Same City, Different House

The last few months have been quite hectic. I usually love reading before bed, but the last book I completed was The Crimson Crown almost three months ago! We recently moved to another house (in a different part of the city.) So I've been exhausted by the end of the day from all the moving and unpacking that's been going on. We were in between houses for the month of May, so had to stay with some family member for the month, which had it's ups and downs. For the most part, we were grateful we temporarily had a place to stay.

We're still not done unpacking and setting everything up yet, but we're slowly making our way there. We've met many of our neighbours so far, and they are quite lovely. A few of them have lent us their lawn tools. In fact, one of our next door neighbours ended up mowing our lawn because he knew we hadn't bought a lawn mower of our own yet! There is a cute little ranch nearby, where we always see dogs, horses, and sheep hanging out on the lawn. The owners let us come in and see some of their animals the other day.

There is a lot of farm land nearby, and every time we drive past the farms, if one of the farmers are out, they always smile and wave at us. That is probably what I love the most about living in a small town. People always wave and say hello, even complete strangers.

Aside from the lovely people we've met, we've also met some lovely animals. The wildlife we see the most is cottontail rabbits. We always see them hanging out in the yard. We've seen them playing, perched up on our bench, eating grass and at one point, also saw one getting nice and comfortable and falling asleep right in our own backyard. Other animals we've seen are skunks, lot of chipmunks, turtles, snapping turtles, wild turkeys, muskrats, racoons and I went for a walk the other day and saw a little deer trotting right in front of me.

We were sad to be moving out from the sweet little town we (previously) lived in all winter. However, our new neighbours (human and non-human) have made us feel comfortable in our new home. We're also happy to finally be enjoying the city in the summer.

Wildlife

I was a little disappointed that we've lived in the countryside for nearly six months and have not seen any wildlife yet. However, it seems as though a lot of the wildlife is finally starting to come out!

My husband and I were driving to Walmart the other day, and on our way there, we saw two deer hanging out on someone's front lawn. The house was located right next to a heavily forested area, so they hung around for a few minutes, (long enough for us to snap some pictures!) then began trotting away back into the woods. My first time seeing a deer was last summer, when we saw one crossing the road on Manitoulin Island. Later that same summer, we saw a family of about five deer in a parking lot in Mont Tremblant.

A few days ago, I looked out the window and saw some movement in the water. It was a long furry animal, swimming to and fro. I'm not sure exactly what it was/is, a weasel, muskrat, otter or something of that family I would presume. We keep seeing this little guy swimming around several times a day. At first, I thought it was a beaver, but it was too small and it's tail was long and pointy, not big and flat. Today, we even saw it jump out of the lake and hang out on the lawn for a bit!

We are also starting to see ducks swimming and flying about. But these ducks/birds are not like any other birds I've seen before. I don't know if city birds are different from country birds, but I've never seen black and white ducks in Toronto before! 

There's something pleasant about seeing animals in their natural habitat, as opposed to be caged up in a zoo. They are cute and peaceful to watch. It's fun to observe them, enjoy them, and let them be.

Cutie swimming around.

DEER!

Multicultural Day

Every Wednesdays, our local library has a kids crafts class and they have a different theme each week. This week their theme was Islam. The librarians asked me to host it, and share my experiences as a Muslim with the kids and the moms. I read a few Muslim nursery rhymes and explained some of the basic Muslim/Islamic terminology. (Example, that "Allah" is just an Arabic word for God.). After I finished reading, the librarians and some of the moms asked me various questions about my religion and about my headscarf. Questions like, "Do you have hair or are you bald?", "How long is your hair?", "Do your scarves have to match your clothes?", "How many times do you pray?", and "How long is each prayer?". After I was done answering everyone's questions, we did some Islamic art. We used paper plates to make crescent moons out of them. Then we used pipe cleaners to dangle a star from each moon. The kids used markers and sparkly beads to decorate their moon and star. I was very nervous at first, but it seemed like it went okay! Below are some of the things I took with me to show everyone. On the left are some of my different coloured headscarves. And on the right is one of my favourite prayer mats, which my parents bought for me from Turkey. This particular one is actually reversible.

 

Here is my lovely artwork! All the kids did such a great job with theirs. =)

Small Town Struggles

A few weeks ago, my friend (who is the head librarian at the local library) asked me if I could come in and help out with a kid's craft program. So I went, but all the children were shy around me and looked at me funny. I suspected it might be because I wear a headscarf, which most people in Peterborough are not accustomed to. I whispered into my friend's ear and said, "I think the kids might be afraid of me."

She replied that yes, this is possible. Living in a predominantly Caucasian town/city, they may not have as much exposure to different religions and/or cultures. I never had to deal with this in Toronto, since it's such a large multicultural community. I've accepted the fact that I am "different" compared to most of my neighbours.

