Ontario, eh?

"When mother cow is chewing grass its young ones watch its mouth."

Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe

Earlier this year, two of my best friends got married! Congrats Kara and Jaime 💚 They had the wedding they wanted, which was small and intimate. Later in the year, they would hold a reception at her parents house in Ontario, Canada and, being invited, I had to go. Not only to see where Kara comes from but also to be a presence of love and support. I could write a story about how amazing these two humans are and how they have more than welcomed me into their family but that would just get all mushy, sentimental, corny. With that said, I am extremely fortunate to have been in the right place at the right time to have them be such an influential part of my life.

Kara Jaime and Me

Because I planned to take some time doing "fun" solo vacations this Summer, I knew that this visit to North America was going to be relatively quick—which it was— so I had to be more deliberate with my intentions, goals for my time there. Kara kept trying to convince me to plan a longer stay in Canada, which I begrudgingly kept having to turndown because that would mean much less time in Wisconsin. Hence, one reason I wish the trip was longer. There was simply not enough time to do everything.

Landing in Toronto... talk about culture shock for me. I've been traveling through Spanish-speaking countries exclusively for the last four years, thus as I disembarked the plane and started seeing signage in English and French my nerves started acting up. Is that strange? I mean, it was nice -slash-  interesting because its been a while since I've felt that way. You know, somewhat disoriented while trying to figure out something new and different. I was totally caught off-guard during the immigration process a couple of times. First with the automated computers to get the printout of my immigration forms, since the computer adjusted itself to my height for the picture. Second when an immigration officer looked at me and just told me to pass through without questioning. I will say, however, with the latter, that it did seem rather F-ed up. There was a black man in front of me, yet the officer singled me out to pass without questioning. Was I really randomly selected? Was it some form of profiling? Seriously, it was all rather strange.

Dipping my feet into Lake Ontario for the first time

Then it became a matter of figuring out how to get from the airport to the city. I found my way to the train that shuttles between Toronto's center and the airport, purchased my fare and was on my way. Toronto is gigantic. I was taken aback by how vast the metropolis sprawls into the surrounding cities. It reminded me a lot of Chicago. Within 30 minutes, the train arrived to Union Station, right in the center of the Entertainment District on the shore of Lake Ontario. That was the easy part. Then it was a matter of figuring out how to get to my hotel. For this, I attempted the subway. I mean, I arrived to my final destination but with a little struggle. How each city manages and operates their public transportation system always fascinates me (not including taxis). Some are simple to figure out, like Santiago and Medellín. Others are slightly borderline a struggle bus, like Lima and Quito. Toronto was in a league of its own with the subway system. The routes are simple enough but purchasing fares was not, for me at least. As I slowly made my way up to the front of the line, to the ticket booth, I slid $5 CAD to the ticket-master, and he slid a bunch of coins back at me. I was like, what is going on? I was expecting a token or card or whatever. But not my money to be broken down. What either I failed to grasp or he failed to explain was that I should put those coins in the transparent teepee-like box to my immediate right and then pass through. After open-mouth breathing for what felt like at least 30 seconds, and with a line trailing behind me, I finally dropped those coins in the box and in a paranoid-manner started shuffling toward the platforms. I literally looked like the ultimate tourist; thankfully all other passengers just kind of ignored my ignorance as I mildly struggled to find my footing. All in all it took me two hours to get from the point of walking through immigration to my hotel... what a day so far. [This was also the same day of the Trump-May joint press conference -slash- indictment of 12 Russian military intelligence officers. It was also Friday the 13th.]

Getting to visit and sightsee around Toronto was a rather special experience for me. Several years ago, my mom went on solo trip to Toronto for a few days. Before moving to Ecuador, I had never traveled alone so it held this air of mystery around it. In my first year, I planned a beach-hopping adventure along the coast for Christmas and New Years. I was quite nervous about traipsing around a country I still didn't really know and with seriously lacking Spanish-language skills at the time (I'd only been learning Spanish for a couple of months at that point). However, my mom and her Toronto trip remained an inspiration for gaining the confidence for traveling solo. Since then I've of course ventured on many more solo trips. Without taking on that mentality of "I can do it, too", this blog would have evolved into something much different than what it is now.

The CN Tower, Toronto

There was such limited time to explore Toronto. I knew in the morning I was going to head immediately to the CN Tower (Canadian National Tower) and beat the lines. Otherwise I had freedom  to godosee. The hotel I booked was intentionally selected due to its proximity to the CN Tower and nightlife locations. After taking a bath... oh yeah, every hotel I booked in my mini-Midwest road trip and in Canada HAD to have a tub in the room... and I took at least one bath in each of them. That's one thing I dreadfully miss in life. So, after my bath and getting myself situated, I headed out for a while. I explored the area around the Eaton Center, watched a drag show at Crews and Tangos in the Church & Wellesley neighborhood, and ate a midnight dinner consisting of the most delicious shawarma I've ever put in my mouth. I really tried to get back to bed early as I could/did so that I would get at least some sleep before going to the CN Tower. I usually only have to cope with trying to adjust to a Sun that seems to never set (compared to Quito), but I also changed timezones during my flight. Early call time was not only self-mandated but very welcomed. In the morning, I got my tourist on, before taking the train back to the airport to get a rental car to head easterly for the real reason for going to Canada. But first, here's my experience at the tower:

Leaving Toronto was a personal nightmare. I do not drive while I am not in the USA. Why would I have to when public transportation is regular, reliable and affordable? Each time I get behind that wheel after a year without, I swear I drive far more cautiously and slowly than how others may have described my driving abilities. It can't be just me as the cause of my nightmare. So, imagine this: Greg has only been driving for one week at this point, and it is his first time driving in a different country. The pedestrian crossing sign, which is a singular giant X on a yellow background, causes Greg to circle the rental parking structure four times before realizing that's what the sign meant. He then merges onto the 401-East and gets in the express lanes, noticing the highway was 12 lanes across. As he blindly and nervously drives in the maybe-correct direction, Greg reads signs that say "Collectors" and gets even more anxious because are there tolls? He is still getting the hang of using Canadian money; it's only been not even 24 hours since landing. Meanwhile, everyone is driving like they are from Illinois. The End.

