Stampede Has Come and Gone

Before moving here, we had heard so much about Stampede, the ten-day festival that Calgary is famous for - ten days of partying, concert-going, rodeo watching, pancake eating and general mayhem! It arrived before we even knew what had hit us.

Ben and I did our best to jump right into the mix - I think we made it to at least one Stampede-related event every day. The city really came to life more than I've ever seen it. For the first time, there were lots of tourists around, and the streets and restaurants were overflowing. I hope the festive spirit carries into the rest of the summer! Here's the crew enjoying our $3 pancake breakfast on Stephen's Ave. downtown - for some reason pancakes are a major theme of Stampede!

Ironically, after essentially nine months of drought, the thunderstorms all rolled in over the Stampede celebrations. They still have not left entirely but are at least slowing down.

And as most of you probably would have guessed, the actual Rodeo was my least favorite part of Stampede. In spite of reassurance from people in the know that rodeo animals are happy and very well cared for, I still found elements of the show pretty horrible. The calf roping was one event that I had hoped never to witness.

And then there was the calf wrestling, which I had never known even existed: basically a 200 (often more) pound man rides out on a horse alongside a calf, then dives off the horse, tackles the calf and throws it to the ground by its neck. All I could think about was how those poor unsuspecting animals had no idea what was happening to them! And then they ran out of the ring with their tails between their legs, looking so traumatized. Poor cows have a bad lot in life, even though they're docile, sweet, and proven to be as smart as dogs! I later heard that one of the cows that had been wrestled at Stampede never got up, and had to be euthanized. Does it make you feel like a man to tackle an unsuspecting baby animal? Really?? But anyway, the photo below is from the Chuckwagon Races, for which we were up front and center and I actually DID enjoy :)

We also had a great time at the fairgrounds (imagine the biggest state fair you've seen in your life); at "Nashville North," a stage where various country music artists play throughout Stampede; and at the Grandstand Show, which was a massive Cirque du Soleil-type evening show that included acrobatics, singing, dancing, comedy and motorcycle tricks, and culminated in fireworks.

Phew! Now Ben and I are both just trying to recuperate. I'm so excited for my family to come in town this weekend, so am saving up my energy to party down with them. Calgary better watch out, the Kiilerichs are coming!!

Outdoors, Outdoors and More Outdoors

Once again, I have to apologize for being SO behind on my posts! It is not that I have nothing to blog about - quite the opposite, actually. Summertime in Calgary has transformed this city. We have gone from bundling up and drinking hot chocolate and brandy to stay warm, to the most spectacular weather imaginable for enjoying the bountiful outdoors all around us!

Since returning from our trip to Nashville, Calgary's days have been long (light until around 10pm), sunny and pleasant, with temperatures in the 70s during the day and the 50s and 60s at night. The climate is ideal for camping and all sorts of active pursuits, and we have spent every free moment this past month taking advantage of this fact.

I have to admit that I also feel a sense of urgency about the summer - I'm nervous about cramming everything in that we want to do before winter visits again!! I think the looming winter has stayed in the back of my mind all along, reminding me to get all I possibly can from these warm months.

Our first trip was a 14 km hike at Lake Louise. For the first time, we saw the lake in its element: the most indescribable glacial turquoise color.
We went as early as we could in the season, as this hike is popular and we wanted to avoid mass crowds. Luckily the trail was not crowded and we made the uphill hike to a tea house at the top of the mountain, where we sat and enjoyed killer scenery. Being the cashless wonders that we are, Ben and I realized after sitting for ten minutes that the tea house had no electricity, and therefore could not take credit cards. Our waiter was so kind - he snuck us a huge rice crispie treat, and when I asked to refill my water bottle, he ushered me quickly into a small kitchen. Turning on the tap, he joked, "We never saw you here!" Apparently they are not supposed to give out water, so I felt honored - especially since he told me it was fresh glacier water, simply the best. We hiked a bit further beyond the tea house, where we were able to see several glaciers and even tromp through a bit of left-over snow.

The following weekend we headed with Almudena to Dinosaur Provincial Park. Ben and I have often discussed how we both loved dinos as children, although I think Ben was a bit more fanatical than me! With Bosco in tow, we drove 2 1/2 hours east of Calgary through the Alberta prairies and canola farms and set up camp for a night in a shaded but flat grassland area (thanks, Chris and Marian, for the awesome tent!!).
So this is what the rest of Alberta looks like! Bosco had a field day chasing the numerous gophers all around the campground. They literally popped up from their holes every couple of minutes, just like the arcade game - Bop-It, I think it was called? I don't think I'd ever seen gophers in person before!

