobs!! It's awesome. The biggest adjustment for me is probably the food. They eat a LOT differently than I'm used to, so it will take a bit, but I'm trying my hardest. I'm even eating onions (which they seem to like a lot), which says a lot!!

Speaking french is coming along. I think this is probably the best thing I could have done for my french. I'm no where near perfect, but being surrounded by it and having people around that will correct me and help me is great. I can't believe how much I've forgotten in the 5 years since high school!!

The ski season hasn't technically started yet, but I can't wait! The hill was open on Sunday when I arrived and then closed for the week. However, the season REALLY starts on Saturday (when Christmas vacation starts here), so it's not long now!!!!! My parents are sending me most of my ski gear except skis and boots, but they won't be here by Saturday, so Marielle is going to lend me her stuff since she has to work :-) I already bought a pair of boots for 35 euros (about 60 dollars) used from a coworker of Marielle, so now it's just a matter of finding some skis and I'm set to go!! SO exciting!!!

I'm getting my pass tomorrow, which is good for Les Gets, Morzine and Avoriaz. I don't know how much that is, but from the trail maps I've seen it looks like a lot! The area I'm in is called Portes du Soleil and consists of something like 14 villlages (some bigger than others) all connected by chairlifts and gondolas and such and that goes into Switzerland too. I'm not getting a pass for the whole thing because it's twice the price and I probably couldn't make it into Switzerland often enough to make it worth my money, but I'm thinking of taking a little trip at some point there, getting day passes and hopefully staying the night somewhere.

I already have a job working 2 or 3 mornings a week for a woman who has lost the use of her left arm and needs help with housework and ironing and such. I started this morning and I think it's going to work out great!! (the fact that I'm paid about twice as much as I was in Holland helps too :-p) Other than that I think I'm just going to be leaving my name in hotels around town to do some babysitting, which I'm looking forward to :-) All in all, with having a place to live, a fairly cheap ski pass (compared to what I thought I was goign to be paying) and getting these odds and ends of jobs, I'm doing way better for money than I thought I would be, so I'm feeling a little rich at the moment! I may splurge and buy myself some new ski wear because I've seen some very nice stuff here and even though we're in a resort, a lot of it is cheaper (and nicer) than what I can find in Nova Scotia. But I don't know, that may not happen.

Anyways, to summarize this long post, I'm extremely happy, things are working out perfectly, and I can't wait to get skiing!!! The only other thing I would like now is to meet some people my age. Hopefully that will come along with the ski season, and when I become more comfortable here.

Hope all is well in wherever everyone is. Christmas isn't very big in this family, but I'm very much looking forward to it anyways (plus I have a little pile of presents waiting for me :-) I'll post again after I've been skiing some to let everyone know what it's like (and hopefully make them more jealous than they already are :-p)

Talk to you soon!
Kaila

P.S. Some may remember me saying that just being in the mountains makes me happy this summer when Tim and I went to Chamonix. Well, let me tell you, that happiness increases tenfold when the mountains are covered in snow!! I'll try to get some pictures to post soon, because it's beautiful :-)

Spain!

So my trip through Spain (or more precisely Andalucia) is almost over and it´s been incredible! Granada was awesome. We spent a day at the Alhambra which was super cool, I got to go out with a friend from the Pig and experience Granada´s nightlife (which Dad will corroborate goes late into the night... I went home at 4am, but I was ´leaving early´according to the people I was with). Then we spent a day exploring the city, including the old part of town and the archeological museum. On our final day in Granada, we took a day trip to Monachil into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains and got to take a hike up the hill and see some amazing sites and have a nice meal (not that either of those things are rare on this trip).

From Granada we headed further into the mountains to a little town called Capileira and stayed in a very nice hotel overlooking the town. We only spent one night there, but it was very nice, and I´m definately at peace in the mountains. I can´t believe I´m goign to be living in them ALL winter!

