Living in Quebec

I cannot believe that more than a week has passed! Time is moving so quickly here in Montreal. It is a very busy city and everyone is always on the go! Last week we went to a street festival called "Nuit Blanche sur Tableau Noir". En francais, to have a "nuit blanche" (a white night) it means that you never got to sleep. This festival started at 10 pm and continued way into the night. At first there we little tents and shops all set up along l'avenue du Mont-Royal. Then they were all cleared away for the artists to begin painting on the pavement of the street. Evidently all of the pieces, when seen from above, create one large comic strip! C'est tres cool! Then on Friday the events for the Formula 1 Grand Prix began. The city became one big crowded party. Interestingly enough, the city decided to begin major road construction on this same weekend, so the city became even more chaotic with the added amount of people plus the construction. Saturday and Sunday was the big over-night trip to Quebec City. We were required to get up at a very early hour for a Saturday in order to meet the bus for the trip. After a short 3 hour ride to Quebec City we met our tour guide who had an eye patch over one eye. He showed us some very historically important sites for Canada: the plains of Abraham, the place where general Wolfe died, etc... He explained why the Quebecquois feel the way they do about separating from Canada, and how it is in fact related to this historical events. Later in the evening, we were given time to eat dinner. Some friends and I went to a very modern restuarant called Cosmos, the atmoshere and decor were the highlight -- in the washrooms they had a waterfall for you to wash your hands in! Then everyone on the trip met up at the Napoleon Bar. This bar was unique in that they had a performer who would play the guitar and sing songs for the whole bar to sing along to! All of the songs were in french, so most of us did not know any of the words. But it was really neat to see how involved all the french people got in singing the songs! It was a fun time! The next morning we were taken to Chutes de la Montmorency (a waterfall!). We all took the long staircase up the side of the cliff next to the waterfall. There were 2 paths at the base of the waterfall, one that lead to the mid-section of the staircase, and one that went so close to the base of the waterfall that there was no way NOT to get drenched! Everyone, except myself and the tour guide, opted for the safer route! We had to run as hard as we could towards the base of the waterfall because the blast of the water and wind would blow us back! We rounded the corner at the base, fully drenched by this point, and started for the staircase that lead up the cliff! It was quite the experience, and well worth getting soaked! Then we spent the rest of the day in the old part of Quebec City. We went shopping on the Blvd du petit-Champlain, where all of the products had been MADE in Quebec alone. We took the ferry-boat across the St. Lawerence river (and back!), then rode in a glass elevator up another cliff (very Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). We walked around the city for hours and enjoyed it, but we were also happy when it came time to go home (to Montreal). This week there have been classes everyday! There was a definite improvement in the level of comprehension in my class over the weekend. I guess all of the french needed time to sink in! On Tuesday my class went on a field trip to the Jean-Talon Marche (market)! This was amazing! Booths and booths of fresh produce as far as the eye can see! I definitely am planning a trip to the market on the weekend to buy my groceries for next week! Some of us in the class decided to walk back, unfortunately we did not know at what a great distance we were from the residence, but it was nice to be outside and get a chance to see more of the city. On Wednesday, our class field trip was to Mont Royal. There was a lookout point with a breath-taking view of the city! Again, we walked home from that -- lots of walking going on here! In general, most people are either walking or biking in the city. I've seen more bikes here than in Edmonton for sure! I realized on my walk home that I am no longer a visitor in Montreal, I consider myself a resident now! And how did I determine this? None of the locals pay any attention to the walk/don't walk lights on the streets. They just look both ways, if it is clear they walk (mostly against the light), and if it's not, they wait. So now, after almost 2 weeks of influence, I have adopted this trait of the residents. As we walk out into the street, we smirk at the (most obvious) tourists! Today for our afternoon field trip we went to the Museum of Comtemporary Art. It was really unique! Our museum guide wasn't afraid to bring up any topic in her description of the artwork! I cannot relay all of the exhibits because my description would not be able to do it any justice... the best option, come to Montreal and see for yourselves! I'm really enjoying this "Explore" program: learning french in class, and getting a chance to see the city and use our french in reality. Je suis contente! A la prochaine!