Homeless for a day (and night)

A couple of weeks ago, I participated in an event called Sleep 4 The Streets, and initiative of the SFU Student Marketing Association. The premise? To spend 24 hours in Library Square, downtown, with nothing except a pillow and blanket/sleeping bag that fit into a garbage bag. No food or water; anything we ate or drank had to be donated. So at 8am, we pitched our sleeping bags in front of the library and set about raising money for Covenant House, an organization based in Vancouver that provides food, shelter, counselling and help to youth 16-24 years old who find themselves on the streets.
It was an incredible experience, so much so that I'm finding it difficult to really get what I felt and experienced settled in this post because I feel like black-and-white words on a page don't do it justice. I will try, though.
The fact that we raised a lot of money for youth on the streets is great, and the actual sleeping outside part, well, that sucked. Asphalt is hard, your body goes numb and then hurts from the unyielding concrete and between the blaring sirens, glaring streetlights and miscellaneous singing drunks, you don't get much sleep. You mostly just try to stay warm and then wait, exhausted, for the sun to come up.
For those of you who know me, you know that I'm passionate about people, epecially people on the fringes of society; and I love talking to people forgotten and marginalized by the world because it helps me to understand why...why they are who they are, why they live like they do, why they can't get out. It puts faces and names and voices to the labels we hear all the time: the poor, the homeless, the slum kids, orphans, hookers, druggies, widows, immigrants. As a young, white, young woman who makes decent money, it is too dangerous for me to wander the streets in the Lower Eastside. When I'm around there, even in broad daylight, I have to look straight ahead and walk fast because otherwise I could get hurt. I don't belong in the homeless society; I don't dress like thay do or have the same look in my eyes, I don't get the subtle cultural cues of the street people, of how to greet, where to sit, who NOT to talk to.
But I hate taking the bus by the worst part of town; sitting in my warm bus with my nice clothes on, listening to my MP3 player and texting on my cute pink cellphone, I stare out at them from high up, from an easy vantage point that's lightyears away from their world. It's a clash of lifestyles that makes me feel all twisted inside, like I am alienated from these fellow human beings, kept conveniently and comfortably at bay from their uncomfortable, unwanted existence that I do everything to avoid. I knew I had prejudices about the homeless. They're lazy...they're all bad people, lost causes. They should get off their butts and go to a shelter, take a shower, get a job. They're homeless because the're not smart enough, or too incompetent to function in society. It's their fault. You know the drill.
Sleep 4 The Streets allowed me to shake off the walls between 'us' and 'them'. For 24 hours, as a group, we got to meet homeless men and women, go to learn their names and hear their stories and share our coffee with them. And you know what? The things I learned could fill a book, and instead of writing them here, I'd ask you to ask me about them, next time we speak. We'll have coffee and talk about it. But I can say this; during that brief time, when we had to rely on our street friends to educate us in the ways of the homeless (where do you pee at 2am? How do you insulate yourself against the cold? Where can I find cardboard to protect me from the rain? What are the best times to panhandle?), we made friends. We heard stories of hope, crazy rantings, terrifying anecdotes and the cold hard truth. We learned that living on the streets is never a choice, it's a last resort. The streets are scary, cold and mean, especially for those who live on them. And we realized more strongly than ever before that we are lucky and blessed to not have to live like that.
I have come back changed. I was on my way to Banff this week and stopped at Tim Hortons for coffee on the way. As I left the store I noticed a man sleeping around a corner of the building. I went over and set my coffee next to him and headed back to the bus. I saw him. I will always see the homeless now, and I can't walk by them anymore because they have a face and a story and a need. I remember what it was like to sit in the rainy cold night and hope someone, anyone, would give me a hot drink to keep the chill out for just a little while.
There is more to say but this is already a novel. Thanks for listening. :)

For pictures of the event, follow this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=110908&id=516925305&l=1dc24

Back on Track

Good news! My finances are looking up again (thank You Lord!) so it seems my travelling spirit will be able to roam around this beautiful province after all! Some friends and I were supposed to head down to Seattle this weekend but a last-minute brake problem led us to nix our plans. I will definitely go soon though! My friend Maude and I are planning a five-day hiking trip around Banff, Lake Louise and Calgary from March 5th to 9th. Tourist sites boast about the natural beauty of the area and the views are promised to be no less than inspirational. I can't wait! Five glorious days of discovery and of quality time in nature...it will be a real balm for the soul.

The nice weather has been an open invitation to venture forth into the city and take a stroll through the beautiful streets of Downtown Vancouver. My goal? Find the perfect café ;) I want to find a little quaint café that's quiet, cozy, and serves great coffee (oh, and that has free WiFi too).

Also, on the job front, I have a tutoring job, once a week, helping a 10-yrd-old girl in French immersion. It's a fun job and it pays well. It's a great start!

I've added some pictures from Gastown (I mentioned our visit there in my last post). Enjoy!

