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Fjord d’Abres, Quebec
Fjord d’Abres is a tree-top adventure course. You use nets and ropes and zip lines to cross a course through the trees. We went in small groups to take some pressure off the business. My group was scheduled for the afternoon. We left just after lunch to arrive around 1. We signed waivers provided by Fjord d’Abres and then we were suited into harnesses and helmets. Then we were given the safety shpeal in English and set free onto the courses. It starts with the easy course, to get everyone used to using their tools, and to the kinds of challenges that are present in the course. When that course…
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Val-Jalbert, Quebec
Val-Jalbert is an abandoned town that used to be a pulp mill. The mill was built at the bottom of a waterfall and saw about two decades of success. When the mill was shut down the town was quickly abandoned. Today the Val-Jalbert is billed as a ghost town with some of the original buildings still standing. You can go inside the schoolhouse, the hotel, and the church There is also a cable car that takes you to the top of the waterfall to give you a view of the entire town. We spent the day touring the buildings and learning about the town when it was an active mill…
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Explore Program – Québec
What is the Explore Program? Explore is an intensive French-immersion program that is offered during the spring or summer for people with any skill level in French. Participants are awarded a place and funding covers tuition fees for the course, instructional materials, meals, and accommodation. You will discover another region of Canada while learning French in classes adapted to your language level. Through classroom instruction, workshops, socio-cultural activities, and field trips, you will not only improve your language skills, but discover the culture of a new region as well, all while exploring, meeting new people from across the country, and exchanging ideas in a stimulating environment perfect for learning the French…
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Arriving in Cairo
Day 1 was travelling to Cairo and the day started super early. I had already been up for a while when my alarm went off at 4:20 am. I cleaned up my house, so I could leave it alone for two weeks. Mostly dishes that I had left to dry the night before. Also, because while I am gone movers will be coming to change my apartment and move me upstairs. I made sure my laptop and chargers were packed before I went down to get a taxi. I tried to use my Taxi app to call a taxi for me but there were none in the area. So I…
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Ephesus
Selcuk is the nearest town to Ephesus. The bus from Istanbul arrives at about 8 am. We were two of only five people to get off the bus. We went and checked into our hostel. There were only two other people there. It took time to check in because HostelBookers lost our reservation. We had to track down the receipt in an email. Despite the empty nature of the hostel, it was not time to check in yet. We had to leave our bags and go explore the town. The very sleepy town. There were only a few chai shops and food stalls open. We found a place making phyllo…
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University of the South Pacific
The University of the South Pacific has 14 campuses on 12 islands in the region. We were lucky enough to get to make use of the facilities on Rarotonga in the Cook Islands for a field school. The buildings are small but serviceable. A few rooms are set up as classrooms. A room set up as a computer room. There is a library there that has some books. Many locally published. The campus was nice but our most memorable lessons happened off campus. We went on nature walks with local experts on both Rarotonga and Mangaia islands. They were great hands-on learning experiences and our guides were very knowledgable. We…
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Santorini, Greece
I came in from Athens after a day trip to Delphi. I technically arrived in Santorini on day 4 of my trip. We were scheduled to arrive at 12:15 am but high winds made it too difficult to land and we circled the island for about 30 minutes before it was safe to land. If we had been up much longer the plane would have turned around and gone back to Athens. The landing was a bit bumpy but we made it just fine. The airport is small. So small you can see the guys who are loading your luggage onto the conveyor belt. It takes no time at all…
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Delphi, Greece
I took a day trip to Delphi. Bus pick up was at 8:30 am. So, I had another early morning. I had my breakfast and packed up my bags and checked out of the hotel. Then it was a quick walk up the road to a different hotel where the bus picked us up to begin the day trip. Goodbye Athens. We were on a nice coach bus with comfortable seats which was nice because the drive takes about 3 hours. Our guide was nice and entertaining on the bus. She told us about the places that we passed. We passed the dam that holds the water reservoir for Athens.…
