HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, CANADA!!!

These days Quebec City celebrates its 400th anniversary. Impressing age that deserves a grand celebration; even I, a declared opponent of Quebec's policies and lifestyle, I went, together with my husband, to the beautiful city (why not admit it?), hoping this would be my last trip there for a loooong time. Newspapers were fighting for the most beautiful pictures and touching articles, people were eating poutine (a specific dish consisting of french fries topped with cheese and some kind of sauce) and getting drunk, politicians were giving speeches praising Quebec's heritage... all in all, the atmosphere was pretty festive.

And then came July 1, Canada's day. This year Canada turned 141. You would think that this is an even greater reason to celbrate; after all, this IS your COUNTRY'S anniversary. Well, not quite. July 1 is declared moving day in Quebec. The only province that has a moving day decided to pick Canada's day for people to move. Why should they be happy and remember that they too are a part of Canada? No, let them carry heavy pieces of furniture and get stressed over moving prices! On top of that, if you picked up next day's paper you would discover huge front page articles about the whole process of moving your precious belongings from one dwelling to the other. Not even a single word about Canada Day. Not on the first page, not on the second... and not on the last. And yet, the Prime Minister went today to Quebec City to honour its existence.










Have I ever told you that you suck? Stop remembering and start having an honourable life!

Snowstorm Aftermath

Yesterday was the worst day I've ever got to live in Montreal. We knew it would be snowing, but the only things that could've prepared us for what we had to face would've been words like "typhoon", "don't leave your homes" or "you might freeze while walking". It usually takes me 10 minutes to get from the building I live in to the metro. And that's going uphill. Yesterday it took me half an hour to get home from the metro. And that's downhill. Small, icy flakes led by the fierce wind would bit my face, while my legs got lost in the snowy molasses and took their time resurfacing. If Gogol were alive, I would ask him to describe yesterday's scenery. But since that's not an option and since I couldn't take any photos yesterday because I had forgotten my camera (and, anyway, I might've frozen to death while trying to get such a souvenir), I can only post some photos of the aftermath. Unless you live in Siberia, don't ever let me hear you complain again about how much snow you have to deal with :-)!!!

This is what I found this morning
after opening the balcony door.


































Yup, these are cars!

You Know You Live in Montreal When...


... you answer the phone and a lady starts talking to you in Chinese. Wrong number, of course!

...you're nothing special unless you speak at least 6 different languages.

... instead of going shopping at the mall, you drive to New York for the weekend to buy nicer and cheaper clothes.

... you might get arrested for staring (lovingly) at someone's baby. That is, unless you don't get beat up first.

... there's not much fun you can have in the winter, but you can hardly wait for the 4 months when the streets are filled with people and with all kinds of festivals.

... 20-30-year old people, who are better dressed than you, ask you for money at every corner.

... going to Peru costs just as much as going to Romania (although there are huge price differences once you get there).

... you either adore the city or just simply hate it.

7 ma tot urmareste :-)

Meplusmyself m-a intrebat care sunt cele 7 lucruri cu care ma lupt in Romania. Eu imi voi lua libertatea de-a enumera aspectele care ma deranjeaza in privinta Romaniei sau a Canadei, specificand despre care e vorba la fiecare afirmatie.

1. Canada - indiferenta oamenilor ma revolta fara incetare. Faptul ca acum 2 ani mama, care ma tine pe un piedestal presarat cu diamante, mi-a spus ca m-am schimbat, ca sunt mai rece si mai rea, mi-a ridicat niste semne de intrebare si a initiat procesul de "recuperare". "Supravietuirea" in cadrul unui sistem este de multe ori rezultaul adaptarii la sistemul respectiv... I guess. Unul din motivele pentru care am ales sa plec.

2. Romanii care pleaca in strainatate - ura si invidia pe care romanii nu pregeta s-o manifeste fata de concetatenii lor cu fiecare ocazie. Printre cei care mi-au provocat greutati, romanii ocupa un loc fruntas. In al doilea rand, nenorocirile pe care unii dintre noi le fac in alte tari si pentru care avem toti de suferit.

3. Canada - usurinta cu care canadienii acuza alte tari de rasism, in timp ce ei isi ascund adevaratele sentimente si faptele in spatele unui chip indiferent sau zambitor, depinde de situatie. Faptul ca imi spun ca vor sa mearga in Romania sa salveze tiganii!!!, dar ca de multe ori ei iti ignora cv-ul daca ai un nume strain.