Post-Valentine's Day Update

Forgive me, readers. It has been 2 weeks since my last entry. :)
Unlike Guatemala, where my scattered entries were justified (I preferred to live out my adventures rather than write about them), I've just been undisciplined, unruly and generally all over the place. It's been great.
There is a light at the end of the Employment Tunnel: after handing out endless resumes and tacking up ads around campus and putting together kickass cover letters...I have managed to snag a tutoring job. I help a 10-year-old immersion student with her French. It's only once a week for the moment, but I've asked the parents to offer my services to other parents. We'll see how that goes. I had my heart set on a job on campus but I didn't get called back for an interview. Keep that in your prayers please...without money it's difficult to travel around BC and that's definitely why I'm here (studying is just an excuse).
There is a silver lining to this cloud: not being able to travel far has allowed me to slowly discover Vancouver and all its wonders. So far I have visited Granville Island, a quaint harbour area that reminds me of Maine, with its Local Market stalls and the long docks you can walk along and the smell of fish and Montreal bagels in the air. I'll definitely go back soon. I also took a brief jaunt around Gastown, an area of downtown that boasts a grandfather clock that functions only with steam! The inner cogs are unbelievable, with a chain that slowly descends, second by second, to finally deposit a brass ball onto a lever, activating a switch that makes the hands advance by a minute. Fascinating.
I also got my first look at the Downtown East Side (DTES), an area populated by addicts, homeless people and prostitutes. The statistics are grim: the DTES population has a Hepatitis C infection rate of 70% and 30% of the people have AIDS (rivalling some African countries). 52% of DTES residents are hard-drug users. And the scariest part is, with the Olympics coming, these 'messy' people will be swept under the rug, either evicted or given a bus ticket elsewhere. I still have a lot to learn and discover about this underbelly of the city (from a distance, for those who are reading this and are worried...).
This is older news, but a couple of weeks ago, I got to head to Chinatown and celebrate the Chinese New Year (Year of the Ox!). Gung Hei Fat Choy!! There was a beautiful parade with dragons, lions, martial arts demonstrations, women with fans and...bagpipes. Hey, why not, it's 2009!! Despite the rain, my friends and I were able to enjoy the tradition and beauty of Chinese culture. A great trip all-round!
Well, that's enough for today. More soon, I promise!

I'm baaaaaack!

Sorry for the delay in postings, but between the five trips to Future Shop (in vain attempts to convince the guy behind the computer counter to please please please loan me a computer while mine's MIA) and the chaotic state of Internet in residences for the past few days (turns out it was a virus)...well, you all understand. So where do I begin?
Ah yes. Victoria. We headed out on the 6-hour trip to Victoria a couple of weeks ago and had ourselves a blast! We got an impromptu tour of the city and surrounding beaches and mountains by a few cool guys who made our stay a lot of fun. Who knew that a car, a ukelele, some breakfast poker and a fire on the beach were all it took to make one feel at home? The views were breathtaking: the mountain ranges on Uncle Sam's side of the ocean reaching high into the sky, waterfalls concealed behind the branches of a wayside forest, winding streams licking at the edges of rocky embankments, bald eagles soaring beyond treetops, a blazing, smoldering sunset beyond the mountains (best watched from Breakwater, a walkway jutting out into the sea). I met some memorable people on that trip that I hope to travel with and get to know more in the coming months. It was the first time I felt like I was really, truly, getting a taste of what BC has to offer.
Since then, I have been appreciating my academic situation: I'm pass/fail, meaning that no actual marks show up on my transcript, only a 'V' if I pass. In other words, were I to get 60% as my final grade or 99%, it makes no whip of difference. On top of that, my classes are CEGEP level 101 classes or else classes I have had before, so I won't be sweating over midterms this semester! I swear, people, it's an overachiever's Cayo Coco vacation! :) This is awesome because it means I can travel more and miss classes without worrying about my grades. A real blessing since my time here is relatively short (unless I move here, which is not in the cards for me as far as I can see).
In the coming weeks I have two trips planned: a day-trip to gorgeous, world-renowned Whistler, and a 4-day camping/tourist trip to Banff (ok, not BC per se, but close!). More details on that later.
On a final note, some nifty fact of the day: bowling is different in BC than in Quebec! In QC, bowling involves 10 pins and a small bowling ball; in BC, either you have 5 pins and a small ball or 10 pins and one of those massive American-style bowling balls. Who'd've guessed that something so trivial as bowling would be so different between East and West? More soon.

My Head In The Clouds

It's crazy to realize that even if I learned a hundred new things everyday, there would always be more to see and discover. Take mountains, for example. Here I've been, grumbling about the neverending fog that wraps around the campus...and it never even occurred to me that the "fog" is really a cloud cover that rests, normally, at the top of mountains. Go figure. As it is, due to some nameless meteorological phenomena, the cloud cover has been relegated to halfway down Burnaby Mountain so that it's sunny and clear up here. Not only that, but I sat staring dumbly at the view: mountain peaks peeking out from beyond the clouds, the foggy mass lapping at the peaks like a lake of cotton brushing up against the shore. Breathtaking, to be sure.

