Address Change

Hey All,

Just a quick post to let you know my address has changed. I'm now at:

780-466-1870
9447 Ottewell Rd.
T6B 2E1

Cheers!
Isaac

Hi-ho, Hi-ho...

Hello All!



I'm afraid I'd mostly forgotten about this poor forlorn blog, and had pretty much assumed everyone else had too, until I bumped into a friend on the bus and he informed me that there were worried people who still checked it. To them, my sincierest apologies. Rest assured Rikki, I am alive and kicking.



I'm back in Edmonton after a long winter in Nakusp. I'm all done my Canadian diploma though, so I get to check one extra box on job applocations. I've been doing a couple of temp jobs and am now working for the Provincial Archieves building them a contact database. Really I'd rather do something that involved less time in front of a screen, so I'm applying for work as a blackjack dealer. It's been somewhat delayed as the HR worker at the casino doesn't seem to understand how the hiring process works, so I've been running in circles for a little while now. At this point though, it's just nice to have a bit of an income.



The grand-master scheme is to save up money for my travels back to India. I'm hoping to stop in Montreal, Amsterdam and Israel on the way back, leaving Canada in mid-June or so.



If anyone wants to send me lovely things or call me, both of which are greatly encouraged, my new contact details are as follows:



Mr. Isaac Havard

5107 106 Ave NW

Edmonton AB

Canada

T6A 1G1



780-485-6010



ihavard2@homail.com

or, if you want to brighten my lunch-hour,

isaac.havard@gov.ab.ca

Needless to say I feel wonderfully important having such an official-looking email address.



Back to the grindstone now though. I'd like to promise that from hear on in I will never again heartlessly neglect my dear old blog, but don't like making oaths I'm not sure I'll keep. If it's any consolation, I will at least feel a vauge, nagging guilt when I go for too long without updating.



Take care, eh?

Isaac

Going Home

I'm in a bit of a rush at the moment I'm afraid, and am a bit worn down to boot. I'm coming back to Canada tomorrow for medical reasons - here is a notice I posted in the common room on campus last week. Hopefully that should just about cover it.

04 October 2007

Dear all,

I’m afraid I am writing this to make it public that I will soon be returning to Canada for medical reasons. In about two weeks I will be going home to recover and will then return as a second year at the beginning of the next school year.
At the beginning of this month I was diagnosed with major depression, a psychological disorder. I had been suffering from it since last October, a span of about eleven months. The symptoms were frightening and disabling. I had recurring serious suicidal thoughts, low energy, irregular sleep, and lost interest in most of the things I enjoyed. The illness affected all areas of my life, from personal to academic.

For the past month I have been starting to deal with it and I am now doing much better due to a combination of therapy, support and medication. However, I am still almost entirely unable to handle stress and have been suffering from panic attacks. For this reason I have decided to return to Canada to fully recover and to get completely caught up on my school work before coming back. The past month has made me realize that while I can be happy here I’m not yet well enough to handle the stress of catching up. I want to be able to be happy and productive as a second year and to have the time and
capacity to be involved in this community.

When I go back to Canada I will continue the treatment I have started here. I will be attending therapy and will be on medication, and will be exercising and doing yoga. I will have excellent support from my family, who have dealt with mental health problems before. I have utmost confidence that I will get better. While home I will also catch up on my school work and possibly finish a couple courses by correspondence to get my Canadian diploma.

This has been an extremely hard decision for me to make. I love this community and am particularly close to my co-years. I have spent the past month trying to make things work here but have been forced to admit that going home, while painful, is the right thing for me to do. I feel that it would be far worse for me to spend the rest of the year here without managing, without fully recovering, and without getting the most out of my second year. At the end of the day I feel that this is a medical problem that needs treatment.

I will miss you all beyond words. I am very happy that I will see the first-years again and I’m really looking forward to coming back as your co-year. It breaks my heart that the second-years will not be here too. I have not been well this past year, but I have always been struck by what an amazing bunch of people you all are. You have been fun, wonderfully supporting, and in many ways inspirational. I love you as a group and as individuals. I’m not sure I could have made it this far without you. Thank you.

