Regina Inn Hotel and Conference Centre

<br><br>We spent one night in the ghostly outpost of Indian Head, staying at a cheap motel. Camping simply not possible as the temperatures had dropped and the wind was up to 80km/h gusts. Manitoba and Saskatchewan are such flat provinces, the prairies offer little natural shelter from the elements, we are starting to worry that our opportunities to camp are running out. The motel was cheap, but cheap for a reason. Drafty, gloomy, no microwave or kettle and only the shopping channel ...

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... sent me to another security guard who took me to some Air India employee who ended up getting me a "blackmarket" ticket for cash home (travel agencies are closed on holiday weekends as are ticket booths for the airlines)....so I ended up having him rescue me...get me a ticket...smuggle me into the airport (must have paid a security guard) and hid me in an office for 8 hours until my flight was checking in...you can not be in the airport ...

So now its time to write down the process we went through to get our visa. I Should have started this a long time ago because I've done so much I'm not sure I will know all the details still. It was also kind of confusing as a whole so I hope this makes sense. First off we had to sign up for Swap. Basically you need to figure out which program you are going to do. We decided on swap Britain with ...

... here. But they have my name in customs now...they know I'm here, so maybe a week and a half? I digress...the house is great, perfect for me. I will include pictures. As you may or may not remember it's 450 square feet and the bathroom is downstairs in the UNFINISHED basement. Not really a big deal when the house is so small. I even go down there in the middle of the night when I have to tinkle! So the house is boogie ...

... missing us. About halfway, I switched music to my favorite band from Canada - Rush. Since this is the last day in Canada, I would listen to them in tribute. Pooh slept most of the time on this drive. We stopped halfway at this small town the highway ran through for a bathroom break and dog walk. It had the traditional Canadian grain elevator you see all over the place in the prairie lands. From here, it was on to Regina. Right off the exit we stopped at another "Real ...

... the most fascinating and disheartening was the stigma that still exists around being HIV positive. Also, some of the myths around it. It was encouraging though to hear them talk about it, as this is the only way that it will change. It was also neat to see how the support groups included income generating activities. It can be really hard for people living with HIV to make a living so it was neat to see that the group expanded beyond ...

We are still in Regina, our flight has been delayed numerous times tonight due to the snowstorm in Toronto. We can't get out of Regina till 12:45 Saturday morning. The way it looks right now, we will miss our connecting flight in Calgary. Praying that we can get the flight or another one to get to Toronto and on to West Palm Beach. Thelma's sister Edith &amp; her husband Len arrived tonight around 5:30.

After a couple of long plane rides we arrived safely back at home in Regina. We're currently pretty tired but glad to be at home. It is truly amazing how quickly three weeks go when you are having fun! It is with mixed emotions that we have returned home though. Japan is such a different place -- bigger economy, incredible infrastructure, intense work ethic, intense ...

... swimming pool that was free from 7pm. Unfortunately we couldn't go so we said our goodbyes. We will be seeing Corinne, Phil and Kim tomorrow in Calgary, but Sula was off to work so this was good bye (good luck Sula, hope it goes well). There were a couple of French girls, Marie and Elody (sorry if I've spelt it wrong) going to the station at the same time as us, so we all walked together. It was sooo hot! See you in Calgary.