Bonjour
tout le monde! (That`s French for “Hello everyone!). I have just
returned from a fabulous weekend in Quebec City! This was one of the most
exciting weekends I have ever had and I get tired from simply recalling all the things we did. So for your benefit, I will take a nap before writing
this to ensure you get every detail.
Ok, just kidding I didn’t take a nap but that is only
because I am sitting in the SUB right now selling cans of pop for REC’s “Crush
for your Crush” event. Essentially, you buy a can of pop for your campus
“crush” and it will be put in their mailbox on Valentine’s Day. So cute, isn’t
it? I am also advertising for the upcoming campus formal which will be held the
Tuesday following Valentine’s Day. So to all my fellow Gaiters reading this,
come to the SUB anytime this week and purchase that can of pink crush you’ve
been dying to send me.
This past week was pretty uneventful but it definitely had
some high points. In my history class, we started our Paris 1919 Simulation
which is actually turning out to be a great way to learn about what actually
happened. I have been representing France and have been researching and allying
like crazy to ensure that France comes out of this conference with its goals
achieved. Also last week Theatre Active was on, which was a six night festival
of 9 different student plays. I went on the second night to see some of my
friends perform. One of the RAs on the Events Committee with me was the
director of one, and though I did not fully understand the play, I thought it
was really well done. Another play that night was a student’s Honours thesis
which was really special to watch. I am sad that I didn’t get to see all of my friends
perform over the course of the festival but I am sure they did not disappoint!
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| Me and Bonhomme at the SAQ! |
The girls all went back to the hotel to get ready and the
boys went to Kevin’s to drop off their things. Then we hung out at our hotel
for a little while before we caught a bus to downtown Quebec. I was extremely
grateful to have Kevin with us, as he grew up in the city, because without him,
we would have been so lost! He took us to some of his favourite places on the
downtown strip and we had a great night at two of the local clubs. The night
had a few downfalls, as it was extremely cold and we missed our bus back to our
hotel, but thanks to a very nice cab driver we finally made it home around 4 in
the morning!
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| Hotel Night #1! |
Around 10am on Saturday, I was up and ready to go and was
successfully able to get Mitchell, Jocelyn and Hannah to get up and come to
Carnaval with me. My other friends (there were 8 of us that ended up sleeping
in the hotel) were not ready to wake up yet and decided to sleep in. As were
trying to plan our day, we realized that both of our cars were parked at the
hotel but both sets of keys were at Kevin’s house! As the four of us were
leaving the others behind to figure out how they would get the keys, Kevin came
driving into the parking lot, dropped off the keys and then took us on a
personal tour of Quebec City!
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| The tourists getting ready to go! |
We drove by Laval University, Kevin’s CEGEP and then through
the winding streets of Old Quebec. He dropped us off somewhere downtown and we
spent the rest of the morning wandering the streets, looking at the shops. We
stopped for breakfast (at noon) at a little place where all of the products had maple
sugar in them! We then walked to the Chateau Frotenac where I had maple sugar
on ice and then the four of us went down this huge sled track. After that, we
walked to the Carnaval, where we spent the afternoon. While we were there, we watched
some of the snow sculpting competition, went through Bonhomme’s Ice Palace,
participated in outdoor winter zumba, watched some dog sledding and went down
an ice sledding track. We also spent a lot of time inside trying to warm up!
The two high points of my time here were seeing some family friends from home
who were at Carnaval and fulfilling my lifelong dream of meeting Bonhomme!
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| Breakfast at Les Délices du L'Érable |
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| View from halfway up the snow sled track! |
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| Snow Sculpting at the Carnaval |
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| Hannah, myself and Jocelyn in the Ice Palace! |
After we were too frozen to be outside for a second longer,
we went back to the hotel to warm up, take power naps and get ready to go out
for dinner. We went to Chez Victor, a cute little restaurant at a hotel near
ours. Following dinner, we went back to the hotel to watch the hockey game and
then we went back downtown for another exciting night out. Some of us ended up
at the club, some at the microbrewery and some at Chez Ashton for some late
night poutine. Thankfully, we all managed to catch the 3am bus and made it back to the
hotel and to bed by 4am!
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| Jocelyn and I at the club on Saturday night! |
Sunday morning, Jocelyn, Mitch, Elizabeth, Mike and I woke
up and left early in order to drive Mitchell back to Sherbrooke so that he
could head home to Waterloo. We left right on schedule and it was looking like
Mitch would make his bus with time to spare. However, around 12:15, we looked
out the window and saw the Olympic Stadium and the Montreal city skyline. After
a few minutes of complete shock, we realized that Mike had missed the turn to
take us to Sherbrooke and we had ended up in Montreal without noticing! After we recovered from the initial
shock of realizing where we were, we decided the make a day of it, as Mitch’s
bus from Montreal didn’t leave until 4:30. We drove by McGill University and we
met up with my friend Natasha (one of my very best friends from high school)
for lunch. Then we walked along Rue St-Catherine, the main shopping street,
drove Mitch to his bus stop, got lost downtown and finally headed home. We got
home at 7pm and got to dinner with just enough time to see Beyoncé and the Destiny's Child reunion at the Superbowl!
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| Natasha and me, reunited in Montreal! |
This weekend was incredible and I am so glad I got to spend
it with my amazing group of Bishop’s friends. It was great to get out of what
we call the “Bishop’s Bubble” and it was even greater to see some friends from
home. It is sometimes hard being away from all of my old friends but it’s all
part of growing up and moving on to bigger and better things (not to say my old
friends were not fantastic)! Every day here brings me something new and
exciting and I am looking forward to everything still to come! Speaking of new days, tomorrow is bringing me
a midterm so I must now turn my attention to BIO 101. Wish me luck!
All my love, Erica xoxoxoxo
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