4. Romania - faimoasa lama de Orbit sau bomboana primita in loc de rest.

5. Romania - usurinta cu care angajatii oricarei institutii presupun ca le esti inferior si ca pot tipa la tine sau ca te pot ignora.

6. Romania - modul in care epateaza niste lichele care au avut destul noroc pentru a fura sume exorbitante.

7. Romania - faptul ca nu mai am pe nimeni acolo, cu exceptia mamei mele... poate si a tatalui meu, cine stie.

Welcome Back?

Back in Montreal after an absence of 6 months... The same streets, same sad-looking people, same humid heat that dries your throat and sends you hiding inside the house... nothing's changed, but me. And I'm not pretending that that's a good thing; it's just the way it is.
I already feel tired, but I'll just assume this is due to the time change... I refuse to let myself be absorbed by what I've been running away from all these months.
I went to Romania; as I've said, I didn't feel at home back there, no matter the way I was judged for stating this. On a positive note, nevertheless, I had the chance to finally meet some of the people I had been talking to for a fairly long time, some of whom I had already gotten to consider friends. It was a very nice surprise to discover that I hadn't been wrong and that the virtual impression I had was not too different from the real one.
And last, but surely not least, there were, again, Cristina, Alessia, Gianluca and Sacha. They're always there, in my heart, so how could they not do their best in charging my batteries before coming back to Canada? Now and then I still get a strong ache that fills the emptiness in my stomach, but I'm learning how to deal with it.
There's one thing I know for sure: I'm tired of this virtual life... I need to live the real one :).

Onboard Security Rules

When boarding a plane, you might not be able to take the following items with you (we must remember that regulations change all the time and scientists could always discover new items that can be used to create bombs or stab people):

- guns - you should've left before the attacks, this way you could've brought along your favourite bazooka.
- makeup - makes perfect sense! Go ahead with the persecution of women! And I had especially bought some pink eye shadow, just to take pride in making the first pink bomb ever... another ruined dream!
- certain sharp objects - make sure you let your manicurist know, or they might pull out your nails before boarding the plane; that means no toothpicks, either... this is getting worse and worse!
BUT you CAN bring knitting needles - no tweezers, though! They're right, I always end up in the emergency room after using them. I sense a new invention coming our way - the knitting needles you can pluck your eyebrows with.
- musical instruments - completely understandable. What if you don't play the flute as well as you think you do? You might get hurt by some annoyed passanger.
- shoes with any kind of gel inside - they'll take them away from you, even if they're on your feet. Oh, yes, they will, so make sure you wear black socks, just in case.
- passangers are no longer able to transport live lobsters - does this mean people used to actually bring live lobsters in their carry-on bags? In any bags, for that matter... never thought of such a pet, but it's good to keep in mind.

Joke aside, I understand most of these regulations. What amazes me is that, on the other hand, the new plane tickets look like a regular sheet of paper with the airports' names and departure/ arrival times on them. One of our friends asked me to give him a copy so that he could make a few, since he's planning to go to Romania some time soon. If it weren't for a few number series that I believe (at least I HOPE) are tracking numbers, agency codes and other "security" measures, I'd see no problem with his request. He actually wanted us to go to the airport and make sure that was a real ticket :). No, I won't let his paranoia get to me!

From Bananas to...

