Monday, March 14, 2016

O Canada!

Well hey there blog world! Long time no see! The past few weeks have been so hectic I neglected this blog. Sometimes I wonder if anyone actually still does read it. :-P

Two weeks ago, my friend Ronny (the other French teacher), myself and 2 male chaperones took 35 kids on a trip to Quebec Canada. Everyone kept asking me "Oh, are you flying there?!" and when I said no, they nearly choked when I said we were taking a coach bus. But we had a fancy bus! It had wifi, outlets to charge your phone and of course the bathroom (but I never use those because they freak me out).

We left Saturday, February 27 and spent most of the day traveling. We stopped once to change drivers (and score, there was a Starbucks to recaffeinate). I thought the kids would pass out since we were leaving at 6am. NOPE! They were super wired and coming out with the funniest comments. We stopped again for lunch, went through the border and then onward to our hotel. Once we got there and met our guide, Mary Grace Ho Ho. We used JumpStreet Educational Tours and they/Mary Grace were AWESOME! I cannot wait to go back in two years.

We settled into the hotel and then went for dinner. I had some type of chicken marsala dish but the chicken was a little dry. We had to ask for a bowl of gravy....just for the adults!


After dinner, we went tobogganing. What an experience! My friend Ronny (the other French teacher) has never done it in all her years of running the trip. And this year, I convinced her to do it! She is so glad she did!


This is what you sit on


Beautiful view when we got off the bus!


You go all the way up there (someone has to drag the sled thing) and then you slide down it. Essentially, it is 3-4 people per sled. You have to put your legs on the thighs of the person in front o you (except the first person) and then hold on for dear life! It's such a thrill!

We had hot chocolate after and then went back to the hotel. You would think the kids would be pooped from a 10+ hour bus ride and toboganning but no.............they took forever to calm down! Ha!

Sunday morning we started the day with breakfast at a nice cafe with croissant. They were so delicious! 

Guy making them and that's Ronny, my coworker, making a funny face taking a picture of him. #shecracksmeup

Afterwards we went on a tour of Old Quebec and did some shopping! 


That would be our tour guide, Mary Grace aka MG, in the yellow jacket. She was awesome! Our group was only her third group overall but she is an awesome tour guide. Fun fact: She is from Rwanda and learned English from movies & music. 

 Two brave French teachers with 35 kids in the cold!

 Headed to the Parliament building


We went to lunch at Chez Ashton and had poutine! It is French fries with gravy and cheese curds. Looks kind of gross when you look at it but it was delicious!


Looked at some street art.


Afterwards, we went to an ice hotel. They build it each year during the month of January and then demolish it. Every year has a different theme. This year's theme was rivers.


You can get married here! You can also stay here on an ice bed for $200 a night. No thanks!
 


We ended the night at a snowtubing park! It was all sorts of fun. One of our chaperones was the technology director so he got great videos of me screaming down the slopes. 

Monday was another jam packed day. We were in the midst of a snow storm that morning so we had to cut our visit to the falls out. We saw them while we were on a bus.

Went to a great crepe place for breakfast!



Followed by a visit to St.Anne's Bascilia. Here, (and pretty much everywhere we went during the trip), the kids pulled out their phones. Not only were they using them as their cameras but they checked to see if there was wifi. Here, one student asked "Anyone know the church's wifi password?" and some kid said "I put jesus1225 but it didn't work." #lordhelpme





Left our mark at the basilica! 


We then went on to a wood carving shop. This guy was the only English speaking person in that part of Quebec.



The falls we skipped out on because of the snow storm.

We went to an activity with the renactment of a day in the life of a British soldier. It was quite comical what they made the kids do. 

Later, we went to a mall. There was an indoor skating rink, ferris wheel, etc. The kids didn't use the vouchers because we didn't had as much time (we were suppose to have 2.5 hours and had to cut an hour out). 

After the mall, we went dog sledding! This was something I was looking forward to! 

Listening how to sit, brake, etc



 Ronny and I. Halfway through, you switch. It was absolutely freezing by the time we were done so we cut out snow shoeing but it was an amazing experience. So glad I can check this off my bucket list!

We ate dinner and there was some dancing plus making our own maple butter and maple taffy.

Overall, it was an incredible trip! The kids had a blast and I can't wait to go back in two years.

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