sorry for the lack of interesting posts this days. I can't promise much in the week to come either.
this week and the coming week i have been "très occupé" (very busy). I've been trying to catch up with all the things that slid over the holiday and trying to help re-vamp the language program with my job at Maison de l'Amitié. this means making tons of calls trying to recruit volunteers, organizing a new francophone social activities program, getting everything organized for student registration next week.
It makes of quite a lot of stress with my mcgill classes every morning and my french every evening.
but, i've been trying to take care of myself by doing yoga, eating healthily, and drinking plenty of green tea (went to Karen's at Heaven yoga for a great class yesterday morning!).

here's some quebecois slang for y'all:

jazer (jahz-é)= to chat, have an informal conversation.

example- "je jaze avec mes amies sur le téléphone"= I chat with my friends on the phone

I started my french courses this evening. i think the teacher will be really good. she's energetic and animated- which is most necessary to keep my attention at until 10pm! the class is also nice and small so we should get lots of opportunity to talk.

if you have a minute check out this link for another great article published about MIE! this is our week to shine!

to procrastinate= “tergiverser”

When I’m avoiding doing work, one of my favourite outlets for procrastination is looking at anthropology grad schools. I know I know, I’m a total geek. But it makes me really excited to see all the interesting programs out there and dream a bit of being part of one. Tonight, rather than take notes on my actual anthro readings I was poking around and found a very exciting program at Michigan State University. (btw what’s Lansing like, is it an alright city? I don’t think I’ve ever been). You do your graduate degree in Anthropology, but you can have a specialization in some very interesting interdisciplinary programs. The one that makes my mouth water is the graduate specialization in Gender, Justice, and Environment . Sounds like a perfect fusion of my three major academic interests- culture, environment and gender!

I really do need to get my focus on here though. Two tough McGill anthro courses every morning, French classes from 5:30-10 Mon-Thurs evening and my part-time job at Maison de l’Amitié will keep me on my toes for the next two months. No chance to wallow in the winter weather (which is ridiculously springy at the moment).

oh those tricky adverbs!

tant (adv)= "much"

and then the prepositions get involved!

tant de= "so much", "as much", or, in certain contexts "not only"
tant que= "as long as", "while"
tant pis!= "too bad" ("pis" alone means "worse")

not to be confused with "tante" which means aunt. or in slang means homosexual/queen/or other crude words associated with insulting gays.

there's your lesson for the day. i'm going to try to be more regular with these. and it should be easier, now that i'll be speaking more french again at work and stretching and adding to my vocabulary.
tomorrow i'm planning to go and try to sign up for level 6 of 6 of Commission Scholaire de Montreal french courses. i'll have to take the evening courses (5:30-10pm) now since i'm at mcgill every morning now. my two mcgill anthropology courses, ecological anthropology and social change in sub-Saharan africa, promise to be interesting (as well as lots of work! over 1200 pages of course readings!)

Congratulations to Sandra and Lidia, founders of MIE! They have been chosen by a montreal news paper, The Mirror, as two of their 2008 "Noisemakers." The article is below, or you can read it in original format here.
Raising the ethnic eco-consciousness
Mouvement Interculturel pour l’Environnement gets Montreal’s minority groups thinking green.
by CHRISTOPHER DEWOLF
A few years ago, Sandra Lee was a McGill marketing student with a budding interest in environmental issues. Involved with a mainstream environmental advocacy group, she found herself increasingly alienated by what she terms the “camping culture” of the people around her, not to mention the fact that she was the only visible minority in the organization.
It dawned on Lee that concern for the environment, as universal as it might seem, manifests itself in different ways for different people. “A lot of environmentalists grew up with a focus on nature, going hiking and canoeing and stuff like that. I just don’t relate to that culture at all. What I’m interested in is environmentalism as it relates to an urban setting,” she says.

Around the same time, Lidia Guennaoui, another young environmentalist, was coming to a similar realization. Shortly after she graduated with a degree in environmental studies from the Université de Montréal, Guennaoui started work in a Côte-des-Neiges Écoquartier that served immigrants from dozens of countries. She found that she lacked the resources to engage them in environmental issues.“There’s a lot of environmental education we need to do, but I realized that we don’t have the tools to do that. The tools that we have are very unilateral,” she says. “We’re at the stage now where we need to open up more and communicate. We all have our own set of cultural and social references, especially when it comes to the environment.”

