Our vacation to Canada!

This post is long overdue, but we had a great time in Alberta and British Columbia during our month vacation.  I obviously didn't want to take time away from friends and family to post a blog!  And there was so much to do and so many people to see.  We've been back in Zambia for 2 weeks again and the adjustment has been fairly smooth.  The kids needed more attention (most likely because they've had non-stop entertainment from the grandparents and other friends!) I barely blinked at the ants in my kettle and the spiders on the wall.

The flights went smoothly and I appreciate that my kids are 2 years older this time around!  The jet lag wasn't too bad on our arrival to Canada, probably because we actually slept on the plane for a bit.  We flew into Calgary on July 5th and stayed with my parents. 

Reading time in Johannesburg. We
visited a new bookstore while we waited.
We had to pick up our  4 pieces of luggage
and recheck them but we couldn't until 3
hours before our flight!

Nap time in the Johannesburg airport.
We had about an 8 hour stop over

Malachi got to move from a car seat to a
booster seat!

The first week was intentionally left unplanned for the most part. I realized it was going to be our most relaxing week so I got started (and mostly finished) the long shopping list of items I wanted to bring back with us (chocolate chips, new clothes and shoes for the kids, new shoes for myself and Andrew, Kraft Dinner mac & cheese, lotions and toiletries that are better quality than we can find in Zambia e.g. not roll on deodorant). We went to the lake (Sylvan Lake) on the first Saturday we were back and enjoyed some time with friends. The kids enjoyed the lake too!  Malachi asked (at least 4 times while we were going) "Are there crocodiles in the lake?"  Smart kid!  It's good to think about that for sure (if you live in Africa!) 

The second week started slow as well but quickly became busy as my brother, Michael, and Emily's wedding approached (and the main reason we were able to have a vacation in Canada!) The wedding was on July 18th and there were other guests who also stayed with my parents.  The Thursday night before the wedding was a busy one at my parents acreage!  They had a hot dog roast and there were tons of people who came out for that as well as many people camping on the acreage at this point!  I loved having all the people around!

The Friday before the wedding we packed up and headed out to Banff, AB where the wedding was going to take place.  I mostly saw the inside of our hotel room and the venue where the wedding was, but the scenery around us was spectacular and refreshing to my soul (coming from Zambia which is pretty flat and it was dry season so it was pretty brown too!)

In the Banff hotel room

The wedding was beautiful. (My little brother, my only brother!, got married!)  It was great!  Welcome to the family Emily!  (My kids have easily switched to "Aunt Emily"!)

For those interested there are some pictures (by Ben Harke) here: https://www.facebook.com/ben.harke/media_set?set=a.10203589144363871&type=3&pnref=story

We left Banff on Sunday and at supper the MCC Nigeria reunion started!  This is a group of family friends who were all in Nigeria (back in 1990-1993 ish)!  This group is my third family (After mine and Andrew's).  As a group we try to get together every couple of years, lately it's been around weddings.  We've added on a few spouses and kids as time passes and it was fantastic to see Kate and Malachi playing with my best friend (from Grade 6!)'s children.  Kate had so much fun playing with her friend that week! Malachi would go off into the toy room by himself and get some introvert time every now and then!

On the Thursday (most of the MCC Nigeria group had left or were leaving), we drove the 12 hour trip from Didsbury, AB to Chilliwack, B.C.  The kids did well though it did end up taking 13 hours because every time we stopped we took a long stop!  We pulled into Andrew's parents place and let the kids stay up way past bed time to play with the grandparents.

The week in B.C. was our last week in Canada and the busiest!  Friday we hung around with the grandparents at the house (as it was raining and cool).  I was starting to get sick so I had a long nap!  On Saturday we saw many of Andrew's extended family, with a bit of extra time with Andrew's brother and sister-in-law and their 2 kids (who are the same ages as our kids).  After the party ended I drove out to Abbotsford, picking up a good friend along the way.  In Abbotsford we met up with some ladies from my Bible study group (there were 7 of us total) and we went out for dinner in White Rock. It was great.  It also included a walk along the boardwalk. (In the dim light on the way back I saw a large piece of kelp sitting on the grass near the path and my initial thought was a snake!)  It was a great evening.  The friend I carpooled to Abbotsford with, Kayla, and I wanted the evening to go longer - so we went out to Tim Hortons and continued talking in her driveway when I dropped her off!