Most sincerely,
Isaac Havard

I now have a ticket for a flight leaving Bombay at 0050 Friday morning and arriving in Edmonton Friday night. I have an all-night layover before my 0730 flight to Kelowna Saturday morning and would love some company. My flight gets in at 1145 (flight number NW 1023 from Minniapolis) and I'm pretty much garunteed to be at Timmy's for a couple hours after I land.

I'm sorry that this is probably a pretty big shock for a lot of people. Everything has happened quite quickly in the past couple weeks, so I've dropped off the map a bit. At the moment I'm in a crazy blur of getting ready to leave and saying goodbye to an uncountable number of people whom I hold unfathomably dear. I'm definately not ready to go and there are slews of people that I feel I need at least a week with, just with them, before I could consider parting with them, but I definately don't have that kind of time.

For now I have to dash off to some more doctor's appointments (Is that the proper pluralisation? Doctors' appointments perhaps?). I hope this finds you all well and I'm sorry if it's confusing - it's confusing for me too.

All the best,
Isaac

Uuunnnngghhhhh....

I'm in India now, safe and sound, but jetlagged out of my brain. I had a wonderful time at the Folk Fest and just as much fun in Amsterdam. I'm afraid I'll have to regale you all with stories of these travels another time though. For now I'm going back to my semi-lucid fight against the dreaded Afternoon Nap.

Hope all of you are having wonderful summers.

In the Dark

The power just came back on about 15 minutes ago, but we're not sure how or why or if it will last. It went out yesterday morning around 10, while I was at work. The museum suddenly went dark and spooky, an effect not at all helped by the fact that our windows are all borded up to prevent sunlight damage to the artifacts. I went and hung out with the info centre girls for a while and we had a jolly old time.

As it turns out the power was put out for this entire valley - around 2000 residents - by one of the forest fires in the area (http://bcwildfire.ca). We're not quite sure which one, and we've been a bit in the dark for information as well. We don't get radio out here, and when the power went out it took with it the TV and internet, so small town speculation has run its course to the point that we're not really sure of anything anymore.

I quite enjoyed it yesterday because I got the day off work. My stepdad was coming back from a job in the Slocan valley, just east of here, but needed to gas up in Nakusp to get home. Without power, we had to be rescued by my mum in the truck.

So far it's been good fun - like camping, but with a really big tent that is our house. Lots of barbecued food and candles. The last thing we heard from BC hydro was that the fire was out of control and too dangerous even to fight. They estimated it would be 5 or 6 days before we had power again.

I was just settling into my paid vacation and looking forward to the next couple days of it when the power suddenly came back. Guess I have to go to work tomorrow. *Sigh*

Actually it's definately for the best. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm a wee little bit computer dependent. We're pretty isolated out here, and there's only so many games of soliare you can deal before you go crazy.

In other news, I had my long-awaited surgery last week. It was a minor little job. They just had to snip off the bone spur from my broken collar bone so it would no longer cut the tissue. Everything went wonderfully smoothly, and there were some super fun drugs involved. I spent the rest of the day in a bit of a happy daze which sadly wore off and was back at work a couple days later. I havn't really been able to do much with that arm since then, and there's been a bit of pain, but I'm wonderfully glad to know that I'm finally out of the woods with this whole rigamarole. By the time I get back to India it should be in pretty good shape. But I don't think I'll be playing too much football.

And speaking of India, I'm afraid my summer is drawing to a close. My last day of work is on Saturday, and then I'm off to Edmonton this coming Wednesday for Folk Fest. As soon as that's over I'm headed to Amsterdam on the 13th and then back to muwci on the 18th. So far I'm pretty excited to be headed back. Only a little bit apprehensive.

