Diana in Dartmouth

November 2nd, 2017

Hi, I’m Diana Williah and I am from Behchoko, Northwest Territories. I am a participant in the Canadian program for Northern Youth Abroad. And I’m placed in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

My work placement is at Cole Harbour Place summer camp. I work as a youth leader, and I work with kids aged 5-12 with almost 90 kids at the camp. It’s great working there because I would like to become a teacher one day. In my workplace there is at least 4 or 3 camps the kids could go to for one week and each week is different. I normally go with the “crazy chefs” and in that camp I help the kids make healthy snacks that could be made at home. Afterwards, me and all the other leaders take the kids swimming for an hour.

My host parents are Letitia and John Elliott. They have two kids but only one lives here because the other one is in his 20s. And they also have 5 cats. Cleo is my favourite cat My host family is great and so far they’ve taken me down to Saint johns, New Brunswick, Peggy’s cove, a trampoline park, and Halifax which is just across the ocean.

Living in Dartmouth is a lot different than from back home. That’s saying a lot coming from a community of about 2000 people. I live in a suburban type neighbourhood so everything is a 10 min ride or so, unlike back home where everything is in walking distance. It took some time getting used to, but I got used to it. Here I take the bus into town, and getting use to taking buses wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. The stores are so different because it costs a bit cheaper than in the north.

I have done a little bit of traveling. We went to a zoo, and also went to a trampoline park for the first time and I absolutely loved it. We also went to a farmers market and got a henna done there. If you don’t know what a henna is, it’s basically a temporary tattoo that lasts about a week or two. Also I have been to a “Maritime museum of the Atlantic” and it was so interesting to see, so much so I wouldn’t mind going to another museum. And I also went to a tall ship event where ships from all around the world which is an event that only happens every 4 years. So I was lucky to experience that. During the event you can go on the ships and take a look around. I also went go karting and saw a parade for natal where I got to see Sidney Crosby.

Being a part of the program has been great so far. I would definitely come back to Nova Scotia just because it’s such a beautiful place. I’d recommend NYA to my friends and family back home because it’s such a great way to get out of town and experience something different, try new things and also get you ready for when you go to college by becoming more independent and more confident with the city life.

Thanks for reading 🙂

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