Moncton, NB: What Would I Do Without Your Inspirational Dumpsters?

I'll make this post short for a change of pace.

This city makes me really happy. Everyone is so nice to one another. I've gotten serious life advice from three out of five old men-strangers I've come across. One was really certain I could open my own small business selling anything, "NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE SAYS, YOU HEAR ME?". It was sweet. My host mom was slightly less touched when she heard of the screaming old man story though. Plus, there's this really great locally owned dumpster company that has all these inspirational sayings on them. My friend and I kind of have this running joke, "All the stuff my parents should have told me growing up, I can find on FERO garbage cans."(Kidding, Mom)

Thanksgiving was amazing. My host family took Sharon and I apple picking, and we enjoyed a fantastic family supper Sunday night. When Corey, my host dad, was picking apart the turkey to determine which parts to keep, Sharon asked if we were going to throw out the cartilage and bones. We ended up making a third pile for Sharon since Ghanaians often fry up cartilage and chow down on bone enamel. I can't complain though... The heart, neck, and tail of the turkey were friggin' delicious. Sharon's a mean cook.

Lastly, I wanted to say some of the environmental initiatives Moncton's got going on. Monday was Sharon and Miles' EAD and we went to my host mom's school to learn about it. It's a LEED school, meaning it has a certificate declaring it creates less pollution, uses less energy, and less water. They have waterless urinals! And ninety percent of their light is natural. They also have an Arbortum, a gym floor made completely out of recycled bubblegum  (chewed too!) and light censors in every room that shut off all power if no movement is detected within a twenty minute period. All the temperature settings are controlled from Halifax. A group of people sit there and constantly change the temperature based on the CO2 level detected within the school to create the best oxygen for learning. It's insane. It's also a public school! But it isn't owned by the government... It's whats known as a P3 school, meaning a company owns it. I don't know all of the intricacies, but I do know they're rare. It's only been open since September, and it's the second one in all of New Brunswick. Very cool, anyway.

Personal things I've taken to, to help the environment include "scattered showers" (turning the water off in between moments you aren't using it. The steam keeps you warm, and it really does save tons of water), hiding water bottles half-filled with sand in the backs of old toilets to stop the water levels from rising so high (it's completely safe and sanitary), and walking, a lot. Fun fact, did you know it take 80, 000 liters of water to create a cell phone? Aka, STOP BUYING A DIFFERENT ONE EACH YEAR. All this info comes from a "Sources" workshop we took part in two weeks ago. Plus, watch this video if you never have, BECAUSE IT'S AMAZING (as well as all their other videos).

http://storyofstuff.org/bottledwater/

Well, that's all for now guys!
Oh, interesting cultural difference fact!
Ghanaians call flip-flops, "slippers" and underwear, "pants" and glasses, "spectacles". It's definitely because they were colonized by the British. It makes things confusing as hell sometimes though. :)