Other than outages and surgeries I've been doing tremendously well out in the West Kootenays. Went to Revelstoke on Tuesday. It was really really exciting, going into the big town like that! We went to the railway museum, which I thoroughly enjoyed once I got over my museum insecurities - they're funed by CPR, and as such are a bit more affluent then us. But we're more real! *ahem*

I hope everyone else's summer is winding up wonderfully, and I'm excited to see some of you soon

A Suprise Trip to Vancouver

Things continue to go well here in West Kootenays. I've taken to calling it the land of the definate article (even though most small towns could probably be described as such) because there seems to be one of everything. The stoplight, the general store, the cop, the theatre that plays the movie at the time, and so forth. Summer is well and truly underway, with gorgeous hot days and lots of slighty obnoxious tourists upon whom we are completely finacially dependent. Stupid Albertans...

I now have an appointment for surgery on the 24th to get my collarbone sorted out. It's supposed to be pretty simple surgery and I should be back on my feet in no time.

The only really stressful thing around here has been my passport application. I have to get my passport renewed before I go back to India, but because of a new American policy that will soon require Canadians to have a passport to cross the border, there is a huge rush to get passports and resultant huge waiting lines. I'm in a bit of a hurry with this whole thing, so had to get my passport expidited a bit.

I had thought that the closest place to do that was Kelowna, about a three hours' drive away, so I hopped in the car with my mum, who was headed to Vancouver (7 or 8 hours away). We got into Kelowna nice and early only to be told that if I wanted it expedited I'd have to go to Vancouver. Otherwise it would take upwards of 10 weeks, time I sure didn't have.

So, with nothing else for it, I hopped back into the car with my mum and went to Vancouver. We got there in good time and it actually only took my half an hour in the passport office, rather than the 3+ hour waits you see on TV. The secret is to fill out the form online - they jump you right to the front of the line.

While in Vancouver I also went to see my gran, which was wonderful. She was pretty happy at my unexpected visit. I also got to see my sister a bit before hopping on an 6:45 bus the next morning and hauling it back out here. Thankfully there was some shuffling of weekends to accomidate a co-worker's holiday, so after two days of work I now have another much anticipated weekend. I'm thinking of attempting a bike ride into town tomorrow to see if I could do it on a regular basis.

Other than the occasional burst of excitement, things remain pretty good around here. The job continues to be wonderful and more. Occasionally the small town of it gets to me a bit - I don't know anyone and havn't yet figured out how to meet people in a small town, so I'm a bit on my own out here. None the less, it's pretty much the most beautiful place I've ever been, let alone lived, and I'm learning to drive which is good fun.

Postscript: Oooh! Speaking about small town excitement, I forgot about Canada Day! It was super exciting. I got to dress up in this amazingly spiffy green and gold 1948 band outfit and wander around town being all promotional. There was a big ole parade (though no actually marching band) with floats, and the winners of the Queen of the Arrow Lakes pageant. By far the highlight were the two boys on an ATV riding behind the horses with a bucket and shovel. They got by far the loudest applause. Afterwards there were speeches and awards and cake and all sorts of fun patriotism. The best part is that because of it all my picture ended up in the local paper. That's right, once again I was in a paper looking very very silly.

Bringing Home the Bacon

I just got back from my first day on the job at the Nakusp Museum. I had an interview last night and I suppose the liked me, because they asked me to come in the this morning. So I now have a job until August, when I head back into a whirlwind of travel. I know I've only been at it for a day so I shouldn't make huge sweeping statements yet, but I have the best job in the world! I spent all day learning stories about the area and our artifacts and then telling them to other people. All day telling stories. And they pay me! So far the learning curve is steeper than the local mountains, but there are less deer eating the grass on it.

Actually, and this is a weird segue, the mountains around here really are crawling with deer. Which is really cool, but which makes driving slightly stressful because every time you see one (which is often) you're a little afraid it will jump in front of your car. In the past few days I've also seen bald eagles, osprey, ground-hogs, a moose, and something that was either a porcupine or a badger. Or maybe a really freaking huge weasel, I didn't get such a good look at it.

