It’s been just over a month. Five weeks and four days, if you want to be a stickler. Moving to a new place comes with various difficulties, and moving to a new country sometimes compounds them. I find that we have been spending much of our time trying to get the bureaucratic junk out of the way so we can get on with the business of living here.
Yesterday we drove to the border to pay taxes on importing the car. When we arrived we were told we had a tax exemption. Then yesterday we were told no, we had to go back to the border and pay import taxes. We drove an hour to the border only to be told that we were missing a form and they couldn’t help us. So back we drove. I had kind of hoped my first trip back to the States would be more exciting.
When we aren’t running in circles trying to get license plates, get registered for health care, or try to convince a credit card company that we aren't deadbeats, we’ve made a point of exploring the city.
We’ve gotten Bixi bikes and ridden along the canal to the Old Port and Old Montreal.
We’ve ridden the opposite direction to Marché Atwater to get food for dinner.
We walked through Chinatown...
...and went to a food festival in the rain.
I still need the GPS to find the vet, but thankfully not to get home again, and I’m petrified I’ll get pulled over because 40km/hr is really, really slow. I can’t seem to find metro stations and walk blocks and blocks out of my way until I find a station 2 stops away from the one I wanted.
But today is sunny and mild...
...there are flowers blooming everywhere...
...and a pink carriage just drove by my apartment.
I think I’m starting to get it.
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