Dinosaur Park was amazing - the dry, rocky, wind-carved badlands seemed to go on forever, all in place of a former tropical oasis that was once filled with dinos. There used to be a huge straight of water that cut through the western part of North America, which is why it was so full of life. Now, this is as close as you can get to the desert in Canada, with cacti growing and harsh sun beating down. This area is the largest site for dinosaur bones in the world! And we saw plenty of them, sometimes just scattered on the ground.

So now we're almost caught up...

This past week was Canada Day (July 1st), and Ben had half the week off, so again Ben, Almu, Bosco and I took off for a camping trip, this time at Jasper National Park. I will not give too many details away, since my family is coming very soon to see for themselves, but I will say that it is easily one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. We camped for two nights, drove around to view the scenery, and took a nine km mountain hike. I was in heaven!

We are now in the midst of Stampede, and the city has come to life more than ever before. Everybody wears their cowboy gear to work, bars and restaurants put out bales of hay and saloon signs and play country music, and nobody seems to go to work!

So far we've attended the Rodeo (fun but a bit traumatic for me at times - the poor little calfs that get roped and wrestled), enjoyed one of the pancake breafkasts that are all over the city, and attended a show at Nashville North, the "country" stage where some of the big concerts take place. I say "country" in quotes because it felt a bit forced to me, and the singer we saw mostly covered classic rock songs! It was fun nonetheless :) Tonight Ben's company has reserved space at a club downtown, so we'll be going there for dinner and drinks. Though I was skeptical, there are actually some pretty big country names performing, including Taylor Swift, Kelly Pickler, Kenny Chesney and Reba MacIntyre. If I'd known earlier, I might have actually tried to buy tickets!

Anyway, I hope everybody is having a fabulous summer and making the most of it!! Much Love :)

Refreshed

I feel I've returned to Calgary with a rejuvenated sense of self. Going home to the people who have known me the longest and the best always seems to remind me who I am. I hadn't exactly lost that knowledge in Calgary, but I was feeling off somehow, like something was missing, a piece of my confidence lacking perhaps. I'm not sure if it's the comfort of a hometown, the unconditional love and support of family or the way longtime friends just understand, without me saying a word - or most likely all of the above - but somehow life feels more clear again. I feel more aware and present in my own life and less worried about the future knowing that I have so much good around me.

Some highlights of the trip:

- Lingering, muggy nights by the pool at my parents' house, drinking good wine and chatting about life
- Mom's spaghetti and Daddy's grilled corn on the cob, red peppers and shrimp
- Relaxed hours on the back deck of Ben's parents' home, goofing off and watching the birds and squirrels fight over the bird feeders
- Riding the carousel in downtown Chattanooga with the whole Reeves family and seeing their brand new beautiful house in progress
- Laughing my way through the Nash Trash tour and cooking an impressive dinner with my sis
- Hunkering down in the Oak Bar for dirty martinis with Campbell
- Las Palmas with Ally & Conor, in our grand tradition of eating Mexican at every possible chance :)
- Hot, hot, hot afternoons laying by the pool - the best way to spend a June afternoon in Nashville, in my opinion
- Honky-tonkin' in Nashville with friends old and new

And of course there's Bonnaroo, sweet Bonnaroo ... which I'll elaborate on in my next post ;)

While you wait eagerly for that one, here are a few photos of the rest of our trip:

I'm back!

I can't believe that almost a month has passed between my blog updates! For the past few weeks I have been enjoying the good life back in Tennessee, so over the next few blogs, I'll do my best to update you on all the great times that were had, from Nashville to Chattanooga to Bonnaroo...

Once, in a far away land...

Once upon a time, in a cold, northerly land, over Canada's May long weekend, Ben and Jenn bought a set of shiny new bicycles that brought the couple much happiness. They biked up and down the river with the sun on their backs. They adorned the pretty, new bikes with bells. Jenn even rode to her volunteer job, making it on time for once. Yes, it was a lovely period of prosperity bestowed by Calgary's weather gods. But then it grew rainy and cold and the evil weather people predicted snow...

Ah, well, so it goes in Calgary-land! Summer is a big, fat tease in these parts, and we take every ounce we can get! When it's good, it's very, very good, and when it's bad it's horrid. Okay, enough with the nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Life is good and we really did have a blast on our bikes. We also had a great Saturday afternoon sitting outside at the Farmer's Market in the sun with great friends.

