Montreal 1st Day

So, it only takes an hour and a half to fly from Chicago to Montreal, which is nothing at all. We got up at 4 this morning so I could make it to the airport (ehs drove me, since we still own the car). I landed around 11am here and grabbed a taxi. I was interested in taking public transit to the apartment, but it looked like it was going to take an hour and a half or two hours, with 30 minutes of walking, a bus, and two trains. Taxi it was.

I rented an apartment, since I'm here for 10 days. It's about a 10 or 15 minute walk to the place where my class is. I had lunch, then spent the next 3 1/2 hours walking. It turns out Ste. Laurent, the major botiquey shopping district is having a street sale, either this weekend or the whole week, I'm not sure. I wandered through there, managed to blow my intended shopping budget in the first store I went to. I had a blackberry popsicle though, which was exciting.

Then I found the Park Mont-Royal. It was full of people playing frisbee, soccer, and listening to drumming. From there I walked to the grocery store. By then I was so tired I didn't do the world's greatest job of grocery shopping. I got a lot of fruit, some veggies, proteins, and only a few carbs. If it still seems terrible tomorrow I can try again.

I have made good use so far of my one strong phrase in French: "I do not speak French." People have been very friendly, the weather's beautiful, and I'm already exhausted! I'm still excited about class starting tomorrow though!