Paprika, Bruiser, Daisy, Amazing Man, and....

We've repaired our boxes, fixed our props, and are now in Edmonton. Edmonton! My city! My sister nearly attacked me when I came up the walk to my house; I hadn't see her for two months. I invited the team in and gave them a little tour of the house. Rhonda discovered a picture on the fridge and said "Oh, what a cute kid! She looks kinda funny...whoa, what's with the bruise on her head? Or is that a he?" To which I replied "That's me." Because of this and another baby picture of me blowing spit bubbles, Rhonda and Jeremy have affectionately nicknamed me Bruiser and Bubbles. Reneyah said she adds spice to everything (which is too true), so Jeremy decided to call her Paprika (we'll see if it sticks). Our fearless leader (Jeremy) is Daisy, and Jonathan is Amazing Man. Yup, he's actually a superhero. Have you ever noticed that Jonathan and Amazing Man are never in the same room at the same time? I also call him Mr. Fixit and Textile (he crochets a lot in the van). Rhonda...well, I can't think of any that have stuck so far.
On Thursday, I FINALLY got to see Lesly after six months of separation. I was so happy. She brought me a spear from Africa! It's so cool! I asked if it was a dart, and she gave me a look. Yes, Maura, a two-foot dart. Then we hung out with Sandy and ate junk food. Ahhhh, good times.
Friday was a long day. We did our game show sketch six times in a row; my throat was a little tired after that. Today we got to perform for kids, and did the kazoo sketch (one of my favorites). It's great fun. Involves volunteers. Reneyah got my sister (Erin) to volunteer another time today...hehe that was great.
Monday morning we're leaving Edmonton for another few days in Barons, after which we fly to Halifax on Thursday morning. The next time we're in Edmonton (so far) is on May 22 at Southside Pentecostal Assembly.

Etzikom

So we're back from Saskatchewan and Manitoba. You know, people say that Saskatchewan is flat, and it is, but really not much flatter than Alberta. Or Manitoba. Maybe just more of it is flat. Or something. But though it's quite beautiful, I think I'd rather live in BC. Maybe in a suburb of Vancouver. Or Hope or Mission or Vernon or Kelowna. It's so much warmer! And nice and humid.
Well, for now it's back to the homeland, and I'm very excited to go to Edmonton and see my friends and family...except for one. My brother decided he needs a tropical vacation or something...pfft. Whatever. I'm not jealous; who needs a tropical vacation when you just came back from Swift Current?
By the way, Alberta has some weird town names. Like Manyberries, Readymade, Bow Island (NOT on an island), and Etzikom. What a funny name. Etzikom.
And quote of the week goes to Jeremy;
"Look at the road. It feels like we're not moving and everything is coming towards us..."

So. Much. Food.

This week I've experienced some interesting billets; Reneyah and I went to the house of an old widow, and entered to find her and four of her friends talking in the living room. It was a very interesting evening; I think we were the event of the week. Our conversation consisted of Cuba, end times prophecy, and sex. They were great ladies, and we had a hilarious time.
We headed through rural Saskatchewan and stayed with a Mennonite pastor, where we were introduced to "night lunch." Apparently, every night they have...lunch. Oh man, we don't need it. When you stay with a different person every night, it's an event for them. So they put on a spread, as Christians do, with meat, potatoes, veggies, and always with dessert. Yes, its all very good, but food looks better on a plate than on me. I try to resist, but it's very hard to say no to what is likely the most delicious pie I will ever taste in my life. I keep telling Reneyah that we have to keep each other accountable, but so far...that hasn't really happened. If this continues, we're going to have to refit my costume.
Every Canadian who ever lives should watch Corner Gas. Especially while driving through Saskatchewan. It's hilarious. We got to watch it because Rhonda and Jeremy have a portable DVD player and the first season of Corner Gas. We've also watched 13 going on 30 and Pirates of the Caribbean (with the amazing Johnny Depp).
Oh, and good news on the juggling front! It only took me six weeks, but Jonathan and I are finally starting to get it down. We have rhythm! I have some hand-eye coordination! Yay!
In another week, we're in the City of Champions. From there, we fly to Halifax and spend two months out east, leaving Ajeep behind in Alberta. We get another van in Halifax. Let's hope it's as good to us as Ajeep has been.

