01.12. February 15, 2011

Good day
I'm feeling creative right now. So, naturally, I put my hair in a high pony tail (figure one), put on the music du jour (Wye Oak's album The Knot), and have considered taking up cooking, photography, wine tasting, and trendy-shopping.
The only problems I've encountered in these plans has sprung from the non-money well (making this less a spring well and more like a dried-up-icy-cold-dead-inside winter well).

The good thing about having no money to spend is that I am not spending any money. The bad thing is that I'm now only going through the motions of living (woe is me!) and not actually having all the best possible fun in Montreal.

However, this has allowed me to start working when I get home in the evenings on internship stuff, I finally cracked open the LSAT prepper, not to mention the three academic courses I'm taking. God help me that I start calling them "academic courses". Blech!
I received an 85% on my first assignment, and dear family, before you even think about asking where the other 15% went, it was OUT of 15 and I received 12.8/15 and if you want to know where the other 2.2 marks are because you are sticklers for detail, ask the prof!!!!!

Last night I came home to home-made lasagna (allowing for ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, cheddar and swiss cheese to be melted into the mess). Oh my gooooooodness. Also, a lovely 2008 Malbec blend, followed by Dexter re-runs. I went to sleep with a huge stomach and a very definite smile.

Woke up today to let the fumigator in (I never mentioned lovely readers...we have bed bugs. Just like everyone else. Sadly, we don't have pro-active Greg Selinger to come up with a province-wide epidemic plan. So we depend on the Polish, the oil can used in the original screening of the Wizard of Oz and a hose stolen from our neighbour's yard. This is our exterminator.)
Anyway, the wonderful thing about bedbugs is you get to wash everything, for $1.75 per wash and $0.25/ three minute dry cycle. If you've never seen $34 in quarters, get bedbugs, because that's how much the laundromat will set you back. If you're privy to my Wanted lists (not of the vengeance variety), you'll know that I specifically requested laundromat-friendly clothes this year. Which is exactly what my dear brother provided me at Noel with some beautifully gawdy-gone-Posh sunglasses. So, when no one was looking today at the laundromat, I took pictures of the machines, and, then, of myself. (Narcissism suspicions? Confirmed. Comma over-use? Likely.)

In these dire times, I can only want, so I have decided to torture myself before launching into Kwagala 2011 Sponsorship updates (which is pretty much just one big email to my grandmother!) by perusing the internet for cute buys. That does read buys and not boys, for the skeptics out there.

The Boots, not the label

Speed Flash for my camera to become aforementioned photographer

Wallet 

Desk lamp

These glasses.

everything this lovely lady is wearing

Everything in this picture.

Oh my. Valentine's Day 2009 (recently single.)

Productive high pony-tail

To make & drink more cappucinos

Happy to have received: mugs with cute heart on it, plus chance to paint my nails today at laundromat.

And some eye-candy

Le Laundramat

Lunettes a la laundromat

Trendy advertising at the L-Mat - turns out, kind of a trendy place

23. Montreal.

Really, is it so bad to just want to look and feel great, while living in one of the greatest cities, with a bit of spending money?!?!!??!

I am going to counter my selfishness now with Kwagala work. I think mostly I just want to look trendy while I work hard.

A bientot!

01.11. February 12, 2011

Yesterday as I was beginning my trek to work I decided to take a look around.
I take the metro to Guy-Concordia everyday, and when I get off, there are puddles of waste - ceiling drippings, water, slush, and inevitably pee. There are rats that scurry in the tracks. But still, each day, beautiful music fills the station.

Saxophonists, slide guitarists, violinists...they all set up shop and while thousands of people pass them by without so much as a nod, I know we'd miss them if they weren't there.
So I think a salute is in order to these musicians. I never contribute monetarily but I do make a point of trying to make eye-contact and smile.  Same goes for the drivers of the metro. As it barrels into the metro stop I always try to make eye contact and smile...I mean honestly, they probably get so little recognition, never mind human contact and yet the city of Montreal moves millions of people through the Metro annually.

