Nuits d'Afrique Day 2

      I went to the Festival Nuits d'Afrique again as I'd said I might.  I have not been posting because I have not had a great week health-wise.  I have had some excursions, but not many and have not been able to keep up with my writing.  I hope in future I will not have so many delays in updating the blog. 
    Sunday, July 24th, 2011 Day 3 - I had so much fun at the African Dance workshop I couldn't pass up the opportunity of going again.  My sister came with me, interested from what I'd told her the day before.  That day, I made sure to charge the camera battery before we left: something you should always check before going on an excursion!  We went in for 11:00 because that's when the workshop was (unlike noon the day before).  We browsed a bit since we were a few minutes early and as I predicted, she really liked the merchandise.  We hurried on back to the Parterre as the start time approached with the promise of returning to make some purchases afterwards.

    We sat and waited a good deal.  For some reason, they were very behind schedule, so the African dance started a good twenty minutes late.  The dance master Oumar N'diaye Martinos seemed disappointed that he was not able to show us nearly as many dance moves, but his smile soon returned.  It was most definitely worth going again because it was a different routine and none of the steps were a repeat of the day before.  Overall I found the choreography a little more challenging, but still accessible and enjoyable.  What made the session special was that Oumar sang a fair amount along to the music for us, which was really neat and also had a guest with him: his sister!  He brought his sister along as a treat so he said and invited her out on stage a couple of times to show us some moves.  She is clearly a very talented dancer.  We must've looked really funny trying to emulate her moves!  She was a force, just powering through these moves with no explanations while we tried to copy her.  So I still enjoyed Oumar more because of his ease with teaching the steps, but it was awesome to see them dancing side by side.  
     I was pleased by my dance effort for the second day in a row.  I danced a little bit longer I think than the day before (just over 30 minutes).  However, on Saturday I was picking up the dance moves more easily (again, because I think the steps were a bit easier).  My sister managed to snap a few action shots and all in all, I think I look like I'm doing a credible job.  The most important part is that it was a lot of fun!
     I looked up Oumar N'diaye Martinos when I got home later that day.  He has a dance DVD as was mentioned at the end of the workshop.  It is called Danse pour tout le monde, which really fits with his philosophy; his encouragements did include the idea that African dance is for everyone and that everyone is able to do it.  He is an accomplished performer  (both a singer and dancer) and he has a dance school (I had hoped in Montreal, but it is in Quebec City).  He has been travelling to the Festival Nuits d'Afrique to share dance for 25 years, so he truly has been at the festival since the very beginning and comes back every year!  No wonder the festival is known for his workshops.  (For more information, you can check out his website: http://www.oumarndiayemartinos.com/). 
     We took a lunch break after the workshop.  Though they encouraged us to stay on sight (unlike what I previously noted, there was more than just ice cream - there were actual meals too), I found it was important to get out of the heat and take a break.  So we popped into the Complexe Desjardins at Place des Arts like I had the day before.  Once refueled, we went back to the festival to browse the handcrafted merchandise again.  My sister was delighted with everything, which made it difficult for her to choose.  She found a beautiful banner with a blue giraffe on it for her room décor, procured some leather bracelets, a Celtic Love knot book like mine and a beautiful t-shirt with an elephant (she loves elephants!!).  I simply couldn't leave without picking up the beautiful mobile I had seen the day before.  With enough cash this time in hand, I purchased it and got a discounted price since I had bought earrings there the day before. 
     Because we'd taken such a long time browsing and deciding, we were in the full sun a lot.  We were still able to hear the musical acts of the afternoon from the vendor tents.  We were not particularly interested in the one that was on after we were finished with our purchases.  So, after making a donation to the education fund table, we decided to head back home.  It was great to share the experience with my sister.  I'm already looking forward to going back next year!
     67 metros, 39 days...

