#300

Update! It is hard to believe, but this exact post will be my 300th for this blog overall. I'm very appreciative of those who have taken the time to read, comment, and give feedback on my stories, opinions, videos, music, and personal experiences over the past 5 years. My postings have obviously slowed down, however I still love to occasionally write and express certain thoughts—which are so often unspoken and unshared with those around me in real time. So thank you, whether you check-in once in a while or have been here since the beginning, my peers, friends, and family!

Much love.

p.s. MERRY CHRISTMAS! I'm a little late, but I'm recording a rendition of "O Come O Come Emmanuel" that I performed with a couple friends at our Church for its Christmas Eve services. Hopefully I can share that with you ASAP. 

And stay tuned for my 'Top Albums of the Year' post coming SOOOOON! It's been a fantastic year of music.

Christmas Cheer and a Joyous New Year to you!

Belize Bound! So Long! Farewell! (Chapter Five)

For our last couple days, we spent our time in the company of the Machaca staff, volunteers, and students. Sunday, we went down the highway to a local church gathering in the morning, and in the evening, took in Machaca's service at their own café in downtown Punta Gorda.
 

A wall mural at the café feat. a song based on Ezekiel 37:1-10.

'Di BoneVille Café' was its name, based on the bible verses of Ezekiel 37:1-10. Newly renovated and about to be opened up to the citizens of PG! A perfect place to witness and hang out with the locals. Serving delicious food, drinks, and playing games and füssball. A drop-in centre essentially.

The next day, we decided to act like true tourists and go into town to buy some souvenirs. The markets were only set up til mid day, so we searched quickly for the best hammock deal we could find. After a few stops, we found our man and a technicoloured masterpiece was our prize. Along with other little souvenirs and a couple more hammocks (for good measure), we walked to the bus stop to catch a ride back to Machaca. On the way, Papa Jop (the elderly white Jehovah's Witness who made our delicious pizza two nights ago) passed by. He yelled while riding his bicycle, basket filled to the brim, trying to sell his sweet rolls and cheese buns. What a guy.

During the off days at Machaca, Willie and I hung around the gym, playing volleyball, soccer, and basketball with whoever was around. So that's what we did when there wasn't anything for us to do. On this day, we taught some visitors "Bump" and also played 3v3 volleyball with a group of teens from town (one kid had quite the vertical and could spike shockingly well, so it felt extra good to block him. Displaying some quality Canadian volleyball skill in doing so... as well as competitiveness). When we were too sweaty and drenched from the humid temperature, Willie and I retreated and read in our cabin. We heard purring and thought nothing of it, but later realized that there weren't any "house" cats at the camp... Apparently, Jaguarundi inhabit the bushes next to our cabin. Cool, actual wild cats, not stray "pets" with supposed owners.

After supper, when it was dark enough, we headed for the pit in the field to talk and play guitar around the bonfire. The only source of light for miles was our fire, everything else was lit up by the stars; literally billions of them, all visible. No moon to be seen, just a labyrinth of stars. We saw the most we've ever seen. Galaxies were strewn every which way as we took in the 360˚ gaze above. A ghoulish sound interrupted our awe. Howler monkeys. Their creepy hollow screeches resonated from miles away. Hearing these new wild sounds served as a reminder of how foreign we actually were. That realization is quite the feeling: the sense of adventure.

This was our final night of the trip, and still we had yet to stumble upon a snake. If you could remember (from the second chapter), we were told to check the other side of every log before we stepped over, just in case there was a coiled-up snake. Common, we thought they were! Well, my Dad and Don at least got a minor scare... While Willie and I were at the bonfire the whole time, my Dad and Don visited a local residence to check up on a girl who needed medical attention. On the drive there, they ran over something snake-like and decided to reverse back a bit to see what it was. Sure enough, the long snake was scrunched-up in it's coils, lying still. Unsure if it was dead or not, Don leaned out of his window with his flashlight to confirm their suspicions. It featured dark yellow-diamond blotches and was indeed a deadly Fer de Lance (Bothrops asper), the ultimate, venomous pit viper. Just as he was noting it's deadliness, the viper sprung up and lashed out at him. Startled badly, Don floored it out of there! The Fer de Lance is known to eject venom from it's fangs at a distance of at least 6 feet!!! In fact, these snakes are so dangerous that even a small bite could result in an entirely crippled limb. A worse bite could be fatal. Scary stuff. On our way to the Mayan Ruins a few days before (in chapter three), we filled up the van at a gas station, and the employee actually had a crippled hand from a Fer de Lance bite; again (Life Lesson #54), be careful where you swing your machete!
My Dad and Don's close call had definitely fulfilled our snake-encounter quota for the trip, and made us wonder what was under our cabin at night a little too much when we went to bed!

On our last day, we packed up and finally had to say our goodbyes. One last game of tetherball was needed, along with pictures, hugs, and blessings. Homeward bound, we were. The time we shared at Machaca and in the Southern Toledo district will be remembered dearly! It was such a blast to travel and just be with my Dad and brother on such an exciting trip, which gifted a fresh environment and culture for us. Who knows, we might find ourselves down there more sooner than later.