But sadly, as soon as the weather warms up here, Calgary is thrust into rainy season, so the nice days are still fleeting. However, I have never seen people with such enthusiasm for the outdoors when it does warm up!

In other news, I will be home in Nashville on June 2, with Ben following on the 6th. We cannot wait to see everybody! Perhaps it is the knowledge that we're so close to heading home that's made matters worse, but Ben and I have definitely both had some pangs of homesickness recently. (It could also have to do with our ideas of what May is supposed to feel like, and what we're getting here instead!) I can't believe it, but it will have been eight months by the time we reach home - the longest either of us has gone without seeing our family.

Please email me with your plans for June 2-17, because we want to catch up as much as possible!

Cheers!

White or Brown?

No, this is not a racial comment, just a note on one of my favorite Canadian-English idiosyncrasies. When you order a sandwich, you are asked if you want white or brown bread. Try to order wheat or rye, and you'll likely get a quizzical look or a correction: "Oh, you want brown bread." I love it! Why not simplify life?!

I know I talk a lot about the weather so will simply leave you with a photo of how we (including Bosco!) enjoyed our Sunday evening (after hosting a Cinco de Mayo party Friday night and getting some good outdoor time for the rest of the weekend). Happiness! I hope that by the end of the day, we'll have some bicycles to show off as well...

Sunshine & Wine Make Jenn a Happy Girl

This past weekend was fantastic! For the first time, I felt that spring was (probably) upon us. It's impossible to make this assertion with any real sense of finality, as locals tell me they have seen snow in every month of the year, including July, but here's to hoping.

Ben and I discovered a huge off-leash park where we took Bosco on Saturday. With lots of hills and trails and a river-path, there is something for everybody; after Bosco had his fill of playing with other dogs, we hiked around for a while before stopping in at Greg and Angie's house. They have an adorable place with a little fenced back yard that fills with sun, and were kind enough to let Bosco run around outside while the rest of us sat on the deck sipping beer (no heat lamps required!). It's times like this that I really miss having a house. Beer simply tastes better when you're sprawled in the sun with your feet in the grass than it does on a small covered balcony eight floors up.

We were all so drugged by the power of a (much anticipated) warm, sunny day that we were hard-pressed to get moving again. But move we did, eventually! Greg, Angie, Almu, Ben and I drove up to Banff to meet Alicia and another Aussie friend, Stef, for the city's annual wine festival. We spent the evening sampling wines (most were average) and foods (top-notch!) from local restaurants, then headed to a bar that was not unlike a honkey tonk in Nashville's Lower Broad. Except that when singing "Sweet Home Alabama," the band changed the lyrics to "Sweet Home Alberta," which irked me to no end.

We had a big breakfast Sunday morning at Melissa's, Banff's answer to Loveless Cafe, and Greg and Angie, who have lived in Calgary for a while, drove us to some spectacular vistas on the way out of town. The mountains look so different when the snow begins to melt! You can see in more detail the craggy edges and many colors of the stone. We are moving into the rainy season - which I don't think means much here - but regardless, with a bit of hydration, I expect that we'll finally see trees filling in and flowers blooming. It will be our first time to see the city actually looking green and alive, I can't wait!!

In other news, we had to bid farewell yesterday to Michael, a Dutch transfer who had been here for three years with his young family. He's been heading up the international club and will definitely be missed in Calgary! I get the feeling that if not for the thousands of miles between Calgary and family back home, many transfers would stay here. I'm still fairly sure I could not cope with the winter for more than a few years, though!

As for today, I'm decorating and getting food ready for the Cinco de Mayo party Ben and I are throwing tonight. Good Mexican food is a rare commodity in Calgary, so we're hoping to create some of our own. Ben worked hard last night re-creating a traditional Tortilla Soup, which we ate almost daily during our vacation in Cabo. I think he did an excellent job! I also tracked down a Mexican market to purchase freshly-made snacks, so at least some aspects of our meal with be authentic, even if my black bean and tortilla casserole is more Tex than Mex :)

Wow.

Yesterday I heard the story of a Holocaust survivor. Completely unexpectedly. And with great respect and sorrow all at once.

For the past few months, I have been volunteering alongside an older lady named Kaye. Whenever she's in the back sorting clothes, I offer to help because I get such a kick out of working with this sassy, tough, sharp-minded woman. I love hearing her stories about catching the wayward pigeon that broke into her nursing home, or her quick come-backs when staff members are less than kind ("And you're fat," she recently retorted to a condescending orderly). It's a riot to sort through clothes with her and get her take on fashion: "I wouldn't want to be caught dead in that," she told me yesterday, tossing a plaid blazer aside.