I finally feel like I'm settled in. I've made some friends, am developing a routine and am getting a hang of my classes. I can read the newspaper on public transit without worrying I'll miss my stop, and I know to bring my own towel to the gym. This weekend, my two friends from Quebec and I will be shown around Victoria and all the beauty it has to offer. To hear it described, Victoria is a little taste of the BC I've always heard about: laid-back beauty nestled in nature and dipped in good company. Perhaps this weekend will be the beginning of a love affair with the province (it seems everyone back home expects me to want to stay here indefinitely). We shall see!

The Odd And Unexpected

After two days of fog and rain, I woke up to a blanket of white outside my window...and an e-mail in my inbox bringing tidings of a cancelled bus tour of Vancouver. While I nursed my dissapointment (there will be time to see it all later I guess) I decided to head out into the great white snowfall and get my computer checked by the Future Shop exerts at Metrotown, a huge mall about a half-hour bus and Skytrain ride away. Once again I was struck by the seeming contradictory nature of the weather here. While the onset of snow brings the bus system to a halt and brings on a rash of DANGER tape and red cones across the campus (apparently the glass roofs of the hallways are not made of tough enough stuff), pouring rain is comparatively minor although it makes me want to curl up in a fleece blanket and hide from the dampness that creeps, clammy and cold, into my bones (maybe I'm not that tough, either). I'll take a week of snow over a day of rain, anytime. That being said, as soon as this post is done I'm going out again. It's too beautiful to stay in.

It seems like lately my Spidey-sense for the differences in culture and mores has been revealing some strange and interesting things. The recreation centre doesn't offer any equipment related to snow sports (X-country skis, snowshoes, etc.) My phonetics and linguistics teachers use Mandarin as a point of reference in cross-linguistic comparisons...instead of French. It seems like everywhere I go I come face to face with the cult of the organic, the love of yoga and wellness. The beer here costs 11$ a pitcher (sobriety is in). Brand-names still rule but the names are not the same; Columbia instead of Baby Phat, The North Face in lieu of Simons. You can say the name Jesus in a crowded room without a swiveled head or a raised eyebrow, and very few people smoke. Cigarettes. But I digress.

It turns out that my cute little HP Notebook is, apparently, crap. I rolled into Future Shop with my long list of electronic ailments and came out sans computer, for at least 2 weeks. So my posts will be fewer for the next little while. I did leave with a smile, though, and a light heart. My adapter was busted and holding together with tape, and (of course) no longer covered by my guarantee (meaning 60$ to replace). But the awesome gentleman behind the counter went rummagin in the back of his office and handed me a new one, free of charge. Yes, Future Shop, I will be defending you next time someone blasts your customer service.

I'm siiiiiiiinging in the rain

I should have known it wouldn't last. The torrential snow became a torrential rain overnight that hasn't let up all day. Although I can't imagine keeping my high spirits after a week of this weather, there is hope! The locals go about their day, smiles on their faces, and don't seem to feel the slightest mood shift no matter how many days go by without a kiss from the sun.
Yesterday, I went shopping at the second largest mall in BC, called Metrotown. All I can say is, whoa. Over 450 stores, amongst them a huge Asian market that made me feel...like a minority. And yet, I also felt awed at the beauty and strangeness of this Eastern culture. As I walked along aisles of cans with labels I couldn't read and freezers full of eels and chicken feet, I suddenly realized how much I have to discover and learn about this people. I had my first class today, and of the 70 of us sitting in that classroom, only 5 or 6 were NOT of Asian descent. Yes, I have a lot to learn. And I'm excited to start!

The Great Move-In

Hello everyone! After a brief scare at the Baggage Claim desk (apparently Air Canada enjoys grossly over-booking its flights), I was able to catch another, direct flight and touched down in Vancouver at 5pm. After a 75$ taxi ride with a turban-swathed driver (it's nice to be surrounded by some cultural diversity again), my two friends and I arrived at Simon Fraser University and were quickly led to our respective residences. If first impressions mean anything, then BC is the land of perpetual friendly helpfulness, of smiling faces and helping hands and generosity without complaint. How refreshing, and inspiring! Already I feel myself smiling more, lending a hand to strangers as they struggle up hills and stairs with IKEA bags and overstuffed suitcases. This only makes me realize how individualistic we are in Quebec.
My residence is fantastic, with a common lower floor of kitchen and living room, and two identical floors of rooms. On my floor, there are only two rooms, with a shared bathroom, which means privacy and a quiet living space. My room is now decorated in my own cozy fashion and I've slept like a baby the past few nights!
The only hiccup in these past couple of days is the cost...of everything. At the risk of causing heart attacks or seizures, I won't disclose the price of a first grocery run, nor of my trip to IKEA. Suffice to say that I will be readjusting my budget to BC standards! I have also discovered that living on a mountain means that at the slightest whisper of snow, buses cease to run, staff choose to stay home and the campus shuts down for the day. It has snowed almost non-stop for the past 2 days, so today classes are cancelled and I get to sip tea in my Pjs and blog. Not a shabby way to start the school year!I have included my new contact information on this page; feel free to call, write, or message me! I miss you all and will be sure to update this blog as often as I have something to say ;)