... You better BELIZE IT!

S.T.T.I's Class of 2012 at Machaca

Our goodbye photo with Cliff, Luke, and Don.

Willie taking it all in.

Enjoy the final vlog installment!

Belize Bound! So Long! Farewell! (Chapter Five) from MannyG on Vimeo.

Music:
Ben Howard - "Only Love"
 ~~~
p.s. Wow, it has been seven months since our amazing trip to Belize. It took me a long time to finish this series of posts, but it has been a joy to continuously relive the memories for every single one of these five segments. I'm glad I stuck with it for my family's sake! And now, maybe I'll be free from my conscience to blog more... We'll see! Ha

Ciao for now!

Belize Bound! The Cayes of Belize (Chapter Four)

On our fourth day in Belize, we got up early and drove down to Punta Gorda for a day trip to the Cayes [Keys] (the many islands between the mainland and the barrier reef), all of which are a leisurely boating distance from shore. We went with an American family with three kids who have been staying and helping out at Machaca for the past little while. Physically, the blondest family ever (as you'll see in the vlog).

Patrick, a young Belizean, was our tour guide along with his even younger assistant. Both knew the Cayes' inside and out, especially the prime fishing and snorkeling spots. Fishing was our first stop as Patrick anchored the boat and pulled out a bucket of these rustic looking, nylon-raveling, wooden handles. We hooked some bits of fish flesh then unraveled the nylon lines into the sea, tugging when we felt the presence of a hovering snapper. Red snappers to be exact, scaly and snappy with a spine dorsal fin. It took Willie the longest to catch one, and everybody cheered once he eventually did! The fearless Bubba (the youngest of the three kids) was actually raking in the most fish. He was so excited to the point of flinging himself hard from the side of the boat onto the floor, landing on his knees in a triumphant fashion. Crazy kid.

From fishing we motored on to another island to check out the lighthouse where TIDE's HQ was; a conservation organization for the cayes' wildlife and environment. It was beautiful to climb to the top and look out over all the surrounding area.

Snorkeling was next on the agenda! I had never done it before so it was awesome maneuvering in between the coral and seeing all the colourful fish darting into the tiny holes and cracks. Once you got over the fact that there were barracuda amongst you, it was smooth sailing. The sun was our biggest threat however, and my back paid dearly. (We didn't head to the barrier reef because it was much pricier and about 20 more miles by boat unfortunately.)
After we had our fill of snorkeling we went out to deeper waters to swim. Patrick swam pretty far to dive many meters for conch shells (you'll see his assistant holding one in the vlog that he brought back). During this time, Jeremy, the dad of the family we were with, ended up diving down with a mask only to spring back up in a panic. He quickly swam back to the boat and explained his terror. A barracuda swimming underneath him stopped to look up, stared at him, and started to draw closer! ... I know I would freak out. Who knows if it was the same one, but after our swim, we put a hunk of meat on a line, trolled the boat and luckily caught a barracuda. Patrick wrestled in the heavy line and bludgeoned the thing as it tried to flail free. It's teeth were jagged and it's eyes were cold. Scary creatures.

Our last stop out on the sea was this thatch hut, small island resort. It featured a breezy bar/restaurant that was onlooking the dock with an aquarium. It oozed retirement. Or maybe just a nice getaway! An iguana we saw on shore about 3-4 feet long was definitely enjoying its stay, as it lazily chilled out in the sun.

Willie's allergies had kicked in so we decided to call it a day and head back to Punta Gorda. Although once we got home to Machaca, we went with Don and Cliff to visit another resort named Hickatee Cottages, a Bed & Breakfast spot hidden in a deep pocket of the rain forest. The British husband and wife owners were once students of Don and Cliff's at Machaca. They decided to come back some years later and build their own little cottage oasis (getting some notice from travel magazines too). As we arrived, we walked in on a local Galifuna drummer playing for the guests on the restaurant's veranda. It was super tribal-esque, and even the British husband had his own drum to join in. When the drum lesson was finished and the guests went on with their night, we hung around to talk with the owners. They offered us free drinks so we all asked for Sprite, but the husband somehow mistook Cliff's order for a beer. I jumped at the opportunity to try the local brew. Belikin, Mayan Temple beer. Mmmm, 'twas really good. Good enough for me to buy a shirt at the airport when we left, and yes it did say "You Better BELIZE It!" on the back.

After seeing and gawking at our first tarantula of the trip, we hopped back into the van and took off back to Machaca for the night; making a pit stop at Papa Jop's, the local Jehovah's Witness, for a pizza for the road. It was delicious.

Here's the vlog, enjoy! Stay tuned for the last chapter!

Belize Bound! The Cayes of Belize (Chapter Four) from MannyG on Vimeo.

Music:
Architecture in Helsinki - "Escapee"
Metric - "Reflection #9"

Belize Bound! Mayan Ruins & Local Futbol (Chapter Three)

  On our third day down in Belize we got the opportunity to visit one of the many famous archaeological sites of Mayan Ruins with Don. Lubaantun (pronounced Lou-bawn-tune with a mysterious low accent) was where we tread upon and where they found the biggest of those perplexing, perfect crystal skulls. You know, the whole Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull spiel. WAS IT EXTRATERRESTRIALS WHO CRAFTED THEM??!?!?! Who knows... Maybe the end of 2012 is when they'll return, and that is what the Mayans were referring to when they ended their calendar!!! Eerrrrrrrrie (I love speculation). Anyway, we went and saw the rubble of genius craftsmanship from the Mayans. They apparently built their structures in a way that would prevent disaster from the many earthquakes in that age.

 

