~ ANNE! ~

Back safe in grey old Edmonton... and my skin has reverted to its usual parched self. Yuck. Five days of no dry skin, no dry lungs, and hair that did interesting things (rather than going frizzy like curly girls do in humid weather, it just developed a sort of stronger wave). These benefits almost made up for the constant drizzle, which was definitely the downside.

So that whole "Sunshine Coast" thing? Total fabrication! (Valerie's guidebook tells me a steamship company named the area in an attempt to attract more tourists). Grrrrrr, I have never been rained on more in my life, and that is saying something after Belfast. However, the main objective was to visit Valerie, which I accomplished, and luckily she has a fireplace and lots of tea (and hot chocolate with Baileys). On Sunday we did manage a wander along the beaches - Sechelt has one inlet on either side, which is kind of neat - and a trip to the very cozy local pub. Half the beach, of course, came home in my pocket. I find it impossible to resist picking up things the ocean has smoothed.

I also met one of Valerie's colleagues. They both teach in a francophone school, and of course generally converse in French. This served to remind me just how un-fluent I actually am. I could catch the gist of the conversation most of the time, but it took a lot of concentration. Newfound respect for all my ESL friends who are now more or less fluent!

Also, a fun thing to say is, "Anne aime les ananas."

Sadly Valerina had to work on Monday, and I had to head back to the city. As I left her house, I noticed that there was something weird going on - no water in the air! This was hard to grasp, as it had not stopped precipitating from the moment I stepped off the ferry until that moment. And in the sunlight, I suddenly noticed - holy cow, this place is gorgeous! This made the bus ride back to the ferry and the ferry trip itself very, very pleasant. Suddenly I can see why so many people want to live out there. Mountains right beside the ocean - who could ask for more?

Having once again made my way back to Vancouver city centre, I met up with Stephen. For someone who is so mean to me all the time, he sure is one of my all-time favorites. He had the day off (two days of school a week! poor baby) and we wandered along the water and up to Stanley Park to look at the trees (and the holes where trees used to be. That windstorm was crazy). Then we went and watched the ducks and other bizarre assorted waterfowl, and argued about dinosaurs for a while. The weather had suddenly turned absolutely amazing - blue skies, no rain, warm and sunny.

Stephen took me out that night to The Black Frog, which he characterized as an Edmontonian bar and the best he's found in Vancouver. Goes without saying, of course. We had a lot to discuss that would have bored the heck out of anyone else in this world... I somehow managed to forget how much fun drinking with Stephen is. At the end of the night the conversation went something like this:
"Guess we should get back, since you have a midterm tomorrow and all. "
"Waitress? Another round please!"
"Sweet!"

The next morning (wait, that was this morning - why does it feel like three days ago?) I wandered around Granville Island in the rain AGAIN. Ended up talking to a guy from New York who's studying industrial design and was visiting a friend who also had an early class at Emily Carr. New York... perhaps I should check that place out.

then a tiny bit more shopping, a crepe with brie on it and a cab to the airport with Sophie... and here I am. Sadly. Heck of a trip, though....