On Sunday we had another busy and awesome day.  We attended church (my voice was all but gone at this point and, of course, they wanted an update!) Had lunch at McDonald's with the kids and then went to a friends place and met up with another large group of awesome friends!  (We were going to go to Harrison Lake but once again the weather was a bit cold and rainy - though it started to clear up that day!)  It was great seeing everyone and seeing everyone's kids looking older!  And a brand new baby too!

The rest of the week we packed in visits with friends, play dates, an indoor playground, coffee dates, a swimming pool party and BBQ with more church and Bible study friends and families, a dinner and movie date for Andrew and I, a visit to the new MCC complex in Abbotsford, and a couple other stores (like the teacher store so I could get a few last minute items for bringing back with us).  

Driving back from B.C. to Alberta.  Photo credit: Kate!

We drove back to Alberta again the following Thursday, leaving Friday to pack up and weigh our bags (and 4 boxes of books donated by the Sardis Elementary School).  On Saturday we went to the airport early so we could spend some time with Michael and Emily who arrived back from their honeymoon (East Coast of Canada) a few hours before we had to check in and depart!

The plane ride back was harder for us.  It was an overnight flight, but earlier for us so we weren't as tired right away.  It was daylight the entire flight (as we were flying over the north pole). Kate finally slept a bit the last hour.  We ended up getting a day room in a hotel in Frankfurt.  Kate and I slept and Andrew and Malachi went out and explored a lake and picked some blackberries before coming back for a nap.  We had 12 hours in Frankfurt, Germany.  Our flight to Johannesburg also went smoothly and we had a shorter stop over.  It was great to finally touch down in Lusaka!  All of our bags even made it! We spent 2 nights in Lusaka so we had one day to get some supplies and then we headed off to Choma.

A couple of observations on reverse culture shock in case you were wondering:

Many of the same things I observed in our vacation to South Africa apply: http://offeringupmylife.blogspot.com/2014/12/differences-between-south-africa-and.html   (see below for those or click on the link).

As well as the observations from our trip to South Africa (ex: no mosquito net! Heated pools!) here are a few things that struck me this trip to Canada:

-I saw some cows by the side of the road and exclaimed to myself "all those cows are pregnant" and then I started seeing calves next to them and realizing calving season was pretty much over…. to the conclusion that the cows are just really FAT in Canada!

-the plentiful amount of easy snack choices (both for the kids, myself and even Andrew who can't eat a lot of sugar and wheat and dairy!)

-the plentiful amount of good public bathrooms. I went into the one in White Rock (I had too much coffee because I was cold!) I remembered it as not so great and I usually avoided it - but I knew it would be awesome compared to what I find (if I find one) in Zambia!  The fact that it had a toilet seat is a huge plus.  And toilet paper.

-Water pressure. I remember complaining about how long it took to wash my hair in my mom's lovely "rain" shower. That thing has so much more water pressure than I have here!  

-Electricity! It was on the whole time we were in Canada without a blink.  A whole month!  (We are having 5 hour power outages every day here to help load share.  At least Choma is better than Lusaka which is experiencing 8 hours a day of outages).

-I didn't even notice the smooth roads until we hit a small bump on a country road.  Oh yeah! Big difference! Transitioning to driving on the right side again wasn't too hard because everything is so well marked and laid out.

-A store I shopped in asked me at the till if I wanted to donate money to a cause and I easily replied, "not today." It wasn't until after a discussion about this with my family that I realized I usually felt guilty for this type of a response!  I get so many requests for money and other items that it just rolled off my tongue.

-Church. There really are no words for the differences.  You just have to come visit an African church yourself if you want insight into this one.

-I got a small pebble in my shoe on a walk and had to stop to take it out.  When I got back I took about 5 steps and my shoes were full of sand and I didn't bother to stop since I knew I'd get more in 5 more steps if I did.

-I had to renew my drivers license (and update my library card so I could keep checking out ebooks this upcoming year). I did this the first day we were in B.C. because I would, of course, have to do 5 more follow up visits before it would be "done done."  I was a bit surprised I completed both of these tasks in a hour and no follow up was required!  (Same with changing my pin number on my VISA card - the one I had forgotten in South Africa because I hadn't used it!)

-the choices in the store!  And the fact that I could get everything in one store (without repeat visits!)  If I walked out of the store without an item on my list it was because I had gotten overwhelmed, tired or hungry or I had forgotten!  Not because they didn't have it! Don't worry - there was always a McDonald's, Tim Hortons, or SOMETHING nearby!