Earlier this year, Lee and Guennaoui created the Mouvement Interculturel pour l’Environnement (MIE), a new group that hopes to foster cross-cultural dialogue on the environment. Guennaoui describes it as an umbrella covering various groups focusing on different ethnic communities, including Lee’s own upstart organization, Green Life, which targets Montreal’s Chinese community.
“[Our approach] is to find a person in the community that is interested in the environment and have that person develop a homegrown environmental consciousness,” explains Guennaoui. “If we do that, we can also reach the community papers, which are usually written in their languages. We don’t want to impose a certain way of thinking or acting. Our goal is for that to really come from themselves.”
Green Life is MIE’s most established example of that. Since it was founded by Lee last winter, it has entered into a partnership with the Sierra Club and gained attention from Montreal’s English and Chinese media. Lee has worked closely with Chinatown businesses to improve recycling and waste collection in the neighbourhood.
Many Chinese immigrants, especially those from mainland China, where air and water pollution are serious problems, already have a high awareness of environmental issues. The way they approach them, though, is different from non-Chinese Canadians.
Every culture has its own way of communicating, says Lee. “With Chinese people, you need a less direct, more subtle approach, with more humour. You also have to be more concrete and practical. They need something that touches their daily lives, like their health. If you ask them to save the forest, they won’t listen. It’s really a matter of how you communicate, how you package your message.”

I know this is a bit of a long post, but it's an important message i'd like to share from a friend of mine. something you can quickly do to help a great environmental organization and learn a few new things as well too!

Dear Friends,
From 2003-2004, I had the deeply enriching experience of working as the Communications Director for an innovative nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC called the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF). SELF combats both global climate change and severe poverty simultaneously by bringing solar power to rural villages in developing countries for improvements in health, education and economic well-being.
I've remained in close contact with SELF, occasionally working on contract or volunteering, and witnessing as the organization spreads its impact tremendously throughout Africa. Just this past year, SELF helped Bill Clinton and Partners in Health to solar-electrify 25 HIV clinics in rural Rwanda and Tanzania, providing health care to thousands of people living with the virus. SELF also provided solar electricity for water pumps, schools and micro-irrigation projects in other parts of Africa.

To help continue this amazing work, I'd like to share with you an incredible, seemingly "too good to be true", opportunity for you and SELF - an opportunity that will require not a penny by you and no more than 5 minutes of your time.

The Hinkle Charitable Foundation (HCF) has issued the Pure Waste Challenge to motivate you to become an agent against global warming. For each person who reads the following three primers, 'considers' pursuing any of the proposed conservation methods, and then sends an email confirmation to purewaste@thehcf.org, HCF will donate $100 to the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF). A simple challenge capable of huge results! (It doesn't matter where you are in the world:)

It's easy -- just read the text below and then write to purewaste@thehcf.org with your name, email address and a one-sentence confirmation that you read the primers, and SELF will receive $100! The Foundation has agreed to pay SELF up to $100,000 and so far 400 people have taken the challenge (so that's $40,000:). We need 600 more people! In less than five minutes, you can educate yourself on ways to help the environment, save money, AND donate to an extraordinary organization without losing a penny of your own money! There is no catch, just pure goodness all around!

Once you've taken the challenge yourself, consider forwarding this email to your friends, families and colleagues and thereby dramatically increasing your impact.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to make a difference. It's the little actions we take every day that go a long way!

Start reading here:.............

(1) Compact Fluorescent Lights Primer
Fluorescent light bulbs get a bad, and badly outdated, rap. Technological advances in the last twenty years have introduced the compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) with electronic ballast and, in the process, have eliminated three of the four most common objections to fluorescent lights.

Myth 1: Fluorescent lights flicker.
Yep, they used to. Modern CFLs, with their electronic ballasts, do not flicker.

Myth 2: Fluorescent lights are slow to start.
While CFLs don’t start at full intensity like incandescent bulbs, nearly all CFLs turn on (without flicker) instantly and reach full illumination very quickly. Of the nearly thirty different types we’ve tested, all come on instantly at close to full illumination. Only the flood light styles start at noticeably less than full illumination, but within 20 to 30 seconds they are at over 80% illumination. Interestingly, we’ve come to prefer softer initial illumination. When we enter a room the slightly softer initial illumination is more welcoming, and the CFL is easily at full illumination by the time we begin any light-dependent tasks.

Myth 3: Fluorescent lights are always cold-feeling and remind us of office lighting.
Older, standard, long fluorescent tubes do emit a cool (bluish) light (4,500+ Kelvin, see Kelvin definition below), but today there are CFLs in a complete range of hues, and many CFLs are available that produce exactly the same warm white light (2,700 to 3,000 Kelvin) as traditional incandescent bulbs.

Myth 4: Fluorescent lights won’t fit in my fixtures, candelabra, or recessed lights.
We agree that this can still be a problem in certain situations. A CFL is often not an exact size substitute for an existing incandescent bulb, but a far greater range of sizes is available than is generally realized. We’ve already successfully substituted standard, globe, flood, candelabra, three-way and dimmable bulbs. To get the widest range of shapes, it is often necessary to shop online or at a lighting store.