  A solid structure was assured by carving the end of each stone to wrap around the next to prohibit them from shifting. Pretty savvy!

  Our guide also showed us the grassy strip/lane where the Mayans had this fight to the death event. Those who were chosen would battle and the winner was even sacrificed to the "gods". Crafted stone helmets and stone knuckles were used in the fight, and these were on display in the tour hut as well, with all the Crystal Skull articles.

  The trees around and within the ruins were massive. Two types in particular were extremely interesting: Rubber and "Tourist" trees. The rubber trees seeped their leaky, milk-coloured latex sap, which is natural rubber of course. You will see a couple photos of this in my vlog below! Super cool. When the substance dries and hardens you can stretch it like those miniature Stretch Armstrongs we all loved as kids (I still love them! Can you even find them anymore?). The "Tourist" trees were self-explanatory as well (at least to the locals)... Tall, thin, and sun-burnt red! Hilarious. There's also a photo of one in the vlog!

  Another highlight was when we found a killer bees nest, extremely alive, in a tree cavity on site. I pretty much held my breath while passing it. I realized that I should get some video of them though, so you'll see that too in the vlog (don't worry, I kept a safe distance).

  When we left the site, many of the local women came down to the stream just before our van and laid out all their handcrafted souvenirs for purchase (they catch wind of tourist presence and rush over to set up camp to sell their gifts). We declined this time though and continued toward our van, which was parked up on the inevitably muddy hill. This was a problem. Don's 15-seater van was no match for the slant and muddiness of the hill. My Dad, Willie, and I all got behind the van and pushed while Don tried to make it to solid ground. We almost made it without any muddy casualties, however... my Dad, with a final shove, lost his footing and ended up face first in the mud! Willie and I loved it, as well as the local women who were watching from their souvenir spots. My Dad, being himself, laughed it off and hopped back in the van as quickly as he could. Fun times.

  We got back to the Machaca Center for lunch (the classic of chicken and fried beans on rice) to find out that one of the staff family's son, Austin (8 years old), almost cut off his big toe with his machete. The day before, he was bragging about killing snakes with it and now there he was, almost without his right big toe! The doctors are pretty sketchy down in Belize. The one they had gone to didn't want to stitch up the severed toe. Luckily, the nurse rightfully interjected and did it herself. Ridiculous! They only care if they're paid extra down there.

As Lindsey put it well...

Life Lesson: When wielding a machete, always swing away from yourself!

  Machetes are common tools down in Central America. It's always handy to have one with you when you're in the bush; just in case a snake is within striking distance. Seeing someone hacking the surrounding bush with their machete (for no apparent reason) is a regular occurrence, and it's awesome.

  Anyway, I will conclude this chapter with my soccer experience down in Punta Gorda. That afternoon, after our Mayan Ruins adventure, Willie and I went into town to play soccer with a local Grade 8 class. We brought plenty of soccer balls to give to the children and took to the field, splitting the class into three teams to play a mini world cup tournament. The field was (to no surprise) MUDDY! So we all ran around barefoot, kicking the ball in and out of the mud. They called us the "Big White Sirs". The joy on the kids faces was priceless.

  We also got the chance to play with a local club team a couple nights later. I brought my white indoor turf cleats down and obviously got them drenched with mud. So other than that hindrance, it was super fun to play with those guys. At first, they were hesitant to pass the ball to me because they didn't know my skill level (I also do not look like a fluent futbol player), but after a few touches they realized that I was decent. I was dubbed "The Ostrich" because of my lanky running figure. They couldn't get over it! We also gave the team a bunch of Phoenix jerseys (a Winnipeg Youth Soccer Club), which they could use for their league games.

  Here's the next vlog... It's just some snippets of what I've been talking about in this chapter. Enjoy. Ciao for now!

Belize Bound: Mayan Ruins & Local Futbol (Chapter Three) from MannyG on Vimeo.

This is my third installment of our trip down to Belize! We checked out the Mayan Ruins of Lubaantun, and also had fun playing soccer with a local Grade 8 class and a local club team. This video just shows some small snippets of the experience, nothing too elaborate! Enjoy!

Music:
Of Monsters and Men - "From Finner"

Belize Bound! A Whole New World (Chapter Two)

From the tiny Punta Gorda airport, we were picked up by the crew. Hopping into one of their vans, we then made the trek to their site. First of all, the main highways are nicely paved, but the side roads are vastly potholed (worse than expected). At the beginning it was funny when we hit our heads on the roof of the van, but by the end of the week we were road sick every time! It didn't help that our drivers would swerve and weave around the craters at suddenly decreased/increased speeds.
