L'auberge québécoise

These past few days have been on the quiet side. I can't believe that this time is passing so quickly. It feels like yesterday when I was going through customs and being harassed and judged for having pepper spray. Here I am, just over half way through the trip, already dreading going back home. We have 10 more days in this beautiful place. Like most everything else in life, that is simply not enough time. I'll blink and it will be over. I really, really want to move here one day. I know that I've said that before but I am being completely serious. I really hope that one day, after I graduate, that I'll be able to make a life here. Life is nothing if not full of obstacles to overcome and experiences to be had.

Tuesday we spent most of the day at the hotel. We went to the grocery store to refill our stockpile of food. We've been going through the same lane and using the same cashier, so we've built a sort of relationship with the cashier. He speaks to us in English, of course, and we try our best to speak to him in French. He laughs and so do we. 

There is a light show that we can watch from the balcony of our hotel, it's called Le Moulin à images. It is a projection that takes place on grain silos, 10 stories high and 5 football fields long. In about 45 minutes, it goes through the entire history of Quebec City using only images and sound. It is absolutely breathtaking and we're lucky enough to have a perfect view of it from our hotel balcony. After being here for 10 days, we still hadn't seen it so we decided to spend our Tuesday night watching it. I hope I get another chance to watch it. You simply cannot absorb it all with just one viewing.

Wednesday was another relatively calm day. After class, us "advanced" students went out to explore the town some more, as we had to plan a scavenger hunt for the "intermediate" students. We walked around, checked out some new stores, ate some delicious gelato and watched the street performers. It's nice to laze around the city, take in the sites, enjoy the hustle and bustle of tourists and, most importantly, speak French. After cooking dinner, we all went out to the pub down the street. We then tried to meet up with some of Julia's friends at the parliament building, but they didn't show up after half an hour and we got cold, so we left.

Today is Julia's 21st birthday! My teacher had been planning a small surprise for her, but we wanted to take it one step farther. Since the clock struck midnight, we had been downplaying her birthday. If she brought it up, we just changed the topic or downplayed its importance. None of us even mentioned it this morning when we were all eating breakfast. We wanted her to be extra surprised during class. During class we have little breaks and this is when we got everything ready. Someone took Julia upstairs while my professor, James and I went and got her presents. We had some pastries and candies as well as a picture book of Quebec and a book of Quebecois French for dummies. When she walked in the the door, we were all literally holding candles that she had to blow out. It was quite the little surprise, as the giant smile on her face hid nothing. 

After lunch, we went on the scavenger hunt. There were three groups of three, two advanced students and one intermediate student. I got to work with Claire and Julia. There was a list of 16 things that had to be accomplished, that ranged from going to a restaurant and asking the hostess her name, walking up to a stranger and asking them to take a picture, or counting all 116 steps, out loud in French, as we climbed them to the upper city. Most of the people we encountered nice and patient and Julia gained more and more confidence with every person that she talked to. My team ended up winning, taking just over an hour to finish and walking in the doors almost a full hour before the other two groups. All 9 of us got an awesome calendar of Quebec though, since, in our professors words, we are all winners.

Tonight will be full of celebration. I'm not sure what we're going to do yet, but I know that I'll be telling everyone that it's Julia's birthday. The plan is for all of us to go out and celebrate. I have no doubt that the night will result in some funny and awesome stories, as our nights usually do. There haven't been nearly as many people out on the town now that the music festival is different, so I'm hoping that won't be the case since it's Thursday night, but who knows. We will find out soon enough!

Here's the picture of us this morning, in class, celebrating Julia's birthday. That room that we are in is the dining room where breakfast is served and also the room where we have class. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

P.S. Who do I know in Russia?! I can see where my "audience" is, and there have been many page views of my blog there. I've been wondering if it's just a random person or if it's actually someone that I know. Anyone have any ideas?