-Tim Hortons managed to have so many "new" items on the menu that I didn't even get through half of them in the month!  (Salted Caramel Tim Bits! Reece Donuts! Oreo Donuts! Nutella pastries! Dark Roast Coffee!)

-Activities. Things to do in the evenings (it was safe to go out after dark - though it didn't get dark until after 10pm!) And things to do in the day.  Playgrounds, swimming pools, walking trails, movies, live plays, etc.

It was great seeing you again Canada. See you again next year.  (Which will be much more stressful as we try to actually resettle and not just visit!)

Here's the list from the South Africa Post:

-no mosquito net to tuck in Every Single Night  (That goes for making sure the kids are tucked into theirs too!

-I can wear pants (trousers) or even shorts and a tank top and it’s okay with everyone around me.  

-no skirts (that ties in with the above!)  This one is bothering me the most these days: and I suspect it’s why I never wear a dress or skirt in Canada except when “forced” aka: wedding dress / bridesmaid dress!

-I’m really not as fat as I was thinking I was.  I just realized today that I’m just around a LOT of skinny people (like unhealthy, probably malnourished / on the verge of starving people in Choma). Here I feel at least average.  Same with my kids.  They don’t tower over everyone else and they don’t have to buy clothing 2 sizes bigger than usual.

-McDonald’s - McFlurries and the cheap toys that came with the happy meal = better quality that any toys I find in Choma,

-cheap and good seafood (calamari and mussels), choices of restaurants, a grocery store that I walk around in with bugged out eyes at the selection (I chose: pita bread, salami, strawberries, and peeled baby carrots - all things I can’t get in Choma and maybe not even in Zambia)!  Milkshakes, slushies, a latte that doesn’t come in a cappuccino cup!

-I can be a tourist.  I try in Livingstone when we visit Victoria Falls, but I’m still in Zambia and I’m more aware of the culture no matter if I can pretend to be a tourist, so whether true or not I feel that the Zambian staff and people on the street are maybe thinking about me, my wealth, my capris and (nope - rarely still do I feel comfortable with a tank top on!)

-no one has asked me (begged) for money, talk time, food, or anything since I’ve arrived!

-I couldn’t sleep the night before we left Lusaka - it was too hot to sleep.  Now I’m curled under a thick comforter and all snuggled in and sleeping until whenever the kids will let me. Not being woken up because it’s too hot to stay in bed any longer! (Usually 8am is the most I manage these months in Zambia.  Hopefully the rains have arrived more while we were gone and things can cool down a bit).

-No bugs!  (Well, I think I’ve seen one in the room and a bunch of bees buzzing around a bush at Table Mountain).

-Drinkable water from the tap!  No extra bottles to mess around with when we brush our teeth either.  I even put my razor in my mouth in the shower again!  (I forgot I used to do that)

-I didn’t have to go looking for an item at 5 different stores to finally go home without what I went out for. We went shopping at a toy store and got great toys for the kids.  Also a book store for me.  It was heaven!  I probably spent too much, but when will I get my next chance?!  Also - I tried to buy a pair of boots for Malachi and didn’t have enough cash and I ran my Visa through and “oh no” forgot my pin number.  Like - I have NO clue what even the first number is!  I haven’t used it for over a year (a bit online)!  Gulp.  That’s going to be fun to figure out!

-an ocean!  I miss the ocean.  A lot.  It’s nice to see it (though I must admit I’m too cold to swim in it! It’s been a balmy 25C in the daytime)!  Hopefully it will be warmer in Durban (Indian Ocean).

-Heated swimming pools!  Do you have any idea how cold a pool is when it’s not heated?  Even if it’s 35C (95F) outside?!  Freezing!

-New shoes!  I bought new sandals, flip flops, Kate got new sandals, Malachi got new boots.  Kate’s happened to break while we were in the Lusaka airport.  We did find some very uncomfortable beaded flip flops for $30US, she was a trooper and managed until we got here - I had extra shoes packed.  She got some nice comfortable walking sandals (Crocs) for the same price or less.

-4 lane highways with signs!  It’s been a pleasure driving around here (okay - I’ve been navigating and Andrew’s driving the rental car). We’re used to driving on the left, but the nice divided highways and much fewer crazy drivers passing on 2 lanes has been really nice too.  The “robots” (traffic lights) haven’t fazed us much since they are clear and well marked coming up to them.  And the stop and start traffic - no worse than Lusaka.

-Internet!  Free internet with the room!  :)  I can go on whenever I want and I’m able to keep up with the massive amounts of photos I’ve been taking!