We arrived at their spacious Machaca Outreach Center (not pronounced Ma-cha-cha as my Dad hilariously mistook it to be, but Ma-cha-ka) where we would be staying for the next week. The place was located in a massive clearing, surrounded by lush rainforest. We have friends from London, ON (Don and Cliff) who also run a Technical College on site, and Don would keep reminding us that he had pretty much built everything there. Impressive; the buildings included a gymnasium with a basketball and volleyball court (all regulation, I was assured), dining hall, women's two-story dorm cabin, a few men's cabins, the outdoor technical college work hut, and ~5 house cabins (p.s. the gym, dining hall, and college work space were all practically outdoors with the exception of roofs). It was greatly developed, yet still contained the Belizean culture and feel. It was quite the place. The cabin where we slept felt like a classic anthropological setting. A long, four-roomed, stilted place with a screened-in hall/lobby area, wooden floors and walls, and a red, tin roof. The concrete stilts are needed because of flash flooding as well as for wildlife of course. On average Belize gets ~140-200 inches of rainfall per year! You better BELIZE IT (Ha, gotcha with the pun)! Every night it would pour, and I mean POUR! Plus, it wasn't even the rainy season when we were there... yikes. The downpours would arrive in increments of 10-15 minutes as well. So there would be breaks in between of nothing, then it would start up again. It was very hard to get to sleep, or get back to sleep! They said that sometimes, if they needed to get to the airport the next day, they would go into town the night before just in case the road became a river and they couldn't get across!
Rain also means mud... I'll get to a funny story in my next chapter.

You may be wondering what the reason was for us being there... Communication isn't the directors' forté, so only one thing was for certain: My Dad would be speaking on mental health and lecturing the staff on how to deal with the people involved in their ministry. Machaca is presently running a discipleship program for young adults/youth who have come from a troubled past of drug addiction. Even some of the staff have been down a troublesome road, and it was amazing to see how they had turned their lives around, credited to God's love, grace, and help (I would tell you some stories, but I do not believe it is my place to share those here!) The program is 12 months long from January to December and is based on Christian leadership development. A lot of these young adults/youth are from the directors' church back in California, so this program is to separate them from their past lifestyle and have them start-a-new in a drug-free environment (some are local Belizeans as well). They are mentored by the staff, trained biblically, help run a cafe/church in the town, and interact with the local community. For those who are interested, in the first month of the program Don and Cliff teach a trades course (either electrical, construction, etc.), then do a final group building project in one of the surrounding communities with the students. The primary focus is to teach/certify local Belizeans to equip them with the knowledge needed to help develop their own communities.

p.s. Much to our surprise, an old family friends' son was also there volunteering with the course, so it was great to catch up with him and see what he was up to as well.

We arrived during this course, so Willie and I did not have much to volunteer for at the centre. I took Grade 9 electronics, but I did not want to go near all of their practice circuit boards. In fact, our first day there we found a bat near death, struggling and flapping beneath one of the boards (you'll see some pictures in the second vlog). Bats weren't the only thing we discovered down there. The amount of species that live in the rainforest boggles my mind. Don went on and on and on, listing all of the creatures he has ran into, as well as those he thankfully hasn't ran into! So I'll list them here for you as well... Enjoy:

Jaguars, Jaguarundis (mini jags), Tarantulas, Tarantula Wasps, Iguanas (up to 7 feet), Barracudas, Tapirs, Killer Bees, Armadillos, Lizards, Jesus Lizards, Basilisks (not the Harry Potter kind), Manatees, Scorpions, Mighty Termites, Mighty Cockroaches (massive), Army/Fire Ants, Howler Monkeys, Fireflies (hundreds), Coral Snakes, Fer-de-Lance Vipers, Parrots, Vampire Bats, and MORE. UnBELIZEable.

They had it all. We were fascinated by the stories Don and Cliff told. Even walking around on site led to encounters with many new and exciting insects or animals. Whether it was parrots flying overhead, hearing playful growling in the bushes (jagurandis), stepping over a line of army ants (who marched nonstop all day in this line of who knows how many metres), or seeing a 4-inch long wasp stumble about unpredictably in the air. We were also told to always look on the other side of rocks or logs when we were walking because there could be a poisonous snake (fer-de-lance, or coral) coiled and waiting. However, our biggest shock came the first night when we were about to go to bed. But I'll let my second vlog tell/show the story of our first ever SCORPION experience... Check it OUT!


Belize Bound: A Whole New World (Chapter Two) from MannyG on Vimeo.
We arrived at the Machaca Outreach Center in the coastal tropical rainforest region of Punta Gorda, Belize. Creatures galore, we couldn't have imagined how many different types of species lived down there. In this second installment, we check out the center's site as well as some creature interaction. Enjoy!

Music:
Grouplove - "Tongue Tied"
The Antlers - "No Widows" (Daytrotter Session)

Belize Bound! BON VOYAGE! (Chapter One)

As you may have noticed by now, I work at my own pace. That said, I'm kind of disappointed that it has taken me this long to get going on blogging about my incredible experience in Belize. So let's get this show on the road!

