The present moment, the past ten months, and the future two

It's a quiet Saturday morning. I'm on the couch in the living room, listening to the rain fall lightly outside, relishing in the peace and slowness of this early hour. I meant to sleep in, because I could, finally, but Peter woke me up at 7:30 and I couldn't fall back asleep. I don't mind though. I've already organized a box of junk in my room, done some spiritual reading and prayer, and I'm on my second cup of coffee. It's been ages since I've had a Saturday morning like this with no immediate, pressing activities. Sure, my former roommate is getting married today, but that's not until 2:30 and it's a 20 minute bus ride away. I've got hours to relax and take my time getting ready. This is a good day.

Graduation day was on Thursday. The students are done for the year, my coworkers have left the city for various activities, and I've got four official days left of my LTO position (Long-Term Occasional) covering for the extended leave of the Math, English, Science and Literacy teacher. It's hard to believe an entire school year has gone by. I've now been at this school for over a year (school year, not calendar), working in an environment where I am the minority, as one of two non-Native people, covering subjects for which I am not qualified and sometimes felt way over my head. This year was not without challenges, but it's safe to say it was a really good year. I think of all the good times, camping and canoe trips, field trips to the sugar bush and biking downtown, running the breakfast program, and even teaching some art earlier this semester. I've learned so much from my students and coworkers about Aboriginal people and life in general. I've grown not only as a teacher, but as a person.

I have no idea what September holds for me job-wise, but I am ever thankful for these past ten months and beyond. I don't always understand how I ended up teaching beyond my subject expertise and with people whose cultural backgrounds are so different than mine, but I can only trust that God had a hand in all of it, that this was where I was supposed to be, that somehow it was more purposeful than to provide a paycheck and something to do with myself each day.

In less than a week I'm headed west to Saskatchewan to meet my boyfriend's family. His friend is driving us to Saskatoon, because conveniently, he is working at a camp out there this summer. For two weeks Jesse and I will be hanging out with his parents, sisters, niece and nephew. We might even make a trip up to northern BC to drive his sister home.

From Saskatchewan we plan to Greyhound over to White Dog where we'll be volunteering for a few weeks. I look forward to going back there, to seeing the children and youth who I started getting to know last summer, and some of the friends with whom I volunteered. I won't be doing READ like last time. The primary reason I'm going is to help with Respect Rx, a program for adolescent girls, which teaches them about self -respect, self-esteem, and healthy life choices. I was around while this program was running last summer and felt it was more up my ally in terms of the age group. Much as teaching 5-7 year olds how to read was rewarding and utilized my training as a teacher, I prefer working with older kids and especially like the idea of helping girls realize their value and potential as beautiful, powerful and important human beings.

I'll potentially get back to blogging in "kat du nord", in case people are interested in a specific northern-influenced blog. It does help to keep things more focused and I think it's important for people to become more aware of what's going on in at least one of Canada's First Nation communities.

That's all for now. I forgot how good it feels to blog and process my thoughts fully and properly in written words! Have a good day. Peace.