Going to the East Coast, then to France... but not to Europe!

Whaaaa?? - you ask, puzzled. Fear not, it does make sense!

First, please check out the image below. It's from our Nov 2004 KM (because I've misplaced my BE book with all the recent ones). You'll notice the service report has Canada and St Pierre & Miquelon. Take a few moments to study those statistics.

Now that you are properly curious ("Dang nabbit, where is SPM? Why is it included in the Canada KM but not bundled with the Canadian service report?"), check out the links below!

Where is SPM?

- Recognize the Great White North?

- See! The East Coast!

- The Island of Newfoundland (together with Labrador, they make Canada's easternmost province) Not the little bent up island, that's PEI ... they're a province unto themselves. Don't ask.)

- The worm-shaped peninsula on the south end of NFLD has a small town (Fortune, to cheer up those who, through total lack of any, have ended up there) and a ferry terminal from which one travels to SPM

- There it is!!

A wee bit of History

- Wikipedia's version: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Pierre_and_Miquelon

- NY Times article (very good intro that sums it all up!): http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=travel&res=9A0DE1DD1F3AF934A15754C0A960948260

- Claim to fame: being "awash with booze" !! http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0012408

- Oh all right... their official site: http://www.st-pierre-et-miquelon.com/ and http://www.spminfo.com/ (cool local music, photos, and I think, a webcam!... can't you just smell the salt air and the culture? LOL)

Our Itinerary

We're leaving Vancouver on the red-eye flight for St. John's, capital of Newfoundland (google it... they're the weirdest canadians we've got!). Arriving Thursday morning-ish, we'll rent a car, find our B&B and prepare for the convention in the "suburb" called Mt Pearl this coming weekend.

After the convention, we'll likely keep the car to finish off the week (I rather like that idea) and explore the local area (and the locals!), and then head down to Fortune to take the ferry to St Pierre, arriving there sometime on the following Friday (July 14th, Bastille Day!). Staying again in a B&B (the 11 Witnesses left here are only four families, and we don't want to impose on their hospitality) we're hoping to tour the islands and help with the preaching work. Of course, our "assistance" won't show up on the KM, since we'll still be reporting to our home congregations in BC, but hereafter we'll be able to point to that little box each month and say "I was there! I know that pioneer sister! Wow, she's had a good month this month!"

On July 27th, we leave from St John's and fly to Toronto airport. From there, my mom and I part ways: I'll return to Vancouver, and she'll continue on towards the rest of France (boy wouldn't they just love to be referred to as a mere afterthought to SPM?) for a couple of months.

So, where am I going? To the East Coast, then to France... but not to Europe! Why, it makes perfect sense!