~~~

BUD LIGHT, MILLER LIGHT, HEINEKEN... CAAHHHH-ROHHNA! This beer seller was serious. He would walk up and down the steep aisle with an intense glare that would charm American bills out of anyone's pockets. A few people in front of us were finally coaxed and hailed him over. They ordered a few Bud Lights and asked how much it would cost them. The man as he poured the second of the two, exclaimed, "$27!" They were choked... "I guess it's too late now," one of the guys said as he forked over two twenties. He replied, "These are King Cans, boys!" and went off for his next sale... "BEER, HERE! BEER... HERE!" 
Too funny!

We were at the Miami Heat game vs. the San Antonio Spurs, and it was our night lay-over until heading down, over the Gulf, to our destination of Belize. We were fortunate enough to snag some nose-bleed tickets for this clash of super talent. It was just our luck that the game turned out to be a doozy. LeBron James probably had his worst first half of the season, which resulted in the fans booing him, as he did not score a point until a free-throw (1 for 5 from the strip & probs 0 for 6 FG wise, mind you) late in the second quarter! UNBELIZEABLE! Oops, I meant unbelievable. I'm not even in Belize at this point... I'll try and save those puns for later; just you wait! Anyway, Tony Parker just TOOK OVER in the first half. He was relentless, hitting everything as well as driving and draining ridiculous runners. However, it was in the second half when the three-headed beast of Chris Bosh, LeBron James, and... nope not Dwayne Wade (who was injured), but Mike Miller was unleashed!! James went 4 for 6 and Miller went 6 for 6 from behind the arc! The arena was going nuts, it was quite an exciting game. The icing on the cake was definitely Bosh's 360⁰-pivot-two-handed-throw-down, which he uncorked from the free-throw line. Ultimately, the Heat came back from a 20+ deficit and ended up winning 120-98. What a game!

With an early flight in the morning, we headed back to the hotel and crashed. Our journey had just begun and it felt like we had been gone for a while already.

After arriving in Belize City, we were greeted by the inevitable, touristy nature of it's airport. It was hilarious. This picture captures it the best:

Pushing that aside, we couldn't wait to discover the raw country itself. As well as to see what life was like for the locals and also the outreach team, with whom we were going to be staying with!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Here is the first installment of my short Belize vlog series! Watch to check out some clips and pictures of our trip. Enjoy!


This is my first vlog installment of our trip to Belize. My Dad, Brother and I had an amazing experience hanging out with an outreach team in Punta Gorda in the south district of Toledo. Here is just a taste of what it looked like...

Music:
Kanye West & JAY Z - "Gotta Have It"
M83 - "Echoes of Mine"

Gimli Recon

Last weekend, Kaitlyn and I decided to go up to Gimli to surprise a special lady friend of mine (... my girlfriend). Lindsey was working at the sailing regatta up there and had no clue that we were spying on her for 40 minutes before we showed ourselves. We used the time for some sneaky reconnaissance in order to achieve and ensure a satisfying surprise! Creepy, I know... but it was super fun and she was excited that we came. Anyway, we figured out how we were going to surprise her as we went along, so check this vlog out! Enjoy.

The NHL Is BACK!!!

... GO JETS GO!

It's been 15 years since Winnipeg has had their beloved Jets' NHL team and we've been wanting it back ever since. Flick on the TV, read the newspaper, check some Twitter or Facebook feeds. I shouldn't be the one tellin' you that they're BACK! WOOOOOO!

The winds were a-gustin' and the rain was a-peltin', but the crowds still gathered and celebrated this surreal occasion! Portage & Main (our famous downtown intersection) was apparently nuts, I wish I wandered over there.

Life Lesson: A monumental, historic moment gives people the right
to act like entitled maniacs.

People are crazy when they join together in mass numbers. I love it. It was just like the Olympics in Vancouver last year. Thank you, NHL; the city has just united like never before!

Disclaimer: I did get rowdier after this video! I am actually insanely pumped for this city to have it's pride and joy back! Awwwww YEAH!

p.s. I'm still a Leafs fan... Hahahaha

A Night Of TIESTO

My ears are still suffering from Tiesto's blasting beats Tuesday night. I've always wanted to experience a rave and since I never went to one in Europe, this "show" would have to do. Two buds from Prov enticed me to dress up in bright fluorescent colours and interesting head gear, and go all-out in true "Eurotrash" fashion (who really knows what that means?)... So I accepted and also captured a few moments of our time via my phone. (Vlog down below!)

