En resumen

The last few days have been nice – but hot hot hot. Montréal is a great summer city, but the dorm has very poor ventilation so I’ve been in a lethargic haze when I’m at home. Let’s see, on Friday everyone in class shared the recipes we had brought. Let me contextualize a bit: it was day five of French 1, and we were using very foreign vocabulary because it was about not just food but food preparation. The entire activity, in my Spanish classroom, takes one to one-and-a-half 50-minute class sessions – and it’s a group activity. This one took the entire three hours of the morning class, with each person performing individually and responding to the teacher’s questions about our recipes. While each one of us did his or her recipe, we were very much engaged. While other people were presenting, we kind of just sat there. It was kind of…soul killing. Unfortunately, the individual attention we get in the classroom comes at the price that each one of us has to patiently wait while it’s her or his turn again. After that slow morning, I took off to Old Montréal and the Old Port, which I just loved. I sure am a sucker for historical things – and the Old Port has a little park in the middle of it, so I got to sit there in the shade, hang out and cool off. It was great.

Later that night, I went to the Village, which is like…the Village or the Castro, but the street is a pedestrian way, so it’s great to walk up and down Sainte Catherine street, look at the shops, and see the people having tasty meals on the terraces on the street. The “divers/cité” festival was in full swing, so there were tons of people and an outdoor concert at a nearby park (there’s an outdoor concert around almost every corner in the summer here – no joke! C’est très excellent!). This festival was not pride – oh, it was gay, and it was a party, and there tons of out-of-towners – but it wasn’t pride because pride is next week. I guess it was a massive, week long pre-pride. Anyway, I went to the outdoor concert, and it was fun. But not because of the musical act per se. The people watching was great, and the energy was really good. The musical act was a live house music “band.” The whole concept is counterintuitive to me – “live” music but no band, and it’s not like they’re actually spinning anything. The whole thing brought me back to NYC circa 1995 – holy shit! That was like 13 years ago! – which was kind of sweet and cool. That base house beat apparently NEVER changes, so it worked on my memory a little bit, and for a while there I felt a bit suspended between and encompassing the past and the present. The “show” was just a bit ridiculous, of course, but people in Montréal are really the most easy-going, accepting people ever: even the people who were NOT high were bopping around and enjoying that the performers were having a good time, though I think most people were waiting until it was late enough to go to the actual cool places.

The following day I went on a long walk/exploration of the Plateau. I had visited before with Tom and Amanda, since that was the neighborhood they stayed in. It was wonderful, of course. I took only a few pictures of it because really I was on rue St. Denis most of the time, and what you appreciate is the vibe of all the wonderful stores and “restos,” which I don’t think really comes through in film. Sunday I went to a cute little café at the border of the quartier Latin and the Village, recommended to me by Tom and Amanda’s teacher; I was able to get some work done there for the class I will be teaching…next month. Actually, in three weeks. Yikes! Must lesson plan. This week I’ve been going to school, doing my laundry and grocery shopping, and I returned today to Vieux Port to read, but the cold wind drove me away (it’s been raining on and off since last night, and things have cooled off…though not in my dorm room!).

I hope everyone is doing well.

P.S. I almost got over my loving to hate that person in my class yesterday (though she HAS improved, I’ll giver her that!), but today I’m back in full effect. She asks the teacher the meaning of words every time she encounters new words – even when the words are NOT new – and stops the class to do so, even though she HAS a dictionary. And she can’t seem to figure out French-Spanish cognates! Elle est très ridicule!

Museuming

Whew! I just barely made it back from the Musée McCord before the skies ripped open and rain started pouring. This museum is great: it currently has an exhibition on women's fashion in Montréal from the 19th century to the present, along with their permanent collection on the history of Montréal. I was a bit miffed that the inclusion of the Iroquois and the Hochelaga is kind of an after thought, but this is definitely one of those look-at-how-great-this-city's-history-is museum. I mean, I guess most museums are like that, but seeing how they talked a lot about diversity I thought they should have more space devoted to the native residents. Including one huge totem pole (I don't think it was a totem pole per se, but it was a definite native pole) does not make up for the lack of inclusion. The tour guide was terriffic; she was so sweet. But four days into French 1, I was only able to understand 20% tops - which is to be expected - but my brain gets tired after two hours of it, especially after three hours of it in the morning. I wish I would have had more time to read the plaques in English to get the full story instead of approximating from faux-french knowledge and my own previous knowledge (the history section of the Lonely Planet guide). But once the tour was over, my feet hurt, and I had to get away.

I know I already blogged about this - and I understand I am not a great human being, so please bear with me - but the lady from my French class was on the tour, and even though she kept mostly quiet, when she speaks French (she's a native Spanish speaker like moi) what comes out is neither French nor Spanish nor English. And halfway through the sentence she gives up on French altogether and switches to Spanish, which the quebecois don't really know, leaving them to pick up the slack. I know I'm hating, I know, but hey, anyone who reads this should know that I like to talk trash. So there. Je suis désolé, though not really.

Speaking of talking trash, it's amazing how much of a bonding experience it is to talk trash with people. I went to lunch with a classmate who proceeded to trash the teacher - I agree with the substance of her comments, but since I like my paresseux approach to class, I's all good. Of course, the outcome is that now we're kind of friendly. C'est la vie!

Today is my first day of actual homework: I have to write up a recipe in French. The irony is that I have assigned this very same task often when I have taught Spanish class. Tee-hee. I hope it doesn't beaucoup suck...seeing how I will probably do it at midnight.

Hope all is well with all! Bon journée!

Do blondes really have more fun?

