I think I suffered my first bout of being homesick on July 4. It was just another day here in Canada and I dearly missed the parades, patriotic concerts, family picnics and fireworks at home. All I wanted was a Jersey Mike's #5 on rosemary parm bread, an icy cold lemonade and to be sitting comfortably in my lovely backyard. Home, the USA, is a mere 30 miles away but that didn't help as it is outside the mission boundaries. Fortunately the feeling passed after a day or two and I'm good to go - 6 months completed, 12 months to go!
We did take Monday afternoon off. We went back to Old Port and walked the entire boardwalk. This time of year it is crowded with kiosks and booths filled with anything a tourist might think of wanting. And lots of tourists. John found a new hat that protects his head better than his ball caps.
The Montréal Science Center is located at Old Port, as well as the cruise ship docks. There is a huge Ferris wheel and a pirate ship with a zip line and a Ninja Warrior like obstacle course.
Notre Dame Cathedral is a few blocks from Old Port so we stopped by to have a look. We love to visit old cathedrals and churches but this one cost $30 to go inside so we passed on that. We just admired it from the outside.
Maisonneuve Monument
The monument is in memory of Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, the founder of Montréal. It stands in Place d'Armes Square directly in front of Notre Dame.
Thursday after our weekly hospital visit with Sister Smith, we picked up a bucket of chicken at PFK, then picked up Solomon and Wumi and headed to beautiful Lachine Canal Park for a picnic. It was a perfect evening to enjoy the flowers and trees and to walk along the water with our friends. There is an old lighthouse at the end of one of the piers. Several fisherman were there. John asked one of them where all the fish were. His reply was, "in the water." They said they catch catfish, carp and sturgeon.
We were able to go to the temple Saturday morning. We found Elder and Sister Kellis there (YSA couple) and Elder and Sister Parker had come from Ottawa with one of their ward members. On the way to the temple we pass by a large cathedral a few blocks off the freeway. I have wanted to explore what it was so we stopped on our way home. Not having the name or address, we had to wander through Longueil for awhile before we found it.
La Cocathédrale Saint-Antione-de-Padoue
View from the back
It is a Catholic church, of course. Construction began in 1887 and it opened in 1911. The original construction cost was $98, 895. The building was locked so we weren't able to see the inside.
Tribute to Sister Mary Rose Durocher, an outstanding educator
In addition to smoked meats and poutine, another thing Quebec likes to brag about is beavertails. Sounds awful, right? BeaverTails is actually a Canadian chain restaurant that specializes in the beavertail pastry. It is a fried dough pastry, hand stretched to resemble a beaver tail. That's a scone in my world. Or maybe even Navajo fry bread. The pastry is topped with either sweet or savory ingredients. After seeing the cathedral, we stopped in Sainte Catherine at a cute ice cream and sandwich shop by the river.
Chocolate peanut butter with Reese's Pieces
It was kind of disgusting - way too much sugar and sweet. If we ever try another we think we'll go with plain cinnamon and sugar.
Today we invited our Elder's Quorum President and his roommates for dinner. These are four men from the Philippines that have emigrated to Canada to make a better life for their families. Their wives and children are still in the Philippines, waiting for visas. All four brothers served in the same mission in the early 1980's and now they are living together again to save money. Two of the brothers were called to work this morning and were not able to join us for dinner.
Alfredo Escandor, John, Marcelo Balagot
Escandor was serving as a Patriarch before he left the Philippines. He was an air traffic controller and now works as a truck driver. His desire is to move to Utah and transport humanitarian/storehouse goods for Deseret Transport. Marcelo is a mechanic at the same trucking company Alfredo works for. Both men struggle with their English and French. It has to be painful to learn two new languages at the same time as an adult.
We know that Heavenly Father is aware of each of us, all the time! Even in our seemingly insignificant problems, like missing the 4th of July at home!
Comments
Post a Comment