The Canasta Club

Sore throat, plugged sinuses, and a head that feels like a watermelon being swung around from the end of a rope that someone is about to launch in a trajectory over a very high wall. But misses, and hits the wall - smack.

For once I'm not talking about Brent. This time it's me that couldn't hold the cold bug at bay.

But, it allows me a decent excuse to postpone finishing a particularly long application, and write to all of you!

I guess I really have last night to thank. I was starting to come down with something, but rather than staying in, having some hot soup and an early night with my hubby, Brent and I succumbed to the attraction of a rare social event, and the promise of meeting new people. Moving to a new place, these opportunities cannot afford to be passed-by for long, as after a while they may stop coming!

So we walked a block or two to a friend of a friend's sister's house, met her and her Guatemalan boyfriend and we were soon off to meet Javier's step-mother (the host), and their gang of friends for an evening of food, drink, and a bit of...card playing? Ok, I was thinking poker, or maybe blackjack... something I may not know how to play, but really should. We arrived at a cute bungalow in the neighbourhood of Kensington (the name says it all). A delicious dinner of fresh tortillas, salad and fixin's was provided, along with a fridge full of cold beer, wine and other assorted alcohols. There were eight of us in total - most of the group were architects, and we hailed from Canada, Guatemala, the Dominican, Mexico, and the US. We arrived at 7, and even during the delicious meal, it was apparent that people were antsy to get on with the game. It was then that we were informed that this was a gang of true-blue, die-hard, born-again fans of ... CANASTA! (they actually admitted to withholding the name of the game in case we thought they were a group of little old ladies)

Though I don't know that many grannies could have put up with the fervor of that game! There was shouting and cursing and begging and threats and even a little karaoke! It was a blast, and despite feeling under the weather, I had a great time. However, for die-hard Canasta fans, time is inconsequential. One of the players had just finished her final architecture exams and her thesis was due in a week - but miss Thursday night Canasta? Never! Brent's eyes began drooping around 11pm, and my throat began to require pain-killing lozenges at 5 min intervals, but still the game went on. Finally, as I was willing the Brent's team to cross the 5,000 pt threshold to reunite me with my bed, my team got two Canasta's to win the game. It was 12:40am. We had been playing Canasta for nearly 5 hours! We stumbled in our door around 1am unsure whether we will ever have the strength to play cards again. But next Thursday - same time, same place? Sure!

In other news, yesterday was also my orientation to volunteer with IRC. I'm going to be working with the Program Manager for two gender-focused programming areas doing monitoring and evaluation. I think it will be a good fit, and she seemed happy to have my help, which is nice. I will have to be careful that between IRC and the other NGOs I've been contacting that I don't suddenly have more work than I can handle, but for the time being, this is what I was hoping for.

Well, I think I've procrastinated on my application long enough. This weekend we're heading to one of SD's beach communities with our friends Jan and Don (they claim that there's a cute spot with $6 pitchers to wile away a sunny Saturday afternoon). Then on Monday we're off to Phoenix, Arizona for a conference/training Brent is attending. I will be busy monitoring and evaluating the hotel's pool-side lounge chairs.

Until next time!
Jen