montreal - 5/6 to 5/8

we ate a really greasy breakfast and hit the road, andy at the wheel.
my stomach was not happy, but it held on to itself.
six hours later, we were driving around, trying to find the hostel where we would be sleeping.
we were all tired. and starving.
we hadn't eaten since breakfast.
by the time we "checked in" and "got settled" it had been nearly nine hours since we had seen food.
we walked around for a bit, trying to pick a random place. none of us could make a decision. we were like lost children. i paid WAY too much for postcards for my grandmothers at some random store.
we finally hopped into a cab. our driver pulled out bullet-proof glass and a periscope for entertainment purposes. no lie. this dude had an entire comedy act. i think that was the highlight of my night.
he dropped us in a better part of town, away from all the tourists and flashing lights and titty bars (sorry mom, but that's the real truth.)
we decided on afghan food. heaping, steaming plates of brown rice and raisins and chicken that fell of the bone. so very good. so very good indeed.
i started feeling really homesick for the first time on the trip.
we ended up at some pub, in the back garden, towering walls covered in vines, trance music blaring, nobody speaking a lick of english.
you'd swear we were on a different continent.
the music was literally making my stomach turn. it was just plain AWFUL.
we left to head back to our beds. we were sleeping in a room with about ten strangers.
we all felt itchy... bedbugs? Scabies? CRABS! AAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!
it was kinda funny, but i think we were all a little weirded out.
some of us didn't sleep at all. i was in and out, really hot, having very strange dreams.
as soon as the sun came up, the strangers were up and showering and walking around on the creakiest floors in the history of man. it was hard to sleep at that point.
we ate breakfast and surfed the net, trying to find somewhere to stay that night.
no luck.
we left to find a TICKET flapping around in the sunshine, under the windshield wiper. our gift from montreal. it was wrapped and folded and sealed. you had to figure out how exactly to open it.
sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet.
42 canadian dollars later:
the venue seemed cool.
we ate very mediocre burritos and then walked around for the rest of the day, aimlessly.
went and hung out in some park. we laughed a lot and semi-napped in the sunshine under the trees.
we left around six to meet the girls from darling arms, who we would be playing with. so very sweet.
the show was good. people showed and seemed to love it.
we drank canadian-brewed, apricot beers that were DELICIOUS. and only $3 a pop.
we were losing money like crazy in canada. not sure why, but the dollars were flying out of our bank accounts for the first time on the entire trip.
we were hooked up with a place to stay.
ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm....
1: there were mushrooms growing in the bathtub.
2: there was a smell coming from the toilet vicinity that i cannot even begin to describe.
3: there were centipedes.
4: someone came ah' knocking at 4am and scared the CRAP out of me. i made cheadle get up to check it out and then wouldn't let him go further than two feet from my blow-up bed.
5: we were grateful for the free place to sleep, but TLS didn't sleep. shekeeps did, thankfully...
soooooooooooooooooooooo...
montreal, you are a beautiful, old city that i want to get to know.
but this time around, i REALLY couldn't wait to get home.
xox

ps. we took NO photos in montreal. i'm giving you what i got. and what renn got. and what jess got.