Goodbye Montreal

On Monday after work, I spent some time with JP and Simon, reflecting on the past few days. We played video games and drank beer (even though I had enough of both). I spent the evening at their apartment...

The next few days, winter made a comeback. At first, I only saw it from my workplace, but after work, I noticed that a lot of snow had fallen and a snowstorm was coming. In the evening, I wanted to bring my things from the guys' apartment to my new room, but I picked the wrong day.

The streets were difficult to navigate, and buses couldn't get through. It was a small snow chaos that was being mitigated by various snow vehicles. Imad's arrival was also delayed because his flight from Detroit to Montreal was canceled due to the snowstorm.

The next few days flew by. Although I didn't have to work much, I tried to get a second job. I asked at various restaurants and bars, and at first, it sounded promising. However, I had to wait for a positive response...

In the meantime, I got to know my new roommates. Miriam is from Montreal and studies while working at a fast food chain from home.

Vadim works at a food bank of a Jewish community center, which is far from our place.

I also asked him for a job, but unfortunately, they were well staffed at the moment.

However, I was able to help out a bit by distributing deliveries to the warehouses and in return, I could take some food home. Usually, it's canned food close to its expiration date or damaged goods that can't be sold. They are distributed for free to those in need.

On Saturday, March 17th, it was St. Patrick's Day, and while I was looking for a job, I saw some nicely decorated bars and restaurants. In the evening, I went to a swing dance class with Simon and Natanièle. Since I enjoy dancing, I was excited about it. It was interesting to learn a new dance, although as a beginner, I could only do a few steps, so I didn't dance much after the class. It was cool to watch the others because there are many variations, and the dance is mostly based on improvisation.

On Sunday afternoon, I went to an Archaeology museum with Albin, which is located in the building of McGill University. They had various North American animal species and also a section with dinosaurs. The T-Rex reminded me of the movie 'Night at the Museum'.

In the evening, I went to Imad's presentation of his project, Globe Jumper. It was a short film about his activities with friends in Burundi, which is located in the central south of Africa. He collected donations to build schools there and to help disabled people in their daily lives. The entrance fee for this event was also a donation for the next chapter. www.theglobejumpers.org

The following week, during the weekdays, I thought about the next steps: Since I no longer found this job enjoyable because it didn't allow for much flexibility, and the hours were often not ideal, I decided on Thursday evening to travel to Toronto at the end of the month and visit the city and Niagara Falls. I tried to plan my onward journey as best as possible, which took some time. In the meantime, I also went to the local swimming and sports center, where I was able to use the gym for free for a few days, and swimming was also free at certain times for everyone.

One day during the week, I was busy for Louis, who is a friend of Ron. I checked the French translation of an old German text for him and looked for differences and similarities. Even for me, the German text was sometimes difficult to understand because there were occasionally hard-to-understand phrases. On Sunday afternoon, I went to him and presented my findings. The previous Saturday, I invited Simon and Natanièle to go swimming. After we exhausted ourselves, we went to their place in the evening and cooked dinner.

On the way to their apartment, we met Imad, who was about to go to the movies with his sister.

Since I went swimming again on Sunday, I had the opportunity to try one of the different courses, and I signed up for a kickboxing class on Monday evening after work.

I completed the class right after work on Monday. A trainer showed me some basic techniques, and at the end, there was a 10-minute endurance session. It consisted of push-ups and punching and was quite challenging. I really worked up a sweat.

On Tuesday, I experienced a different birthday: in the morning, I video called with my family on WhatsApp. The rest of the day, I received birthday wishes through various channels while also engaging in sports and planning my onward journey. In the evening, I went to le blind Pig bar with Albin, Imad, Simon, and Natanièle, and we raised our glasses to my legal adulthood worldwide. Unfortunately, Ron and Cristian couldn't make it due to illness, but I planned to visit them again on Thursday.

The next day, after finalizing most of my plans, I quit my job. Now that I'm also legally an adult for the States, it fits perfectly with my next plans: After visiting Toronto and Niagara Falls over the weekend, I will fly to Los Angeles on Monday. There, I will go on a road trip towards Vancouver with an acquaintance who also Couchsurfed at Ron's.

During the week, I tried to take a trip to Quebec City. Unfortunately, the travel company was not very reliable and canceled all bus tours during the week due to a lack of passengers. So, I was unable to visit Quebec. On Wednesday evening, I met with Albin one last time at La Panthère Verte, where Imad was working at the time. Albin tried Imad's recommendation, and he liked it. Imad also let us try little things on the side, like smoothies or falafel, making the evening even more enjoyable. Since Albin wants to stay in Montreal for another month with the consent of Simon and Imad, I gave him their number. We said goodbye, and maybe we'll see each other again in the west of Canada, as he also wants to go there.

Since I told Imad about my plans and the topic of hiking came up, he told me that he has an extra pair of shoes that I could borrow. That was great, so I visited him the next day, and we exchanged our shoes because I don't have much space in my suitcase.

In the evening, I met with Ron and Cristian again, and we talked about the time here in Montreal and my plans with our acquaintance. They were happy for us and recommended a few routes and places for the road trip along the West Coast.

The next day, I took a rideshare to Toronto around noon. Before that, I met Simon one last time, and he gave me a small (essential) farewell gift. Clear filtered water from the apartment's filtering system.

It was a strange ride with strange music, as if wandering endlessly through the desert. However, the weather didn't look sunny at all. It rained the entire journey, and I hoped for better weather in Toronto.

The last few days were filled with goodbyes, but now I'm looking forward to what the next days have in store for me...