Today, I stayed home.
Then, I went out, alone, at twilight, to the nearest Shoppers Drug Mart, which is on le boulevard Saint-Laurent.
There, I found a street market.
I was pleasantly surprised.
Cool beans!
There were street performers playing the drums.
I was even more pleasantly surprised.
Even cooler beans!
I bought a chicken sandwich.
It was good.
I ate it as I walked home, in the dark.
I did not get mugged.
Everyone loves a happy ending.
=)
McGill once, McGill twice,
Holy f**king Jesus Christ!
Wham bam God damn,
Son of a b***h,
S**t!
Three cheers for McGill!
F**k, f**k, f**k!
Three cheers for f**king!
McGill, McGill, McGill!
Ah, frosh week…More details to come! 🙂
Wow…honestly, I kinda feel like I’ve been here forever! Even though I’ve actually only been here for four days…
McGill so far is amazing! Down in the school-and-learning area, it’s all mostly old buildings. You know, the ancient-looking stone ones with copper-that-has-since-turned-green roofs and rickety, black iron fire escapes that just somehow work together?
Ain't it spanky?!
That’s Royal Victoria Hospital…I mean, first of all, it’s gorgeous, and it’s a hospital!
Then, there’s Upper Rez, my home for the next eight months. It’s more along the lines of “slightly sketchy apartment building that look like low-income housing” (though that’s technically what they are…), but I still like it 🙂
Also, I love my view. Firstly, the Upper Rezes are all basically the highest buildings on the side of the mountain which houses McGill. They may not be the tallest, but they’re the highest. Then, you can include the fact that I’m on the sixth floor out of seven in my building, and that I’m on the side facing the city, not the rest of the school. That said, here are some pictures of the view:
That's right, I can see the Montreal Olympic Stadium from my bedroom window!
The bridge! and some mountain-like dealies...
And then, if you happen to look straight down from my window, you get sights like these:
The guy's lacrosse team was practicing when I got there...some with shirts off...
Tennis players day in, day out 🙂
Yeah, I guess some girls would call themselves lucky…and some guys…but I think most guys would call themselves lucky if the cheerleading team practiced in the field behind my building too (no sign of them yet though…)
The nightlife here is crazy too. On my first night, the nice floorfellows decided to take us out to dinner in a Greek restaurant. It’s located in this awesome little neighbourhood where it’s basically a cobblestone/brick walkway, with Greek, Italian, Polish, etc. restaurants lining it on either side. They’re all BYOAlcohol, as I’ve hearrd most places in the city are, and they’ve all got this charming, quaint, sophisticated, euro-eatery type of feel to them.
So cool!
However, and this is the beauty of Montreal, all you have to do is walk straight out and turn left, and you get to this awesome urban street just lined with designer shops, clubs, and bars, all with their own theme and feel, like this sixties bar (which I sadly didn’t get a photo of), among other. And, since it is the bar/club scene, you get a few odd sights too, like burly-looking bouncers in berets with velvet ropes, and tall women strutting their stuff down the street wearing mile-high heels, skin-tight minidresses, and bunny ears (didn’t get a photo of them either, sadly).
Seriously, a bar called the Copacabana...how awesome is that?!
The rez actually took us into a bar where still-underage folk like myself could enter, but not drink. However, is was a nice place to chill in the dark, surrounded by pounding music, or play a few rounds of foosball and pool.
It actually got quite intense after a while...
And of course, being Montreal, there’s even more as you walk around, the city showing off it’s capabilities proudly. The diversity of areas is just awe-inspiring, how one turn, you’re surrounded by violins, uncorked bottles of fine wine, and street vendors selling flowers; another turn and you’re almost overwhelmed by flashing lights and pounding bass, and the sheer number of options there are should you want to go out and party; another, and you’re in the sketchiest alley you could possibly imagine; and finally one more bend, and you’re in this lovely, storybook street, the kind people paint paintings of.
Isn't it beautiful?
The next few days, there was business to attend to in the main campus, like picking up frosh packages, handbooks, and ID cards, among other things…
I got a lollipop! 🙂
Of course, my home being in Upper Rez, and the info booths being at the very front of the campus, trips down there also meant loooong treks up and down that massive hill, which is really doing a number on my legs. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever walked this much in the past few days as I have in my entire life, and most of it on hills! I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing extremely stiff calves every morning when I wake up, and sore knees every time I stand up after sitting. I’m suffering, though I’m now very certain that, at least, I will avoid the dreaded Freshmen Fifteen, and return home in May with very toned/muscular legs. We’ll see…
Trust me, this is one of the more LEVEL parts of the road...
Then, there were more Rez-organized trips, including a trek to Tam Tams, a non-conventional, unauthorized, unorganized gathering of rastas, bohos, street performers, vendors, and normal citizens looking for a park to chill in.
It wasn't actually that busy when I passed it the first time...
There, you get to witness many awesome things. One of mine was a very impromptu drumming circle, where I believe one drum crew started going, and others just kinda pulled up their own drums and joined in, while some people just jumped into the fray and started to boogie down 🙂
I wish I could've properly captured the vastness...and the madness...
Those two with the dreads were going nuts! It was kinda cute... 🙂
That lady in the pink was seriously intense!
I believe I will come to enjoy McGill very much…especially now that I sort of know my way around. And especially since I just found out today that McGill plays host to, of all thing, a QUIDDITCH TEAM!!
No sleep tonight 