North Country: Fairly Frigid

I’ve left my home state and finally have the sense that my real adventure has begun. Not to discount the spectacular occurrences that took place during my stint in the ‘dale that shall remain unnamed (noting, of course, that all things spectacular involved leaving unsaid place), but now I feel the exploratory tingles and excitements that I’d envisioned before leaving Chicago. I tread new ground and see new things and am reminded of the inspiration that I feared dead in the burbs.

I’m in the state of Washington, more specifically Bellingham, and currently in the Western Washington University student union (Viking, I think they call it), and looking out over Bellingham Bay. It’s quite beautiful and a sunny day to boot. There is an enormous mountain range off to my right, which I think is probably in Canada and if so the range that Whistler is in, though this is all based on hunch.

Speaking of Canada, I went recently, which means I visited every country in an entire continent in the course of one week. I was in Puerto Peñasco days before Christmas, AZ to WA on Christmas Day, and B.C. days after. Such a feat could only be made simpler by visiting Antarctica, but I still feel somewhat accomplished.

We (Nedda, sis, and myself) spent a single night in Vancouver, and it was a blast. We stayed at a nice little hostel and explored the intricacies and ins and outs of decriminalization of marihuana with experimentation and trial and error. There was very little error. People in Vancouver are very, very friendly which always makes everything easier. We started at a place called the New Amsterdam Café. I don’t know why, it just seemed like a good place to start. We learned that you can’t buy it there, though the contact high was free, and they can’t legally tell you where to go to buy it, but that if we hung out near the juke box in the bar around the corner we’d probably be fine.

Being unsure of protocol, lingo and acceptability in this decriminalized environment, I was wary of bold queries and opted for observation and deduction instead. We ordered pitchers and snacks and the ladies chatted while I watched the scene and, before long, it became fairly obvious who I needed to talk to. It was reasonably priced, and the best I’ve had outside of Amsterdam. We went back to the café and hung out drinking Earl Greyer, then treated ourselves to one of the most fabulous meals I’ve had in a while. And no, it wasn’t just the bud. The restaurant was called Centro Mediterranean Café on Granville Street (where the action is). We expected Greece and the countries to the east, but it was really Greek meets Italian. Yes, Italy is also on the Mediterranean, but for some reason we forget that when classifying food. It was posh but not pretentious and reasonably priced. We all shared everything and everything was good though I can’t recall a single dish. And yes, that is probably the bud.
It was a good day.

But enough of the past, and on with the present. I’m in Bellingham, as I said, and am currently residing in a trailer by a lake. It sounds worse than it is. My sister is going to India (Tsunami be damned) halfway through the quarter for studies and planned to couch-surf for her few weeks here, but the people who normally live in the “single-wide” are out of town for the month, so we get the place to ourselves. They’re hippie, circus-arts people who just recently performed on the streets of European cities but are now in Mexico. It’s cozy and if there was ever a time in my life when I lacked items to be juggled (and I mean that quite literally), it is not now. Plus, there’s a shed out back with everything a person needs to make stained glass. I’m staying in the trailer.

It’s set off in the woods and while beautiful Lake Whatcom is not immediately in view, our drive to and fro is quite lovely. And what a great name. Whatcom. What come. Inevitability and possibility. Possibility and inevitability. I hear we have access to a row boat too, so I may explore further, weather permitting.

I decided to make the most of my time here, so I got into the registration book and made myself a little class schedule. I’m taking 18 credit hours—more than I ever took as an enrolled student—mostly in economics and political science. My interests of the month. I’ve only had one class so far, but it’s kind of fun, learning a little, picking up the syllabus and, if nothing else, being pointed in the right direction. I once read about people who did this at Berkeley in the 60’s and they had some name for it, but I can’t remember what it was. Anyone?
Anyway… more to come.