This is what it looks like when you're waiting for customs to inspect your vehicle.
WHO GOT RED FLAGGED AT THE BORDER?
I know! That girl with all kinds of metal in her face, about 16 bags in the cab of her truck with NM tags.
Really, I wasn't shocked.
And it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. The first lady I talked to, the one who flagged me, asked me about 70 billion questions that didn't matter. "Do you have a phone number for the person you're visiting?" "Why are you unemployed?" "What did you study in school?" "Do you speak french?" Huh?
The kicker was when she asked if I had brought any gifts with me for my family. I said yes, I went to Buffet's Candies and bought two small containers of salted, roasted pinon nuts. That blew her brain. "How many?" "What are they?" "Are you planning on planting them?" I guess that was the "reason" I got flagged.
It's kinda weird to watch two complete strangers (one of them looked A LOT like Paul, kinda freaked me out) rifle through your stuff. I have a lot of stuff with me; all the things I need to live for 3 months. And they went through every, single pocket of every single bag. It took a while. Once they found the nuts and saw how small they were, they just laughed. I did too.
After the car search, I had to go to the immigration office where they ran my passport and my driver's license, to see if I really was a drug dealer. Thankfully, it only took a few minutes, and I was terrified I was going to be there for a while. Every single person in the waiting room, with the exception of an Arabic man, was sleeping.
Ontario looks a whole lot like an Ohio or a Indiana; rolling plains, lots of farm, small pockets of industrialized cities. Interestingly enough, all motel rooms in Canada are about $80. Except for those in Niagara Falls. So, I went there.
There's something... hidden... in the mist!
It's a waterfall!
I didn't stay too, too long by the falls. It was cold. Not like, you know, "Oh golly, I need a warm coat" kind of cold. No, no, no. Like, I'm sure if I would have opened my mouth for more than 30 seconds, my tongue would have frozen off. They're wasn't much open, either. Most of the attractions around the falls cost money (which I have even less off after my power adapter for my computer tried to kill my motherboard. $95 for a REFURBISHED one, since they don't make my adapter anymore. WRATH.) and a lot of them were closed for the season.
I did feed this very gull some bread from my sandwich that I got from the Tim Hortons.
Check out that coating of ice. That's from... the mist.
I didn't take any pictures, but all around Niagara Falls are these touristy things, since, obviously, it's a touristy place (says the tourist). Ripley's has a museum, there's a couple wax figure places, even a Hard Rock Cafe. All that sort of stuff kinda turned me off. I wished the falls could have been preserved like the Grand Canyon. Not to mention, parking's a mother. But, if you're in the area, I'd give a viewing.
Good morning, eh.
I woke up an hour late yesterday morning, because my body just would NOT move. It knew I had a 9 hour drive today and it wasn't excited about it. At all.
Most of my drive looked a whole lot like this, but more overcast. Toronto's a monster of a city. I didn't get to see downtown, but I sure was a fan of their 7 lane highways and lane restrictions for semis. A lot of industrial Ontario has huge car plants, some about the same size as the Ford plant in Detroit.
I'm proclaiming this my official Welcome to Canada, Eh" photo. Customs was fun, but not that fun.
And this...
My official Welcome to Quebec photo!
Sadly, most of my Quebec drive was dark, because I spent 2 FREAKING HOURS stuck in traffic in Montreal. I was really excited about seeing that city, I've heard amazing things about the architecture and punk scene. But, none of that was evident on the route google maps gave me. I did spend a good 15 minutes right next to a Kraft plant.
But, the biggest thing I noticed: the language shift. Sup, french. I knew this is a French speaking country. I know most of my relatives don't speak a word of english, but I thought there would at least be some bilingual stuff closer to the bigger cities. Nope. Not even a little bit. Don't know French? Good luck.
I guess that over 20% of the population here doesn't speak French. This is a HUGE deal, when you think about "dying cultures", all the linguistics stuff my boyfriend is currently giggling about. I think it's an even bigger deal when every road sign is in French. But more than that, there seems to be this mounting animosity against English speakers. I got the stink eye when I bought gas 50 km outside of Montreal. Why no, I don't know how to say "pump" in French. Merci.
But, I am trying. It'll be interesting to see how much I pick up. I've never been fully immersed in such a different culture. Well, at least when the language is different. I'm staying with my mom's cousin Rene and his wife Suzanne. They're about my mom's age and they've been so, so welcoming, trying their best to make conversation in broken english. They've got three kids who are about my age.
I'm hoping for good weather on the 9th, so I can venture the additional 50 km to Quebec City to see Big D and the Kids Table. Did I mention there's 2 feet of snow on the ground right now? Thankfully, they've got road clean up down to a science. Other than that, I don't have a lot of set plans while I'm in the great, white north. I'll be meeting lots of family who speak absolutely no english and eating lots of home cooking. There's a menu for the week posted on the fridge. Almost as adorable as the McHughes cereal bowl.
I'm happy to be here. But, exhausted from driving. Mileage logged on the truck for this trip is approaching 3,000. I think I'll appreciate this all so much more when I get some good rest.
I leave you with a French Canadian bird house.
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