Thoughts on Mail...

Silly thing to report, but I went and got a haircut today!  It's been so busy that I've actually had my hair grow longer than when I was at home.  It's funny - I go and wash before I hit the sack by taking a shower.  It's funny because with the long hair and the bedhead, I looked like those toys that top those pencils that when you twirl it the hair stands on end.  Haha!  Anyhow - you know how much I don't like to have long hair, so we dealt with that!

 

The Olympics seem to be the thing on the sets everywhere... except that nobody really talks about it.

 

Overall - it's alright here.  Plus - I got mail from several of you - which really made me smile!  (Actually - I was kinda dancing for joy!)  Mail is something special here.  There's a painting I saw on sale here entitled 'Mailcall'.  It shows two soldiers walking away with packages in hand.  You wouldn't believe how happy it makes people here!  People ask for all sorts of things from home.  Since alot of the stuff you can probably get here, my guess is that - it's not really the stuff that matters, but the fact that someone is thinking of them back home, and that the thing came from home.  I've seen all sorts of stuff come through: footwear, food, toys... toilet paper!  (Yes - and rolls of it!  At first we were laughing, but hey - that's what the guy asked for from home!  Whatever makes the connection with the homefront!)  Mail, email, and phone calls - we're wel take care of, and thank goodness we have these lifelines to home.  I commented to a friend that I wonder how those soldiers back in the 18th Century did it - leaving their wives on the shores of the harbour to deploy to the wilderness called Canada, to get mail maybe only once a year from their loved ones - if at all!  So when you put it in that perspective - we're not doing too badly here.

 

The priest reminded us all at Holy Mass that tomorrow is a big feast of Our Lady: The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  He reminded us to do something special for Our Lady.  A good reminder!

 

So all of you must be getting ready for the 'regular routine' which is coming soon, since we're at the mid-way mark in August.  I can imagine what I'd be doing there if I was back home - probably prepping a classroom, or files, or something... and to my colleagues - I wish I was with you!  I get the Canadian Tire Flyer (e-version) just to keep in touch with home (and keep track of the awesome sales) - and it's obvious it's 'Back to School' time!  I'll see if I can pop by an Afghan school when school starts here.  I would love to be in an educational environment again with teachers and students.  I wonder what similarities and differences there might be?  Anyhow - it's always nice to be around the optimism and cheerfulness of young people.

 

What's going on at home?  I bet the CNE is about to open, right?  How's the new ride at Canada's Wonderland... 'Bohemoth', is it?  Is the price of gas still going through the roof?  Is traffic getting any better in the city?

 

Anyhow - that's all I have for now.  I hope you enjoyed the pics I attached earlier.  There were some glitches where pics got sent with the wrong captions, and some times where no pics got sent at all!  My apologies... The email gets received and sent at an excruciatingly slow rate.  Oh well - can't have everything.

 

Here the big discussion is about how the Islamic holy month of Ramadan is upcoming.  I admire the fact that the people will not eat OR DRINK for the daylight hours.  Given the extreme heat here, this is not a joke!  I hear many of them telling of their preparations for this event.  I gotta tell you - if all of this is done for the love of God - then they must love God very much.  I keep on saying it to myself, we could learn a thing or two from their zeal!  But then again, we should be examples and beacons of Christ's love ourselves to everyone.  One priest reminded us here - at the end of the day - ask yourself: 1. How did I pray?, 2. How did I fast? (ie What did I give up for the love of God for the love of others?), and 3. How did I give alms?  (ie how did I serve God and my neighbour).  My students will recognise this as: Know, Love, and Serve God... how we get to Heaven.  Ramadan is supposed to help Muslims in this regard as well, I suppose.  It will be nice to see and to learn from the people here first hand.