I Love Red Lake

So I've been here for almost 2 weeks now... and I LOVE it here. The people are great, it's a very different vibe than the last 2 summers in Fort. The town is beautiful, and there seems to be a force field for bad weather. These huge systems are coming straight towards up and then they just divide and completely miss Red Lake. While Southern Ontario and even lots of Northern Ontario have been getting snow, rain and hail we've been sunshine and beautiful weather! Last week I also go promoted to a crew boss.. so now I have a new crew. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to be a crew boss but I accepted. Since the turn over rate is higher here, people move up the crew system a lot faster so a 3rd year crew boss (like me) isn't uncommon. I went out chainsawing for my first time this last summer... I was nervous at first getting back at it but it came back to me pretty quick. We've also been doing some pump set ups, trying to remember everything I've learned the last 2 years. We've got about 1/2 the crews here, and the rest will be filtering in next week. The bunks have been do-able but I imagine it's going to get pretty hectic when everyone gets here. I go to the SP-200 course next Monday until Saturday. It's the crew you have to take to become a crew boss. I'm really looking forward to it, it'll be a lot of good learning about fire behavior and how to scout fires. It's at Vedette Lake FAB (forward attack base) which is in Fort Frances- not a bad place to spend a week. We've got 10 people going from Red Lake, a good group of people. I might head into Fort for a night to say hi to everyone. We haven't had any fires yet but Kenora has had about 25 and Fort and Dryden have had a few. The indicies (dryness of the trees/ ground) are really high for this time of year and receptive to lightning. At this rate we're in for another summer like last year but it's always so hard to know. We could have a whole bunch of rain and end up getting no fires all summer- you never know!! Hope all the snow and crazy weather has stopped at home. <3

Red Lake- Day 1

Well, I made the drive! It went faster than I thought surprisingly. Took me about 24 hours driving time.
Its COLD up here, much colder than home. Although today it got sunny and nice out during the day.
The bunkhouses are about what I expected. My room is tiny; 2 beds, 2 little nightstands and 1 cupboard. I share a bathroom with 3 others (when others get here). There's only 1 other girl here right now (warehouse girl) but she's in another pod. There's ONE kitchen for all of us.. About 35 people- mostly guys. I can only imagine what it'll look like in a month. Hopefully its a really busy summer and I'm not here very often! Then there's a TV/pool/shuffleboard/foozeball/cards/game room (wicked!) which I'm sure will be rowdy soon enough.
My crew seems good so far!! My crew leader has been a fire tech for the last few years but was missing action on the fire line so he's back- that means he'll have a lot of knowledge and hopefully get us some sweet gigs on fires! My crew boss I met 2 years ago in BC and I worked with his brother. He's really laid back and fun so I was pumped when I heard I was on his crew. And then the other crew member is from sioux lookout, its his 2nd year working fire.
Today was my first day. We wheeled barrels of gas around "the boneyard" (a yard with a bunch of stuff in it). It feels good to be back at work, no easing in, just straight into manual labour. :)
The base is right on the lake it is GORGEOUS!! Can't wait for it to get warm!
I got a tour of Red Lake- its actually bigger than I was expecting. I told that someone today and they laughed- its really not big so what was I expecting?! Population is 4500.. About half of fort frances. A lot of the population are miners, there's a huge gold mine up here. Since miners make a lot of money, it apparently makes rental houses really expensive. Pretty standard pricing compared to Southern Ontario but for the North its expensive.
After work today I went with all the guys from the bunks to play road hockey! It was awesome. They've got a great paved court in Balmertown. (Which is about 5km away- has a few other restaurants/ stores).
Looking forward to the rest of the week- hover exit training tomorrow!
(Heard it was beautiful at home today- hope everyone enjoyed the heat!)

Hi Ho, Hi Ho... back to work

I've been home for about a week, and in another week I'm back off to Northern Ontario for my job. I'm doing forest fire fighting again, but I'm going to be based in Red Lake this summer instead of Fort Frances. I was looking for a change of scenery and I've heard a lot of good things about Red. My buddy from Fort Frances also got hired there so we'll be sharing a room in the bunkhouses. Red Lake, unlike Fort, has bunkhouses were all the fire rangers live for the summer. I've got my fingers crossed for a summer like last so I won't actually be spending much time on base!

I'm not looking forward to the drive... it's SO long, it always seems like I'm never going to make it. But once you're there it's so worth it, can't wait to be back.

The fire season is already in full swing, Kenora has already had 13 fires! (Red Lake is still at 0 haha) but it's early so you never know what's going to happen.



<3

SURPRISE!!

