Talia enjoying a quiet hangout in her Host Family’s backyard

My name is Talia Martel and I’m from Hay River, Northwest Territories. I was placed in Hamilton, Ontario which is pretty amazing. It’s really hot. It doesn’t get this hot where I live. Also it’s more busy here, like somedays when I’m going to be leaving for work, or we’re going somewhere all together. There are a lot of stores, houses and also a lot of traffic. I’ve joined NYA to experience more job opportunities. NYA let me meet so many people from different places. At first I was surprised that we were camping in the bush for the first week, but I’m pretty glad that we did. Because I’ve gotten to meet so many great people. It was fun.

The host family I’m staying with are really kind. They have such a nice house. They have two cats, they’re so cute. We eat dinner together each night, which is different than at home. I like eating the food they cook.

It’s fun when we do activities all together and I really enjoy doing stuff with them. We went biking on the lakeshore in Hamilton. We also went to Toronto with them which was exciting. In Toronto we went to the CN Tower, the Eaton Centre and the Aquarium. We went to the Grand River Pow Wow, which is something I have never done before. It was pretty amazing to see how the people danced.

The place I’m volunteering at is the Hamilton Regional Indian Centre, and I’m enjoying working here. I’m working with kids for the Summer Day Camp. I’m working  with 6 year old and older kids and the kids are all so sweet and cute. The people working here are all very friendly. I really like doing the activities with the kids, like going to the beach, swimming pool, the park and Gage Park, even to the movie theatre.