Another interesting aspect to the metro is how it's not a class thing. Everyone short of diplomats and celebrities takes the metro. It's not an embarrassment, or it doesn't bring about lower-class sentiments to say you are travelling by metro. In fact, when I had to meet someone at a 5-star hotel for work (hmmm that came out wrong), the concierge I was speaking with asked me if I needed directions first by driving then by metro/bus. Professors, doctors, teachers, accountants, white collars, blue collars, purple collars...everyone rides the metro. Trying to think of why that would be, I realized that it is BY FAR the cheapest and most efficient means. Gas prices hover around 122 cents per litre here. Errmm...I suppose that could also be called $1.22. Anyway, it's very pricey. The streets are congested and the drivers are maniacs. I've never seen such flagrant disregard for lanes anywhere in Canada. It really is like trying to drive through Rome.
So on top of safety reasons, the efficiency is undeniable. Yes, it takes me 40 minutes to walk/metro/walk to work, but if I were to drive it it would take just as long, far more frustration, and no chance to read my book. (Current book: One Day the Soldiers Came: Voices of Children in War. It reads well, it's sad, but mostly it's outdated though I only started seeing it on stands in the last few months. The author, so far, stops writing in 2003. The areas he is writing from include Thailand, Burma, DRCongo, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kosovo all have had undeniably large conflicts since his time of writing. I suppose it stays the same though. A Child Soldier is a child soldier is a child soldier.)

This week I also ran into yet another Winnipegger in an Irish pub. Tres cool.
However, my most fun times have been with my coworkers I must admit. Despite the awfulness that was Wednesday morning, Tuesday night was so great. I sat at a tiny table sipping martinis of all varieties, while listening to a Dalhousie graduate who majored in World War II studies and is now at Concordia doing his graduate work in public policy. The other guy present discussed his time at the London School of Economics, spending months in Kosovo, what it was like growing up in Paris and midwest-America. We then started talking about our mutual taste in folk music. My coworker Rob started a sentence this week with "When I was studying in Jerusalem". When I talked about being pro-Palestine he kept asking me why and challenging me. (I'm more pro-Palestine than I am anti-Israel if one can understand the difference). I loved it because he said that he agreed with me but I still needed to have substance behind my beliefs. I wanted to have substance behind my beliefs! I wanted to know more. I was craving to learn more. Craving so much that I googled "current affairs for dummies" and actually said out loud that I was going to be reading more. Politics is something I don't think I will ever be that good at, but at least being aware of what is happening is important.
For example, watching Mubarak's primary address to the nation and getting chills...this defines a generation. Heck, more than a generation. And it may have huge ramifications for the rest of Africa, never mind the Middle East and it's bilateral relations with the West.

So I vowed that even if I couldn't fully understand politics, I could be really good at knowing a lot about health issues in Africa; child soldiers worldwide and the reintegration process into their socieities. I could know about child mortality, women's rights and language distribution across Africa. I could know all about Internally Displaced Persons and refugees worldwide. I could understand the complications of starving populations.  I don't need to be excluded, but I do like the idea of being able to contribute something different. And these issues aren't contained just to Africa - the Balkans has these issues. The Middle East has these issues. Current political affairs aside, there is still much happening that I can focus on and pride myself on knowing.
On this topic, please take the time to read about Uganda's presidential elections that begin on February 18th. The importance of this election is huge. Besigye vs Museveni. The belligerent socialist vs the torture-inducing dictator. Uganda's last democratic election, held in 2006 was contested (a bit) and only a bit violent. Nothing near the types of elections seen across the rest of Africa (Cote d'Ivoire, Sudan, Kenya). If this election process goes smoothly, no matter the turn out, it will work as a model for other nations. The results mark a crucial point for Ugandans too though, and whoever wins has his work cut out for him in terms of foreign policy with Sudan, Tunisia, and now Egypt changing drastically.

