romanian diaspora voting in montreal

around 2 pm: when i arrived (at 1), i stood in line right next to that streetlamp

sooo, my plans for nevember 16th were as follows: have breakfast, go vote in the 2nd round of  my country's presidential elections, pass by the library, study. guess what came out of all this planning - i voted!

 funny thing, when i got up (late-ish) in the morning, it was snowing. dammit, the first snow of the year always knows how to pick the most appropriate time. it was not a big deal for me, but it helped with conversation topics while waiting in line, for sure. 

so yay. i knew that in the 1st round there were 112 voters in montreal, and honestly i had no idea what to expect from today. i clearly had not expected a 5 hour wait - the library had closed by the time i got there. obviously. no phonology books from reserve for me today. 

(number of voters in montreal, sectia de votare 31, by 16.00 today: 1310. number of voting cabins in montreal = in the whole of montreal, because this was the only place to vote: 7. number of officials checking people's documentation: 4.)

i don't know what more to say. that it could have been better organized? i imagine so. that there could have been more voting spaces?...i imagine so. in canada there are only 4 voting spots: in vancouver, toronto, here and ottawa. for a diaspora of anywhere between 100 000 and 300 000 people with voting rights - depending on who's counting, but still. 7 cabins? (romanian population in montreal: 20-30 000)

people stopping, asking : "sorry, what is going on here?"; "qu'est-ce que se passe?". funny old gentleman asking: "should i be waiting in this line?" - "sure, if you have a romanian passport, you're welcome!"

after 2 hours waiting outside...2 more hours waiting to get to the elevator. the line was really coiling this time because the space had clearly not been projected for this. more opportunities to rub shoulders with all sorts of fellow countrymen and -women. (i did my journaling and read about 1 chapter of phonology.) we had to fill in a declaration that we have not voted anywhere else (which under the circumstances seemed a lot absurd - hey, maybe i took a flight from toronto this morning to get to vote twice, who knows) .

so we were joking around, and we were bored, and frustrated, and annoyed, and some people rushed to buy coffeees, and some took their kids on adventure walks in search of a bathroom, and some went to put more money in the parking meters, and people were surfing the net all the time...and we became a "we". it's that easy apparently. 

and at this point i think "we" knew "we" had won because we'd get to vote, if only that. but also we had the exit polls and according to them the candidate most people got out AGAINST had already lost. but we couldn't believe that 100%, because believing would mean going home (or to the library) and that was what THEY wanted, and WE, since we were there, wanted to vote. 

outside there were still people. outside there were people when i got out of there at 6.30 pm, and considering the speed of the process, some of them probably didn't make it in in time. and still they were waiting. i don't know if it's just stubbornness, or what. if it's just the flipside of the patience with which "my people" has always taken misfortunes, historically. i haven't decided, tonight, if this is normal, i.e. "we" have always been this great, in our simple natural way, blah, or if it's a miracle, i.e. once upon a time the same old routine moves lead to a volcano rising up. i didn't have hope this morning, i have some cautious hope tonight, and the stupid inkling of national pride. 

...and after the elevator, one more hour in the narrow hallway upstairs on 6th floor.  no photos, cause it was more oppressive than impressive. no photos with me and the voting bulletin either, sorry, did not want to get my vote invalidated or something. also i didn't feel like much at the moment. 

i would like to thank everyone, everyone - like a drunk person (am not really drunk, have a bit of fever and a cough, but am fine).
thank you to the girl from brasov with the quebecois boyfriend, who bought me unsolicited coffee in line outside. thank you to the lady in the green coat who helped me fill my declaration. thank you to the lady in the red vest who was running an improvised declaration fill-in bureau for the elderly on the corner of a counter inside. thank you to the 3 families who kept my place in line and talked to me and teased me about my upcoming exams. thank you, people with functional wi-fi who kept us updated. thank you, providential person who complained "upstairs" until more people were allowed inside the building and the line-up got more structured.
it was really good and i'm glad i was part of it. i am part of it.