Without feeling like complete fools because of what we were wearing (including the fan favourite Siberian tiger hat), we had to bring the energy and it was definitely brought. Alternating head gear duty and just ultimately out-dancing everyone around us made that happen. It was truly a good time.

Life Lesson: If you're dressed for the role, you have to play the part.

Initially, we had $20 worth of glow sticks that weren't allowed in (Tiesto's personal rule) and Sharpies to sign our clothing, but even those were confiscated at security. Our time could have been doubly as epic!

Anyways, without further ado...

A Night Of TIESTO from MannyG on Vimeo.

Notice how I did not include the Selective Reading Label: My Music. I'm not really into Tiesto at all... I've just always wanted to go to a "Eurotrash" rave. So, check that off my bucket list! Plus the guy's a fellow Dutchman! Don't judge me.

Groom's Day Golf

The Masters is upon us, so in the spirit of good ol' golf itself, I've put together a golfing vlog. There was no green jacket to be won though; just a little bit of pride... maybe. No matter, it was such a great time that provided a lot of laughs (mostly due to our lack of skill)!

This happened when I was down in AZ for my Italian, Inter-loving friend, Davide's wedding. There were a bunch of us that hit the links with the groom on his big day. With tons of slices, shanks, hooks, hit houses, fores, and a pushy course marshal, it turned out to be quite the fun game. Again, congrats Davide & Mallorie! This one's for you.

Anyways, I threw some segments together and added some good music... Check it:

Groom's Day Golf from MannyG on Vimeo.

The course marshal was houndin' us because we were initially delayed at tee-off due to frost being on the greens. If we had played, we "would have damaged them". Turns out that the greens did not need such protection... they were brutal as is. So that pushed us back ~45 minutes! Therefore the marshal trailed us the whole time and tried to make us quit after 9 holes, but we just ignored him, said we paid for 18, and continued with our game. Fun times!

MLS in Casa Grande?!

I attended a MLS exhibition game down in Arizona last month and I've finally edited this vlog to go along with it.

After my friends' wedding I had a whole day to kill down there until my flight home and luckily Caitlin mentioned that this game was happenin' down in Casa Grande! I was ecstatic and agreed right away. This FREE game featured one of the new expansion teams in the Portland Timbers versus a league vet in the Kansas City Sporting. Since I went with an Oregon citizen (Caitlin), I opted to cheer for the Timbers. Although they DID just lose to my Toronto FC yesterday... what UP! Sorry Caitlin, but aside from that, thanks for gettin' me to finish this and also lettin' me come with you to the game!

Here is an account of our time there, enjoy:
(Boom, my first vlog with my iPhone, hopefully it turns out alright for ya).

MLS in Casa Grande?! from MannyG on Vimeo.

p.s. Now back to the second half of Kentucky vs. UNC!! This tournament has been UNREAL! Gotta love the Madness of March.

Willie's Driving?!

I drove with Willie the other day... and I wasn't the one who was driving! I figured I'd document this historic first occasion. Check it OUT!

Life Lesson: There's a first time for everything.

p.s. I believe there are more heavy snow-plow machinery in this video than in Vancouver all together...

Object Permanence (Song Studying)

WOW, I am DONE another term! Boom, I'm so relieved. Yesterday I realized that I haven't done a Song Studying Session in a very long time, so I decided to capture a certain section of my Child Development course text-book, and share it... in song. Object permanence happened to be the subject on hand, so, here we go again; check out my third installment of Song Studying! I took footage from two improv takes and meshed them together to get a somewhat funny, creative outcome... Enjoy! Ignore the bad editing in the beginning, it was my first time using iMovie...

Object Permanence (Song Studying) from MannyG on Vimeo.

p.s. Shout-out to Joel Eisner who is the biggest Song Studying fan. This is for YOU; and any other procrastinating/cramming/tired-of-school student!

Boyz N' the Bode: And The Room 111 (Canadian) Experience

Here it is! I laughed so hard while watching this again, just 'cause it's improv and it's pretty BAD improv!! We shot this at Bodenseehof Bible School in 2007 for our Nationality Night. This gives you a little taste of the school and also of Fischbach, Germany, where it is located. Enjoy, as we have some fun with our Canadian stereotypes amongst other things... Ahhh good TIMES!

Boyz N' the Bode: A Room 111 (Canadian) Experience from MannyG on Vimeo.

Floridan Fun Spots

Well, I've summed up the tournament and now it's time to sum up the vacation. Florida is Florida; it's warm, sunny, and always a good time. Our first day we headed to Clearwater (on the gulf I believe), looked at the Christian College campus and then headed to the beach.

Side note: If you were watching online and noticed us doing a line dance when we scored against Philly, that dance was influenced by the campus of Clearwater Christian College. You see, apparently they have a dress code and we noticed that all of the women were wearing skirts. So every time we saw this, we said "skirt", and tried to count all of the skirts to be seen. It was probably the most skirts I've ever seen worn at one time in one location! Anyways, Andry and I made up that line dance at our regional final and then it became the "skirt" dance at nationals. We would chant "skirts" every time we moved from side to side. There's a fun fact for ya, now ya KNOW!