I don't know who reads this blog. I don't know if anyone is interested. I am writing for myself, and depending on our relationship, I feel that I broach topics that we'd all be talking about. No scandals here to report, no drama. I sleep lots, I eat well, I walk a ton. I am fitting in.
I still maintain though that I would love to see someone out here! You may as well come out while I'm still jobless so I can take you around.
oh dear. I'm still jobless.

More of the charm of the metro

This is what I look like most days. When I have my hand in my face. (Look at the earrings! Kelci HAND MADE them!)

We get about this much snow each day. Yuck!

The wall above my desk. Fond memories.

Anyway, I'd love to hear from you. Any plans for Reading Week? How are you keeping your head up during the thick of winter?

Love,
Katie

01.10. February 10, 2011

This was my homework assignment tonight. How lucky am I to be in this course?!?

Question: Think of the children in a community that you are familiar with. Have you seen the ideas about what constitutes a 'good childhood' for these children changing over time?  Can you briefly share an example of the sorts of changes in expectations and aspirations you have witnessed and make a link to right(s) that might have been a factor in this change?

My answer: 

The children of the community Kyababeezi in Central-West Uganda are not unlike children all over the world, whose resilience has astounded me. In my five years of working with them I have been privileged to watch infants become self-aware toddlers, and young children blossom into secondary-school attendees (where available). So many of these children’s’ problems seem to be due to chronic poverty – a recurring cycle of poverty that crosses generational lines. Most of the time, the children have inherited communicable diseases through birth, domestic and community responsibilities and community-wide struggles. Because childhood itself is a cultural concept and isn’t as easily defined as the CRC describes (“any human under 18”), the ideas of how to make that childhood a “good” one vary. Instinctively, a good childhood is one that keeps a child safe from harm, however in our present day society, we can’t overlook the fact that children’s safety is continually being challenged, no matter which developed or developing country they are raised in. Getting a bit tangental, I’ll try to get back to my original point here! Sorry guys and ladies!

What I have seen change is a move from “survival mode” to “living”. As money and organization has poured into the community, children’s immediate needs (shelter, food, water and indeed their sense of security) have been met. Their pursuit of education, even at a primary level, has opened their eyes to a bigger world than ever before imagined. Indeed, the children are now able to shift from a sense of immediacy to a more sustainable approach in their thinking and their actions. Supplying children and their families with a sense of security – be it through education or finance or any other resource – has given the family the ability to trust their children will be safe, and thus allowed the children to live more freely, more like children.

The recognition of their rights to not only survive, but to also enjoy their lives has absolutely helped the community to flourish. If, on a micro-level, a Human Development Index, taking into consideration the factor of happiness and hopefulness, had been conducted five years ago and again today, there would undoubtedly be a change in the results. There’d be optimism. 

01.09. February 9, 2011

This is what having friends in Montreal looks like:

Martinis in mason jars. What was I thinking?!

More to come.

01.08. February 8, 2011

Winnipeg - keep your head up. You are all grieving some type of loss and my heart and thoughts are with all of you.
I am with you in some form or another.

I will be making a longer, better, more colourful post soon I promise.

In the meantime, here is the weather for the week:

Also, might I add, here is an airfare for Reading Week:

And amid the promotions of la météo and l'airfare, might I suggest not bothering to watch any movies that are up for awards since they all stink like shoe vomit.

Which reminds me...a guy sat on the metro with me today. He had vomit on his shoe.

I'm off to straighten my hair. I have an undate with a political science graduate student who studied and lived in France, UK and DC his whole life.

Adieu,

Katie

ps. Family. It's Gram's birthday today. I'm sending her forget-me-nots with a note attached saying "sorry I forgot". A woman of irony is she, she is.

01.07. February 1, 2011

Salut!