On the collarbone front, I finally got to see an orthopedic surgeon who (thank god) saw that there was a problem and is putting me in for surgery in about a month's time. It's nothing major, they won't rebreak it or anything, but they're going to shave off the really pointy bit that is struggling savagely to free itself from the limiting confines of my skin. It feels great to finally have a reliable answer on the whole thing and know that it will all be resolved. Though I've got the heebie-jeebies at the thought that the health care system that made me feel like I was being treated as a human again was the British Columbian one.

Yes, all in all things here are going very well at the moment. I have a job that I love and am learning more than I ever thought I'd know about Nakusp. So if you ever have a question about the Sinixt First Nations (you think the xt is hard to pronounce? That's the European spelling. They spell it sngaytskstx. I'm not even making that up) or about the contributions of the local Kinsmen to the community of Nakusp, I can help. I expect the inquiries to pour in from all corners of the globe.

I'm a Real Person Now

Hello all. As the title says, I've just turned 18, and am now legally a person! That meant that I could drink for about 3 days, but then I came out to BC where the age is 19. I can still vote and sign legal documents however, which I think could lead to far more fun than mere drinking.

On a less worrying-to-family-members note, I'm safely back home from India. I had a really good two weeks in Edmonchuck and saw lots of really cool people. Missed a few cool ones too, but there never seems to be enough time. As I mentioned, I was there for my 18th birthday, and had a really nice little basement get-together with some thouroughly good folk at which - get this - almost no alcohol was consumed. Of course, earlier that day (say, oh, at about 12:02 in the morning) was a different story, but not one for this venue.

Since then I've been back home in Burton. I really really love it here. It's completely gorgeous out in the mountains, and my folks' place is picture-perfect. There lots of work to be done, from weeding and fencing to installing door knobs on the interior doors, but that's all part of the fun. And did I mention there are sheep?! Sheep! They're so cool, in a staggeringly mushey-brained sort of way. They even have a black one.

Tomorrow I'm going in to Nacusp high-school to preach to the children the wonders of the UWC movement and try to convert a few brave, overly idealistic young souls to give it a try. To be honest I'm not really sure what to say. I've had quite a year. But the program pretty much speaks for itself, so I suppose I'll just let it. I've also heard they're hiring at the museum, so perhaps I'll check that out, as anyone who saw me in Edmonton will know that I was about as broke as broke can be.

I don't think I've mentioned this anywhere offical, but I got a job in Edmonton the second day I was there, after walking in off the street. God bless an oil-rich economy!

On the collar-bone front, I saw yet another doctor today, who referred me once again, though hopefully for the last time. Nacusp has an orthopedic surgeon who comes in once every two months, and Friday happens to be his next stop in town, so hopefully that will work out. The last word was that they might have to do something minor to shave of the really freaking pointy bit, but that that would be all. We shall see. In the words of Paris Hilton's mom, "It's in God's hands now." Only not really.

I must also report that after a year of stalwart resistance, I have just caved to The Facebook and hooked myself up with an account. If you have one too, add me! And then once you're done that, please help me with how it works. What is this wall of which you speak? How do I carry out I conversation with someone. Is there any facebook specific ettiquite with which I should be familiar? And what, exactly, is the point? I remember being quite sure of the answer to this last one when I signed up yesterday, but am now rather bewildered, I must admit.

For now I have a long night of trying to figure out exactly what I shall try to impart on impressionable young minds on the morrow. I hope your nights or mornings - wherever you are in the world - prove to be more exciting, and that you are all doing very very well. Take care, eh?

Isaac

Sad Sad Sports

Hello everyone. First things first, the answer to the question that has no doubt been plaguing you all since my last post. The huge glaring hole in my last post, the question which was all my mother asked after reading. The very question in fact that was the first thing I asked after retuning to campus after my trip to the hospital - Who won?

I'm afraid I was perhaps hiding the unfortunate truth in my last post, for the answer I recieved on returning to campus was not a happy one. After I was hauled off the pitch Africa came back with a vengance and cruised to a 4-3 victory, eliminating us from the finals. In the bronze medal match the next day, in which I was also not allowed to play (though you should have seen the nurse's eyes when I suggested it - like dinner plates), we lost to Asia by one point in a shootout. We had been forced to play a replancement keeper for the shootouts. Excruciatingly dissapointing.

