a lil dreary

It feels like October in Ottawa. It's been raining the past couple days, making the walk to work a little miserable. A fire truck passed me on my way to work this morning, only to see it again in front of my building. There was a little fire (or something?) on the floor before us, which ended up being fine, but the fire alarm was going off all morning. Canadian fire alarms sound like dial tones, definitely not like the East Quad fire alarms.

The rest of the day was pretty busy, but pretty slow. It's been like that lately. There was a Committee meeting, which ended almost an hour early because all the items of discussion had to be edited & translated for the next meeting & because no one really felt like being there. I feel like Parliament is really like any other bureaucratic office, but with more yelling & Blackberries.The other intern in my office, a francophone, assured me that I speak French better than Stephen Harper, so the day wasn't all bad.

This past weekend in Ottawa was beautiful. We went to the War Museum on Saturday, which I enjoyed, seeing as I am a museum nerd. I spent the rest of the day exploring Ottawa and enjoying the weather. I love Byward Market during the weekends -- flower & maple syrup vendors, the weather, and the pre-summer atmosphere. Wandering over to the park behind Parliament completed my zen mood. Sunday, we went to the Governor General's house, which was pretty but kind of dull. Ottawa is dominated by tulips and lilacs, I don't know how, but it's beautiful. It was a good first weekend in Ottawa, since I spent last week in Québec.

The House didn't meet last week, so this week has been much more fast-paced. My MP has a major event planned for next week, so I've been miscellaneous things to pull everything together. This week has been event coordination on top of everyday House duty & general business. I'm finally getting used to the French Canadian keyboard & I learned to tie a tie, so those are pretty big achievements so far.

I saw Mahmoud Abbas today! I just heard him speak for a little bit, but it was exciting nonetheless. I had to leave early to take a girl from the riding to QP, which was cool because it's nice to be interning for an MP that is so accessible to her riding. After work, a couple of us crossed the bridge to see a documentary in Gatineau & now I'm here, catching up on some reading & putting Neosporin on the skinned knee I have after slipping in front of my building on my way to work (per my usual clumsy ways).

the Canadian swing of things

I need to get into the swing of this blogging thing!

My group went to Québec City this weekend. Although I spent some time there last summer, I really enjoyed the trip and even saw some places I hadn't gotten around to last year. I ate and walked a lot, usually the elements of a good trip. After days of sight seeing, I got to enjoy the night life in Québec City, which was a lot of fun. Nothing in Canada is open late, though. Québec was no exception.We walked around Montréal for a few hours during a layover. I didn't realize this last year, but Montréal seems much more anglophone, or anglophone-friendly, than Québec City. An overall fun trip, but I passed out & slept for nine hours when we got back.

Interning is going well. I'm not as nervous anymore and speaking French all the time hasn't lost its appeal. I went to the Supreme Court today...it was surprisingly dull, not much to see. I've also discovered all the receptions (parties) with free food, which is great because I'm broke. I love Question Period (when the government and the opposition meet in Chambers so the opposition can ask the governement about its actions aka the two sides yell at each other and it is fantastic), which makes me a huge dork, but I look forward to it everyday. I especially love that it is in French and English, of course. I really like Ottawa, though. Maybe even love. I love working all day and learning interesting things and meeting amazing people, then walking home through the city, and going out or just chilling after work. Maybe partly because school is done with, but this experience has confirmed that I have no future in academia whatsoever. Law school will be the last of it.

Sciences Po officially accepted me. Ecstasy...except future of homelessness and relative poverty in Paris have also become official realities. I've spent most of last night and this afternoon applying to summer jobs. Hopefully I'll get something...I'm desperate.

I.

Today is Monday & I have been in Ottawa since Saturday afternoon. We went out for my birthday, which was nice because I got to meet some of my fellow interns. The dorms here are fine (East Quad was better), but the neighborhood is really nice & close to everything.

Today was my first day of interning! I won't meet my MP until tomorrow (she was out of town), but everyone in her office was enthusiastic and informative and made me excited to start working. There is a Canadian intern in the office as well, & we seem to have a fair amount of freedom in pursuing our interests. I'm most excited about speaking French everyday, although my non-québécois accent is very obvious (or so it seems to me). Someone from another office came in for a bit, and they had the thickest québécois accent I have ever heard! It's kind of growing on me. I wasn't confused or overwhelmed by speaking French or by the québécois accent, although that will most likely change as the week unravels.

We went grocery shopping after work. I love how everything is just a bit different here, in ways I never considered. I am currently drinking lychee pop & this cinnamon spread-thing, both of which I have never seen in the States. Deeeelicious.