montreal, my hair loves you

before any other comments or conclusions on whether it was a brilliant idea to move back here: the simple fact is that my hair, which has been totally limp throughout one year and a half back in romania, is curling again. after one bath with montreal water. it's at an awkward developmental stage right now, so it doesn't show well in selfies. so take my word for it??

again, neutrally reporting: there's a shoe store right next door to my temporary place-where-i'm-staying. i know that can be said about lots of places here, but okay. this part of st-hubert seems to be specializing in  textiles and beads, by the abundance of themed stores. also: there's plaza st hubert 2 minutes walk away. so within half an hour of getting out of my room, i was trying on flowery doc martens on huge sale. (disappointment: my favourite pair was too small for me, and didn't even think of taking a photo.)( instead, i took pictures of dress prints, like so:

lions and flowers: what could go wrong? 

this is the funniest picture i took at plaza st hubert, generally a pretty serious spot

there was a lady who had stopped right next to me to take a picture by the time i took out my camera. i felt a bit embarrassed, we smiled at each other, and i thought why not.

oh, the things i ate! i ate bagels i mile end (bought them from fairmount because i was too hungry to walk 200 more meters to st viateur), then a cheese pretzel from the romanian pretzel shop on mont-royal. then a sponge cake from 'cocobun', the chinese pastry shop at metro atwater, then dinner at 'nilufar' downtown(lentil soup and falafel.) these were all things i'd dreamed about, but maybe not the most glamorous options. i never even stopped to have coffee!! though i saw they opened a "cafe myriade" on st viateur, which maks perfect sense. was too shy to stop alone at 'cafe olympico'. by the time i got downtown to indigo, i was too broke to get a latte there, or so i told myself.

places i didn't go yet: marche jean-talon, parc extension, my former neigbourhood of mont-royal/laurier between the metros and des erables. there are definitely some places along those routes where i will stop for coffee. (no parks either!!! my mother just reminded me that i saw no squirrels yet!!!)

i kind of want to do a collage one days using just titles of restaurants/bars. 

october might just be the best month for montreal. and by 'dark alleys' i think they mean unkempt alleys, of which there's plenty here.

mile end being its lovely self. 

did i mention how much french i speak? i really try to stick to it upward from mont-royal and east of st laurent, which is really just common sense. but i still love it when i start in french and am confused at something that is being said so i hesitate, and the shop-assistant lady, or whatever she is, automatically goes: "do you speak english?". and i go, "oui, je parle anglais, mais ca a rien a faire avec le fait que j'ai pas compris ce que vous m'avez dit." doing that quickly, in fairly complex  and angry french, always does the trick.
also i was stopped by lots of people looking for donations for various humanitarian causes. i must be looking very approachable, just walking and smiling like some cartoon character.

i don't really know what i was doing downtown. i went just to take advantage of my brand new metro card is one theory...i went because from metro mont-royal, that was the routine direction i'd go, non-questioningly, for 2+ years. i went to visit my friend eric at work (though i couldn't talk to him a lot, as he was....surprise!...working). i went to visit my former workplace, which is emptier and sadder and more useless than ever. then for a while, there was still light out, downtown overwhelmed me. i couldn't stand being in the shopping centers too long (and you're talking to me!) and in the big bookstores either.  but there's a stretch of st. catherine/maisonneuve right around concordia , which i like and it calms me down.

i bet this lady was here before, but i never noticed her til now.  for me on that block there will always be things to notice.

the wall art is new to me, the image of the chef smoking a cigarette outside with friends is old as legends

by place-des-arts, the moon was high up, a sickle. i was confused and spent, but i love this city, i do. i just have to love my life in it too.