Last Saturday was a very special day for me. For the first time, I felt like a true Newfoundlander, or as some might say, a true "Newfie." On this special day, I got to experience and immerse myself in the culture like never before. Here is how my day panned out:
1) I woke up around 8:00 to fishcakes, some eggs, and Canadian maple syrup to go along with some Newfoundland moose sausages :)
2) I then proceeded to head to the farmers market, where I talked and learned more about the aboriginal people from Newfoundland--the Beothuks--, looked at local art, saw some local produce, and heard the unique Newfoundland phrase-- "What are you at?". Upon hearing the phrase, I silently thought to myself--"This is it."
3) I then rode the bike back to the home, where Eilis and Dwight (my host parents) waited on me so that we could all head out to Middle Cove. Middle cove represents Newfoundland to me. I will explain more in pictures later.
4) I went on a hike along the beach with Dwight and Eilis, which ended up with me picking wild cranberries on the side of a hill with two Newfoundlanders. Pick one and eat two.
5) After the beach, we headed off to Portugal Cove, and lo and behold, we almost ran into two moose crossing the street!
6) Upon arriving at the restaurant in Portugal Cove, I sat outside and waited for Dwight to order our food. As I sat out in the cold, shivering with my swimsuit on, I looked at the older guy next to me and said, "It's cold out, eh?". This alone made my night. Canadians love to use this word, and I've been wanting to use it ever since I arrived. I couldn't help but smile after my successful use of "eh".
7) We ate "fish and chips" as the sun settled over the harbor. Come on.
8) I watched hockey with the host family when i got home!
What a beautiful, well rounded Newfoundland day. I couldn't have experienced all of this if I tried. It was a pretty divine day, I'd say. Everything just worked out. I was in the right place at the right time the entire day. There was no escaping Newfoundland life on this sunny, Newfoundland day.
Some Pictures:
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| Middle Cove. This is my view to the left. |
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| This is the view to the right of Middle Cove. |
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| Huge waves crashed against the side of this rock all day. The magnitude of these waves don't truly show in this picture. So much power. |
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| Beautifully coloured and smoothed rocks. |
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| A nice place to hang out with "man's best friend." |
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| Trying to capture the power of these waves. |
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| The view from the trail. This might of been my favourite trail of the trip. Notice how blogger made me spell favourite--the Canadian way. |
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| Dwight and Eilis up in front; massive waves, rock formations, and wild cranberries in the distance. |
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| As I mentioned earlier, it was a divine day. |
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| "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." |
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| Just behind the rushing waves, I see this. So, I head up to them and see what they are up to. "There are loads of wild cranberries up here," she says. "I picked 3 gallons yesterday." |
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| Wild Cranberries. As I sat and took this picture, I had to make sure my feet were stable underneath me so that I would not fall 15 feet into the rocks and rushing waves behind me! |
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| Me and the bag of Cranberries that I picked. Not sure what I was up to here...other than trying not to fall! |
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| Heading back to middle cove. Let the camp-fires begin. |
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| A nice little get together on the beach. The thought of coming to a place like this with my family and having dinner over a bonfire makes my heart full. |
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| "Be still, and know that I am God." People sit and gather in awe of what is in front of them. There are times like these when you can't help but just be still.
I hope you enjoyed the little adventure I was able to take last Saturday. What a wonderful life it is.
Sincerely,
Benjamin
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