Day 2 & 3 – Vancouver Visitations

Everyone gets up early so we can head to Langara College with Jen before her graduation ceremony. She’s worked very hard over the past year to get her ECE certification and so this is a very exciting day. We later enjoy lunch on the patio despite cloudy skies and decide to spend our afternoon biking around Stanley Park. At this point, I’m feeling exhausted from 10 hours of sleep over 2 days. Although I would love to try riding a tandem bike one day, today is not that day. My brain is not functioning properly and having to communicate extensively with my biking partner would not come easily. Despite my not so great energy to start, I had a fantastic time. We all agreed to do a second loop around the park. The rest of the evening was more or less uneventful after dropping Linda and Mathew off at the ferry. 

The next day was my girlie day with Jen. We ended up at Granville Island, a part of Vancouver I had not previously visited; also a dangerous location for someone who is trying to limit their spending to necessities. I couldn’t help but shopping, but limited what I chose to get. One particular item already seems to have sentimental value. My mom has had a stone carving for years of a mother holding a baby in her lap. I’ve always loved that statue. My interest in Africa led Jen and I into one particular gallery because it was Zimbabwean art. Interesting stuff, but nothing that I would necessarily feel compelled to purchase. Then I laid eyes on this small soapstone carving called “Mother and Child” by an artist whose name I’ve forgotten at the moment. The point is that this little carving is similar in nature to the one my mother possesses, but in a different style. It was only $20, so I couldn’t resist it because I’m leaving my mom and it will remind me both of her and something familiar and loved from home. 

Later in the evening I went out to say goodbye to one more friend. It seems the ones I have the deepest conversations with as I’m leaving them are the ones it’s been hardest to say goodbye to. I love every one of my friends immensely, but I have immediately missed a few as soon as they were out of sight. Leaving people has been far more difficult than leaving the city that has been my home for the majority of my life. I can count the things I will miss about Victoria on one hand: my mom, my friends, the ocean, the local music scene/the Zone 91.3. Silly as it may seem, I really love that radio station. Thankfully there is such a thing as online streaming. And in the case of my friends and family, Skype will be my friend… as will old fashioned letters (if Canada Post’s strike doesn’t interfere too much). I’ve become quite taken recently with The Arcade Fire’s “We Used to Wait” and with this move across the country, I will get to go back to writing letters and waiting for responses.