Oh! Week 2, where did you go?
Time seems to have found a new pair of inline skates (saying this because they’re more common here in Halifax), and is zipping past faster than I can fathom. We are done with 50% of our assignment and time here in Halifax. Wow!
So, our week 2 started with an eventful long weekend (Thanks to Thanksgiving here in Canada) with most of us darting off to the Cape Breton island for a getaway. I am from New Delhi, and I don’t usually get to see the fall in all its glory with a million hues splattered across the foliage. Needless to say, I LOVED the three days we spent in that picturesque island. The views, the drive, the weather was stunning beyond words. We stopped at a million places across the Cabot Trail to see the vistas; collected several color changing leaves for keeps; hiked a few trails — some tough, some not so tough; took photos (SO MANY PHOTOS!!!) and experienced ceilidh — a soiree of traditional Scottish music and dancing — something that was new to ALL fifteen of us. I could not have asked for a better time and group to travel with to this beautiful island. Some snapshots of the amazing places seen and even better time spent.
The following Tuesday saw us all gear up and dive into work for we only had 4 days that week to pace our work to be able to keep timelines and deliver on our projects. Our work week saw several in-depth discussions, meetings with clients, visiting a few other campuses of NSCC (our client) and us (Martin, Ana and myself) conducting a few design thinking workshops with the client team to progress with our project. Happy to report that we are on track with our work plan — expecting the week starting tomorrow to be intense, but fun (keep an eye out for next week’s blog — there are several activities planned by DOT our NGO partner in Halifax).
The week went by pretty quickly, and before we knew it, it was Friday — the day our clients hosted us for a dinner party. Rosalind Penfound opened her home for us and some of her colleagues from NSCC, for a traditional Nova Scotia Dinner and Kitchen Party (Thank you, Roz). There was some scrumptious food, amazing music, great conversations and fun photos of the party. We came home that night with some beautiful memories, Nova Scotian mementos and the yummiest blueberry pie I have ever tasted to be shared with the team. It’s hard to beat the Canadians in hospitality. And I am from India. I did not expect that hard a competition! ;)
On Saturday, Halifax hosted the annual fall festival of art — Nocturne. There were several art events and exhibits for all residents and visitors to see. The city that usually quiets down early, was buzzing with energy till wee hours of the night.
We went to see the pumpkin race on Sunday <pauses for effect>. Yes, you read that right. Nova Scotia is home to Pumpkin Regatta: an annual race that sees people inside giant, hand-decorated pumpkins paddle themselves across a body of water. We went to Windsor (and hour away from Halifax) to witness this rather different race; and watched it with equal parts elation and amazement. Please don’t forget that the water is very cold, so this race is a bit of tradition with several streaks of bravery on the end of paddlers. :)
Canada may be really cold weather wise, but the people are SO warm and welcoming that it balances everything out.
Looking forward to week#3 now. Half done, half way to go. #CSCCAN1 #IBMCSC #daringinnovators
