the clouds move so fast in montreal

The clouds move faster here than I have ever seen anywhere in my life. I have seen them blowing so fast that it looks like a plastic grocery bag is being brushed over a street. It really is incredible. I will be in class looking at clouds out the window, put my head down to write down one vocabulary word and when I look up those clouds are gone and a new formation has appeared in its place. It's not every day but on windy days it feels like the clouds are just running laps around the world.

For better or for worse that was about the most exciting thing that happened to me today. I'm feeling much better but still kind of lethargic (or I'm just using that as my excuse to do nothing all day...). Regardless, today was a very relaxing day that included the introduction of a new snack into my regime: peanut butter dipped in broccoli. While, I would say it does not reach the greatness that is carrots dipped in pb, it was still pretty damn good. Credit to Claire for showing me that, thanks.

All in all I would say it was a pretty good day.

un nez qui coule

Yes, the magician has spoken, she's has a runny nose. She, of course, would be me and the magician is a very odd bird from Colombia who is in my French class. He sits in class all morning and plays with a silver ring on his right hand. The is thick and has the face of a dragon or something on it. He spends the majority of the class (that he isn't shouting out the answer because yes, he knows more French than we do) pinching the ring between his thumb and pointer finger of his right hand and then "magically" making it appear on his right hand's ring finger. The trick would actually be pretty cool if he didn't do it constantly for three hours M-F. To his delight though, Flavio, our new Swedish addition to the class, saw the trick today and was thrilled. I wish I were exaggerating but he almost literally freaked out in class. "Oh wow! Do it again! But slower!" he shouted. "There's only one speed," replied the magician. But he did it again, and again. Oh was the Sweed tickled! It was quite an enjoying interaction.

Anyways, I realized that I want to start relating more of the day to day interactions I've been having because they're all pretty fantastic and there is rarely a dull moment here.

Do something kind today!
(or tonight, or tomorrow!)


xo

(this is the view from our kitchen window. bien fait Claire)

Bon jour tout le monde!
I hope that everyone is doing well and having a glorious end to a glorious weekend. Overall, this weekend was pretty mellow for me. I felt like I slept for most of it which was nice and normally I would feel bad about that but I took this year off to relax (among other things) so I feel like sleeping in is good.

I’ve been thinking more and more about what I want to do when I come back. Montreal is a lot more expensive than I was expecting, so I’m definitely going to have to work and make mad cheddar when I get back (ahahaha I’ve actually heard people use that phrase mad cheddar which means a lot of money. Apparently it comes from the Niagara area?) Anyways, I will have to make mad cheddar since I’m spending more of my money than I expected to. It all works out though because I miss being/ working with kids so much that I think full time babysitting will be great and certainly very different from anything I do here. In terms of the spring though, I’m pretty excited about getting to see Argentina and Chile. Since two of my best friends, Nora and Juliette, are going to be in Chile in the spring, it would be crazy not to go there☺. I’ve decided though that instead of doing a program or volunteering, I’m going to WOOF (World Wide Organization of Organic Farms) in Argentina first for a few weeks, and then Chile. Even though working on a farm for two months will be pretty intense I think it will be good for me. Plus it will be pretty different from anything I’ve ever done before. Bahh I’m so excited even just thinking about it makes me want to burst! When I come back from South America, pretty quickly Claire and I will leave for Africa. We’re still not definitely sure where or for how long we’ll go but it’s looking like it will be around six weeks and hopefully in Tanzania or Mozambique. Regardless though, it will be excellent. After that, in my dreams, I will go to France and either WOOF or au pair for the rest of the summer, until Scott’s wedding in Finland in August. However, by that point, I might be too exhausted to do anymore traveling. I do want to plan at least two weeks to recuperate in ABQ before I head off back to school (which I’m also pretty excited for).

Wow that’s quite a long paragraph. But it feels good to put my thoughts on paper and now you guys have some idea of what I’m thinking about (even though I will probably change my mind at least 10 more times before I come back☺).

Well until the next time,
Au revoir!
xo

Today was lovely and lazy. I know I've mentioned this before but I really can't get over how great it is here. Everyday is so fun and filled with so much laughter. Honestly, Liz, Claire and Michelle are some of the funniest people I've ever met and in the last two weeks we've had some of the best conversations I've ever had. Most of them I can't even recall but as they're happening I'm so enthralled and engaged and astounded at how great they are and the points being brought up. It's so refreshing to live with people that I like who awful (REID if you're READing this, you are obviously the exception). At school I craved those practically non-existent moments of solitude but here, even though it is nice being alone, I look forward to having someone be there when I come in. Even if all we do is sit in the same room and play with our computers it's still nice to do with people I like.