"everyone" kept saying that it would take me 2.5 hours to get to Kingston. It was a little more than four. Oh well, I made it safely. And got to see some really cool natural features, like exposed limestone everywhere, along the way. What caught my attention, which of course it is this way, the environment was reminiscent of driving through other parts of the Midwest. Duh. Great Lakes region.

One Tim Horton's in Kingston, ON, Canada

Tim Horton's, check yourself into it.

The first night in Kingston was killer. I had such a wonderful and special time, getting to meet people who have been a part of Kara's life and continue to be, whom I've heard stories about but sometimes struggled to keep up. As well as her older sister and brother-in-law. Now I have faces with names. We started off with dinner at a restaurant that turns into a 100% discoteca after the kitchen closes, or does the kitchen close? The food was perfectly cooked and seasoned, the atmosphere was light and fun, and the people were so welcoming and sociable and fascinating. Thank you, each of you, for welcoming me with open arms, for the great stories and laughs, and for being genuinely great people.

Post-dinner drinks in Kingston

The following day was the larger celebration of their wedding, held in her parent's backyard. A special thank you goes out to Kara's family for welcoming me into their home and allowing me to pitch in with helping get things ready. And for making space for me to stay over for the night (and making some rather logical points regarding that... like, really?! What was I going to do at the HoJo alone that night?!). Thank you so much for your hospitality and including, involving me throughout the day. You are some of the most lovely people I've met in my life.

Since my experience leaving Toronto to arrive in Kingston was quite the debacle, more so because I am not used to driving and especially in heavy traffic, I decided to give myself enough of a cushion of time before needing to be at the airport. It meant a brief morning with Kara and Jaime in downtown Kingston, and then due west to the airport. I arrived with more than three hours of waiting, so I took a nap in the terminal. When I awoke, the sky was pissing cats and dogs. Flights were being delayed, but not mine. As the boarding time approached, a gate attendant calls over the speakers: "Your plane is arriving from Cleveland but had to wait until the storm let up. Your new time is...." and so on. But as that time came and passed, he calls again to inform us the flight is cancelled; weather and mechanical issues are stopping this 'train' tonight. I reentered Canada, ran to the preticketing booth, waited for an hour and then found out I was S.O.L. The next possible flight out was 48 hours from then, all other regional airports are fully booked, and I was flying United operated by Air Canada so they couldn't give me a refund.

You know how animals learn by watching their parents? That's exactly what got me through my own personal GOT to returning to Milwaukee. My mom used to be employed at Midwest Airlines back when it was called Midwest Express. She took advantage of the free-to-cheap standby flights, and we got to as a family see a lot of the United States in a short period of time. The first time my family visited the glorious city of Boston, we struggled returning home. The weather was causing delays and cancellations. Planes were down for mechanical issues. Peoples' flights were being rebook and people were being pushed to later ones. And as standby passengers we had to... stand... by. So my parents rented a car and we drove cross-country from Boston to Milwaukee, non-stop except for food and restroom breaks. Maybe we took a "nap" at a rest stop. Whatever. But in my time of what-could-go-wrong, I knew that this was a possible option. Especially since the earliest flight I would have gotten was 48 hours after my initial departure time.

And so I rented a car... that was also a hectic experience and I swear Ian Somerhalder was in line behind me... so I was off finally around 9 PM to drive back to the USA. It was my first time driving through an international land crossing. That was cool.

 Goodbye Ontario, Hello Detroit.

My Route back to the 414.

During that experience, I held it together pretty well. I am thankful to have travel experience so that I could sanely and soundly come up with solutions on the fly. It took ten-and-a-half hours to drive, including my breaks for eating, sleeping and using the WC. Before dropping THAT car off to get the original one I reserved to pickup the night before, I reasonably thought to sleep first and stopped at my mom's house. A few hours later, I was recharged enough to go out in public. Sometimes things just go wrong though.

Until THAT point, I held it together. I am kind of ashamed of how I handled the rest of the situation. Long story short-- I was picking up the rental car I reserved for the night before. At the front of the line, my three 'cards' were declined, I couldn't reach my parents by phone/Email/messenger, and I felt marooned. I threw an adult temper tantrum, including sobbing in public and throwing my hat off. Basically I felt completely stranded at the airport. I found my solution and things worked out in the end, yet it still took three hours from start to finish. It was not my day, but it certainly gave me motivation to take action on things I've been talking about for years. I lost a day but more than made up for it the next.

Aside from the nightmarish travel experience, I learned why I always get put in the "slow line" when immigrating into a new country. The line where you have to talk to the Immigration Officers and answer a string of random questions. It's the reason I semi-resent having to explain to people why I live in Ecuador, because I ALWAYS have to tell my story to the officers. My name is common (shocker): great for protecting me in Google searches, bad for those FBI background searches they perform on you when they're making the decision whether to allow you in or not. Now I will appear slightly less paranoid-slash-annoyed during the process.

I am really excited to travel through more of Canada in the future, and also spend more time in the places where I barely scratched the surface. Calgary, Ottawa, Montreal, BC. Seriously, this world is so huge and diverse. How can one even see it all!? I suppose the remaining weeks of my Summer vacation will help me start getting to that.





P.S. Here's what the pedestrian crossing signs look like at the Toronto Airport. Can I be blamed for circling the parking structure four times in a row?