Finally in Canada!

After four long days of travelling, learning about Klemtu, and some serious grocery shopping, I am happy to say that I am all settled into my new home in Klemtu. Since I have been unable to post anything until now due to a little trouble getting my internet set up, I’ll give a recap of the days leading up to my arrival.
I landed in Vancouver at 6:00 pacific time on Wednesday evening, breezed through customs, and was greeted by a family friend that I hadn’t seen since I was 12. My parents are close friends of the Hungerford family through my dad’s law conventions and they were more than generous in picking me up from the airport, taking me to dinner, and letting me stay the night in their beautiful home in Vancouver. Seeing them was a wonderful way to begin my trip. The next morning I was picked up by Scott Markloff, one of my main contacts for the Klemtu trip, and I got the opportunity to go with him to a hospital in Vancouver to talk to two Klemtu residents who were patients there. We then drove to his home in Abbotsford, BC, which is about an hour or so east of Vancouver, to pick up his wife Karen and go watch his son Ryan’s track meet. The Markloffs lived in Klemtu for 5 years with their three children and they shared some wonderful stories with me about their time there. They love their Klemtu friends like their own family, and I pray that I will have the chance to experience even a fraction of that. After a great evening with the Markloffs, Scott and I headed back to Vancouver at 5:00 am to catch the 6:30 ferry to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, which is where Tim and Julie Christensen live. The view from the ferry was breathtaking, and I was in Nanaimo by 8:00. I was exhausted, but very eager to finally meet Tim and his family. Tim and I drove to his home so I could meet Julie for a brief moment before she had to leave for her women’s retreat, and then it was off to the most intense grocery shopping experience of my life. As my parents already know, I am not a good shopper, so you can imagine my intimidation at having to shop for 10 weeks worth of food. Every time I thought I had enough, Tim would look at me and say “10 weeks, Ali,” and I would pile more in the cart. It was the theme of our trip. By the time we hauled our two overflowing carts of food to the check-out, people were beginning to stare. As Tim was packing up the groceries (they didn’t have bag boys) an older woman behind me asked if I was going camping. I told her no, but I was going somewhere for 10 weeks. She then asked me if I was shopping for my kids as well. I was slightly embarrassed to tell her no, it was just for me. At the end of the shopping day, I walked to the end of Tim’s street where I got the opportunity to stay the night with the Snyder family, who could not have been nicer or more hospitable. Saturday morning came quickly and we packed up Tim’s truck and began the trip to Port Hardy, where I was to meet the ferry, with his two boys. On the way to Port Hardy we stopped in Campbell River for lunch at Tim’s friend and NAIM colleague Douglas’ home. I really enjoyed my conversation with Douglas and was grateful when he offered me his email address and told me to email him if I had any questions while in Klemtu. We then piled back into the truck and finished the drive to my ferry in Port Hardy. We were able to get my ticket and load all of my stuff onto the carts with the other luggage with plenty of time to spare. Just to give you a reference, I had 8 full bins of food, 2 foam coolers, 2 suitcases, and all of my carry-on items. The ferry was very nice…Katie, it was almost exactly like the ferry we took to Mykenos and Santorini. I made the silly mistake of taking Gravol, the BC equivalent to Dramamine, a few hours before the ferry and then began to wonder why I could no longer function at 6:30. I managed to stay awake long enough to watch the Canadian people go from very happy and upbeat to quite angry as the Canucks lost, and then headed to my cabin to sleep until arrival in Klemtu (thank you so much for getting me a cabin, Tim!) I woke up at 4:30, paranoid that I would miss the stop in Klemtu and end up way further north than I’d like to be, and by 5:30 am the ferry had arrived in Klemtu. Since this is already way too long, I’ll make a separate post on getting settled into Klemtu, but just wanted to let everyone know that I have safely arrived and very much appreciate all of the prayers and words of encouragement. And congrats to all of my friends who ran in the Mini on Saturday! I’m so proud of all of you!