sesheta

Once this is over, I have another week to wrap up work at Starbucks, pack my belongings, drag my tent and sleeping bag out of storage and head up to Montreal for a brief stop to pick up my SIN before catching either a bus or train to Hearst in northern Ontario where I’ll be spending two months in the middle of absolute nowhere with a group of a dozen or so intrepid souls living out of tents and planting trees. I could not be more stoked! I’ve missed the rugged summer weeks I used to spend living off the land with my dad, and to be doing something worthwhile for the environment at the same time will be quite a powerful experience I imagine. Not to mention the fact that it pays really well and will allow me to make my much anticipated three week trip overseas in August (Tel Aviv, Cairo and Jordan are all on the itinerary). 

On July 4^th I’ll be arriving back in Montreal where I’ll be getting the keys to my new apartment a block from McGill and moving my furniture in. I’ll probably have just enough time to get settled in and work out my schedule for the fall semester before catching another plane into London and then a connection into Tel Aviv. What a phenomenally busy summer! I love it!

In the meantime, since I know all you folks out there are missing me so very very much *wink* here are some pictures from Philly to tide you over in my absence.

Keep in mind, the camera screen is broken and it’s a new model so it has no viewfinder… as such, all the pictures are blind shots aimed in the general direction of whatever it is we’re trying to capture on film… the quality may be lacking slightly.

WARNING, THERE ARE LOTS!!!

Worst time to have insomnia – when you have to work at 4:30 in the morning and barely slept the night before. I don’t know why, but my brain is going a mile a minute tonight and I cannot for the life of me find it in myself to fall asleep. 

I’m getting a little stir crazy living back home, even for a short period of time. I find it stifling and monotonous and there is nothing I hate more than monotony. Don’t get me wrong, I love my family and it’s wonderful to see them but this is not my life, it’s not where I’m supposed to be or what I’m supposed to be doing and as such it’s a very troubling place to be, I feel out of sync. I miss being at the university, I miss the campus, the people, the melting pot of ideas... I miss Montreal, the people, the vibrancy of culture, and I miss friends. I never had much of a social life in Minneapolis, at least not a very healthy one, so I feel rather isolated and lonely. Maybe Karaoke with my work buddies on Tuesday will help... drunk coffee-monkeys singing crappy songs, that should be fun!

I have filled out the vast majority of paperwork for my residency, it was a tedious process that took six hours yesterday and another six today. In addition I discovered that before I can send in my application I also need to get police records stating that I am not a felon and neither are any of my immediate family members. To do that I will have to get a full set of fingerprints and send them along with a formal request to the FBI, a process that could take as many as 15 weeks. I have asked that they prioritize my request, since I need to get my residency application to the government of Canada ASAP in order to be back at McGill in the fall. Fingers crossed everything runs smoothly and efficiently – I’ll be going to Police Head Quarters at the Minneapolis City Hall on Monday, the only day I have off from work for two weeks.

I’ve been tormenting myself lately by browsing apartment ads on craigslist in the McGill Ghetto. There are a lot of really neat little places available right now and I wish I was there to snag one of them up. I’m getting pretty damn excited to be living on my own. Granted I’ll be giving up a lot of space, but at least my space will be my own and I’ll be right in the heart of the action, it will make getting involved in student life a lot easier. Speaking of which, one of my resolutions for my return to Montreal is to start expanding my circle of friends. I want to get involved in more activities both on and off campus, maybe I’ll get back into Lincoln-Douglass debating.

I really do miss all of you and think about you every day. We’ll have to have one hell of a party when I get back. :)

P.S. I WANT SUMMER! CURSE YOU -40 DEGREE WEATHER! YOU ARE THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE!!!!! *teeth chattering uncontrollably*