Sorry I've been relatively silent the last little while. I have had a busy time adjusting here in Montreal. Traumatically, I have already run out of money. As part of an exhaustive search into the depths of my capabilities, I opted to sign up for two graduate-level courses through an online program called Human Rights Education Association, along with my University of Winnipeg course. The dilemma?
My student aid cheque went to helping me move (flight, shipping, purchasing new things, rent, groceries etc.), leaving me $2000less.
So now that tuition has reached fruition, I am at a difficult crossroads. Ah well. Such is life I suppose...I'm equal parts thrilled and terrified at the prospect and SEARCHING DESPERATELY FOR A JOB. So if you have connections in Montreal, quickly connect s'il-vous-plaites et merci.

Aside from my financial woes, the weather sucks. I can't stand walking uphill each and every day with my kneecaps clicking and clacking against one another like an Amsterdam staircase with the wind blowing directly and unfairly up my nostrils and penetrating my cranium's nerve endings. gahhh!!!

For those familiar with downtown Montreal, I take the metro from Jarry to Berri UQAM then switch lines up to Guy-Concordia, before tromping up the hill to chemin cote-des-neiges, and onto avenue docteur penfield.

For those unfamiliar with downtown Montreal, voila:

PRACTICALLY VERTICAL STREET (tilt your head backward a bit)

My place of unpaid employment (bitter?!)

I work next to the Swiss Embassy, as trivia. 

Anyway, walking this each day is a pain in the ass, legs, hamstrings, head, nostrils, meow meow meow...Sensibly, I haven't been in this much shape since 1993.

I had a meeting with my bossyboss today (not RD) and he challenged me like the one-space he is. Or is it four-space. We're talk enneagrams here people. 

Anyway, luckily, I have the wit and composure of Leslie Neilsen playing an orchestral leader (Wrongfully Accused...anyone remember that film?), and I fire-crackered back at him. I can't tell if that makes me ignorant or just wrong, but regardless I need a budget along with a Plan A through ZZ (yes, 2 Zs for extra caution) on Friday. Barring this possibility, I may wear a short summer dress and come in reading Chomsky. 

To be honest, I work well under pressure and now have a working-relationship with most concierges in the greater Montreal area, and so I should be able to give him what he's after budget-wise. It ain't gonna be pretty. We are talking some BIG names for the conference in the Fall. What's been interesting for me is being spoken to like I know everything currently and previously political and so my colleagues throw names and scandals around and I nod and giggle where appropriate and roll my eyes every time I hear the name Mulroney. Seriously though, the capacity of these people is incredible to know everything from MPs districts to which paper Samantha Power pumped out back in 1998. BUT I BET NONE OF THEM KNOW HOW TO MAKE PEANUT SOUP. suckers. Anyway, I try my best to write down names as I hear them and then try to do even the briefest of biographical research in hopes of being able to contribute more to the conversation in following days. For example, I finally looked up what was happening in Egypt, instead of grouping it with North African politics and ignoring it to read another article on HIV in sub-saharan Africa. Unsurprisingly there's quite the story there. 

Politics aside (and I use the term broadly), I'm finally allowing myself to socialize a bit. I found myself at Faggity Ass Fridays at the bar Playhouse, with a specific theme of Gaywatch (clever?). Not only did I find myself donating money to a cause I'd never heard of or getting packages of condoms thrown my way or have the utmost privilege of watch a man make love to the floor but I ran into Winnipeg's gay community. Luckily, I'm acquainted with these folks and it was nice to run into familiar faces. Par example, I was introduced to my pal Kyle's friends as "This is Katie! We met on the music scene in Winnipeg back when I was straight!" I thought about introducing myself to everyone as Straightie but people rarely understand my puns, especially if they don't know my real name or even moniker. 

Last night I went and saw a riveting, politically inherent, capitalist-gone-emptiness induced animated film called The Illusionist on a free ticket that a friend of a friend donated to me. Analysis aside it was about a magician in 1959 in Paris/England/Scotland who accidentally befriends a young girl who has nothing, and brings her to edinburgh where she simply points to sparkly things she wants and the magician makes them appear. She may think they are being placed in her hands by magic but, clearly, the old magician is in fact buying her everything. One day, jobless, penniless and down on his luck, the magician picks some flowers, sets his magic rabbit free (suddenly the frame multiples and there are thousands of rabbits...as if by magic...) and bids adieu to the little girl via a note that simply reads "magicians do not exist."