On the same note though, just in general, I'm really loving getting to meet new people. I almost wish that I could just eternally live in that stage with people where when you meet them everything you talk about is interesting and exciting because it's all you know about them. Not that getting to know people isn't great also, but I really love those virgin moments. Plus, it doesn't hurt that almost everyone the girls know is super interesting.

Most of our day today consisted of reviewing all of the pictures we've taken and it was fantastically fun. I've only been in Montreal for two weeks and I've taken roughly 1,500 photos and the great news is that they're all fantastic. The only bummer about this heavenly situation is that I'm in the process of getting sick. Hopefully I'll be able to bypass it and go straight to the recovery part, but I have to say that if a sore throat is the most of my worries, then I've got a pretty damn good life.

BTW:
my address here is
2075 de la Montagne
Apt 5
Montreal, QC
H3G 1Z8

real quick

( I just figured out how to add pictures (yaay!) and these are from the bio sphere. It was designed by buckminster fuller and it was pretty cool. The girl in the bottom photo is my friend Pamela and she's from Mexico and both pictures were taken by our friend pablo who is from spain)

so I'm already late to meet some friends to go to the bio dome but I just wanted to mention that yesterday was lovely. I went to class and then Claire and I got lunch and aux vivres (yumm).
Then I went to the frigo vert for my first day of work and it was out of control. I started off not knowing anything about a cash register and within twenty minutes I was running it by myself. Normally I would have been kind of freaked out since it was five o clock and there was a long line for about an hour but the guy who trained me, Fazziez, said that since it is an anitcaptalist grocery store, we should never feel like we have to rush. He said that long lines are good because they promote discussion and that everyone will get checked out in time. Plus, eveyone who volunteers there is so nice! Anytime I had a problem/question, they would help me figure it out. It was great!

ottawa, ottawa, ottawa, ottawa!!!

So this past Sunday I took a school trip to Ottawa and it was incredible. It is a really beautiful city. We went to the parliament building and got a tour which was pretty cool because I learned a lot. Ex.) Queen Victoria chose Ottawa to be the capital because Montreal and Kingston were the forerunners (in terms of candidates for capital) and they had a big rivalry going on for it. So, to avoid fueling the rivalry she choose Ottawa. Interesting, eh?

Then we had a few hours to wander around. I ended up going out to lunch with two Germans, a Spaniard and a girl from Mexico City. Between us we spoke five languages, each at least three. So the entire afternoon we jumped from English to Spanish to French and then to German and then we'd throw in a little Italian. It was so fun but by the end of the day my mind was spinning with words! They were all really into taking pictures (thankfully) so that was a big part of our day which, of course, was great. Even though we spent two hours of the day going and then two and a half coming back, it still felt like such a full day. I'm really glad that I went because I got to know everyone really well and I think that I'm going to do some traveling with Natalie (Germany) and Pamela (Mexico) at the end of November which is so exciting! They are both really nice girls and it's just so funny being with them because our senses of humor are all so different which just makes it even funnier to interact with them. Great fun though:)
I know that there was a lot more that I wanted to say but I can't remember now, so this will have to do.

Today though was pretty good. I had class and went home and cleaned up a bit in preparation for the dinner party we were having. Then I went and met up with some friends for coffee. Then I came back to the apartment and met the girls and we went to a flash mob. Apparently, it's where people get together and do the same thing for a short time (via secret invites, etc.). For this one we all went and made really loud noises to call attention to global warming. The prime minister of Canada, stephen harper, was the main target for the flash mob because Canada signed the Kyoto Protocol but it has failed to meet the requirements. This was supposed to be a reminder that the people want Canada to make a change and they hold the government responsible for shortfall. It wasn't super big but it was really, really cool.

Afterwards we came home and started cooking dinner for the girl's friend Sean and then Claire's old roommate Jenna. I made Vodka Penne. Liz made a salad adorned with fresh cooked beets, carmelized onions and almonds, yummy dressing, etc. Then Claire made garlic bread. It was absolutely delicious. Now we're all sitting in the living room doing homework (well sort of) and mostly just talking. It's so lovely living with people I like. During French today one of the conversation questions we had was "What is your favorite trip you've ever been on?" and all I could think was- this one! I seriously am so lucky that I get to take a year off and move to Montreal just to have fun. I almost feel guilty at how great it's been. Literally every day is either fun, charming, thought provocking, exciting, exhausting, or some combination of all of those things. Thankfully these girls are hilarious, we laugh out loud constantly. Even though I want you all to know how my life is going, I almost feel bad telling you this because when I reread it, it sounds like perfection, because it is!!

