Week 8

June 30
Greetings, friends! Since it's been so long since my last update I will just get right down to business on the events of week 8. This was the last week of school and thus the last week for all the teachers. I told Tara that I wanted to have her over one last time before she left and that I really wanted to have seafood, and so we both prayed that seafood would come our way. Well, our prayers were answered as Tara was given bags of prawns and so she had me over for dinner on Tuesday night. All she did was steam them and add a little butter and they were absolutely delicious. I could have had a meal of just prawns! After we finished dinner, I headed up to the youth center a bit early to help Tiffany set up for a parent meeting we were having that evening. The meeting went really well as the parents had many wonderful suggestions and offered valuable feedback. We then let the kids in and played some games for the last hour or so before heading home for the evening.

Wednesday was the official last day of school for the students, and so I headed up to the school to help out in the primary class for the last time. We then opened up the youth center to an excited group of kids as their summer had officially begun. Wednesday evening we watched a movie and after we closed up I went over to Tiffany's for a crab feast. Tiff's stepdad had set up some crab traps that day and her mom brought four crabs over to their house. Tiff, Brent, and I each got our own crab and I got my first real experience in taking one apart. I will spare you the details, but lets just say it got a little messy when it came to breaking open the top part. But it was so delicious and it was a moment that I wanted to freeze in time...laughing and talking over a messy crab with Brent and Tiff.

Thursday was quite an eventful day. It started out pretty interesting when I was running on my usual running path. I was just starting my ascent up a hill when I saw something in the road about 100 feet in front of me. It was brown and my first thought that it was a dog, as it had similar features, but then I remembered where I was and that it was unlikely a dog would be this far away from home. The animal saw me coming and quickly ran off into the woods, but I literally stood there frozen for five minutes trying to figure out what it was and whether I should continue or turn around. Even though I had never seen a brown wolf, that was the next thought that popped into my mind. It still looked more like a dog than a wolf to me, but I figured I better not take my chances while I was alone in the wilderness, so I turned around and headed back. Thursday was going to be the night I would cook for Tara, and after I told Tiff that we had been praying for seafood she graciously offered me some of the halibut her dad had brought her the last time he visited Klemtu. I happily accepted and baked it in the same butter and Old Bay seasoning I used the last time. It was delicious and we even had some left over after we finished that Tiff suggested I give to Tara. We then headed up to the school so I could check my email before soccer started. While I was talking to one of the custodians at the school he told me that a wolf had been spotted around Klemtu a few times in the past week and that I needed to be careful while out on my runs. Well, that confirmed that I did in fact have a meeting with a wolf and to save my mom from having a panic attack before I get home, I decided I better take his advice and stick close to the community on the rest of my runs. We had a pretty good turnout for soccer, and after we were finished I went on a walk with Tiff, another one of our friends, and their kids. We walked down by the Big House and sat on some rocks near the water to watch an incredible sunset. It was breathtaking. We then headed back to her house and watched the first Narnia movie, which I was excited about as I had never seen it. I also got to have my first experience eating fry bread, which I would compare to a Brown County biscuit from back home. It was a wonderful end to a (mostly) wonderful day.

Tara's friend flew in Friday morning to help her pack up and accompany on her travels back home to Langley. Tara had me over for dinner that night so I could meet her friend and help her clean out her refrigerator before she had to leave on Sunday. It was one of the best leftover meals I had ever had. We had prawns, salmon, halibut...God certainly answered our prayer for seafood, eh? After dinner, I headed up to the Hall with Tiff for family fun night. We had a lot of fun playing all sorts of games with the kids. We then headed back down to the youth center and watched a little bit of Prince Caspian before I headed home to get ready for the first day of soccer camp.

Saturday morning was the first session of soccer camp. I split the sessions up by age group and the first session was for kids from kindergarten to grade 2. I did some drills to teach them the basics of soccer and we ended with a little scrimmage. The kids seemed to really enjoy the morning and learned a lot in the short time we were together. Since the next age group that was supposed to come after lunch didn't have as many kids signed up, I decided to let them come with the oldest age group on Sunday. I then headed to the youth center for some Rock Band before Tiff alerted me that freight had just come in on a barge and I better head down to the store before it was all gone. I got there in time to buy my last supply of milk, eggs, bread, and veggies. I then headed home to have some dinner before going back to the youth center for Rock Band. We closed up a little early that night and I went home to plan out the Sunday session of camp.

I woke up Sunday morning very excited to watch the U.S.A. play Brazil in the Confederations Cup final. I had Tiff and her family over for pancakes and we watched what turned out to be an exciting and close match. Even though the USA couldn't quite pull it out, it was great to see them competitive and it was a testament to how far USA soccer has come. We then headed up to the Hall for the Grade 7-adult portion of soccer camp. It was another very productive session and I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly they caught on to the skills I taught them. They were having such a good time that they didn't want to stop when it was time to wrap it up. After we finished up, I headed down to the ferry to say goodbye to Tara and the rest of the teachers that were leaving. I was really sad to see her go, but we were hopeful that we could meet up for a little bit in the few days I will spend in Vancouver before flying home. Afterward, I went to help Tiffany unload the freight that had come in for the youth center and our camping trip that we are taking this coming weekend. Brent then cooked up a delicious salmon meal and I savoured every bite. In case you are keeping track, this was the fourth night of the week that I was blessed with seafood. After dinner, I went to church for a special memorial service in honor of a man who had passed away one year ago. It was a really beautiful service and it made me think of my grandmother, who passed away around this time three years ago. After the service, I went to the youth center to hang with the kids for a little bit before going back to Tiff's for a movie and to make up the schedule for the soccer tournament the following day.

Monday was the last day of soccer camp, and I thought a tournament would be a great way to end. I split the kids up into teams based on their age and rotated them through in a round robin format. At the end of the afternoon, the top two teams in the older age group advanced onto the finals later that night. Before the finals, our usual Monday dinner crew had a pitch in at Tiff's. I then headed up to the Hall with the camp T-shirts that had just come in and a big box of uniforms to give out thanks to the Fabbro family. The final ended up being really close and it was quite intense. It was a great conclusion to a very fun weekend of camp. I passed out the shirts and the uniforms and watched as the little kids were so excited to try on their new Carmel United jerseys. I didn't have my camera with me, but I will do my best to get a picture of them in the jerseys.

It is now Tuesday and I'm getting ready to head to the youth center with Tiff to clean up before the kids come. It is going to be a very busy and exciting week that I am really looking forward to. Hope all is still wonderful with everyone back home. Thank you so much for your continued support and I will see you all again soon!