Well if that doens't get a whole bunch of artsy-saps-in-the-crowd going, nothing does. There was a Q & A session afterwards where one women stated "I loved the audio of the film. It really MADE the film for me. For isntance when a door opened or closed and they accompanied the audio of a 'click' sound...very moving." to which the chair of the event retorted "well you need sound otherwise nothing really makes sense".

...

members of Mulroney's former cabinet perhaps? 

*cue eye roll*

I also attended a very intimate show on Sunday night, something unlike anything I'd seen before. I made sure to close my eyes and get lost in the music for a bit. The nice thing about doing that is that you really can transform yourself into any place at any time. I was lying in bed in Uganda, then I was at a concert in Winnipeg, then I was having a bath in London and then I was at a bar in downtown Montreal. 

As I continue to go out more, I feel my sense both expanding and at the same time resting. I feel familiar with the area I live in and not one, but two people have stopped me to ask for directions. NAY. Three! I forgot about the third one last evening. 

While it may have something to do with my having downloaded google maps on my cellphone, I do feel myself spreading out here. Supposing I stumble across a job, or just luck and find a grab bag full of cash, I feel nearly compelled to socialize at bars. Now there's something different.

If it doesn't work out though, I've downloaded every episode of Dexter and feel confident in my ability to sit like a potato and roost until the end of April. 

Despite the melancholic tone, I am doing well and it is only today...this hour in fact where I have doubted moving here, and for purely monetary reasons. I find salvation in the notion that I am removed from all that I know. The only way I can describe it is putting on a snorkelling mask and realizing you can breathe underwater, and never wanting to emerge because it's so peaceful and so different. To feel soothed by difference is something I have craved for some time now. Knowing the difference is actually within me and not just through superficial surroundings is an enriching and wholesome feeling. If life is following your bliss then I have found a tiny garden on its path where I can be me for awhile.

Being Bliss. 

How lucky am I?

01.06. January 27 2011

Step Backwards.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12295718

01.05 January 21, 2011

Sorry I've been quiet for a few days!
Started the internship this week and it's so great. I share an office with a guy named Rob, with whom I talk humanitarianism, politics, media relations, genocide, sustainable development and several other not-so-intense topics.


I have no idea what our age difference is...as I told him I don't know if he's 24 or 46, but he said closer to the latter. Anyway, we share an office on the 4th floor of the Jewish Archives Building. I have my own computer and desk and have been starting the preliminary stages of organizing a conference on the Will to Intervene Project; an off-shoot of the Responsibility to Protect Doctrine...
If you are interested in learning about them, I recommend checking out migs.concordia.ca and clicking on the W2I Link.

I have been hanging out a lot with a fellow Winnipeger, Ben, and he's letting me be a tourist here which is nice! There's still so much to learn though and I had a semi-break down last night when it took me two and a half hours to complete a drive that should have taken only 54 minutes. I realized that EVERYTHING has changed - from doing my laundry at the laundromat to grocery shopping at small local stores instead of big chains, to not having a car, to being a linguistic minority, to facing difficulties finding a job....the whole shebang.
Needless to say, I was pretty frustrated. I feel better today though. I'll be doing homework for my US History class (my prof is a riot to watch...he sits in a big leather armchair, and turns the TV screen on to Fire Place so that the lecture feels more like a Christmas Eve discussion rather than a class.
However, I've never had to talk about Roosevelt or the New Deal on x-mas, and I don't much feel like doing it now.

Hmmm what else...I'm still settling in. I'm hoping to hear from some Winnipeg friends and/or family about coming to visit...YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!

Well I'm going to get back to the fireplace. Today is a bit chilly but I'm in the countryside and when I'm not doing homework I think I'll go for a country drive.
Also, for breakfast, I had sliced banana, grapes, Camembert cheese and coffee.
I was meant for rural Quebec.