Unfortunately that seems to have been a bit of a theme for sports of late. India just suffered a pair of crushing defeats to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at the cricket world cup and have been as good as eliminated before the proper tournament even began. There has been a mixture of fuming anger and stone cold silence from the Indian students whenever cricket comes up - which it somehow seems to often when there is a Bangladeshi around. I also had the misfortune of checking up on the standings of the Edmonton Oilers. I fear I shall break into tears if I linger on this subject, but Smitty???

*sob*

The patch of sun through alll of the clouds has come from our RKHS - the housekeeping, gardening and kitchen staff on campus. Today there is a big cricket tournament on campus, with 16 different RKHS teams from all over Pune here to compete. Adam and I have had a wonderful morning cheering our team to two brilliant victories, landing the in the semi-finals, which we're off to watch in 10 minutes or so.

So far my Project Week has been off to a wonderful start. We get two Project Weeks a year to go off and explore India and take a break from studies. On my last one I went off to Gujarat and worked with an NGO there, and I had been planning to go to Kerala for this one. The doctor made it quite clear, however, that I was going to do no such thing. So instead I'm spending a week on campus relaxing and repairing.

As I say, it's been great so far. Most people have left to travel, so there are just a few of us left with all of campus to ourselves. It's wierd how much of a different place it has become without all the people. It's so peaceful and quiet, bar the odd cricket tourney. We've been relaxing, watching movies, and playing monopoly and the like. Incidentally, we watched Banlieue 13 yesterday, which is by far the best action flick I've seen in a while.

I've got it pretty well made for the next week or so. The pain in my collarbone has started to subside, though it's still extremely akward. For now I'm off to watch the semis. Go muwci!

Still Alive

Hello all. It has been a rather deplorably long time since I updated I'm afraid, even by my standards. See, funny story. So I got back from Pune on Saturday and my friend Klara was walking me home, where I had resolved to sit down and finally write a long overdue update. As we were getting near my house, Fate, acting through my friend Iman, came running over and intervened. The Americas were playing our last round-robin game of the MUWCI Football (soccer) World Cup against Africa. Africa was undefeated and we had yet to win (the college really needs more Brazilians), but if we could pull off a win it was possible we would make the final and secure at least 2nd place. Needless to say, my steadfast, ironwilled resolved to write crumpled like a soggy brown paper bag, and I laced up and headed out to the pitch.

Miraculously, we ended the 1st half up 2-0 after two breathtaking goals from our brilliant Brazilian. Then I allowed a free kick, and shortly thereafter, far more foolishly, beat Ishan and Renaud, two large African strikers, to a loose ball. They piled into me and I went down painfully. Reaching over to my shoulder, I felt the jagged edge of half of my collarbone through the thankfully intact skin. I never actually got to see it, but at some point someone asked me if I was sure it was broken, and when I pulled back my shirt there was a collective noise of horror from those around. It was kinda cool.

After 20 minutes or so, the ambulance showed up and took me to get x-rays in Pune. Never before has that road been so long or so bumpy. We did have the siriens and blinking lights going, which was cool, but which the rest of the traffic completely ignored. The x-ray showed that the bone was in fact broken (I could have told them that), but that thankfully the shoulder did not get dislocated. I got to head back to campus on the road that had grown no less bumpy.

While I was in the med that night there were huge bursts of raucous cheer from the Social Centre that after a while were suddenly and desicively silenced. I found out the next day that Bangladesh beat India in the Cricket World Cup.

So my last couple days have been in the med centre once more. The pain is much less today, and I slept well for the first time last night, so I'm doing better. My arm's in a sling, and will be for 3-5 weeks, which unfortunately also means that I'll be spending Project Week on campus next week, instead of going to Kerala as I had planned. Still, it should be nice. I'll amass a bunch of movies and relax like no one has ever relaxed before.

I have to head off to class now. This has taken me a rather long time as I only have one hand at my disposal. Take care, and take your calcium suppliments!

All the best,
Isaac