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Ok, it's Quiz Time kids!
Question 1: Where am I typing this blog entry from?
a) Parliament Square in downtown Ottawa
b) On the Rideau Canal
c) On a Greyhound Bus to Montreal
d) In the Youth Pastor's Office at Greenbelt Baptist Church
Question 2: Why has it taken us so long to write on our blog since the last post?
a) We're lazy, bone-idle, and deserve to be beaten
b) We've not had the time because we've been so busy with people
c) Canadians are struggling with the concept of wireless internet
d) We had nothing to write of any interest
If you answered, c) to question 1 you'd be correct! I am currently sitting on a Greyhound bus bound for Montreal, and amazingly this bus has it's own internet connection! So i look down one moment to type, look up again, and my scenery has slightly changed...ok, to me that's a big deal! Nevertheless, if you answered a), b), c) and d) to question 2 you would be completely correct. We've actually just had a busy week, been slightly lazy, haven't had internet connection for my Mac, and didn't have a whole lot to write about for the first week.
So where did we leave the story of Craig & Quince's World Tour? "I don't know. Tell us!" i hear you cry. Well we left for Ottawa with our newly acquired friends John & Rosie, and arrived at their humble abode near the Rideau river. We then spent the next couple of days trying to navigate the Ottawa bus system, meaning we took about 9 buses in one day once, in order to have a look downtown and meet up with Greenbelt Baptist Church who we had e-mailed prior to our arrival. We also managed to go watch a Champions League game in an English-styled Canadian pub (just go with it!), and were quite surprised we were charged $6 a pint for our English beer...but we then realised that it was imported... It was a bitter pill to swallow, but 'English' beer is so much better than the Canadian stuff!
We then travelled with John & Rosie to their cottage on Buck Lake, which was 11km off the main road down a dirt track. Great fun was to be had by Quince & I as we belted out John Denver's "Country Roads" at this moment in time! That first evening there, after we'd helped open the cottage for the summer season, we had one of the best times on our trip yet. You see, this cottage was on the shores of a lake, and this evening was warm, the lake was like a mill pond, and a sunset extravaganza was just beginning. Thus in true Canadian style, we grabbed our handy canoe and paddled out into the lake, greatly enjoying the complete silence in the area, and the fact we were the only beings creating waves on the water...or so we thought. Because we encountered a beaver swimming in the water, slapping his tail on the surface, and guarding his home - it was a 'this is why we are travelling' moment! The weather at the cottage for the next few days wasn't great, so we packed up and went back to Ottawa.
The next week in Ottawa was a complete surprise to the both of us, as we hadn't been hugely busy beforehand, didn't know a huge amount of people, and to be honest, weren't really sure of what to do. On Sunday morning we attended Greenbelt Baptist not knowing what to do, or even if we wanted to stay in Ottawa any longer. God then really blessed us by quite a few people talking to us, being interested in us, and inviting us to go places. So by the end of the day, we had got to know Kelsey/K-dawg (who is travelling to Montreal with us atm! Woo!), the Youth Pastor of the Church and his lovely family, Cindy and the rest of Greenbelt's Young Adult group, and we had been fed very well too! So much went on in the days to follow. We helped Kelsey out in his 'Golden Touch' decorating business (who incidentally will work in the UK for free, as long as his travel, accommodation and board is provided - its not a bad deal homeowners!); we were given a private tour of the House of Commons and sat in on the PM's question time; we were given a tour of down-town Ottawa and had a famous 'Beaver Tail'; we left John & Rosie, who have been fantastic to us and we are truly grateful to, and moved into our new friend Cindy's basement; we did some voluntary work at the church; we played a form of Cage Football in the Youth Pastor's basement; and visited a downtown Ottawa bar where we met many of Kelsey's lively mates.
This then brings us to Saturday, where we got involved in a protest for the Invisible Children, who with their families, are suffering at the hands of a man called Joseph Koney. If you don't know what it's about, i highly recommend looking up Invisible Children on the net. Our peaceful protest involved walking around downtown Ottawa to raise awareness of the cause, followed by 'abducting' ourselves to a local park. We then achieved our 4 purposes of media exposure, fund-raising, political lobbying, and being 'rescued' from our abduction by an MP rather fast. Which was a good thing, as the weather rolled in incredibly fast, and a thunderstorm with gale-force wind decided to throw its weight and water around a bit! I hope the video comes out!
Our time in Ottawa drew to a close with another visit to church, and another tournament of Cage Football, where the English team obliterated all before them! The Queen would have been proud! Anyway, as the sun sets above me now as we pull into Montreal, we hope to be in touch more frequently, and pray that we can remember some of our year 9 French!
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