Saturday morning
Just had breakfast with Hannah and Shayl. It’s an overcast very cool morning. We’re supposed to go apple picking with Justin’s parents today; but not if it’s raining. I think it won’t happen and that we will just eat apple pie somewhere, which is option #2.
Last night we had dinner with Ariane (Hannah’s best friend), Daniel (one of her housemates), and Justin. Hannah cooked a chicken dish and vegetables.
We walked so much yesterday that my legs and my body were telling me, Enough! We started out at Mont Royale the mountain which towers over the city – and has a huge plateau on top. Walked downtown, bought Hannah the new CD from Mumford & Son, got my sunglasses repaired, and took a look inside the biggest cathedral. I now know where to find things and how to get there. It is a beautiful city full of very fashionable people who speak in French with great gusto. Every conversation sounds like high drama. I am recovering some of the French I learned over four years in high school.
Quebec has a new separatist premier who wants her province to be exclusively French. In the national newspaper they are calling that ludicrous. (While the rest of the world has accepted English as the international language, many people in Quebec have no English at all. The editorial was suggesting that that would make Quebec a backwater and set it apart from the rest of the world.) She narrowly escaped an assassination attempt at her victory rally a few weeks ago. Before that, the uni students were on strike against an increase in their fees – which are by far the lowest in North America. The new premier has scrapped those increases, leaving everyone wondering how Quebec can make ends meet.
The other big story of the week has been a controversy in the American NFL. Referees had been sidelined in a pay dispute and substitutes were being lampooned for making wrong decisions. One disputed goal in particular, in a Seattle game, was the tipping point. The refs will back from now on. That story prompted reactions from everyone up to Barack Obama. He, by the way, is streaking ahead in the polls in the key swing states.
In My Life 
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