Okay, back to the beach... We played beach soccer for an hour and waded in the waves as well for a bit. Here's a clip I took on the beach:

We went for lunch after and I had a Doner Kebab (or gyro) for the first time in a long time! Sooo good.

At the hotel, the hot tub was the place to be and a couple of our guys actually bought some revealing Speedos to showcase as a joke. Here is Mr. Price himself displaying some skin:

Hilarious!

~~~

We took losing in penalties to Clearwater pretty hard, but that didn't stop us from enjoying the Florida atmosphere. On our day off, we decided to go shop, chill at the pool, and go eat at Applebee's as a huge Prov crew (both the women's vball team and us). After our dinner, we had a huge mini-golf competition (which did get quite heated) at one of the several massive and elaborate courses they had on the highway. The one we chose was spectacular. Elevated holes, lots of streaming water, gators, bridges, tunnel options, steep drops, etc. It had it ALL. I love mini-putt, especially when it's extreme. I got a hole-in-one on the steepest hole I've ever seen. It was almost a straight drop, about 12 ft. I immediately threw my putter in the air and gave out a Chewbacca roar. Good times.

Anyways, Saturday came and we attended the final in the evening. It was hardly a contest, let's face it. Clearwater won 2-0 and put it away early within the first 15 minutes. If only that semi-final had gone OUR WAY! BAH. Meh, here is a clip of us on the sidelines, watching the game we were inches away from being in (literally):

After the game, we had some time to kill before waking up at 4:20am the next morning to leave for home! So a few of us went across the street from the hotel and checked out the carnival, entitled Fun Spot. It basically only had two massive bungee-type attractions. The one apparatus threw a bunch of people in a spinning capsule, at least 100 feet into the air! Ridiculous... we didn't take part. We just mingled as the employees closed up shop haha.

So those were our major outgoings in and around Kissimee, FL! Our week went by as quickly as it came; what a fun trip. I can't believe our season is over already.

P.s. I'm pretty sure I saw an armadillo for the first time down there. I gave the same reaction as when I saw a wild possum in my backyard multiple years back... an exciting yelp. It curled up right when I took the picture!

A Month's Worth of Weddings

Well, I didn't pull off the perfect wedding month but 3 in 3 straight weekends is preeeetty close! Time for a quick, few sentence summary of each... but first:

Life Lesson: If in doubt, collaborate when it comes to wedding gifts... especially if you're not family.

One thing I've learned, is that you feel way less pressure and more secure with a group rather than going solo in giving a wedding gift. Who wouldn't want to receive a gift from a bunch of friends, that shows love and appreciation with compiled thoughts and efforts! I'm not bashing individual gift giving... there's just power with numbers, you know?!

Alright, here's the summary... First wedding: Jesse Lofthouse & Jennifer Parker!

You already know it's going to be fun when you recognize and know over half of the people that are going to be there. And it was. This was the only wedding I went to this month that had a dance... and it was a blast. Actually my last one did too but I had to leave before it sadly. At times it felt like a rave due to the compactness on the floor. Fun times.

Second wedding: Owen Woodyard & Lorraine Fast!

This was my out of town wedding as I headed out west to Blaine, Washington. Small wedding, but included a significant amount of Bodenseehofers! So it doubled as a Bible School reunion. It was nice to see these people who I haven't seen in a few years and interact with them as if the absence never happened. Fun times. When Owen and Lorraine left after the ceremony and reception, they had people blowing bubbles in a gauntlet line outside as they rushed through. It was very creative. Here's a piece of that event:

Third wedding: Stephen Koop & Aymee Rahn!

This was another half Bodenseehof wedding (as in only the bride was at the Bode) but there was only a few of us from the Bible School who were able to make it. I didn't know many people at this wedding, but it was fun nonetheless. The cakes at the reception were UNREAL! I didn't get around to the Oreo cheesecake though, which I am deeply disappointed about.

Fun fact of the reception hall: I was fascinated by the bathroom technology; finally they are making the doors motion sensored! You wave your hand over the sensor on the wall and open sesame. Brilliant and about time!

Also, here is a priceless clip I captured of some children warming up on the dance floor:

My next potential wedding won't be till February.
Can't wait.

P.s. I'm going to miss wedding food.

A West Coast Surprise

BOOM, mission accomplished! I've finally surprised someone to the point of utter, speechless shock! Lindsey was STUNNED, and when I walked into that Boston Pizza it looked like she had seen a ghost (in a good way... if you can think of such a look haha). Amazing!

