I started to believe I wouldn't manage to make it - but now it's set: yesterday we (Kinga and I) have booked our flights! Tuesday afternoon I'll be already in Mexico City. First we'll travel around 10 days with Jacaranda (who is from Mexico City) - the route is not set yet - and then end our trip with a weekend in Guadalajara (where Alejandro lives). After hanging out with the Mexicans so many times this year I'm now incredibly excited to visit their country - and having local guides! Wiiickedly Aaawesome!

A little bit a lighter story about that evening.

This is the most recent episode from the series "Joachim's most embarrassing moments".

After the film screening the film maker (one of the "Wakefield Grannies") went on stage and spoke a couple of words about the movie and how everything started and how it is spreading now. She ended: "And we also have our local Grandmothers group here. I ask you all to stand up please."

So I though: "Mhh, that's a bit weird to actually ask the audience to stand up and give them standing ovations while they approach the stage - but then some things are just done a bit weirdly here - and they certainly deserve standing ovations for their work."

I stood up and clapped and turned to see the ladies approaching to the stage. So I assumed. It was only a few moments later later that I realised that only the members of that group (who were sitting among the audience) were supposed to stand up and the rest of us we were supposed to remain seated and clap.

Oh dear. I was absolutely horrified. I fell back into my seat immediately and felt how my ears and face was burning (I’m sure it was infinitely more red than my hair). I was sooooo embarrassed: Now it looked as if I wanted to pretend being a member of that group. Which might not have been all that embarrassing if people wouldn’t have noticed. But, you know, as the group was called „GANG - Grandmothers of Alberta for a New Generation“ it was kind of obvious I didn’t exactly fit in..

Oh dear. Oh dear.
I apologised to one of the ladies later and explained.
That really softened the embarrassment.

On Thursday (gee, how time flies) I went to a film presentation in the city library. "The Great Granny Revolution" is a documentary about the "Wakefield Grannies". A couple of years ago 12 elderly ladies from eastern Quebec heard from a South African nurse about her work: she gives support to South African grannies who raise their grandchildren, who are orphans after their parents died from AIDS. First it was these women that started getting involved ; now there's a whole Grandmothers to Grandmothers movement spreading throughout Canada and the US.

The film dealt less with project planning, logistics and the like but rather shows how life is on the different continents, about how a relationship developed between the Canadian and the African women. A very impressive and touching film and initiative.

Sometimes I really have this urge of just running away from this normal life and do something really useful.. But no worries I'm not a runaway person. At least not until the right cause suddenly strikes me.. :)

I'm about to leave for my first camping trip. Hurrah! We - that is Jillian, Trevor and Laryn from the German club and one of Jillian's friends and me obviously - are going to the area of Jasper. Beautiful area! Do you remember the pictures from autumn which I never put online? ;) We're leaving in about an hour. I'm excited!

This will save me from spending Saturday in Elephant&Castle watching Spanish football and hoping against all reason that a miracle would happen. This has just been an awful, awful year. If I look at where Barcelona stood at the start of the year and what happened since.. It really hurts.

Anyway, I'm going to the mountains. Hurrah!

I received my new work permit today. Yeah! And it took only about 4 weeks this time. Yeah, again! So now it's official, I have a visa until end of September. I'm very much looking forward to the summer.

And summer it is. Around 30°C is pretty hot. Especially if you're sitting all day in the library, in the darkness and at the borderline of freezing. You step out and are suddenly hit by a wave of light and heat. I shouldn't have brought most of my summer clothes home at Christmas, but how could I know? At least I kept one pair of capri pants and my flip-flops. And I went shopping last weekend among other stores into the only a couple of weeks old and only H&M store in Edmonton, where I found myself nice linen pants (long but light) and a white linen shirt. Both of which I'm wearing at the moment. But I think I should do more summer clothes shopping.

Summer. I'm very much looking forward to another summer of festivals in Edmonton. And unlike last year I know plenty of people now so I hope to go on various little camping trips at weekends. Besides that I plan to travel to and in Mexico for about two weeks in July to visit some of the exchange students and see a bit of their country. Me-hi-ko!!! I'm excited! Apart from that, and less certain, I 'd also think it would be cool to visit eastern Canada for about a week at the end of August. Everybody says it's so different from here and I'd love to see it. Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, the Niagara Falls. Either way, as sad as it is I'll miss another summer with you in the mountains..

So - that's my current state of affairs.

Gee. You know what's my blog problem? I'm too perfectionist. Even when I think of just writing a little note I first sit here and think of how to organise and structure and how to put in context - and suddenly I realise: Oh no, this is not going to become "just a little note" but will take me quite some time again. And then I sometimes leave it altogether..

Yep. I almost forgot when I woke up: Today is the 26 of May 2007 which marks the first anniversary of my arrival day in Canada. One fully year. Already. Weird. Unfortunately I have to abstain from all attempts of reflections on or summaries of my time here. I'll soon meet Laryn for (window) shopping in West Edmonton Mall and in the evening there's a little farewell potluck with the remaining latin people.

Und überhaupt. Die Schlagzeige des Tages ist natürlich:

"Pumuckl darf Freundin haben"

Ich glaub das ist - abgesehen vielleicht von ein paar Situationen in denen ich mir wünschte, mich unsichtbar machen zu können - das erste Mal, dass ich froh wäre, nicht nur Pumuckl genannt zu werden sondern es auch zu sein. Dann würd ich jetzt einfach schnell mal einen Malwettwerb veranstalten lassen! :)

I've seriously really honestly had the intention to keep this a little bit more updated and sometimes I have something in my mind and think I could put it here - but somehow I just don't manage it these days. (Partly due to the evils of facebook but that's another story.) Well at least now you have time to go back and read all the hundreds of posts I have assailed you with in the earlier months.. :)

As for today:

The streets are grey, the grass is green. And that is not to be taken for granted. Today morning the news reported that during the night it had snowed five centimetres in Edmonton. And while there where no traces of it to be seen here, in other places of Alberta twenty centimetres of snow where followed by car accidents. Oh well..

Frage des Tages:

Was macht man gegen Leute, die vor ihren Mikrofilmmaschinen sitzend so laut mit ihren Kaugummis schnalzen und schmatzen, dass man die Musik im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes ohrenbetäubend laut einstellen müsste, um sie nicht mehr durch die Kopfhörer hindurch hören zu müssen??? Ahhhh!!!