Happy grapes

Throughout a lot of my life, I've mainly hung out with Christians. This has been a good influecne of my faith and the way I live my life, though it can limit your scope of thought, range of ideas, that kind of thing. Not until I came on this tour did I realize that not only have I spent most of my life with Christians, I've spent most of my life with Pentecostal Christians. Travelling with four non-Pentecostals, performing in Lutheran, Baptist, Mennonite, and Evangelical chruches, and meeting Christians from Greek Orthodox to Evangelical Free has opened my eyes. There really ARE other demoninations! And they have a different style of praying together, of singing, of worshipping. Yesterday, I heard a Mennonite pastor preach on tongues and prophecy. And really, what he said was not completely different from what I would have heard in a Pentecostal church, though there was no altar call.
In general, I try not to label myself as "Pentecostal," because that doesn't define my Christianity. It's interesting to watch myself react, though, to quiet prayer meetings and people who have only heard tongues once or twice in their life. Both are alien to me. I haven't asked about altar calls yet; I wonder how common they are in other denominations.
Life has been largely uneventful, though we did spend about half an hour debating the emotional, psychological, and biological aspects of a grape's transition into a raisin, based on Reneyah's statement that raisins used to be "happy grapes." But just so you know that we haven't gone crazy (yet), our conversations are generally intelligent and we don't always debate, unless talking about politics or Harry Potter. Rhonda decided that we should no longer discuss politics, because it gets a little heated.
And quote of the week once again goes to Reneyah. In her defense, I have to say that thoughts like these cross my mind, but anytime someone introduces a topic and I have no idea what they're talking about, I nod my head and pretend to understand, asking questions very, very selectively. If not, the quote book would be filled with my ignorant responses. I suppose this makes Reneyah more honest than me. Anyway, Jeremy was spouting yet another interesting fact; France was the first place where porcelain was made outside of China. To which Reneyah replied:
"China came from China!?"

A shot of maple syrup

This week, we had Monday and Tuesday off, so on Monday we decided to take in the many sights of Winnipeg. These include the legislature, the Golden Boy, and the Forks. The legislature was beautiful, but there wasn't much to see except giant bison statues (with which I got my picture) and the amazing architecture. The Golden Boy is a golden statue of a boy (who'da thunk) on top of the legislature, and there's a little one inside that I got my picture with. I also got a picture with a cutout of a Mountie.
Then we went to the Forks, which is basically the spot where the Assiniboine and Red River merge to become the Red River. Remember that from Social Studies, Louis Riel? And that was Winnipeg! I was surprised to find out that they have an Edmonton Street. They're one of the crazy cities that name their streets and don't number them. So confusing.
I spent Monday evening and most of Tuesday with some of the crazy people on my dad's side of the family. It was great to see them again.
Oh, and I've come to the conclusion that a specific requirement for every Canadian tourist shop is overpriced maple syrup. Three dollars for a bottle the size of a shot glass. You'd think it was liquor or gas or something.

FishingFest

Well, it's been a week since I last wrote, and we've driven a lot. After Revelstoke, we drove to Barons and slept at the headquarters (doesn't that sound cool, "headquarters"?). Dale asked if I used my scarf to "scarf" down my food, and Barrett told me that I'm "phlegmy;" so they're both in fine form. I'm not sure if I clarified, but Dale is our administrator and Barrett is our director. Anyway, they stayed in balmy Alberta and we continued on to Regina, where I was reminded that it's still winter. In Regina, our team discovered a sport called shuffleboard. I had never played before, and our host asked if we would like him to teach us. Jonathan, Reneyah, Jeremy and I played against each other while Rhonda sat back and watched (smart move). I used to think shuffleboard was only for people over fifty, but let me tell you, this was intense. I'm a fairly competitive person, as most people will tell you, and this game brought out the worst in me! I was on edge the whole time, and there was a feeling of tension in the air. And when Jeremy started doing a victory dance, ooohhhh I could have punched him. But I (graciously) restrained myself and won 2 out of 3 games, each with a different partner.
After Regina, we headed to Steinbach and did a couple sketches at the Bible college there. Then off to the Winnipeg Missionfest! That took up our weekend, but we did get to perform at Church of the Rock. It's an interesting set up there; it's an non-denominational church of about a thousand people, and they outgrew their old building and moved into a warehouse. They've redone the warehouse and it looks really good, but it's so huge! Seriously, they should start an electric cart ministry to get from one end of the building to another. So this Sunday morning we performed in front of 800-1000 people, including my aunt and cousin. I'm meeting up with some family over the next couple days, so that will be exciting. I realized that I have a LOT of family all over the country. Hopefully I'll get to see some of them while breezing my way through!
I would like to announce to everyone reading this that I, Maura, have watched an entire Superbowl game. AND enjoyed it. AND correctly predicted the winning team in the first quarter (not period, they call them quarters in football). Go New England Patriots! I also know the key differences between American and Canadian football. And that some really big guy on the Patriots makes 2 million a year. And I know what a field goal is. Trust me, these are giants steps for me.
Oh, and I'd just like to say, for the record, that I am travelling with an awesome team. They are GREAT people and I'm so glad I met them.
Quotes of the week
Reneyah: "It looks like a residential homeless cat!"
Jeremy: "Missionfest!?? I thought this was FishingFest!"
Pastor of a church in Winnipeg: "You win the Quacker award for the week."

P.S.: I highly recommend NEVER watching Dodgeball to the very end after the credits.