It has been more than a month since I was last around here.
Even though my fingers where itching for me to get writing again, my life has been nothing short of chaotic (in a good way). So, even though I have had to rewrite this blog post three times and I am afraid I might be losing my powers (Ha!), I apologize for being gone and promise that from now on, the Diaries of a Traveler will be back to their original schedule: I expect to be publishing new content once or twice a week.
But first:
I'm in Canada!
I'm in Canada!
As most of you already know, I moved to Montreal in the beginning of April in order to improve my French. The plan: to live in a student-shared apartment for three months, during which I would be attending school and exploring. Ever since I got here (a month and a half ago) and up until today, my trip has been an adventure. Life never disappoints.
I had been here for a week when I noticed that I had really lucked out with my roomies back in India (shout out to Ritwika and Dips!). Unfortunately, that was not going to happen here, so my second weekend in Montreal was spent walking from place to place, looking for an apartment, until I found the (super amazing) place in which I live today. In the blink of an eye I went from being a simple exchange student to a young adult who lives on her own, cooks on her own and does not know the meaning of a schedule, a map or an itinerary.
During the last month and a half that I have been living alone, I have gotten lost in the middle of a snowstorm (yes, it was still snowing big time in the beginning of April), I had to undergo minor toe surgery, I got the flu just when I started to feel normal again; the first time that it was sunny enough for me to go explore Montreal, I got hit on by a man about 40 years my senior, who invited me "out for drinks" and almost made me cry with rage (He was being persistent and his comments were completely out of place).
It has taken me a long, long time to adapt and it is until now that I'm starting to get used to the way things work over here, even though the weather is something I'll never come to terms with. Since I've been here, we have had three weeks of winter, a week of spring (the trees turned green and beautiful!) and four days of rain mixed with sunny mornings and really windy evenings.
Actually, during the first of our rainy days, I was wearing a knee-length dress (yup, I got caught off-guard) and as I was walking to the bus stop, this random person drove exactly over a puddle and left me half soaked. I could still hear laughter as I stood by the bus stop, squeezing water out of one of my socks. (Okay. Now that I read it...it does sound funnier than it was at the time).
Honestly, this trip has been a travesty. In the best and worst ways possible.
I have been through things that I did not expect, did not want and didn't even imagine could happen to me at this point in my life. Even though I still know very little of Montreal, I am pretty sure it isn't a place in which I'd like to live, but even then, I can't help being happy that I'm here right now.
Even though I panic every time someone speaks to me in French out of the blue (big apologies to the guy who asked if he could help me with anything last week in Provigo; that "No" was supposed to be followed by a thank you...and I assure you my voice is actually not that high-pitched), I feel like I'm getting better. Although it is pretty much a ritual to see me running to the bus stop every morning and I am sure that the bus drivers can recognise me by now (Kudos, drivers of the 103 Monkland!), I feel slightly more responsible, slightly more independent and slightly older too.
Living alone is crazy, but I really appreciate having the freedom to choose every second of my day. I love coming up with new routines, cooking whatever it is my heart desires...I treasure the afternoons spent sprawled on the floor reading a book and drinking endless amounts of coffee, running to the Baskin Robbins to get a sundae before closing time, the improvised karaoke sessions, the "I just need a new pair of pants" shopping-trip that turns into bankruptcy; the random trips to Chinatown just to get Pho, coming up with my new version of the Crusades in which I kill the spiders and the ants that come trooping into the house out of nowhere; the infinite pleasure of my morning rituals, the tranquility of my trip to school (once I've caught the bus, that is), the times in which I remember some conversation that went undoubtedly wrong and all I can do is laugh alone in the metro even if people think I'm a little nuts...the moments to myself, those I wouldn't change for anything.
That is how my life works now.
As always, thank you so much for reading. Special thanks to those who constantly reminded me that I had to get writing again (Adolfo!) and the ones who have been sending me messages asking about my wellbeing. I promise not to disappear again (not soon, anyway).
