Spice Boys...
We had a talent show tonight with the guides, and I was part of the Spice Boys. There is an amazing amount of talent in the group of people that I work with. We had opera, a drag king, tap dancing, original skits, violin and sax solos, and The Spice Boys.
I was part of a group of five guys that dressed up as various Spice Girls, and who danced to the song Spice Up Your Life. I was Scary Spice, ironically because I`m the least scary of all of the guys. We dressed in drag, and I ended up borrowing some fish-net stockings, and a really short skirt (it was 10 inches long, about a hand and a half, and definitely not regulation length at my old high school). I also spiked my hair, which ended up looking pretty good actually. My tétons, which were pretty big, fell out part way -all the more reason why it was funny. We did a crowd interaction bit, and got an excellent reaction all around. At the end of the song, the other guys carried me off the stage. Afterwards, everyone said how much they loved my face during the "Spice up your life!" part which I mimicked... I`ve put a photo up with my other Ottawa photos. If you want the link, let me know.
I think that we`ve lost all our credibility, and will have to chew tobacco and swear every other word for at least the next two weeks :)

Fire Alarm!!!
This morning, the fire alarm went off at work (that still sounds funny to me, knowing where I work). We weren`t sure what it was at first, but it didn`t take too long to figure it out. Everyone had to be evacuated out of the building, and the fire trucks came rushing up the hill. It turned out to be a false alarm, but it caused a lot of hassle as everyone who was on a tour had to go through security again before they could restart, which put everyone else behind. It was already busy (all English tour tickets gone for the day by 11AM), and we didn`t really need the backup.
The day was relatively uneventful otherwise. I`m heading out soon to watch the original Planet of the Apes with Kyla, whom I haven`t seen since I was in France last year when she was working as a Vimy guide. She`s back in Canada now, after working for a few months in Bristol, England.

Boat Cruise...
Last night I went on a boat cruise along the Ottawa River with a whole bunch of guides from Ottawa. Of course there were a lot of Centre Block guides (i.e. me), as well as East Block and InfoTent guides. There were also guides from the Capital Info Centre, the Royal Mint, Rideau Hall, Canada and the World Pavillion, as well as a few other smaller museums in Ottawa. There were approximately 150 people in all.
I had the late shift yesterday, so I left right after I finished work (at 8:40 PM). We took off from the Gatineau side, and danced along the Rideau River for at least 3 hours. We kept going around in circles on the river -I don`t know how many times we passed the Parliament buildings. It was a ton of fun though, and I`m glad that I went. Needless to say I`m tired this morning, but at least my first tour wasn`t as rusty as some of the other guides! I took a much needed nap during my split shift, but I`m back off to work now for the second half.

Cooling Down...
It`s finally cooling down here. It was around 20C last night, so I actually able to sleep with the big blanket again. It`s supposed to stay relatively cool (low 20`s) all week, so it looks like I`ll be wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants all week.

Back in Ottawa...
Well I`m back in Ottawa now, after a fun weekend in Montréal. Yesterday in Montréal I did some shopping along St.-Denis in the morning, and bought some CD`s (Les Cowboys Fringants!!!), and looked into a bunch of other shops. Sophia and I then checked out the McGill campus, as well as a large cathedral in downtown Montréal (Marie-Reine-du-Monde). We went to a friend of Sophia`s place for some tea, and some patisseries.
Now I`m back in Ottawa, and I`ve got 7 days straight, until my next day off. At least the week will be broken up with the boat cruise and talent show.

Montreal, Day II...
Yesterday afternoon I went for a picnic in Parc LaFontaine. It was a beautiful day, lots of sun, a slight breeze, and it was only 26C! We ate, talked, and ended up playing frisbee for a bit.
Later in the afternoon I went out and bought a French-French dictionary from a used bookstore (only $20!), as well as a French thesaurus. We then wandered through the Juste pour rire festival, and listened to a few stand-up comics, en francais, as well as saw some people acting. We waited for some of Sophia's friends near the Nuits d'Afrique (Nights of Africa) Festival, and listed to some African music for a while. A bunch of us then headed down to Vieux Port and watched the evening fireworks. It was Canada last night, and on previous Saturdays they've had various other countries performing. Canada wasn't too bad, surprisingly!

In Montréal...
I'm in Montréal, just about to head out for a picnic. I arrived yesterday with no problems, and looked around the immediate area surrounding the bus station. For lunch I had a smoked meat sandwich. Now I know why Montreal smoked meat is world-renowned!
I met up with Jelena at the bus station, and we went out for a coffee. I haven't seen her for five years, since the summer I went to Jonquiere to study French. She's working here in Montreal for the summer, doing rat neural research at Carleton.
I went for Indian buffet with Sophia, and a bunch of her friends from her linguistics masters' program. Une soirée en francais. We then headed over to another of her friends' places for a house warming party.
Today, we'll be heading to a picnic at Parc La Fontaine with some friends, then do some sight seeing in the afternoon.

Montréal!!!
I`ve got my bus ticket in hand, and I`m stepping out the door. I`m on my way to Montréal this weekend to visit Sophia and Jelena. I`ve never been to Montréal before, so I`m looking forward to it. I`ll update when I get back on Sunday evening.

Meeting Mobina...
Today Camille and I met with Mobina Jaffer, one of the six British Colombian senators. We were able to meet with her for 30 minutes before the caucus meetings this morning.
She`s got an amazing story, having grown up in Uganda, but becoming a refugee in the 1970`s and ending up in Canada. She was educated in Law in England, and worked as a lawyer for many years in Vancouver.
As a senator, she was the first East Indian, first African, and first Muslim appointed to the Canadian Senate. Working as the Canadian Special Envoy for Peace in Sudan, she recently returned from the Sudan, and will be returning in a week for the remainder of the summer. Currently she`s working on the Anti-Terrorism Act (special), Official Languages, Internal Economy, and the Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament committees.
She was incredibly nice, and had some interesting insights and stories. One of the interesting things that Mobina had to say was that it`s a shame that more people in BC don`t speak French, and how it`s almost an educational tragedy. She was also very kind, thanking us for having made the effort to contact her, and making a point (several times) of telling us to stay in touch with her.

Team Dessert Party...
Last night after work was l'Équipe Avenir`s (my team`s) dessert party. We all brought desserts to share, so I baked a chocolate brownie cheesecake (it turned out pretty well). In all there were two cheesecakes, Timbits, a Skor cake, ice cream and chocolate sauce, French patisseries, popsicles, and Bailey`s. I stuffed myself with dessert; I probably had too much. It was nice to get together as a whole team, and laugh for a few hours.

100% Humidity...
I didn`t know that such a thing was possible but there`s 100% humidity now, as well as yesterday, here in Ottawa. You almost expect to see a fish swim right in front of you. When it`s this humid, it actually makes it difficult to breath.
Even though it`s only 23C outside at 8AM right now, the humidex pushes that up to feeling like 34C (93F)! It`s supposed to get a fair amount warmer than that today.