I'm sure this has lots of errors/ runon sentences but I hope you can understand and enjoy.
Much love!

hips don't lie

bon jour all!
So pretty much I love my French class. Everyone is so funny and nice. They are mostly all better than I am at French which is hard but good for me (better than the other way around). The funny thing is that most of the kids speak Spanish so when I don't know a word sometimes I revert to Spanish and last year in my French class that was just more confusing for the person I was talking with. But here since they speak Spanish it's perfect (perhaps not so good for our French though...). Oh and today was so great because I had my first argument in French!! We were talking about music and I said that I loved Shakira and this other kid said he used to like her but that he thought she had sold out. Well then this girl Maria and I (nearly) attacked him! We just kept going off on how great her music is and what a good person she is. Unfortunately, when I'm arguing in French I am easily flustered and
so my grammar serverly deteriorates but I would say it's always worth it to attempt to defend Shakira's honor, regardless of the language.

For the past two days our teacher has been out sick so we've had a sub who I absolutely love. She is really energetic and focuses a lot on pronunciation which is really helpful for me since I frequently butcher their language:)

Tonight, the girls and I, and Claire's old roommate Jenna are having a classy night. We're all going to dress up super fancy and go to the Queen Elizabeth Hotel bar which is where john lennon and yoko had their famous bed-in. Hopefully that should be really fun. And then tomorrow I want to get on the metro and take it to some cool neighborhood and then just spend the day wandering back to the hotel. I might even pick up a few things along the way...

Well now I'm off to make a yummy sandwich,
au revoir!

directions

I love living in a city because it's so spontaneous. It only takes me 5 minutes to walk to school but every day so far I've taken a different route. I cross when the light is green, which means that the traffic signals dictate which route I take. But sometimes I thwart their plans by crossing when the red hand is up, or, when I'm feeling really frisky, I cross in the middle of the street. It's quite a thrill. Since we live in a neighborhood with such abundant shopping possibilities it makes going home more of an adventure because there is a plethora of stores to get lost in on my way. But even though my walk home is always different, what I do when I get home is almost always the same: sleep. I had forgotten but I napped so much this past year in between classes and it's no different here. It's like my body resets itself to a "school clock" which requires that a nap is had mid afternoon (or at 11am or at 8 pm). Regardless, it's a highly enjoyable practice.

I'm excited because I signed up to go to Ottawa this weekend with the school. I only know two of the girls going, neither of whom are in my class, but hopefully I will be able to make new friends on the bus ride there. The two girls I know I met on the first day and they are very nice. In fact, it's almost overwhelming how nice everyone I met is. I almost hurt from all the kindness I've experienced. In a good way.

Now though we are off to the Jean Talon market to get some fresh produce!
I hope all is well!
xo

une epicerie anticapitaliste!

Today was pretty glorious. I woke up and made myself a heavenly breakfast sandwich. Rye (toasted of course), soy patty, ketchup, and a mound of lettuce. Then I went to French class and was placed into level D3 which stands for Debutante 3. There are ten levels in total D1,D2,D3,$ then Intermediate 1,2,3,4 and then two advanced levels. At the end of every month we will take a test and either move on up to the next level (D4 in my case) or stay in the same level. All of my new classmates hail from different parts of the world including, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Libya, Canada, and Switzerland. I'm the only American in the group. My teacher is very nice and she is from France. The three hours literally just flew by which was great but it was a little sad that after I left I stepped out into a world that feels mostly English speaking. Hopefully though that will change once I learn more French.

After lunch and a nap I met Claire and Liz at Gerts, McGill's on campus pub for a beer. Then I set about trying to find books about Canadian history in the library. The good thing about living in a bilingual city is that I'm always hearing new sounds and experiencing new perspectives. The bad thing about it is that it makes it twice as hard to find what book you want in the library when it's floating in a sea of French titles. It doesn't help either that I don't exactly know what I'm looking for. All I know is that I want to know more about this crazy country they call Canada (formerly New France, formerly Upper Canada). Bottom line:
Library 1
Lissie 0

From there I made my way over to the Concordia neighborhood to search for my vegan friendly grocery store. Concordia is the other major university in Montreal and it's pretty cool. It has a student run co-op that sells bulk items and all natural products. Everything is fair trade and/or organic. It is called Le Frigo Vert and it is roughly the size of my kitchen. Finding le frigo was definitely a success, even though it was a quarter of the size I was expecting it to be. It turns out that they are looking for volunteers so on Friday I'm going to go to a training and hopefully start volunteering there a few hours a week. The cashier was really nice and said that volunteers who work 4+hours a week get a discount. I think it will be a good way to practice my French and hopefully meet some new people:)

Au bientot!

ottowa is the capital of canada

Bon jour tout le monde! So today was my first day of French class, although technically it was just an orientation. The school is a few floors of an office building that is a five minute walk from my apartment. All the walls are brightly painted and all the staff is super nice which makes everyone feel more comfortable so they are, in turn, very nice as well. I took an evaluation today and so I will find out what level I am in mañana. They are really strict about creating a French atmosphere so from 9-12 everyday for the next ten weeks I will be talking today made me realize how much French I learned last year at LC.

