Matt's Missives

Well, I have arrived, at long last, in Montreal. After five days in Ottawa with Adam, Sarada, Andrew and his partner Caley, I have made my way here. It is cold out, but not ridiculously so. It is more grey than anything. This time in the winter is all greys and browns. It snowed when I arrived, but that has been steadily melting, leaving the streets slick and wet. Dangerous things when you're walking home at 3am from the pub. Still though, a good reminder of why I live out west. Everyone that comes from here complains about the clouds and rain there, but I've only had one day of sunshine since arriving, so I'm not so sure Victoria's that different. And now I'm in Montreal--to wander the streets of Canada's most interesting city. Still, when I was walking around today I stood for a moment, somewhere between Sherbrooke and Notre Dame De Grace, in a relatively quiet part of the city, and heard this buzz. There is a constant loud here, on the edges of your hearing. Not loud to bombard, but a loud that buzzes at the fabric of your being. This is why I live where I do. Thursday I fly.

Posted by matt at 02:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Adam's sitting here with his lighter. He's being called by Andrew, to smoke outside. And it's damn cold, at least by my standards. Snow, subzero temps, and this wicked dryness. The Ottawa of my youth. This compiled with a whole lot of beer. These folks, whom I haven't seen in so long, talking about what's happened in the last three years and ecological modelling. I met a girl today who is applying for SCARP, in conflict resolution and how it fits in with ecology. It was, in fact, more complicated than that, but my memory is scarce. So it is. I go to Montreal in two days. Ghana on Thursday. Adam and Sarada are stoking me with their pictures: Malawi and Botswana. I actually feel like this is gonna affect my life. Imagine that . . . being uncynical enough to think that a series of events might actually change me. huh.

Posted by matt at 07:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So here I am, sitting in Vancouver, trying to access the Social Science and Humanities Research Council website, so I can print out my application, put it in the mail, and not have to worry about the stupid thing anymore. However, it being Monday, I think the government is taking a day off. Oh well, there's always tomorrow. Maybe I shouldn't mail until I get to Ottawa anyways, I never quite trust the mail system. Strictly speaking this isn't really an Africa entry, but Emerson said I could use his little book as soon as I got going, and that started today.

A perfect day to leave the island, the ocean wrapping us in fog so dense there was a BC Ferries working standing on the bow deck for the whole trip, just to make sure we didn't hit anything. No gulf islands, no Active Pass opening out into the Georgia Straight. No seals, no whales, no cold winter sunshine, just a blanket of thick and heavy cloud sitting on the ocean like it owns all of this. Just the lights of Swartz Bay, the seagull that glides alongside the boat all the way to Vancouver, the eavesdropped conversations, the half hour nap, and the lights of Tsawassen. Oh, and the ubiquitous smell of White Spot burgers. Bye bye home.

Posted by matt at 03:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)