The EPA’s Energy Star rating, when applied to CFLs, insures the buyer of a CFL that it comes on instantly, comes quickly to full illumination, is a warm/soft white hue (unless marked otherwise on the package) and renders colors with excellent accuracy. Are CFLs the same as the traditional incandescent bulbs with which we are familiar? No. But as discussed below, they are significantly cheaper to operate in the long run, are much better for the environment, and enjoy a number of other advantages.


(2) Tankless Water Heater Primer
Hot water usage in American households consumes between 15 and 30% of a home’s energy demand, according to the US Department of Energy. Surprisingly, the technology used to heat water in the US is antiquated and highly inefficient when compared to the tankless or on-demand technologies now used regularly in Europe and Asia . This primer attempts to explain the new technology and benefits behind whole-house natural gas-fueled tankless water heaters (TWHs).

Myth 1: Only a tank can provide a large amount of hot water.
Heating a tank of hot water is neither an effective nor an efficient way to supply hot water. As hot water drains from the tank, in-flowing cold water lowers the overall temperature of the water in the tank. Traditional tank-based water heaters are not designed to heat the in-flowing cold water rapidly enough to keep the out-flowing water at a constant temperature. In contrast, properly sized TWH systems are designed to keep out-flowing water at a constant temperature.

Myth 2: A tankless hot water system can’t provide enough continuous hot water for an entire household.
The reality is that the heat-exchanger technology used in TWHs is specifically designed to provide a full and inexhaustible flow of appropriately heated water to an entire household.

Myth 3: Tankless water heaters must heat the water so hot that it is dangerous to use them.
Actually this fear is more relevant to traditional tank-based water heaters than to TWH systems. Tankless systems are safer to operate since they heat the water to only slightly above the level of intended use. Traditional tank-based water heaters have to overheat the stored water so that it will remain hot enough as the in-flowing cold water mixes with it.

Myth 4: Tankless water heating systems cost more to operate.
Like any profitable investment there is an immediate outlay of cash, but when you factor in the lower operating cost and longer (20-year) service life, TWHs save their owners a substantial amount of money. In fact, it is difficult to construct a scenario where owners of a new natural gas TWH system will earn a return on investment of less than 45%.


(3) Anti-Idling Primer
Old habits are hard to break. To most, idling a car may seem fairly innocuous, but it is actually detrimental to the modern automotive engine, wastes gasoline, and is often done based on mistaken assumptions or outdated logic, or simply out of habit. Each day, Americans waste approximately 3.8 million gallons of gasoline by voluntarily idling their cars. While all idling is bad for the car engine, this primer addresses only voluntary idling, which occurs when the car is not actually being driven in traffic. (Of course, the best way to address involuntary idling, which occurs in traffic, is to buy a hybrid, but we realize that most people are not yet ready to sell their conventional cars and replace them with non-idling hybrids.) There are, however, easy steps owners of conventional cars can take to help the cause.

Myth 1: Cars should run in an idling mode for several minutes before being driven.
Wrong. Modern engines do not need more than a few seconds of idling time before they can be driven safely. Moreover, the best way to warm up a car is to drive it, since that warms up the catalytic converter and other mechanical parts of the car, in addition to the engine.

Myth 2: Each time you start your car you waste more gasoline than if you let it idle.
Wrong. Automotive engines do not operate efficiently when they idle. Experts say there is a maximum 10 second break-even rule. If you are idling longer than 10 seconds, both you and the engine are better off if the engine is turned off and restarted.

Myth 3: Repeatedly restarting your car is hard on the engine and quickly drains the battery.
Wrong. Frequently restarting your engine does negligible damage to the engine and does not drain modern batteries excessively. In fact, the opposite is true; idling an engine forces it to operate in a very inefficient and gasoline-rich mode that, over time, can degrade the engine’s performance and reduce mileage.

When not actively driving, people tend to idle their cars largely for one of two reasons: either to warm up the engine before driving or to avoid wear and tear on the engine in situations that require frequent restarting, such as drive-through service lines, rail crossings, car wash lines, carpool lines, and departure from concerts and sporting events, or while talking to friends or using the cell phone. By understanding the effects of idling and reducing the practice, you can improve your car’s performance, save money, and reduce needless carbon dioxide emissions.

Now that you've read the three primers, please write to purewaste@thehcf.org with your name, email address and a one-sentence confirmation that you read the primers, and SELF will receive $100!

hello friends! the holidays have been quite splendid in montreal thanks to my four lovely visitors. I hope that you have had equally joyous festivities. happy new year! may the new year bring you health, understanding, and many opportunities to follow your bliss.
much love.

