Well, Canada. It's been (sur)real.

It's crazy how much...well, crazyness can happen in a week. In a nutshell: the woman I went to work for ended up being kind of insane, and her business/the work she wanted me to do wasn't at all what I had expected, so I ended up deciding to leave after three days.

In a little more detail...


Her situation is kind of heartbreaking - she's an incredibly lonely, very obese woman whose marriage failed and whose business is (I suspect) well on its way to failing because she doesn't have the energy to run it properly anymore. So that's why she's soliciting help on the internet - she wants someone there to do everything that she doesn't want to do anymore when it comes to taking care of both the dogs and herself. I kind of felt like she was using me as a younger, more able bodied avatar. Which is a really, really strange feeling.

It would have been different if I had been able to occupy the majority of my time playing with all of the adorable dogs she's boarding - but she actually told me on my first day that I wouldn't be able to walk them or play with them because that would be a "distraction" to them, and even instructed me not to pet any of them when I went with her to let them outside one morning. WHICH WAS SO HARD AND SAD.

She was pretty bummed when I told her I was leaving - especially because she had been hoping I would completely run the show for her when she has to go out of town for a court appearance on the 27th (she's being sued because she owes a friend $40,000) as well as when she gets that weight loss procedure that she dreams about. I feel like that's pretty indicative of the fact that she was starting to become way too dependent on me way too quickly - especially because I made the transient nature of my work very clear - and think its safe to say that that dependence would only have intensified if I stayed much longer.


So, that was that. There are many more bizarre and comical details that I plan on taking the time to write down at some point just to remind myself that this whole thing actually did happen. And I'm glad it did. 

Huntsville, etc.

So, I've been here for three days now and figure that's long enough to share first impressions of everything and some general musings. My morning routine for the past few days has consisted of waking up early to tidy the office area, water the dogs, take care of the cats and sweep/mop the giant communal space where all the dogs sleep at night after rolling around in the pond all day.

I've only had one near disaster so far (today) - when the only dog who has to be kept by himself (a former feral dog who a local soldier brought home from Afghanistan - his name is Leo and he's really, really sweet and adorable, just not good with other dogs) slipped past me when I was giving him his water and hopped around playfully for awhile/almost got through a hole in the ONE fence that would let him out into the great wide open. Luckily I was able to coax him back into his pen but yeah, that would have been really, really bad.  He's the most mischievous/probably my favorite dog here.

Yesterday I went into downtown Huntsville for the first time and, to be honest, it really didn't really feel all that different from any given Berkshire County downtown. You've got a bunch of little country stores, a chocolate/ice cream shop, a couple used bookstores, etc. all nestled in front of a lake surrounded by rolling hills and rapidly changing foliage.

So, I walked around there for a little while, got bored, and decided to just ask my GPS where I should go next by browsing the Points of Interest --> Attractions section. First I drove up to this gorgeous lookout that is only about 5k from where I live and was used by an unabashed father in an attempt to quell his toddler's temper tantrum ("THAT LADY IS TRYING TO DRAW. BEEEEE QUIETTTT.")

Then I moved on to Arrowhead Provincial Park, which is about a fifteen minute drive down the highway. It's a relatively small park, but having no idea where to go, I just asked the girl in the office what sites I should check out and she circled her favorites on the park map she gave me. First I went to a little waterfall - where a friendly Canadian birder pointed out a downriver Great Blue Heron with me and we watched him try to catch fish together for awhile - and then to a spot called the Big Bend Lookout, which overlooks a segment of the Big East River. I guess it's a relatively well known spot as it's uuuunbelievably eroded and will turn into a horseshoe lake pretty soon. So that was fun to gawk at.

Once I finished exploring, I came home to have dinner with Lisa and we talked about lots of random things - including the fact that she wants to have a $12,000 weight loss surgery while I'm here (so I can run the show while she recovers) because Mrs. Saskatchewan (and eventually Mrs. Canada) did it and it obviously worked for her. So..that was kind of big news. Then we watched Zombieland and she absolutely hated it/was baffled by the fact that I thought it was such a funny movie and now thinks American humor is incredibly sick and twisted. Oops.

More soon, probably.

I'm Gonna Be (550 Miles)

I love my car. This 1996 Ford Taurus continues to defy any and all physical limitations that come along with being so old and beat up and safely take me anywhere I'd like to be. Shout out to Morgan Davis for his magical tune ups which have saved her from near death many, many times.