Nobody is ever rude or racist. People are just curious and ask a lot of questions. Sometimes they ask questions which I've never gotten before, like asking me what kind of alcohol I like drinking or why I don't eat pork. I try to remind myself that they probably don't know Muslims don't drink alcohol or eat anything that comes from pig.

So, the local library is planning to do their first multicultural craft day in a few weeks and want me to come in and talk to the kids a little bit about my culture and religion. And let them know why I dress differently than everyone else in the community. Furthermore, we will also be making some Islamic art work. I am a tad bit nervous, but all the librarians and moms are super excited about what I have to say! I am very grateful that the local library is open to doing something like this.

Living in two very different cities/towns, I know that no matter where I live, it will have it's pros and cons.

Country Style Winter

Everyone warned me in advance that the winters in the countryside will be far more brutal than the winters in the city. Lucky for me, I love winter (and snow), and nothing can take that away. Well everyone was right, the winters here are COLD. Some days are better than others. It's a few degrees colder than Toronto, and some days are really windy too. The highest it's gotten is -28 degrees (PLUS windchill.) It snows every few days, and the snow doesn't melt, all the snow just keeps collecting on top of the previous snowfalls. When I walked out today, in some spots, the snow reached up to my hips! Our car was covered with almost a foot of snow! It's beautiful to look at, and I just love it. I had to change my whole wardrobe when we moved up here. When I went out to shovel the driveway today, I wore three THICK sweaters, three bottom layers, a winter jacket, a scarf, and a hat, and I was still cold! It's already so lovely in the winter, I am anxiously waiting for spring and summer, because it'll most likely be ten times more beautiful. But in the meantime, we are stocked up with coffee, tea and hot chocolate to keep us warm and cozy!

I think there's a car under there somwhere! =) 

Pros and Cons of Country Life

The other day, we drove back home from having dinner at a nice restaurant. Before heading back into the house, we looked up and saw a beautiful starry night. I've seen some starry nights out here, but I've never seen one like that. All corners of the sky were just covered in those beautiful little diamonds. It looked like they'd been sprinkled all over. It was really something. I tried to take a picture with my camera, but it didn't capture a good shot. What I saw that night could probably be most appreciated with one's own eyes.

A few days later, my husband and I had to run some errands around town. On our way back home, he drove into a ditch and our car got stuck. Every car that drove past us, stopped to ask if we were okay and if we needed any help. A gentleman helped pull us out of the ditch with his big pick-up truck. Getting trapped in the ditch was a downer, but it was kind of nice that every one (who was a complete stranger by the way) stopped to offer us some assistance. We'd gotten into car trouble in the city a few times, but that many people never stopped to ask if we were okay. Not to say that city people are rude or unfriendly, but usually people in the city are in the rush to go somewhere. It's a much slower paced lifestyle in the country, and people seem to have more time to spare. 

I keep seeing animal footprints in the snow around the house, but haven't encountered any wildlife yet! My husband keeps assuring me it's probably just bunnies. Whatever it is, I think it would be pretty neat to see it! 

I learned some neat little Canadian trivia the other day. Allahumdulillah, feeling quite blessed that a small percentage of those lakes are in my town/city: 

One of the biggest (and hardest) adjustments so far has been that I don't know that many people in the area. However, the people who I have met have been very welcoming. I've met some nice people, but would still like to meet some more.

Downtown

I got a chance to see downtown Peterborough over the weekend. It's very different from downtown Toronto. It is roughly about four city blocks, and they are all one way streets, so you have to go around in a circle to get to the other side. They have some nice used book stores, restaurants, pubs, cafes, ONE movie theatre and some independent shops. I also saw a cute little strip mall in the heart of downtown. There were no condos or skyscrapers in sight. I saw some people walking through doors between the shops, and I noticed there were little apartments above each of the stores. We drove through the streets but didn't get to see inside any of the stores, since majority of them were closed. We went just after six, so they were just closing up. It was quite different from what I remember in the big city. Most restaurants/cafes in Toronto stay open late, till at least 11 pm. And a lot even stay open till 2 or 3 am!

We did manage to find a small coffee shop which was open late. "Open late" by small city standards mean, it was open till 8! It was an independently owned cafe. It was not as cozy as some other cafes I've been to, but still not a bad ambiance. While we were there, a local artist came to hang up some of her artwork in the back room. I overheard her telling a customer that she has some sort of opening coming up. I liked that the local cafe was supporting a small independent business.

It took roughly about ten minutes to tour all of the downtown, before we went in for some drinks. I lived in Toronto all my life, and there are still parts of downtown Toronto which I haven't seen! Still on my list of Peterborough sight seeing: The Canadian Canoe Museum, art gallery, museum and Riverpark Zoo. The Canoe Museum costs just over $10, and the art gallery, museum and zoo are all free! I will be done seeing all of Peterborough in no time!