"joncher"= strew, scatter across
i just read this new word in a saddening context. it was referring to bodies being scatter across the street in a bombing in Pakistan. "Des corps jonchaient le sol après l'attentat de jeudi."
This bombing killed Ex-President Benizir Bhutto, as well as 20 bystanders this morning. I am disturbed to read of death and bodies of the dead being described in such a casual way, as if they were no more than clothing scattered across a room. in the reporting there is too often disregard for the sacredness of an individual's life and death.

when will the suicide-bombings stop? when will we have world leaders that are come to power through merit rather than corruption? when will citizen's voices be heard in ways other than through violence?

in canada, today is boxing day. in french "le lendemain de Noël" (lan-de-ment).
no, it doesn't refer to the sport. here's an explanation of the origins of boxing day for you american folks, according to wikipedia :

Boxing Day is a traditional celebration, dating back to the Middle Ages, and consists of the practice of giving out gifts to employees, the poor, or to people in a lower social class. The name has numerous folk etymologies[3]; the Oxford English Dictionary attributes it to the Christmas box; the verb box meaning: "To give a Christmas-box (colloq.); whence boxing-day." Outside the Commonwealth, the day is celebrated with a different name.

Folk etymologies- The more common stories include:
- It was the day when people would give a present or Christmas box to those who had worked for them throughout the year.
In feudal times, Christmas was a reason for a gathering of extended families. All the serfs would gather their families in the manor of their lord, which made it easier for the lord of the estate to hand out annual stipends to the serfs. After all the Christmas parties on 26 December, the lord of the estate would give practical goods such as cloth, grains, and tools to the serfs who lived on his land. Each family would get a box full of such goods the day after Christmas. Under this explanation, there was nothing voluntary about this transaction; the lord of the manor was obliged to supply these goods. Because of the boxes being given out, the day was called Boxing Day.
- In England many years ago, it was common practice for the servants to carry boxes to their employers when they arrived for their day's work on the day after Christmas. Their employers would then put coins in the boxes as special end-of-year gifts. This can be compared with the modern day concept of Christmas bonuses. The servants carried boxes for the coins, hence the name Boxing Day.
- In churches, it was traditional to open the church's donation box on Christmas Day, and the money in the donation box was to be distributed to the poorer or lower class citizens on the next day. In this case, the "box" in "Boxing Day" comes from that lockbox in which the donations were left.

Unfortunately, capitalism has managed to ruin any charitable implications Boxing day once may have had. Now it's a huge, crazy shopping day. Everything that didn't get sold before christmas goes on sale, and consumers go nuts. as if we really need more stuff after all the things we've got for christmas! again, according to wiki, " In Canada, Boxing Day 2005 was the single largest economic transaction day ever in the history of Canadian commerce (according to Visa). Individual big box stores can even gross over CAD$1,000,000 on one single Boxing Day."
And despite being a statutory holiday, since i'm a retail slave, i'm heading off to work. on the bright side, at least the christmas music won't be playing anymore!

Its weird to think back, it doesn’t seem so long ago yet it does, when I was still living at home. When we were all together.
We’d go to church Christmas eve, sing, light the candles during silent night and the church would be all aglow, and feel warm and safe and perfect. We’d go home, make fondue, this is of course was in the years before I stopped eating half the food groups. Mum would read a book with beautiful watercolour illustrations and a happy message. I’d have lit the candles, the tree was decorated with out favourite ornaments. The ones we'd made in preschool. The orange one, ben made, shaped like a ginger bread man, made of baked play dough and the head is a round picture of his head, so cute young smiley. The white half foam snowball with my picture in the centre, with a horrible boy bull haircut and a gappy smile, sequins around the edges and a green pipe cleaner to attach it to the tree.
Christmas morning, I could yell at ben to wake him up and he wouldn't even be grouchy. We’d open the stockings and the presents and eat pastries from rachel’s and drink hot cocoa. We’d load up the car. Usually me last one to get with all my projects for the day together- my knitting, beading, books. At 125 hollywood, the fire would be crackling already when we arrived. Gram and gramps would have a prickly little tree up with doily starched white ornaments and coloured lights. we’d eat and eat and eat- that beautiful cherry round bread from aunt marilyn. and hard cheddar and crackers and nuts and toffees and norie and I would eat a whole box of mandarin oranges just by ourselves. We’d open more presents, we’d play scrabble, do puzzles, call cousin joe. remember how he’d send us those crazy gifts like fake fingernails and farting machines and worms that pop out of tubes? In the afternoon we’d be so warm and full and sleepy in the sun of the huge windows. So happy, so satisfied.
In that moment, I guess I never dreamed that it would or could be any other way. It’s so different now, its not worse, its not that we’re not doing good things, not that we’re not a family anymore. But I do miss it. I miss our family all living on the same continent, in one house. I miss being in goshen.
I'm learning that i can miss all this without wanting anything to be different from how it is, right now.
merry christmas, dear family and friends. my love to you all.