First days in QC

As I sit in the 24-hr internet café to write the first of hopefully many blogposts, I realize with amusement just how appropriate it is to begin with an awkward introduction. After the happy closing of the show and many sentimental goodbyes, my parents and Noah and I set out for Montreal on Sunday afternoon, bringing a very messy last New Haven lunch (mmm, Mamoun's), lots of Nilla wafers, and multiple copies of immigration papers. The journey was largely uneventful; UHaul did gift us with an air conditioned 14'er, and Vermont provided free coffee at the rest stops; we arrived at my new apartment at about 9:45 (should I start saying 21:45?), to semi-park the UHaul and two cars and begin moving things in. First awkward introduction: the girl living downstairs asks "Are you Estelle-y? *Checks watch* Interesting time to move..." at which point I explain that Noah worked til noon and we couldn't leave any earlier...d'oh, first impressions. Next came "Wait, you don't actually know Nardia?" (my roommate, who only returns on the 21st)... but I assured her that we'd had our own awkward introduction when she showed me the place. Stay tuned for hilarious awkward music grad school introduction stories! Anyway, I promised we'd be quiet bringing things up, and with four people working, we cleared the UHaul by midnight, fashioned a bed for my parents and made N's and mine, and slept under helpful ceiling fans, surrounded by boxes.

The next morning we returned the UHaul with only a little runaround: just like the guy at the border who "almost didn't let me in," and then "let it slide," the guy checking the vans had a wry sense of humor and asked for a credit card to charge me for damages - "Now that'll be ... let's see about, zero dollars." Either Montrealers already have me pegged as the gullible American, or conversations always include a dose of eye-twinkle; jury's still out. We headed home to build the IKEA wardrobe I'd bought used from craigslist, and unpacked and repacked to send some things back to California with the 'rents. Then the first tearful goodbye - more tearful on my end, after it was said and done - and my parents drove back to Hartford, to catch a plane and start the new school year back at home. They were very generous to leave me some Canadian cash, so Noah and I bucked up and went to our first Montreal farmer's market, Marché Jean-Talon, full of the most amazing colors and smells. First purchases: cherries, grapes, peaches, bananas, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, tiny little grapes for champagne, yellow and green beans, white and yellow and light orange carrots, superslim asparagus, delicious roma tomatoes, frozen fresh pasta, beef 4-spice sausages, and sundried tomato and basil pestos. Fabulous success! I'm in love with that market, though I need to learn French (this will be a theme).

Next was a stop at the grocery store (don't worry, I'll spare details) to ring up an even bigger bill; though we were exhausted, I'm really glad we stocked my kitchen while Noah and I could drive heavy things home in his car. We stopped at home to unload and regroup, I cut and rearranged my beautiful roses from post-show, and then we decided to do one more trip: IKEA for a bed frame which would provide me with some good underbed storage space. We bought the frame and a few other things with little difficulty, but then came the real challenge: fitting the headboard/footboard package into Noah's car. In the 30 or 45 min we spent trying to put this huge rectangular box first in the trunk, then backseat, 1) it began to rain 2) I was bitten by my first Canadian mosquitoes - seven times! the marks are huge! and 3) morale hit a palpable low. We came seconds away from giving up and returning it all, but I wanted to try just one more way to fit it, and Noah was kind enough to entertain my stubbornness...and voilà! We managed it, drove very carefully home and got it out again, and to my relief forgot about it altogether for the night. It was 10pm by then, 13 hours out from having returned the UHaul, and we decided on a semi-fancy restaurant up half a block from my place: yummy spanakopita and buttery garlicky mussels to share. Of course the waiter had the same wry humor, asking N accusingly why he was making me do all the work (I was getting my hands dirty and enjoying cracking and cleaning mussels for us), but then he laughed and brought me a huge stack of napkins and provided a few kind words of encouragement and welcome to the city. We walked the cobblestone street home and opened the delicious cold bottle of Veuve so generously given by Linda and the Meyer family, and along with the tasty little grapes from the market, shared a stationary, quiet moment, free of moving woes. What a wonderful housewarming gift!

The next morning was Noah's cue to go, but not before we built the bed frame together, and some boxes for storage underneath. Lunch was the pizza joint on the corner of my street, very bready but good, with sesame seeds on the top crust (?!); N ventured to try the pineapple-ginger juice (verdict: pretty weird) and we shared hot greasy frites together and with a few friendly birds (the sparrows always won). Those sneaky sparrows, not to mention the beautiful full-bloom single rose N so kindly put on my windowsill, reminded me of one of my favorite childhood books - Beauty by Robin McKinley - and now, a day out from his having gone, I have been finding special joy and solace in this "old friend" book. We joked that I'm "livin' the dream" since I effectively have a princess bed on a cobblestone street surrounded in roses and French things - sound like anyone else's favorite Disney movie? Anyway, rereading this childhood favorite has already made me feel as though I have a friend here, but when I get sleepy I can easily catapult back to reality, boxes, sorting and organizing, plotting and logisticizing, marveling at this "free time" concept. Noah headed back to New Haven before flying off to Germany today, and my newest goals include "finishing" the sorting of the apartment so I might take pictures to share (it really is a great place), cooking something amazing and elaborate rather than surviving on quick-food every few hours, and heading to McGill grad advising offices to be advised in as many ways as possible, especially concerning scholarship funds, classes, which new bank to choose, which new cellphone provider to choose, etc. The weather is lovely and perfect for walking around and getting lost, so that too will be happening soon.

It's often hard for me to believe that this is not just another summer trip, and that I won't be heading back to New Haven as I did from China, Korea, Kansas City, Chicago, Iowa, or the Berkshires this summer. However, this is the first real "vacation" I've had since last summer, when I started working for YBOP and didn't stop til, well, last week; and it feels really good to author my own schedule or lack thereof. I'm beginning to get used to cooking for one (first dinner: havarti quesadilla on whole wheat tortilla with sliced tomatoes; second dinner: pasta with pesto and tomatoes, sauteed asparagus with lemon olive oil and pepper), and even killing my own insects (I killed a spider with my bare hand who was traipsing across my *pillow* yesterday! But, then I had to wash the cover). I also re-nailed some furniture backings and completely rearranged the room, started setting up my new printer, and studied the Montreal map and a guidebook quite a bit. Things are looking good in the calm after the fray, though the lack of internet (save this nearby café) and lack of phone are still challenging. Aside from internet, though, I'm grateful for the comforts that abound: trimming my roses, photo-documenting the home improvement, hearing Spanish spoken (it's happened twice already!), being addressed in English (it's happened once...already...!!), and being delightfully anonymous in a new city. Rest assured I do miss home and look forward to hearing from loved ones as time permits, and promise pretty pictures soon to whomever might be reading. Comment, or something? Is that how this works?

As ever,
Estelí