So it was on September 20th that I fully decided to attend a wedding and surprise my girlfriend in the same weekend. I can't believe I kept this a secret (with the exception of telling Josh, my cousin, the bride-to-be, and my soccer team) for a whole MONTH. Usually I crack under the suspense and start to laugh when I'm confronted... but this time was different. I conspired with Josh on how to surprise Lindsey a couple days before I flew out. We had a couple good ideas; one included me putting my phone in a box, starting a video of myself putting it in the box, and having her open it to a note that said "keep it rolling." I thought that would have been epic! But... my plane ended up being delayed and therefore we were delayed in getting to Boston Pizza in time to carry out an epic surprise. Josh had told Lindsey and Kaitlyn to meet him there because his parents had given him an almost expired gift card. Brilliant! I waited (as you can see in the video) for Josh to go in first and then I casually walked in and up to their table a few minutes after. We did end up paying for the pizza because they technically were offered a free dinner. Anyways, we went back to the girl's apartment and played Settlers. Fun times, just like in the summer. The next day I hung out at Trinity and White Rock with Lindsey before heading down to Bellingham, WA with my cousin for the Bode wedding/reunion.

At the wedding I surprised some people too. I actually was surprised myself at the amount of classmates that showed up! It was nice to see half of the first term 10-room present, and overall there was approximately 13 of us Bodenseehofers altogether. Congratulations to the newly weds, Owen and Lorraine!

I headed back up to Langley later in the night and actually caught the tail end of a Holsby reunion! And when I got there I heard of another engagement... unreal! Congrats Priebe and Stine! I can't believe it's that time in my life already where a lot of friends are getting hitched. This month I've had 2 weddings already and have one more this weekend. That's 3 in 3 straight weekends! Ridiculously tiring yet super fun (blog to come). My pockets are dented and hurtin', but I'm loving being Wedding Manny.

I'm also exhausted... I don't recommend traveling all weekend, playing the full 90 minutes in a soccer game right after getting off a plane, writing two papers, and studying for/having two exams in one week.

PEACE... I need some.

For Your Wildlife

Here's another impersonation of Josh (Extreme Wildlife Adventure Guide) I did while waiting for the trucks... Check it!

Untitled from Joshua on Vimeo.

PEACE, I'm off to Missouri for soccer. See ya next week!

"I'm Josh D, and I'm Gone... Peace."

This is one of the things I did while waiting for the trucks at the end of our canoe trip! Thanks Josh for catching on to my hint and posting this bad boy! Enjoy...

Manny as Josh from Joshua on Vimeo.

Just in case you missed it in the video...

Life Lesson: Disguise yourself as a friend; that way no one knows who the heck you are, and you've got an own costume of yours.

Lake Hillock and Haps

Alright, now for the canoe trip that I was on. I know this was just under a month ago, but it was such a good get-away-from-it-all vacation. Three words: So much fun. It's great to get out into the outdoors with a great crew of people who enjoy camping and enjoy each other's company! I used the word outdoors to describe our surroundings because I don't like using the word wilderness. It's not as wild as the word implies. You get out there and realize how peaceful, quiet, and tame everything is. Though it could be unpredictable and therefore not in your control, if that is your definition of "wild". But the whole time of our trip was calming and relaxing! Anyways, let's move along! We canoed a cycle of lakes and started with Lake Hillock which is a bit east of Kenora. Beautiful area!

It took me a couple hours to figure out the J stroke again, but I got it somewhat down and was cruising in no time (straight, that is). Most of our time spent was camping which was awesome, we played games, ate, relaxed, told stories, went cliff jumping, and swam. Bob brought a hammock which he said was a two person one, but Josh and I tried it and it wasn't that comfortable! He has it on video, maybe he'll read this and post it. We also quoted Brule's Rules ALL weekend, good times. Side note: I pronounce hammock, ham-mick; while everyone else that was on the trip says ham-mock. I just think it doesn't sound fluid when you say ham-mock, even though it's spelled that way! Maybe it's my Ontario accent creeping in again...

On the way back I looked after the gear as the rest of the crew hiked back to get the trucks. I made a new friend in those two hours. I called him Mortimer (I just love that name):

Life Lesson: Always be aware of where your toes are in regards to the location of a snapping turtle.

Yes, this ol' snapping turtle was brave enough to come out of the lake and chill with me. I believe he just wanted to bite my toes, but nonetheless this big guy was the best turtle ever! I lured him out by dangling my toes in the water and by tossing trail mix in front of him. He was about a foot away and almost pounced!! I would make a sudden movement and he'd retreat slightly but then always returned. I took these pictures with Kristin's camera, here are a bunch of others that she took from the trip! Enjoy!

Here are the two videos I promised. I KNOW I say wilderness in the first one here, so after my little spiel up top about how it doesn't necessarily hold true to what it describes, don't think I'm a hypocrite! It's the default English word for such a location! Step off... The road we were on was a wild ride though! Josh took a bunch of vloggish type vids on the trip too, hopefully he can compile them or somethin' and post them soon!

p.s. On the way back we stopped for dinner at a place called Haps. Great food, but the one thing I remember most was that on the back of the menu it advertized Naughty Bingo, Thursday nights. As the bingo fans we are, we were intrigued... not as good as it sounds. We'll stick with regular bingo.