So, here I am, 550 miles and about 11 hours of driving later. Yesterday I drove five hours before stopping to stay overnight with my dad's cousin in the tiny town of Albion, NY. I hadn't seen Patti in about ten years so we had a lot to talk about - including her own nomadic postgrad experience involving prolonged stays in England and Florida, the various lessons she's learned about people in her thirty+ year career as a parole officer in maximum security prisons, obligatory family gossip, what I've been up to since we last saw each other/since I've become a real person, etc. It was a long overdue and absolutely fantastic visit and I'm really excited to be able to do it again when I make my first return trip home.

This morning - after more great conversation with Patti about general life things over bacon and eggs - I took off for the second leg of the trip. Of course I had to stop at Niagara Falls on my way across the border - it would just be rude not to.

Going through customs was pretty seamless - the officials were only slightly confused when I told them I really had no idea how long I would be staying but let me through anyway. Memorable sights along the four hour stretch of Canadian highway included a whole lot of Lake Ontario, several giant inflatable polar bears, an (I'm assuming) larger than life wooden T-Rex and a fireworks store based out of a broken down school bus painted silver.

When I finally arrived at Happy Tails, I was immediately greeted by a beautiful German Shepard (who is actually featured on the cover of the current issue of my boss's magazine) and a homecooked meal of squash, broccoli, potatoes and sausage. Lisa is pretty much exactly who I expected her to be - an extremely personable and laid back woman who (in all seriousness) ends the vast majority of her sentences with an "eh?" We told each other a little about ourselves, she showed me around the place, and we ended the night with a plate of peanut butter cookies and caramel popcorn and a viewing of "Grizzly Man."

Pictures of my cabin, the dogs, etc. to follow soon!

Wait, seriously?

Yes. I'm really moving to Canada on Sept. 10 to work at a "luxury pet resort" in Ontario. I've never been to Ontario - save a few quick forays to the Canadian (read: way prettier) side of Niagara Falls during childhood trips there - and I've never worked with animals before in any sort of professional capacity, but I swear this decision makes sense.

Her name was Chamois and she was the fluffiest - and sassiest - dog I've ever met.

She was a surprise present from my grandparents after things didn't turn out too well with another dog we had adopted from the pound (circa 1997?), so I can't say we initially made any sort of conscious decision to own a Samoyed husky, but I'm eternally grateful that they made that decision for us because they're absolutely fantastic dogs. Chamois was the best - and the only reason my parents wouldn't let us adopt another dog after she passed away was that she made leaving the house excruciatingly difficult by staring at us and whimpering mercilessly every time someone took a step towards the door.

And so, I remained dogless, throughout high school and college (I truly believe that both GPAs and overall mental well being would skyrocket on any given campus if more dogs were readily accessible to hang out with during study breaks...kudos to Yale for attempting to address this problem) and having now graduated, am going to remedy that problem for myself.

As far as the choice of location goes, one of the most inspirational people I've ever met in my life was a Canadian rock star named Lisa who happened to be rafting the Nile at the same time as a group of friends and I after our semester abroad.

Lisa and her rafting companion Mark - a former diplomat from the tiny nation of Andorra - had both recently quit their day jobs in order to explore the world, met at a hostel in Tanzania, fell in love, and had been travelling together ever since. Throughout our short time on the raft with them, I came to so admire the spirit of spontaneity - continually balanced with the confidence that their apparent directionless would ultimately transition into some sort of direction - that both of them embodied that I decided it was necessary for me to follow their lead and do something at least somewhat adventurous (and maybe seemingly aimless) after graduation.

So, while sporadically browsing the Workaway website this summer (which I highly recommend to anyone who is feeling compelled to go do something cool), I became really intrigued by this lady's business - which is essentially a giant nature haven for dogs whose owners have just as much trouble leaving their pets at home all day as my parents used to. I wrote her a quick email and fifteen minutes later had an open invitation to come work for her indefinitely in exchange for full room and board in my own private cabin. It's just a happy coincidence that this future boss of mine is also named Lisa.

Conclusion: I know that being around dogs makes me happy and I'm eager to explore someplace new and (hopefully) learn all the stuff that people learn when they don't really know what they're doing. Not to mention the fact that I will have the privilege of interacting with the types of people who are eccentric enough to send their dogs to day camp all day, everyday. Think "Best in Show." But in real life.

I'll (hopefully) be posting pretty regularly once I get up there and things start happening. So stay tuned!

Till then, mad love,
Amanda