I'm not sure how we arrived at this point in the conversation, but somehow we were lightheartedly sorting and chatting yesterday, when the words came out of her mouth. I don't remember how she said it, but when the gravity of what Kaye had said reached my heart - she had survived the Ravensbruck concentration camp - I felt frozen in my place by a trash bag full of donated clothing.

There were so many questions I had, but all I could do was listen. She told me, in her wiry Eastern-European accent, that she had just gotten married and was taken on a train. Nobody had a clue they would end up in such a terrible place. She recounted how her bunk-mate, who had kept her warm at night, was randomly selected by guards one morning and never returned, and how she is still haunted by this. She told of stealing potatoes because she was so hungry and defiant, and how she was beaten senseless upon being caught. With a broken nose and cracked skull, gypsies advised her to sterilize her injuries using her own urine, which worked.

I'm not sure how long she was there - perhaps years - before being rescued. She was not re-united with her husband, who was in the army, for five years. After her rescue, the only thing she had to wear for months were oversized army uniforms or dirty donated clothes from Salvation Army, hence her passion now for volunteering at the Walk-In Closet. Fatigues became Kaye's own uniform until she managed to get a job at the shelter and buy clothes of her own. After this time, she lived in France, in London, and eventually somehow made her way to Canada, where she finally stayed. "So I don't take gunk from anybody anymore," she concluded, "and you shouldn't either." She told me life is short and you have to make the best of everything, a common phrase that took on infinitely more meaning coming from her.

All of this she told me in no more than five minutes or so. I could tell she was visibly shaken and angry, and almost trance-like going back to the memories. I wondered if she talked about her experience often, and if not, why I would be among the priveleged few to hear it. Perhaps she wanted to share the story with the younger generation to make sure it is not forgotten. Maybe it slipped out and suddenly she was thrust deep into her own memories beyond return. Regardless, I will never forget.

It occurs to me now that she must have been my age or even younger when this all began. Of course I can't begin to imagine the horrors she experienced. Upon reading more about the camp she was in, it's amazing that she made it out. Of 130,000 prisoners at this all-female camp, only 40,000 survived. Kaye was among the lucky few, a fighter and survivor. The largest group brought to this camp was Polish women, which is where I am guessing she's from, although I did not ask.

I was awake last night, feeling I had to do something with this story. Writing it in my blog is the best I have come up with so far. I feel connected to Kaye in a sense, knowing that my grandmother's family in Denmark helped Jews sneak into the safe neutrality of Sweden during the war. Knowing that my grandmother was only a bit younger than Kaye, and lived through that terrifying era that so deeply shaped the European mindframe for years to come. I feel a sense of responsibility and am honored, knowing that very few individuals are still around to tell their stories. I hope we manage to pass the information on to future generations.

Yup, it's Almost May

And this is what is looks like. Just your average spring, Sunday afternoon in Calgary!

Canada's Answer to Bowling...

Ben and I finally tried one of Canada's most emblematic pass times - curling! We went with a company outing, so were given a quickie lesson and played several rounds. We were off to a rocky start, with Ben arriving in loafers and me in two-inch boots, thinking we'd rent shoes just like in bowling. Not the case! We had to run home and get tennis shoes. Then you get a slick, plastic footie that straps onto one foot, which allows you to slide on the ice when pushing off your rock (the big round things that slide down the ice, as Ben demonstrates in this pic!).

Curling is definitely harder than it looks, and ice is not forgiving!! I took several falls, and have a bruise on my rear to show for it! Everything in Canada just seems more likely to cause injury, whether it's basic outdoor sports, hobbies or just walking down the street on a snowy day!

Though I doubt we'll be going back every weekend, curling was a fun way to while away a rainy day (yes, it finally rained here - the first I've seen in Calgary). It's a social sport complete with cheap beers and snacks, and we were all beginners so kept a leisurely pace. Here I am, very focused on not falling as I take my turn! (Wish we had some better pics of us curling, but these are the best we could do - I guess we were just moving too fast to catch us on film!)


Our friends Greg and Angie had arranged the event and hosted an awesome dinner at their place afterward, which went late into the evening. I think everybody was drowning their sorrow that the Flames lost to Chicago 5-1 last night. I hope they can come back tomorrow, or I think it's all over!

As I write, it's just started snowing again, and is meant to continue for the next several days. Even people who have lived here their whole lives are really getting fed up with this unusally long winter - it's almost May ... I beg you, weather Gods, give us some warmth!!