toronto journal

hello everybody! i've been pretty much mia for a little bit, partially because senior year is kicking my ass but also because i was stuck in toronto without my laptop for a week. that was two weeks ago, and other things have happened since then, but i want to let all my non-canadian friends know about my beef with air canada.

one of my closest friends, who is also my second cousin, lives in toronto, and i do not. we usually see each other twice a year and it was my turn to visit her in toronto. i flew out on valentine's day with intention to return home on monday night. it was wonderful to see my friend again. i was very tired, because i had to wake up early in the morning and had a late night before as well. despite this, i stayed up so we could watch severance.

on saturday, we went to the art gallery of ontario. it was a snowy commute, but the gallery was lovely. we saw all sorts of interesting and beautiful art. i also had an unexpectedly delicious cup of earl grey. i took some pictures of my favourite art pieces...

the death of lucretia, possibly by thomas schwanthaler

i forgot to write down what this is called or who it's by!

draped reclining woman, by henry moore

the craft of the contaminated, by andy fabo

étretat, l’aiguille and the porte d’aual, by claude monet

we went out for dinner, and i had a pasta with vodka sauce. it was delicious. my cousin and i went to see come from away, which was delightful. i love musical theatre so much but my city does not have a theatre scene like toronto does. shoutout to her parents for getting us tickets!

the next day we went to ripley's aquarium with her friend, who is a member and got us 30% off. i went to the aquarium last time i was in toronto and it was just as cool. i adore the tunnel where you can see sharks and rays. i only took one half-decent picture while i was there. hopefully this means i was living in the moment?

after the aquarium, we went to roncesvalles (a neighbourhood in toronto) and had a great snack in a café. i had an amazing chai latte, which was appreciated even more because it was so cold and snowy. my hometown does not get a lot of snow, so i was both captured by how lovely it looked settled on the buildings and trees as well as shocked by how goddamn cold it was all the time. i really understood jackie taylor.

there are a lot of bookstores in roncesvalles, which we of course checked out. i ended up buying three books: circe by madeleine miller, the kite runner by khaled hosseini, and the makers of rome by plutarch. i mean, i can't pass up roman history.

it was a long commute back in the dark and snow but worth it to watch severance. good god that show is good.

the next day, which was supposed to be my last day, we went to a cool board game restaurant with two of my cousin's friends. one was the friend we had seen the previous day, the other was another close long-distance friend of mine. i was so happy to be reunited with her, because i see her even less than i see my cousin. we had an excellent time playing board games and drinking excessive amounts of pepsi (okay maybe that was just me), and then i found out that there had been a plane crash at the airport i was supposed to leave from that night!

if you are canadian, there's a good chance you've heard about this. a plane landed on the runway and completely flipped over. miraculously, nobody died, but many people were injured. it was assumed that my flight would be impacted, but air canada did not give me any information for hours upon hours. it was a confusing night. i got very little information from the airline, and some of it was contradictory. i ended up staying another night, hoping it would only be another night, as my cousin and i both had school the next day.

the next day my cousin went to school and i stayed at her house, where i scrolled on my phone and watched yellowjackets. i was very stressed out. i was able to rebook my flight, since it seemed to have been cancelled, but not until thursday. i would be missing three assessments and staying an additional three days. i was upset, but accepted my circumstances pretty quickly. i ended up going to my cousin's school to help her with set painting for the school musical, since she is on tech crew. she goes to a fancy private school, so it was a very novel opportunity for me.

for the next two days i went to my cousin's classes with her. it was strange but fun. not only did i get to meet her friends and sit in on her interesting courses, i got to experience the marvels of a well-funded school. a real cafeteria with good food? aesthetically pleasing architecture? free printers? small class sizes? my mind was blown. i was also privy to a weird school spirit activity that i can't even begin to describe. 

the highlights of my time there include:

• having a sandwich made for me at the cafeteria like it was a subway
• playing the steel drums
• helping some private school 16 year olds write a rap song about how much they hate the book they're reading for english class
• reading the class materials instead of doing my own schoolwork
• watching musical rehearsals from the lighting booth
• explaining to everybody i met that i'm not an exchange student, it's actually weirder than that

again, it was extremely surreal, but i had a great time. it made me wish my own school had any money. on thursday night, i flew home. i ended up getting to bed at two in the morning, but i still went to school the next day because the grind never stops (because i missed an unfathomable amount of work). 

not counting the air canada-induced stress and many days of missed school, i really enjoyed the whole trip. toronto is a great city, as much as i loath to admit it because my cousin and i have a long feud about whose city is better. the public transit is fast and reliable and the city itself is unique and interesting. if ever you have the opportunity to go, do it! and see a musical for me! just try not to let your trip coincide with a disaster at the airport. not a good idea.