Street Wise

Living in a "big" city has provided us with some interesting observations/encounters over the last couple of months.

Like the time I was walking down the stairs from the train stop and I had an elderly man stop and give me a stern lecturing about walking down stairs with your hands in your pockets.

Apparently it's deadly.

And really, I should know that, because I fell down a flight of stairs in 6th grade and broke my ankle.

And didn't use my hands to stop myself.

Thanks Old Man.

Then there was today, when strolling down Granville Street, we stopped and watched a street performer on the electric guitar.

He was wearing a complete spider man mask.

I insisted on stopping and watching because I didn't want to be "one of those people," who don't stop and pay heed to a musical prodigy, like in this Joshua Bell clip.

I mean, Spidey could have been ANYONE.

Only, he wasn't good at all.

So he probably wasn't anyone famous.

Then, we walked on down to Yaletown, where a crowd was just beginning to form in front of a restaurant.

Now, if you know me, you know I get kind of skiddish around large crowds, so I wanted to steer clear of that. But soon, folksy English/Irish music was filling the streets and the crowd had swelled to nearly a thousand.

Turns out there was a band in town, who had TWO sold out concerts that weekend, and had decided to do a "surprise/secret" mini concert.

That was pretty cool!

Check out Mumford and Sons to hear some folkish pub music (or at least that's what it reminded me of!)

We also hammered down the dates for the Vancouver Jazz festival (yay!) and found a great restaurant with live music after 9pm.

And then we got the honor of listening to creepy English teacher man hit on his Korean student. Luckily her English wasn't that good.

For us, though, it was just painful

All in all, a great day "out on the streets!"

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Street Wise

That Time I Threw Up in My Coach Bag

Canada is, um, neat.

A little different at times

(for instance, what the heck is up with their stick butter? It comes in a huge mambo jambo 4 pack that is fused together. Odd)

But, for the most part, very similar to the ol US of A.

We're getting used to some different parts of being a city dweller {compared to the suburban life I've lived for the last 23 years,} such as loud neighbors, no AC, and public transportation.

Ugh.

Public Transportation is the bane of my existence.

Vancouver has a very good system. Sky Trains (elevated subways) run every 2-3 minutes and they are clean and well policed. The bus routes are numerous, well laid out, easy to figure out, and have very helpful drivers.

We usually have a conversation with a driver just about every day.

Even when we know what we're doing.

It ends up going something like this:

Me: Good morning!

Him: Good morning, eh!

Me: Mmm, Hmmm! (flash my bus pass,)

Me again: Thanks!

I know. Not funny. And not really a conversation.

But talking with strangers is a BIG deal for me.

Oh, right. The bane of my existence.

I can deal with the cramped quarters.

I can deal with the interesting mix of languages and cultures.

But you know what I DON'T deal well with?

That interesting mix of aromas from the variety of cultures.

That paired with the constant stop and go of a bus.

It got so bad that the other day, during our hour long commute, I REALLY thought I was going to be sick.

So, I tried to be resourceful. I mapped out my escape plan.

Sure, I might bump into that Indian man and trample on the {extremely} tiny Chinese woman, but at least I wouldn't throw up on them!

Then the bus stopped and let in another 8 people.

Awesome.

My escape plan was now null and void.

What would I do?

There was only one option.

Use my Coach bag as a barf bag.

Oi.

Had I stooped to this?

Is this what transportation had done to me?!

Would I REALLY use that gorgeous mahogany leather bag for such a hideous moment?

What had I come to?

In the end, our stop came before I lost my lunch.{Huzzah!} I patted my bag and told her it was going to be alright, slipped on my big sunglasses and waltzed into the nearest Starbucks.

Because a girl doesn't often have such a crisis in her life and I needed something to soothe my nerves!

*Disclaimer* I apologize if you thought, from the title, that I actually would throw up in a Coach bag. Sheesh, I'm not a savage. *

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That Time I Threw Up in My Coach Bag