Cora, Karlene and Dakota after construction class at Algonquin College

Hello to all who may read this interesting story I have to share. My name is CoraLynn Rabisca, I am from Fort Good Hope, NWT. I was a Canadian participant with NYA in 2013. We were the first participants to all come back. We made it through the whole 6 weeks of the program in Canadian then we had a celebration. I was placed in Ottawa, Ontario. My host buddy was Patti Wediwin. It was the best summer. I was placed at the Nepean Sportsplex working with kids and everyday was a different activity. We always went swimming, which was great because it was so hot and humid – it felt as if you have just stepped into the shower (outside). My host mom was the best, she took us to places I thought I would never be. She took me and my host buddy to Toronto and we went to a live show at MUCHMUSIC. We also went to Niagara Falls and went on the Maid of Mist. I had a great summer with my host Mom. Now this year 2015 I am in the International Program for 6 weeks – 3 weeks in Algonquin, 3 weeks in Guatemala.  Let me first tell you about Algonquin College.  It was AWESOME!!  but at the same time I did miss my family and my 3 best friends. I called them to say hi and tell them how my whole day was and how fun it was, especially learning new things.

We had a construction teacher his name is Craig. During the week we had classes Tuesday to Friday. He showed us how to use power tools safely and with patience. Craig started us off making picture frames, than we moved on to making dog houses for dogs shelters. We accomplished that (Yaay!) now the dogs have a home they can crawl into. At the end of our Algonquin training we had a graduation ceremony. We got awards and t-shirts. My name was spelled wrong – but that was fixed in no time. We also had Spanish classes. Our Spanish teacher was Jacky. We had class on Tuesdays from 1:30pm to 3:30pm and on Fridays from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Thinking of that I should of took more interest in that class, because there is very little English spoken here in Guatemala. My advice would be that if you do the international program take the classes more serious, you’re going to need it.

On our nights off in Algonquin we would go to the mall, go shopping or go to the food court.  We would also go to the movies and checked out the museums. Besides that we had some crazy laughs, and some funny and exciting moments.  Sometimes someone would get down about missing home, but we always tried to make them feel much better – it’s always good to be there for your teammates as you’re going to be spending the whole 6 weeks with them getting to know them and you may become close buddies.

Now there is only three more weeks to go. It feels as if it’s been a long time but I’m sure once we are getting closer to going home it is going to be hard to say goodbye.

Now I am going to mention how lucky I am to be picked for the International program and to be meeting my great fellow participants. I’d like to thank the Northern Youth Abroad staff for how much they do for us and for taking the time to give us Northerners a life changing experience and for helping us prepare for our futures by providing us with high school credits and knowledge. You also get the chance to meet other participants from all over the NWT & Nunavut.  There are so many great things about this program, if I had a second chance I would do it all again.

Thanks for reading my blog!

Sincerely.

CoraLynn Rabisca