{"id":10523,"date":"2022-06-12T16:35:12","date_gmt":"2022-06-12T14:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/?p=10523"},"modified":"2022-06-12T16:44:56","modified_gmt":"2022-06-12T14:44:56","slug":"down_town_torronto_to_brossac_in_france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/down_town_torronto_to_brossac_in_france\/","title":{"rendered":"Escape from Downtown Toronto to the French Countryside"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I am glad to be typing this in front of a computer! Although I have spent the past 10 years sat in front of computer screens daily doing my linear algebra homework or adjusting pension calculations, for once, using a computer actually feels like a break! This is because I have just graduated with my Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and I am taking a few months to escape from the rushed working life commonly found in Ontario, Canada and exploring around Europe! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have spent the past few weeks in hostels around England, Scotland and France meeting so many incredible people and I have made it to my current 3 week volunteering stay at La Giraudi\u00e8re. Although I have only been here for a few days, I already feel as though I have learned so much! Below you can see a flawless example of &#8220;tree lopping&#8221; (a term I learned this week as well). It seems to be similar to pruning a tree but not the exact same. The photo on the right is a picture of the amazingly bright night sky that I took at 3AM the night before! Amazing that the stars even show up on the camera; it was certainly worth the wakeup! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/tree_lopping_french_countryside.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"541\" height=\"451\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/tree_lopping_french_countryside.png\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"10524\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/tree_lopping_french_countryside.png\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=10524\" class=\"wp-image-10524\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/tree_lopping_french_countryside.png 541w, https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/tree_lopping_french_countryside-300x250.png 300w, https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/tree_lopping_french_countryside-150x125.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 541px) 100vw, 541px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Trees that have been lopped by Josephine and I.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/night_sky_at_la_giraudiere_french_countryside.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"401\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/night_sky_at_la_giraudiere_french_countryside-401x600.png\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"10525\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/night_sky_at_la_giraudiere_french_countryside.png\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=10525\" class=\"wp-image-10525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/night_sky_at_la_giraudiere_french_countryside-401x600.png 401w, https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/night_sky_at_la_giraudiere_french_countryside-201x300.png 201w, https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/night_sky_at_la_giraudiere_french_countryside-100x150.png 100w, https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/night_sky_at_la_giraudiere_french_countryside.png 430w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">The beautiful night sky (3 AM).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I also so far have poorly attempted to strim the lawns here (had to restart a few times due to my lack of expertise) and have mowed the lawns for a bit as well. More activities can be seen below! I had a fantastic swim in a nearby lake with fellow volunteers Marian and Josephine and have enjoyed the summer heat to the fullest. All of this has been a massive difference from the online internships and co-op positions I have had over the past few years, and I am super grateful to be able to say I still have two more weeks here!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>France is major on re-cycling so volunteers are encouraged to recycle when possible. During my stay one project was to clear 25 years of building waste materials which were were either re-used or recycyled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">Preparing metal and plastic to separate them and prepare them for recycling \/ disposal!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"450\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/smashing_things_la_giraudiere_french_countryside-450x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10526\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/smashing_things_la_giraudiere_french_countryside-450x600.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/smashing_things_la_giraudiere_french_countryside-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/smashing_things_la_giraudiere_french_countryside-113x150.jpg 113w, https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/smashing_things_la_giraudiere_french_countryside.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I will have to attempt to cook for everyone tomorrow as well so please please please wish me luck! I will try my hardest to keep my new friends alive but if there are no more blog posts after this, then it most likely will be due to tomorrow&#8217;s meals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>James a volunteer from Canada<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/volunteers_dinner-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/volunteers_dinner-1-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"dinner for the may volunteers\" class=\"wp-image-10549\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/volunteers_dinner-1-800x600.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/volunteers_dinner-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/volunteers_dinner-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/volunteers_dinner-1-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/volunteers_dinner-1-320x240.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/volunteers_dinner-1.jpg 806w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I am glad to be typing this in front of a computer! Although I have spent the past 10 years sat in front of computer screens daily doing my linear algebra homework or adjusting pension calculations, for once, using a &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/down_town_torronto_to_brossac_in_france\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[311,103,823,821,827,819],"tags":[125,167,169,171,1076,853,557],"class_list":["post-10523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-volunteer","category-volunteering","category-volunteering-holidays-abroad","category-volunteering-in-france","category-volunteers-gap-year","category-volunteers-holiday-abroad","tag-canada","tag-canadian-in-france","tag-canadian-volunteer","tag-canadian-volunteers-in-france","tag-torronto","tag-volunteering-holiday","tag-volunteering-opportunity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10523"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10550,"href":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10523\/revisions\/10550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}