Back home in Canada, came home a week early for a bunch of different reasons.
Got to surprise Kayla for her birthday which was awesome :)

My last days in India were amazing, I just relaxed on the beach, did a fun Acro yoga workshop. It's like partner yoga- one person is a base and one person flies.. you've gotta be really strong to pull off some of the crazy stuff they do, this was a pretty basic class.

My journey home was loooooong, but so glad to be home! I've posted pictures on facebook and will tell anyone who wants to listen alllllll about my adventures. <3 <3

breakfast- most important meal!

Happy Birthday Dixon!!

Breakfast is the time for great ideas around here!! I woke up early, practiced yoga on the beach and went for a run which was nice (it seemed extra hot though). My friend Brianna and I were eating and chatting about what to do today and a woman from the course invited us to Paradise Beach in Maharastra (state north of Goa). It was 5 of us; Paul from Europe, Francine from Quebec, Ashley from Mumbai and then Brianna from California. We took Vespa scooters (which I've been debating about for a month), and it was SO fun!! They needed one more driver and I was nominated. (How hard can it be right?!) At first driving was really scary, but I got the hang of it. Turning was the sketchiest- did a little accidental off roading at one point but it was all good. We drove for about an hour and a half, and took a little ferry. We went to a little secluded beach where we RODE a CAMEL!! His name was Tyson. The guys who owned him live 150km east of there and walk to the beach every season. It takes them 5 days- they walk on the camels during the day and sleep at night. The tourist season is almost over because monsoons are starting soon so they'll be heading out end of March.
India has been blowing my mind the last few days- so many fun things. I wonder what tomorrows breakfast will bring!
Missing you all <3

Graduation!

I'm officially a yoga teacher!! Can't believe it, I think it'll take a lot of practice until I really consider myself one.
Yesterday instead of yoga we got surprised with a sunrise dolphin boat ride! It was really nice, and we saw tons of dolphins. We were in big wooden boats with 100 year old 9.9 horsepower motors. We all went out for dinner last night as a big goodbye.. Some people left today, lots of people are hanging around Mandrem or going other places in India.
Today was my first day of freedom, my friend Jillian and I were talking at breakfast this morning and decided we wanted to do something cool today... So we walked to Arambol (north of here) and went paragliding!! It was really fun. I thought it was gonna be a huge adrenalin rush but it was really relaxed, like meditation in the air.
It's nice being free to do whatever we want after having so much structure for a month. Might head to a spice plantation tomorrow, or go for a hike.
Missing you all!! <3

home stretch

Whew. Its been quite the week! I taught my 45 minute class this morning and wrote my anatomy exam this afternoon.
I was the 2nd last person to teach which was definitely not in my favor. I've been listening to/ doing other peoples classes all week, getting psyched out and burnt out. My 20 minute class I taught last week went really well- I was nervous for the first minute or so but then I got in the zone and it was all good. For my 45 minute class I was nervous the WHOLE time!! It was a good thing I had to queue inhales and exhales for the class because it reminded me to breath too. I think I was more nervous because I'm so tired and I had so much time to over think it. It went well though and I got good feedback.
The only negative thing they had to say was that it was 5 minutes too short! I had to take out a section of flow in the middle of the class because I was going to be over time, and then didn't add enough in to compensate- if I had been calmer I could have freestyled another pose or 2 in the end but my brain was exploding haha. But if that's all the negative they had to say then its all good. Feels good to have that out of the way.
The exam was fine. I knew it wasn't going to be anything crazy. It was all fairly basic and it was all related to yoga so it was easy to think about practical applications. Of course there were a few weird ones.. "What happens to the digestive system when you breath properly?" I answered.. "It works properly?" Haha.. I think they were looking for something more along the lines of, it is massaged by the diaphragm, but maybe they'll take pity and give me half marks for effort. Other than that question though I feel good about it.
Now we've got a few more sessions- yoga therapy, adjustments.. And a graduation ceremony (haha) and a few more yoga classes (of course) then we're done! The time has flown, the course seemed like it went so fast- but on the other hand if I think about the first day I got to India it seems like MONTHS ago! Always seems like that when I travel.
Northern Ontario is getting temps in the mid/ high 20s and already have people working at some of the bases!! I feel so fortunate to have a job to go back to when I get home. About 80% of the people here have quit their jobs to come to this course- in search of something else in their life.. Everyone here seems to be in major transition- from school to work or work to something else. I've enjoyed getting to know all the people- a lot of characters for sure. People from all backgrounds, all walks of life, everyone with their different story.
Missing everyone, can't wait to see you all! <3