How is everyone else's January treating them? I relish in the headlines that Winnipeg is in a deep freeze...so how are you all surviving/coping with it?

Much love,

Katie

01. 04. January 15, 2011

 cockfights, crash test dummies, coladas: St Lucia 2011

hi mum!

chocolate piano. no big deal.

i'm actually drinking rum on the rocks!

morning routine.

FOUND!!!!!!!!!

Another photo for my mum

brilliant! wine and coffee shop!

23. st lucia.

view from the room

Hello! It seems I'm having to remind everyone I know to check the blog. I thought I was more interesting than that? Apparently not.

In my infinite quest for narcissistic tendencies however, I have opted to continue writing, if only for myself.

So on January 5th at 3:30am, while Winnipeg was I'm sure still celebrating New Years, Nico and I took off to St Lucia. We landed in Vieux Fort, in the South of the island. Someone we met on the plane offered us a ride North to Castries where we were staying with our loveliest couchsurfing host, Michael. For 20USD, the passenger's brother drove us to the North tip of St Lucia, and dropped us off about a block from our destination.

Not bad!

Michael greeted us with Chairman's Reserve on the rocks - a sweetly spiced locally-made rum. I actually managed to drink it without wincing, which surprised everyone.

The next day, Nico and I set out to the market in Castries via public transport, which is very similar to the matatus of Uganda. We found one, jumped in, and within about twelve seconds it registered. A very distinct "hmmm hmmm hmmmmm" - The Crash Test Dummies were playing on the radio. Fits of laughter erupted from me (you can never really escape Winnipeg....) before arriving at the bustling, Creole-inspired marketplace. We ate and shopped around a bit (I use the term "shopped" quite loosely - I left my debit card at home giving me a grand total of 78USD and 75CND for the 10-day trip). All the portions of food served were absolutely enormous and full of curryish flavour. 

That night, Michael's girlfriend prepared us some more local fare, which, to my detriment, was basically fish mixed with fishy tasting vegetables. I had two bites but couldn't hack it. However, I did resolve that from now on I will try at least everything once (future endeavours on the island included mussels, mahi mahi, something a rasta handed me and more rum than usual).

After a few days in Castries, which involved sun, beach, food, drinks, conversation we opted to go to a Friday night street party in Gros Islet - about 12 kms further North. 

w-o-w.

Every Friday night the streets close down and everyone comes out, vendors open, booze is served openly and everyone just dances and sings and parties and yells and laughs. At one point, I saw a girl who didn't look to comfortable, dancing with a local.

After studying them for about 30 seconds, and seeing her growing uncertainty/nervousness I jumped in, grabbing her arm and saying "DANIELLE!?!?! HEY!!!!" I'd never seen her before but my intention was that it would be a good excuse to scoot away from the creepy guy.

She was very confused and so I explained why I'd interjected and rescued her. She thanked me. I asked her where she was from and she said "Canada."

me: Me too! Where?

her: umm..Winnipeg?

me: ME TOO!!!!! WHERE?!!?!!?!?!??!?!?!!? (JUBILATION BURSTING THROUGH)

her: St James. 

me: ME TOOOO!!! (kidding).

So we grew up five minutes away from each other. And now we are at the same small-island street party. Did I mention you can't escape Winnipeg?

I asked what school she was at and learned she was in high school...taking a closer look I figured she was about 15. I felt...old? responsible? Winnipeg pride? 

Well nothing could really top that moment and we headed back to Michael's. Three more couch surfers arrived into his tinyish place and we were grateful to have arrived first so we got the bedroom, as opposed to the love seat/floor/back yard.

Headed to a new couchsurfer's, in the South inland. Generally the tourists stick to the coast so we knew we were going into some pretty thick rural St Lucia. What we DIDN'T anticipate was that our couchsurfing host would live in a club-turned-house, attached to a bar, full of children and pot-smokers alike, with a very active COCKFIGHT happening. The roof was corrugated tin, the walls were thin, everyone was drunk. The hosts were incredibly warm and talkative and their children were adorable but...just not our scene. It felt like a charity case, and I needed a vacation. 