Otherwise, we’ve just been hanging out and exploring. Unfortunately the abundance of exploration has led to an abundance of pain in my calves. Last night Claire and I ventured out into Montreal to meet her old roommate for coffee but we ended up getting super lost and our lower halves (my calves, her feet) had to pay the price. We eventually corrected out 1½ mile mistake and to the horror of our bodies, we marched on to what may be the coolest coffee shop I’ve ever been to. S’appelle Le Cagibi et est tres chic! They have a whole wall that is filled with zines and little comics and other trinkets other people left there. We only got coffee but the menu was mostly vegetarian and it sounded heavenly. Afterwards, we hobbled back to the metro station and headed home. The good news is that I am slowly starting to piece together the way the city is laid out. Tomorrow I am going to go investigate vegan grocery stores in the area.

au revoir!

le frigo vert

I think I might be too sleepy to write. Claire and I had a pretty epic adventure today. We went to the top of mount royal which is a huge park that was constructed on a mountain (large hill). Once you reach the top (20-30 minutes later) you can see all of montreal. It's incredible. And there is traffic the entire walk up, people are constantly coming and going. Walkers, joggers, bike ridders, families, dogs, babies, etc. The end result was a few very good pictures, some sore muscles and general exhaustion. My feet still hurt from all the walking we did this afternoon.

Tonight for dinner Claire, Michelle and I made ourselves salad for dinner. Liz went back home for the weekend. My salad was decked in deliciousness, including interesting canadian vegan meat products. Now we're all just sitting in the living room looking at our computers and zoning out. Tomorrow will be more of the same, walking and vegging.

I'm excited though to check out a new grocery store I just looked up that's super close to our apt. Hopefully le frigo vert will be the solution to my problem of not being able to find vegan butter.
Yummm

aux vivres!

So I think that today can definitely be deemed a success. Claire and I woke up and took our time getting ready. By two o clock we were on our way back to the Plateau which was lovely as always. The Plateau is home to the majority of Montreal's vintage shopping- to give you an idea of the area. We took the metro there and I was shocked at how clean it was. Each station has a different design. Our metro stop, peel, has lots of steel and bright colors. Others have red or grey brick but on the whole they are very nice and very clean.

Upon arrival at our destination we ventured into a very intense vintage store. There were rows of boy scout clothes and other uniforms, of wool sweaters, and men's t-shirts. The owner was aware that we were speaking english but refused to speak to us in English. He was super intense but it was very fitting because he was like the human equivalent of his store.

We then perused other shops until our stomachs wouldn't let us neglect them any further. We sought refuge at this super cute vegan cafe called Aux Vivres. It was top on my list of vegan restaurants to visit and it just so happened that Claire had seen it walking home the other day. We split a vegan blt with coconut bacon on their specialty chipata bread. It was incredibly strange and utterly delicious for the first few bites. Then it slipped into the category of good but not great. Our final review was that, although we propably wouldn't order it the next time, we would recommend it.

We then meandered until we made it home. I'm slowly starting to make a mental map of the city, connecting the dots of Claire's friend's apartments, McGill, the Plateau, and other bars/restaurants. Considering it's only day two though, I feel pretty good about it.

Tomorrow we're going to find the organic grocery store, explore the ymca gym, and locate the ilsc (international language school of canada).

I miss you all loads,
xo

day two

So it's day two here in Montreal and the city is just as radiant as ever. We live right in the middle of downtown which is super intense. The sidewalks are always super packed and everyone is painfully chic. Seriously, not a single person with a hair out of place! So far downtown is not my favorite part of Montreal. Last night though, we went to a neighborhood called the Plateau which is like the main art district of Montreal and it was incredible. We weren't even in the thick of it but I really liked the vibe there. It's a lot more laid back than downtown, although a majority of the people are still very chic.

Mostly so far Claire and I have just been walking around and exploring the city. Unfortunately living in ABQ conditioned me to be very lazy when it comes to walking and you have to walk so much here! Haha I'm going to have to get used to walking so much again but I'm looking forward to it!

Now we're off to the bank and further exploration
love love