Sunday Afternoon

Sunday afternoon my mother and I rented bicycles and rode for a few hours along the canal. It was a gorgeous sunny afternoon. We came back to the hotel to cool off, and my mom opened up our windows. While we had hoped to have a room facing the river, our room faces the back streets - which has turned out to be perfect! We have a view of all the little shops and restaurants and we can hear the street musicians through our window. We’ve spent a good amount of time at night just sitting on the window sill and watching everyone pass.

Well, Mother was watching a couple at a restaurant below our window. She thought the man had lasagna, but perhaps it wasn’t lasagna. She kept staring and talking about their meal and had me come and see if I thought it was lasagna. She thought lasagna sounded rather tasty and watched this couple eat. After about ten minutes, the couple looked up, right at my mother. She felt embarrassed for watching them eat and ran away from the window.

As soon as they finished their meal, we went down and took their table and ordered the same: lasagna. (A very tasty one.)
(Oh, and of course we ended the night with some gelato. Probably my favorite yet.)

I Am My Mother's Daughter

Saturday after Cirque du Soleil we decided to try out a Traditional French restaurant, complete with table d’hote (or something) - fixed rate, four course meals.

Mother ordered baked cod with cabbage and rice. I ordered smoked salmon on toast.
And it was pretty good.

We took our time and ate very, very slowly.

We left quietly, and a few blocks later my mom says, “I’ve got to admit: French food is not my favorite.”

To which I replied, “Me neither.”

Mom, “We don’t have to eat French food anymore.”

And since we have eaten pizza, cheeseburgers, and lasagna. Oh, and gelato.
I’ve had a chocolate gelato every evening after dinner.
Mmmm.

French food may be elegant, but it is mild, and (to me) tasteless. I figured maybe that’s why they serve wine with everything - to bring out the flavors. I feel no shame in sticking to what I love and just soaking in the atmosphere. We’ve got plans for Thai, Chinese, and reservations at an Indian place on Wednesday.

More updates soon!

TOTEM

After escaping the pouring rain on Friday to the Underground City for shopping (and Bodies!), Mother and I surfaced on Saturday and saw Cirque du Soleil! In their home venue! A real circus tent! This was their last weekend of shows here in Montreal, so we were very very lucky to find tickets. Needless to say, the performance was incredible. I’d never seen anything like it. I think my mouth hung open in awe the entire time. I also felt a bit anxious though - I was so scared they would fall and die!

But, all made it through alive.

And all was well.

Thank you, Skype

Oh Baby

This past weekend my mother and I went to the Bodies Exhibition. It came to Honolulu not terribly long ago, but I never made it. Anywho, it was SPECTACULAR. Fascinating. Mind-boggling. I realized just how absolutely little I know about the human body. It’s so intricate and genius and brilliantly crafted. Seeing REAL bones and muscles and arteries and brains and hearts and lungs (etc) was…surreal.
Most organs just looked kinda gross, the arteries looked like coral, and seeing healthy lungs vs. smokers’ lungs was amazing, but the most powerful pieces of the exhibit were without a doubt the BABIES.

Besides the whole “sex-creates-babies” thing being a bit incomprehensible, seeing actual babies throughout their growth was even more insane. There were small fetuses in glass jars, labeled with the age in weeks. While the first few weeks looked like nothing more than a flesh colored lump, by week six already the fetus looks like a very very mini (like the size of my fingernail) baby. As in, you can make out the head and the face and the curve of the baby’s body! And then seeing each step of the developmental process…and seeing a real uterus and what it looks like pre-baby…and then realizing that that baby goes inside of it…and that it stretches into that huge baby belly?!
Insane.

Oh, baby.

Montreal

After three days last week, beginning in Honolulu, hopping over to L.A., then to Dallas, then up to Des Moines, then over to Chicago, and finally up to Montreal on Friday, my internal clock is exhausted and very, very confused.

lessons

I'm really far behind. Rather than try to attempt to catch up with events of the past few months, I'll try to summarize the things I've learned. That's what it's all about, right?

Lesson #1: I have REALLY great friends. 


This is not really anything new, but (as much as I love being independent and doing my own thing) being done with school and not living with other students, or other human beings my own age for that matter, can get really lonely. But I'm incredibly blessed to have some real gems for friends. I wouldn't call myself a particular witty or charming person (probably more awkward and ill-mannered), but somehow I found myself some of the most wonderful, giving, silly, hysterical, brilliant, and thoughtful friends.

Lesson #2: Being a kid does not mean you know anything about kids. 

I'm the baby of the family. I always will be. I wouldn't say that makes me spoiled or a brat, but just that I always consider myself a kid. And I like that. I think there's a youthful bliss that is too often lost with adulthood, and I plan on keeping my kid-self close to my skin for the rest of my life. However, as I've spent more time with Travis and his family, I've realized I have no idea what to do with children. But I'm learning. And it is a blast! And absolutely exhausting. And I definitely have no desire to be a mama anytime soon. For years. I am completely aware of how much I have to learn. For now I am more than content to spend a few hours every day or every few days with some ridiculously intelligent and creative kids.

Lesson #3: Not having a job sucks. Plain and simple. (But every cloud has its silver lining.)

Everything happens for a reason. Right? Right? My job at the intermediate school ended in May. Fully knowing the end was coming, I began applying for new jobs throughout April. I wasn't too worried when I hadn't found a job by May. I still had a few weeks. And then May came and went. And June came and went. And nearly every establishment on Oahu has my resume. And I still have no job, and no income to pay rent with. Goodbye Savings Account, we had a good run. Unemployment sucks, blah blah blah. But not having a job has given me time to do things I enjoy, to spend time with dear friends, and to finally get some sun. I go to Canada and Iowa soon, and when I come home, my job at the intermediate school will be waiting for me.

Lesson #4: Love grows. 

I always knew this, but looking at the calendar and realizing you have spent nearly a year with the most amazing human bean on Earth is a surreal feeling. Time has flown by and every time I think I realize how incredibly amazing this man is, I am hit with overwhelming respect and loyalty and love and admiration. Not much more I can say.

Lesson #5: I live in an incredibly beautiful place and I'm never going to get over it.