The adventures of a self-declared permanent student

Pohénéganomook

Say that 3 times fast! I`ll make it easier (poh hey ney gan oh mook) . It`s an outdoor-resort type place in a small village (yes smaller than Rivièrè-du-Loup) that sits right on the edge of the lake of the same name (You THINK I want to type that word again? True, it`s a quick copy and paste job, but with the craziness that is the keyboard of Quebec, there`s no way in all heck that I`m going to try). Anyways, it`s of course rainy and grey, as it has been for a week, and will be for the next week. I brought my bathing suit because someone said something about a hot tub, and I thought «why the hell not?». Yes, it was only 12 degrees, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Anyways, We were divvied up into groups and My group was slotted into 2 activities: Rabasca & Sauna (there were others, Tai Chi, Facials, and Archery that we didn`t get to do, but the sauna was a blast, I`ll get to it in a bit).

Rabasca is just one extremely large canoe. There were about 20 people in the canoe and we paddled across the lake which was cold and we were all in our rain coats, but tons of fun. The big macho guys at the front of the canoe were the funniest, having no idea what to do and just stopping paddling when they got frustrated. Oh city slickers. Which is funny because I haven`t been canoeing in a rally long time, but I still know how to do it!

The second activity was called simply «Sauna». Alors, I thought it was just going to be a hot tub. Not so! It was indeed a sauna with a wood furnace and hot rocks. There were about 10 of us who crammed into the sauna and just sat there and sweat for about 10-15 minutes. We didn`t put any water on the rocks, it`s simply a dry sauna, and we drank lots of water to keep ourselves hydrated because we sweat a LOT! When we were so hot that we couldn`t stand it anymore, we jumped in the lake. Well, it was a set of stairs, so it was more walking, but same difference. My legs and body got wet and/or splashed, and if you stay in too long, it`s actually very painful to walk! Then right back into the sauna. This time we threw some water on the rocks, and the heat was so intense!! It only took me about five minutes to get sweaty enough to go back into the lake. We did this about 3 times total (some 4, not me!) and then changed and met everyone for a good old fashioned cafeteria dinner (mmmm .... memories of first year. I think I ate fish, but I`m not too sure). I found myself on some of the beaches (not really sandy or swimable beaches, but just on the shore) while these two guys played French music (it was a little loud and he sounded a little too much like a French Chad Kroeger for me to enjoy him that much) back by the cafeteria. I managed to catch a somewhat mangled «Save Tonight» as originally performed by Eagle-eye Cherry (what an awesome name. I always liked his sister Neneh), and then on to the bus. The grand aspirations of going out that night were dashed by the 40 minute ride, as my head hit the pillow that night, I was down for the count.

Sunday was an equally awesome day. I met my friends at the local café (which is the place to be) and we went for another walk around the Parc-au-chutes (the hydro dam), where we hiked for about an hour before returning home. It got sunny for about 5 minutes, but it was nice in the two weeks of projected rain that we get to see that the sun still does exist somewhere up there. For dinner we had hamburgers, but instead of putting ketchup & mustard on it, Sonya (my Quebecoise mèrè) made a `traditional` sauce of mayonaise, catalina sauce, vinegar and oil that you douce the hamburger in (on top of the bun) and then eat it with a knife and fork. wierd, but pretty tasty. We then did the traditional sunday drive in Gilles` beautiful white car (I know it`s a jaguar, but no idea what make or model). He only takes it out on weekends, and it was kind of fun to be in a nice car like that and drive along the river. One twisty cone of soft ice cream later we were back home and again I was pooped. This is turning out to be quite the experience!!

À demain!!

posted by Jenn @ 12:23 p.m.