In Montréal, apparently that is the case: "ma blonde" is "my girlfriend" in quebecois. Charming but pretty random. Class and the city are treating me pretty well. Even though I was supposed to do "rigorous" sightseeing on Monday afternoon, I kept putting off eating all morning long, so by the time I actually ate, I was completely famished. So I went in search for food and then went shopping at the supermarket. The supermarket, of course, continues to be the place with the most culture shock. One would think the language would be more difficult to get used to, but that doesn't bother me very much at all. What is pretty kooky is realizing that there are about three separate locations for the same type of food in the market: want bread? There's three different places in my local grocery store for bread. Same thing for lunch meat. And let's not even get started with cheese: there are about five cheese areas. So my day got absorbed by random errands and everything.

Yesterday was the first day of class. By far the hardest thing is trying to say something and having to fight back Portuguese and Spanish vocabulary. C'est trés interessant. The students are fine and so is the teacher. The style is not the Berkeley one I am accostumed to attending or teaching in, but it's pretty easy. I definitely want to fight my overachieving impulse. Today I was asked if I wanted to switch to the next level, and I was like "hell no!" Yesterday I went to the gym, and I was wiped out. I basically ate and fell asleep like at 8:30. There was still light out when I fell asleep. I figure I needed it. I dreamt of yelling at someone in my class b/c they were annoying me. I didn't write anything yesterday, but I was feeling nice. Today I'm not feeling so nice: one of my classmates is really annoying me. She's definitely en Belén con los pastores - and I mean, for real. Le voy a tener que prender una vela a la pobre. I'll do my best to be trés patient, but I can't guarantee it. She asked me a question today in class, and I said something snarky back. But the teacher laughed b/c she liked what I said, so whatever.

It's supposed to rain like cats and les chiens this afternoon - in fact, it looks pretty overcast right now. But I'm going to walk around a bit today and try to get some pictures. After all, following Ethan's logic, how else I will I be able to prove that I was here?

I hope everyone is doing well! Much love!

À bientôt!

Bonjour from Montréal! (Or, How do you say “I don’t know jack shit,” en français?)

I’ve been in Montréal now for about two days and things are going very well. The weekend was spent with lovely Tom and Amanda who hosted me at their place in le Plateau (insert ooh! aah! here! This neighborhood is trés chic). We talked about anything and everything during the entire weekend – I had a blast. I hope they did too! They gave me tours of le Plateau, cafés, bookstores, and gave me the lay of the land in terms of what to do and how to deal with the language politics. I’m not even entertaining the language politics: I know no French and besides asking “Parlez-vous anglais?” I’m out of luck. I’d love to be “with it” and speak exclusively in French with everyone, but since it’s not really an option at this point, I really need to resist punishing myself for it. This is a completely new experience because everywhere I’ve been to study, I’ve been at least proficient, if not fluent, upon arrival. And now I’m like trés débutant, and honestly, it does not feel great. I’m even feeling delayed sympathy for classmates in Argentina and DR when I did study abroad there. I took the placement test today, and while I know I’m not supposed to know anything, which is the reason why I’m here at all, it felt really uncomfortable to be one of the first people who “finished” (stopped) the written portion of the test. I kept thinking “just remember you know lots of things….just not this one.” The oral exam was even worse! Tom and Amanda introduced me to their teacher (advanced class) yesterday at the park, and she was the one who administered the test. It was kind of embarrassing because she was pretty surprised at my level of sheer ignorance, even though she knew I’m a beginner. I mean, she was nice. She did nothing to make feel ill at ease. But I did wish I had another person evaluating me so that I could save a little bit of face. Oh well. I must embrace discomfort and just tell people I don’t know.

I moved into the dorm last night. It’s a good facility – the only not-so-nice thing is the lack of air conditioning. I mean, I get that the priority here is to make buildings that will stand up to the dreadful cold in the winter, but the window barely cracks open. There is a ceiling fan, which definitely does its job, so it’s not so bad. Amazingly, the bed is not an extra-long single like the beds in most U.S. dorms. It’s a bona-fide double. Whoo-hoo! No coffin here – yay!

This morning, I went to the orientation meeting for those participating in my three-week session. As Tom and Amanda told me, the group was very mixed – no preponderance of undergraduates, though 4 of the 10 of them live in my suite. It’s like living with my own students – c’est trés magnifique! NOT! Whatever – I should not be a twenteen hater – I’ll try not to be – but it feels so right. This morning’s orientation started off mysteriously, suspiciously: when I checked in, I was told there was another Javier Jimenez to whom they had already given my registration packet. They thought that it was a computer error that my name came up twice, so they just printed out one packet. I think the implications are clear then: I am in a program with my very own doppelganger (apparently, there is a Javier Jimenez in the English department at Berkeley), which means that I’m going to be wondering the whole time if I’m the real one or the fake one, whether we’re actually the same and we’re supposed to fuse in some metaphysical way in order to restore balance to the galaxy, or if, instead, we have to fight each other and blot one or the other out of existence. If the latter scenario is the appropriate one, I seriously hope I can take him – I like existing; it’s the only thing I know, really, and I’m not keen on going through to the other side. As you can see, this is going to be very tricky indeed. I will make sure to keep everyone appraised as to what happens on that front.

For today, I am planning a rigorous itinerary of sightseeing. No class and no assignments means “hit the streets” and get to know the place. There is a lot to see and do here, so it will be a challenge even coming up with what to do exactly, particularly since Karen and I did some sightseeing here last year. That experience should make it easier for me, but it makes it even harder because Karen and I went to the easier locales and I don’t know if I feel quite up to the more far-flung places yet.

Since this entry is up, it means that my internet is on, though at the time of writing, the connection isn’t live yet. That means then that I am free to receive and send e-mail, as well as chat and skype (hint hint). I hope everyone is having a nice summer – and let me know what’s up in your particular part of the world when you get a chance!

Love to all!