After being in Granada and the mountains, we needed to warm up so we headed to the coast We spent a night in Orgiva on the way through to Salobreña whch is a beach town which we pretty much had to ourselves since it´s ´winter´ right now. Let me tell you about their ´winter´. They seem to think it´s cold, but on the coast it gets up to about 25 degrees during the day and only goes down to like 15 at night, MAYBE 10. I know everyone in Canada is jealous :-P We spent a couple days in Salobreña enjoying the weather and the beach (while I didn´t go swimming, it was definately as warm or warmer than some Nova Scotia beaches in the summer).

The next stop was Málaga, which Mom and Dad had already been to, but I hadn´t. It was nice, but it turned out our only full day there was a national holiday so almost everythign was closed :-P But we still enjoyed ourselves wandering around the city. They have all their Christmas decorations up, which is beautiful. At night, all the main street are lined with all sorts of lights and pointsettias and tons of people. The weather doesn´t exactly make it feel like Christmas, but Málaga certainly did!

Today, we´re spending my final day in a small town called Antequera. This morning we took a taxi out to El Torcal national park with cool rock formations (if you know Dad, you´ll understand why we went :-P) and gorgeous views of what seemed like all of Andalucia. Our taxi driver, Paco, was one of the highlights of the trip! Despite not really speaking english, he was very excited to be taking us on this trip, pointing out interesting things and stopping at nice views for us to take pictures. This afternoon we had a nice walk around the town and an awesome meal in a small restaurant. I notice that that people in the small town are so much friendlier than in the big cities! Even though none of them really speak english they are all very eager to help any way they can. A quick question to the hotel receptionist leads to a 10 minute explanation about all the nice parts of town :-)

So tomorrow I head out, flying to London for a night. I´ve decided I want to go to a movie, but I haven´t decided whether to see Harry Potter, Narnia or Rent (I know, I´m a huge nerd, but I don´t care). Then on Sunday I´m flying to Geneva and heading to Les Gets where the next (and pretty much last) leg of my trip begins. An extremely nice family (friends of Laura and Chris) have offered to take me in, are picking me up at the airport and have even been looking for a job for me! The mother, Marielle found me a job at a restaurant, but unfortunately I can´t get a visa, so that´s not going to work out. Hopefully I can find enough odds and ends of stuff (probably mostly babysitting) to not go TOO broke this winter. But most important of course is that shortly, I will be in the Alps and will get to start skiing!!!!! I can´t wait!!!!!

Anyways, I guess that´s all for now :-) I hope you´ve enjoyed my update and will comment, because I love hearing from everyone!

Merry Christmas if I don´t talk to you!!!
Kaila

Granada, Part 1

Hi!

I don´t want to spend too much time on the internet today, but I´m a little more alive than I was yesterday, so I thought I´d do a better job. I found my hotel without too much trouble (except for the fact that I had wandered to the complete opposite side of town finding the internet place), but apparently Mom and Dad were late too. So I had an (unintentional) nap until they got here and we had dinner at a nice place near our hotel. We´re right in the center of the old part of town and it´s gorgeous!

This morning we got up early and made our way to La Alhambra. It´s a palace and fortress that ranges from the Muslim era (before 1492) and then later when the catholics took over (Granada was the last city to be conquered by Ferdinand and Isabella). The most incredible part was the palace that just had unbelievable detail and ornamentation wherever you looked, but it was all pretty cool. And I loved that it´s winter, so there are very few tourists around (although there were a few groups of school kids).

It´s cold here, but nothing like Holland (and I´m sure Canada as well). Now that it´s well into the day, it´s actually quite nice out!

I don´t really know what we´re doing the rest of the day... I´m letting Dad do most of the tour guiding. Also, at some point my parents might get some pictures posted to their blog, so if you want to check that out it´s www.justallanstreet.blogspot.com.

I´ll leave you with a couple pictures from my last few days at the pig.

A group picture on Mike and Eoghan´s (pronounced Owen) last night. L to R: Mike, Me, Renzo, Eoghan, Chris and Alex

Me and Ez playing with the music

Renzo, Chris and Me on my last night.

Me with the Flying Pig that Tim donated :-)A gogeous sunset that I didn´t actually see, but wish I did!


Me, Katie and Jasmijn on Katie´s last night