wow...

look, mom, no hands and i'm in boston! hehe...well, this picture (taken by tania, my new cool friend who is going to let me visit her house in acapulco next year) is how i felt on my spontaneous trip to boston...surprises everywhere. it was so stressful, the getting there anyhow (changing travel plans, figuring out how to get to places with no maps, booking hostels everywhere i could find a moment of internet)...thank goodness for my laptop...anyhow, after it's been all said and done, boston was fantastic...and this picture captures my jumping-jennie-bean-ness of it all...

my soundtrack for today

today is about everything mogwai ... starting with "golden porsche", moving along to "i know you are but what am i?", next "hunted by a freak", so on and so forth with the rest of the happy songs for happy people album

"les acrobates", la loire + video

so i stumbled on this group and song today by accident, and after much careful listening ( i couldn't stop from playing it over and over---kind of catchy i thought) and trying to translate the words on my own, i finally gave in and resorted to the not so reliable internet translator (at the bottom of entry)...anyhow, i looked up www.lesacrobates.com and was pleasantly surprised by the little video for the song. actually more than pleasantly surprised since now i cannot stop smiling. it seems so perfect to moments i have felt these past few months, an exchanging of messages and glances, apartness and togetherness, and like the picture that was sent to me a couple days ago - it is about a certain kind of missing and wishing all the same...i know there is one other out there who can really appreciate the subtleness of this song and video...if only he had internet connection at the moment, but that is just an assumption for i can't imagine wireless in small town ohio...

J'habitais de ce côté ci, toi tu logeais de l'autre côté
De la Loire, à quelques encablures.
Sur quelques ponts perdus, j'aurais aimé te rencontrer
Toi tu disais “mieux vaut nous séparer”
Si tu veux de moi
Alors viens me retrouver
Juste au milieu de la Loire
L'hiver menaçant fut bien vite un rempart de trop
Entre l'un et l'autre côté de la Loire.
Idées en veilleuse, j'ai cru que je ne te reverrais plus
Mais quand ta voix a frôlé mon oreille
Si tu veux de moi
Alors viens me retrouver
Juste au milieu de la Loire
Et c'est chacun depuis sa rive
Nageant, marchant à la dérive
De l'aube à l'aube, en vis à vis
Par l'eau séparés
Et c'est chacun à la dérive
Nageant, marchant le long des rives
Nous finirons par nous retrouver
Aujourd'hui notre amour vole au-dessus d'un volcan éteint
Et je t'embrasse en enjambant la Loire.

the broken translation

essential life support knowledge

thanks to a quick (hmm...ok maybe 1/2 search) i finally stumbled upon a gold mine of a treasure...sure it is friday night, but i was absolutely exhausted after the early wake up call this morning and the stress of trying to figure out the confusion of class schedule, which i am not entirely sure is completely worked out...ugh, anyhow---

can you say "ile sans fil"???

hee hee...thank goodness my home is right at the the immense cluster of green droplets...hehe...someone must really be looking out for me and my best interests as i am so blessed.

thumbnails of colour

home sweet montreal

a glimpse of my new home for the next 4 months with a close up of my desk area and a few of the prized belongings i brought with me...(smile)

straw observations

crazy canadians...and i was getting strange remarks because in massachussetts they keep the paper on the tops of the straws...at least in that case i know that no grimey fingers have touched my straw...here, well, there is no way that my straw can remain virgin-like...ugh...dirty dirty...

street vibrancy

and i thought that rue saint-laurent was busy when i took this picture 2 days ago...well yesterday until sunday, this street is completely shut down...the restaurants and cafes have completely overtaken the car paths...people spilling out of the windows and eating under white canopy tents. a parade of people browsing the little stands selling wooden rings, clothes, and food galore. my goodness...how am i ever going to study? went to school today to try and figure out classes...ugh...don't exactly understand what is going on or how to infiltrate the system yet...oh yeah...and found an awesome cafe where wireless is free (yea!) just a short 5 minute walk away from home...it is called cafe pi...wishing i wasn't alone enjoying the company of only my laptop...even kind of longing for the small town feel of ohio right about now...but heck...what's a girl gonna do?

first wandering day in mtl.

city outlook

the drive

two ipods side by side, one red and one blue, together with the itrip backpack they can make beautiful music in the car...bridges and tolls, bridges and tolls, which one there are more of i am not sure...looking up at the sky...open road while approaching the catskills mountains...the sun sets magically and paints the sky thru the adirondacks and lake camplain...ugh---immigration and border control...look montreal is here at last!...the city welcomes with its spectacle of lights...

on the road

ready or not, montreal here i come...wait for me, i'll be back in a short 5 months, ok?

one last look

a last glance from this place...walked by the river today, ate thai food and grabbed coffee and tea by the water...exchanged a few laughs with familiar smiles and sprawled out on the grass to take one last photo...hair looks funny i know...oh well, that's what happens when one just plops on the ground...

a calm before the storm

a little hectic today...leaving for montreal tomorrow...looking forward to the drive but here it is nearly 2 in the morning and i'm still awake trying to get things together. a few moments of calm came in the happiness of a phone call and message received earlier today. things to distract my mind and take me to a place far from here where smiles and quietude always seem to abound. was scrolling through emails, and found this little tidbit of refreshment. i know the webpage right now is all screwy...haven't had time to fix it...ugh...ok...off to sleep now...must wake early...can barely imagine falling asleep at the moment right about now due to the excitement, anxiety, and wonder that lies ahead of me...the trees will be beautiful in upstate new york...and for this beauty and wonder i cannot wait. good night for now...and farewell old town alexandria, farewell to my home and all things american for the next 5 months...p.s. i still have the same number and email addresses...so, i'm not really that out of touch...

boston on the spur