We bought some bananas last week. We hadn't bought any in a while... they just sit there and go bad. Back home, when my mom would surprise me with 2 or 3 bananas, I would eat them at once, leaving just one, so that the "pleasure" could last longer. I don't like bananas anymore... I can eat one whenever I feel like it.
Tomatoes have no taste, it feels just like eating air. There are the cherry tomatoes, it's true, a shy remembrance of the ones from my grandmother's small garden.
I'm reading a book; it feels so great to be getting back to my reading... but my eyes hurt! Yeah, I'm talking about an e-book. Hey, it's great to have this posibility, I'm very grateful to the person who offered me this "gift"... and yet, my eyes hurt.
I need to do a research paper for one of my classes. Once again, we're not allowed to use any printed materials, all our documentation has to be taken off the internet. God, how I hated all those hours I had to spent in the library, reading tens of pages of dusty books and writing my papers by hand!* It doesn't matter that I felt I learnt more that way, the method is no longer used, so it must've been bad.
I don't know who my neighbours are. I sometimes run into people I've seen before, so I throw a "bonjour, ça va bien?" and keep on walking... I wouldn't want that person to think that I actually care what their answer is or make them feel uncomfortable.
I have 4 buddies at school. I don't know the names of my other colleagues (except for 2 or 3 with whom I had classes before). Maybe I'll get to learn a few more by the end of the semester.
I met a Romanian girl yesterday; our talk consisted of questions such as "how long have you been here for?", "where do you live?" (translated, that means "do you own a house?"), "what program are you in?" and the eternal "see you around".
People around me say that I'm lucky to be speaking four languages (hardly, mind you!). I suppose that things such as the fact that I'll always have an accent, that this is what I've been concentrating on for the last 15 years or that it's always going to be more difficult for me to get a job than for someone who "only" speaks two languages, but was born here, are not important. The main point is that I'm lucky!
So what? The sun is still shining (although it looks like it's going to rain, but I don't mind that, since I've actually become fond of the clouds' tiny love letters), I still love cherries, I still have a favourite blouse and a pair of shoes that I'll wear either until they don't fit anymore or until I can stick my fingers through them, I still prefer old photo albums to "MyPhotos", I can still enjoy the smell of flowers, I still love to smile and, most importantly, I have micul.

*Note the sarcasm.

Montreal Shooting

As everybody must know by now, there was a shooting in Montreal today, at Dawson College. I'm not going to describe what happened, Yahoo! does a much better job. I only have a few things to say: first of all, I was very impressed with the way Concordia came to the Dawson students' aid, offering them shelter (as the subway trains didn't work for a few hours), food and counseling (the college is a 10-minute walk away from the university). Second of all, I cannot understand how it was possible for a madman to walk with a huge machine gun in plain daylight without anyone alerting the police? Actually, I think I know part of the answer, at least: we don't look around, we don't care what's going on as long as it doesn't affect us... and I could go on for a long time. My last rhetorical question: what kind of an animal... sorry, what kind of a dirt bag do you have to be to open fire against innocent teenagers? How sick must one be to do something like this? Teenagers, children, adults, it doesn't matter.. how is it possible?

God rest the poor girl's soul! I truly hope that everyone else recovers and that something like this doesn't happen again.

Last thing, I promise: why aren't guns illegal? Why can anyone possess a gun? To protect themselves?!!! From what? If there were no guns, if only the police were allowed to use them, we would have nothing to deffend ourselves against. What about the good old pepper spray? Or the eve older kick in the sensitive place? Yeah, yeah, I know, there would be gun smugglers, anyway. Oh, give me a break, I don't feel like being reasonable right now!

A Foray into One's Soul

Yesterday we went to Ottawa, trying to take advantage of the long weekend, as today Canadians celebrate Victoria Day. There is a three week-long (more or less) tulip festival honouring the gift received from Princess Juliana
"in appreciation of the safe haven which Holland's exiled royal family received during the Second World War and in recognition of the role which Canadian troops played in liberating the Netherlands". Considering that it was the last weekend of this event, we missed the
opportunity to admire the tulips' blossom; nevertheless, we still caught a few of them on camera and had the opportunity to inhale the aroma of dozens of lilac bushes.
When we left it was raining and the day didn't seem too promising; I couldn't help but notice that as we were heading towards the capital, the dark clouds got left behind, allowing us to enjoy the warm view of smile-shaped white clouds. It made me reiterate my hopes, our dreams, in an attempt to get a promise from our fluffy friends...and I think I managed to do just that. I'm thinking now that I might've been a bit selfish...would it be too late to add a few requests? Maybe I'll just exchange some of the ones I thought of yesterday for a few new ones...who knows who and when will get this chance next? The smiley clouds might miss a few people...
I'm falling asleep, I'm a bit tired...don't really know why, it must be the computer, I spend way too much time in front of it. Fast, fast, before I go... there was a boat parade on the Rideau Canal, in Ottawa, where each boat displayed either the flag of a country or signs and words encouraging people to become better and love each other. A few boats were covered in flowers, mainly tulips. It was memerizing: the messages, the colours, the aromas and the Latin-American music spoke of nothing but hope, respect and joy.
There are so many things I would have to say about Ottawa... I will stop here, I really need to sleep :).