Saturday, July 9, 2011

Bonjour, y'all!

Ok. Here it is. My blog. I love reading blogs and swore I would never start one, but I want everyone to be able to keep up with my trip, so I figured this would be the easiest way to do so.  Conner asked me what if I decide to keep blogging after my "Carnadian Adventures..." and the answer to that is I don't know. I guess I'll have to change the name, but maybe not.  It's kind of corny catchy... props to Sally Beth for that! :)

Anyway - so here I am, in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, for three weeks.  The longest I have ever traveled somewhere sans ma mere.  It is a faculty-led study abroad trip, so we have class every day in the morning, led by an MSU professor.  We have several excursion things planned, plus other group activities. I should be pretty busy.  For me, busy is good.

Oh, and please forgive me while I try to figure this blogging deal out - I want to add pictures and all that cool stuff, but of course I forgot my camera upstairs in my room (lobby is the only place I can pick up wireless) so I'll have to save picture posting for the next entry.

I guess I will start with the events leading up to my arrival in Quebec City.  Last week was kind of hectic - of course I had a list of things I wanted to get done during June, and I didn't do a single one of them.  It is what it is.  So I tried to cram a lot of stuff into this last week, and between a funeral, visiting Conner, working, and packing, it just got a little crazy.  Summer isn't supposed to be crazy!  I got everything packed and so far the only thing I forgot is my insurance card.  I guess it could have been better... but it also could have been worse.  Oh, and I can't find my iPod.  Bummer.

Our flights here were fine, shorter than I expected, but then again I'm only a few hours north of the border.  We flew into Toronto - I wish I had gotten to see my Uncle Mike! - and then into Quebec City.  Everything here is in French, for the most part, although many people are bilingual, and a lot of the signs are in French and English.  It makes sense, since this is the only French speaking area in North America. I am interested to learn about how all that came about.  When I do I'll let you know.

Ok so onward to my first day and a half in Quebec!!!  When we arrived last night we were starving, so Drew (teacher) led us to McDonald's.  I am all about trying local cuisine, but I mean it was midnight, and I knew I could pick out the chicken nugget logo and I was good to go.  He showed us a few landmarks of the city, which were very pretty, and the place was surprisingly crowded for after midnight!  But I guess we are in a big city and the Festival d'Ete is going on.

This morning Drew showed us around some more.  We are in the "vieux ville" [old city] which is surrounded by a wall.  Literally, our hotel is right on the wall.  I will show you pictures later.  It's a great view.  Right below us is "la basse ville" [lower city - make sense because it's below the wall].  There are tons of great shops around the area - guess that means I'll be using all the money I saved!  The architecture is neat, and we are right on the St. Lawrence river - such beautiful scenery and weather!

Ummmm, what else.  Oh, we ate at a great restaurant - details when I have pictures (because yes, I took pictures of my food).  I got a great work out, and tonight we are going to see ELTON JOHN at Le Festival d'Ete!  I am not necessarily a fan of Elton John, but I mean I have a ticket so of course I'm going to go see him.  Should be an adventure!

Thanks for reading.  Maybe I will learn how to blog more efficiently and not ramble so much.  And - ~~~pictures~~~ to come!

Say some prayers for me!
HRC

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