dreaming over the ocean

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could, some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in, forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day, you shall begin it well and serenely. " -Ralph Waldo Emerson

one of my favourite things about this campus? .... that at lunch, dozens of hippies, and people with hippie tendancies (like myself), gather together to eat free vegan lunch. this phenomenon is called "the midnight kitchen" and i like it a lot.

so, right off the bat, I want to make an announcement. I am not rowing. I am not rowing. I am coaching. my butt does not sit in that boat, and my hands do not pull on that oar. I bike along the side of the olympic bassin, yelling at others in broken french. or english. or "franglais..." which is a french-english combination spoken here in montreal... :) Last week, I joined the Mcgill Outdoor Club . And, the first weekend came along, and it was entitled "new members weekend." I'm new, and, i am a member. so, i paied the 35$ (45 if you take the bus, but I vouched to ride my bike), and got prepped to go. It didn't take me long to realize the most new members are about 20 or 21, and surprizingly, many new members are also foreign exchange students. so, it ended up being an interesting weekend. The ride up to "the house" is about 75km eachway, along a bike path up to the laurentians, to shawbridge. side note, apparently, quebec has one of the longest ...

so, things are picking up... about a week ago, i was feeling a little worried. for instance, feeling really lost with such things like "how to make friends" and "where to drink coffee" and "where the crap does this bike lane go" and "where can i go to get some yummy organic groceries?" and "why can't i bring my bike on the bus" and "am I going to get along with my classmates?" and "where do I go to get a job?" let's just say that virtually every day, I have had a situation that I have not expected. an occurance, of sorts, that keeps me on my toes. and, they just keep on going, and going, but, i think i am starting to get glimpses as to why people love this city. there is great coffee. there are cute little walk-up apartments. the view from the top of the mountain is amazing. there are farmer's markets which run 24hrs a day, 365 days a year. there are people who speak french better than they speak...

so, this next post brings both great joy, and great sadness to my heart. As you may know, my friends are the best people in the world. you should probably already know that, though. you are probably a friend of mine. and, therefore, you are the best in this world. ;) but, this post is dedicated to two people who bring some of the most joy to my life. people who have been there in my life in the highs and the lows. the adventures and mis-adventures. the love and the frustrations. the struggles and the victories. these two people are two of the people i love the most in this world, and I am so blessed to have them in my life. the first, is zach Mauss. here we see him military-esque, and not-so-military-esque. (being hounded by beautiful triathletes, the last time I saw him, in new orleans in April..) First LT Zach Mauss deployed on tuesday, following about 3 months of living in Hawaii, to go and serve as a Medevac blackhawk pilot. He will definitely be missed, but in his own wor...

I would like to begin this post with some photos.... these are various animals that I encountered during my time in the east... wild? maybe not so much. funny? definitely. and, let me just mention that there may, or may not, be other "amo and animals" photos. me and monkey at wooden monkey restaurant in halifax me and lobster at fisheman's market just off the causeway to capebreton. I ate one like this soon after! me and random dog in Mahone bay, Nova Scotia. Cute town, random carvings. me and bear in Lower Quebec city. so, I am done my first week of classes at mcgill. on my way to becoming a nurse! woot! it is funny~ I have such a diversity of classes: pharmacology, physiology, and 3 nursing classes (2 with just my cohort, 1 with some undergrads). but, it is crazy, the first two classes.... well, let us just say that there are *multitudes* of people in them. I walked into the classroom, and I thought "dang. I haven't sat in a class this big since ...

so, after a 4000+ road trip through the state of Maine, and the atlantic provinces, I have finally arrived in Montreal to settle in for this ride... feeling a little overwhelmed, especially with the one way streets (I will try not to mention the occasion yesterday when I drove the wrong way down one of them!), and the insanity of McGill University on first day! aieeee... Anyway, the trip was great, and I look forward to giving a more complete update. this one is just one of those "I got here, I am safe, I am exploring..." updates. I hope it finds you well.