Winnipegging Part 1

Winnipeg - 10 August to 21 August 2007

We've spent the last week and a bit in Winnipeg, adjusting to the time-zone and enjoying the sunny, but mild weather. Chela is very happy to be back in her home away from home with her Grandma and her aunt MJ (yes, that's Mary Jane) and Matthew has now met everyone and is approved of!

In our short time here, we've noticed a few things about Winnipeg.Winnipeg is a small, flat city situated in the middle of Canada. It is surrounded by the prairies that stretch through central Canada and the USA and are mostly farmland. It is common to see round bales of hay sprinkled around the place and one of the more random sights we came across was a ramshackle old farmhouse in the middle of a sunflower field. The house was totally destroyed inside but the grass had been freshy mown... spooky. Winnipeg is also one of the most multi-cultural cities in Canada, and its people are united by the somewhat contradictory love of cultural diversity and a common disdain for all things French. Canadian television is pretty similar to what we enjoy back home although it appears that there are only four commercials across the networks and they play incessantly. Winnipeggers are known for their love of a bargain and Winnipeg is a centre for factory outlets and perpetual 'sales'. We have been taking the opportunity to purchase some of the travel items that we couldn't get in Sydney or which were too expensive at home but are more reasonably priced here. Our time in Winnipeg has been evenly divided between seeing the sights and shopping. Chela has been convinced to try some new food and we have been treatd to Ukrainian style perogies and cabbage rolls smeared with sour cream. We've also had a couple of different European style sausages.

On Sunday afternoon, the weather was fine and sunny, perfect for M.J. (Chela's aunt) and Mal took us to the baseball to see the Winnipeg Goldeyes take on the Joliet Jackhammers (from Illinois). The Goldeyes' home ground is a nice 7000 seat diamond where there isn't a bad seat in the house. Not that that would have bothered us because we were seated three rows back from the Winnipeg dugout. The game was very close and exciting up until the top of the seventh inning, when Joliet pounded in eight runs. Winnipeg pulled together and hit two home runs in the eighth but it wasn't enough and ended up losing the game 9-4. Nevertheless, we had a really good time relaxing in the sun, eating sunflower seeds and watching the action. Chela was pleased to soak up a little sun and was a litte pinker than usual for the next couple of days. Matthew, on the other hand, took advantage of the free sunscreen and was the only one not burned at all.

On Monday we went downtown and took a tour of the Manitoba Provincial Legislature, known by locals as 'The Leg' (as in 'The Ledge', not a body part). The building is larger than you would think for a province that has a population of 700 000. In fact it is larger than the White House in Washington. It is so large that the 5 metre tall gold-plated statue (the Manitoba Golden Boy) that tops the building looks miniscule. The Leg is designed in the neoclassical style and incorporates Egyption, Greek and Roman architectural styles. Inside, the Leg is loaded with classical and rural mythology and symbolism, such as the two life-size bison statues that guard the main staircase and the recurring use of the number thirteen throughout the interior (in order to draw out all the bad luck and ill will before people get into the legislative chamber). The legislative chamber itself is surprisingly small compared to the rest of the building and is decorated with statues of historical lawmakers and murals that depict the kinds of virtues that lawmakers shoud abide by. The names of five great world legislators, Confucius of China, Justinian of Rome, King Alfred of England, Lycurgus of Greece and Manu of India are carved on stone tablets and mounted on the walls of the legislative chamber. What an eclectic mix!

Winnipeg is right in the Canadian bible belt and is home to Anababtist groups such as the Mennonites and the Hutterites, both vaguely related to the Amish. These groups escaped persecution in Europe because of their conscientious objection and settled in North America where they live simple but successful lives based on communal and pacifist values. The Hutterites keep mostly to themselves and live in communes called colonies outside of Winnipeg. We've been to one such colony, the 'Heartland Colony', which is not far from Winnipeg and has a store where outsiders can buy produce such as eggs and chickens. As we got closer to the colony we realised that there wasn't anyone around. Farm equipment and trucks were sitting parked in front of large white buildings and we started to get a really creepy feeling. As we drove around the colony, we could see children dressed in ye-olde clothes and before long a man drove up to us in a nice new white ute. With his hat and beard and suspenders he looked sort of Amish but the brand new vehicle he was driving indicated that the Hutterites have no compulsions about using technology in their farming. He spoke with a strong German accent and informed us that the store was closed for lunch. Our sense of intrusion was growing stronger and we only paused long enough to take a photo of an old-fashioned tractor before driving off and leaving the Hutterites to their lives.

The Mennonites, in comparison, live somewhat more 'normal' lives in the general community. We went to their museum village outside of Winnipeg which is like a miniture town showing life in the pioneer days. There's a functioning windmill and examples of old houses and farms with real animals attached. One of the wierder attractions was a corner store that actually sold homemade honey and lollies. M.J. bought a bizarre brand of chewing gum that proudly claimed that it "still tastes like soap!". We tried it; it does taste like soap. We're not sure why this was a selling point though!

Being situated on the Prairies, Winnipeg has very different flora and fauna. In M.J.'s backyard alone we regularly see squirrels (red and grey), chipmunks, a bunny, woodpeckers, bluejays, goldfinches and chickadees. We saw even more fauna out at Fort Whyte, an urban wildlife park. There we saw prairie dogs which are like giant hamsters. The early European settlers called them prairie 'dogs' because they bark like chihuahas. In fact, while we were looking at them at Fort Whyte they suddenly yipped all at once and jumped in the air for no apparent reason. There were more animals to be seen at the Assiniboine zoo which we saw very cheaply because we parked outside the fence and looked through the wire where we still had a pretty good view of the Bison and an Elk. Maybe we'll go properly in our remaining time.

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