The next morning I woke up at 7am to sounds of the children burping and farting and complaining about having to go to school. I went to sit outside, where, at 8:30am, I found a couple locals drinking the local beer, Piton. You know those days you wake up and wonder how anyone could possibly be drinking!? It was one of those moments.

I lasted another 4 hours before booking a seaside  hotel in Soufriere, on the Southwest of the island, surrounded by palm trees and the Caribbean sea, and of course the Pitons - cone shaped mountains unique to St Lucia. 

This is where we spent the remainder of our vacation, admittedly on the beach the whole time. We had had a lot of adventuring in our first 5 days and so opted to have a very relaxed end to the trip.

I've put some pictures up that showed some of the highlights of our trip. All in all, Nico and I decided it was the coolest trip we'd ever done together (better than Iceland, Vancouver, and even Grand Forks).

I'll have more stories coming up in time...hopefully this has been a good start though. I highly recommend couch surfing St Lucia, for what it's worth. 

I have to go work on my photo cloud - a wall-based collage of pictures and post cards. I finished unpacking (I think).. and suddenly, I feel like I'm at home.

I'm feeling very happy and relaxed and excited to start my internship on Monday! 

 

01.03. January 1, 2011

Wowzas.

Here I am. Montréal. So far SO good! I arrived on the 30th and picked up my bags and boxes (8 boxes, a 90 pound suitcase plus carry-on) with Nicolas and his father Serge. Arrived at the apartment and hauled everything up the spiral staircase to our front door. (Okay...mostly Nicolas did it)
Anyway, left everything a bit fat mess and immediately made some coffee and pulled out my bag of hemp granola and sat around with Jeanne and Nicolas. I tried to sleep but was completely abuzz and ended up sticking it through.
Went out to a dinner party with Nico and Jeanne. Their friends have a gorgeous apartment several metro stops away and we all pitched in some money and they provided us with some fantastic eats. Raw salmon on a pancake, topped with sour cream and caramelized onions; flat bread pesto pizza with sun dried tomato. Seriously...lavish.
There was a fellow Anglophone (see Mum, sooooo Quebecoise) named Rosie from Australia. She actually lives with a Winnipegger too. I reflected for far too long that it was hovering around 0 degrees while Winnipeg suffered -35. baha!
Yesterday Nicolas worked and so I was responsible for my OWN WELL-BEING! :-o
I showered (and successfully flooded the bathroom...oops) and unpacked ALL my stuff (in retrospect, a bit stupid since I have to pack it all up for St Lucia), arranged my room and all my possessions. Then I hit the road! I live very close to the metro station so I headed there and took the metro all the way to downtown, at Peel station. I met up with an old friend named Ben who lives here now. We went for a drink in old montreal and chatted and caught up and chatted and caught up some more. It was so lovely - how nice to see a familiar face in a new city!
Met up with Nicolas at his work - it was his final day at his job and it coincided with a dinner, so we scored a free meal. A metro ride and rainy walk home and then we celebrated midnight by not celebrating it...we didn't even look at the clock until 12:07. Oops.
Watched the Breakfast Club and then headed to sleep. All in all a very positive first day. I was on my own for a bit of it, challenging myself to figure things out, navigating through a new city. I also walked so much and I realize how restricting Winnipeg is in terms of walking. I easily walked over two kilmoetres yesterday, which isn't that much, but is more walking than I've done in a long time.
Unfortunately, my boots let in all the rain and puddle water and now I have to go buy new boots.
I'm about to leave to go pick up Moses from the airport and then we'll have a French evening, full of wine and baguette and cheese.

I hope everyone had a fascinating New Year's Eve. My resolution is to not settle for less. This will take a lot of self-exploration but ultimately a very good thing for me.

A Bientot,

Katie

ps. Pictures of the apartment will come soon! I promise!