Festival Stop - Nuits d'Afrique

     Day 2 - I decided not to begin my metro survey quite in the order I'd originally intended.  I heard about the Festival international Nuits d'Afrique and was interested to go.  This was my first time at the festival and I enjoyed it.  It was not an ideal day for it as there was a weather warning for extreme opressive heat.  I compromised by not staying too long.
     I left around 10:00 and was delayed by some construction on my way to the festival.  I'm glad I gave myself a fudge factor so that I didn't arrive late for the first event I wanted to attend.  The metro stop I got off at today was Saint Laurent.  According to the STM site, there are not many "points of interest" nearby.  Mostly there are UQAM buildings and the Cégep du Vieux- Montréal.  When I exited the metro, the environs didn't seem particularly interesting just like the site indicated.  So I am confidant I saw the only really interesting sight from that metro station and am therefore glad to count the Saint Laurent metro as done, not seeing the necessity of returning to see anything else.
     I was glad to find there was only one exit for the metro because I have been known to pick the wrong one.  I pulled out my hand-drawn map (a tool I nearly always bring with me when I'm going somewhere I have not yet been on the island) which does not always save me from going in the wrong direction.  I only vaguely glanced at it because I could see the road was closed off for the festival.  It was a very convenient and easy distance from the metro, so I put my map away and set off.
     I was about ten minutes early when I got to the Parterre du Quartier des Spectacles and found the Scène Loto Québec.  I did a quick survey of what was around.  The stage was used for animation and performances.  Just below it was a small floor put down in the grass for those who wished to participate in the dance workshops.  The rest was grass with tents on the perimeter, mostly selling drinks or cold treats like ice cream.  I noticed some stray chairs that seemed to belong under the tents (these all had logos and seemed reserved for some group in particular such as TV5 or TD Bank).  The only other seating was a couple of graduated rows of what looked like bus seats that had been placed directly on the grass.  I sat down for a few minutes there, waiting for the first workshop to begin.
     I wanted to be there for 11:00 for the Brasilian Samba workshop.  I went up to the floor when they called for participants and saw that the group was being lead from there as opposed to the stage.  I had to listen carefully because the lady leading the dancing did not have a microphone.  The first movements were for warm up purposes, so I was not too worried about accuracy.  I had wished, though, that the lady would've given more instructions for us to do the steps.  It seemed mostly to be a "watch me and do as I do" sort of exercise.  Since I have never taken dance classes, I felt lost without further guidance.  Then another lady picked up the next bit of choreography and she showed a step with a count of three, so I felt encouraged.  It was a step back with the left foot, a step or lean onto the right without displacing it, then a hop from the left while lifting the right leg up (bent at the knee).  1 left back, 2 right 3 hop lift.  I could follow that.  Then we sped it up.  That's when I couldn't produce the step.  Afterwards again there was less instruction and I very quickly fell behind.  I stopped after 15 minutes because I felt I could get little out of it.  "Oh well, at least I tried!" I told myself.
     There was no place to sit in the shade and watch the dancers.  This was the downside of the festival: there were a couple of pidly trees which cast almost no shade.  The rest was an open space with grass.  The only real shade was under tents, which seemed again reserved.  Instead I decided to cross the street and see the vendor tents which I had just noticed.  There were beautiful handcrafted items from clothing to jewellery to musical instruments to books.  I spoke with a couple of the vendors about their wares and procured a nice pair of handmade feather earrings and a handcarved leather book with a Celtic love knot on the cover (sadly not an African design, but of all the international designs and symbols, that is the one that I liked best).
     I headed back to the Parterre about 20 minutes before the next workshop was set to begin.  I sat again in the bus seats in the grass in the full sun.  I reapplied some sunscreen because I burn really easily.  The sun was so strong I became uncomfortable and thought to leave, but managed to convince myself to stay for the African dance workshop.  Boy was I glad I did!
     This workshop was very different from the Samba one and more in line with what I had hoped.  The animator Oumar N'diaye Martinos was in costume, up on stage and with a microphone.  He had very simple steps that anyone could follow without too much trouble and guided us through them with ample demonstration and instruction.  Under his guidance, we all turned out a good performance.  He checked several times to make sure we were following: "Ça va?".  And he would make sure the response of "Oui" was plenty loud and enthousiastic.  He asked us to smile and so we did.
     He taught us a few interesting things about African dance.  At one point when taking a break from dancing, he had us echo back to him a few words from an African language (I don't know which) and I don't know how faithfully we repeated them!  Another interesting thing we learned was the importance of the dialogue between musician and dancer.  He explained that the drums could invite us to take part and dance along.  Our little sequence was prompted by a precise rythym from the drummer on the far left.  That was always our cue to begin.  We repeated the sequence before learning the next move.  With this repetition, we got through a sizeable segment of choreography and we got through it credibly.
     Once we had it down, he asked us to clear a row down the middle of the dance floor.  He told us that the group on the left was North Africa and that the group on the right (which included me) was South Africa.  He asked us to face one another and share our dance together.  It worked out perfectly as we would move towards each other when we advanced and so on.
     At about this time, I figured we were nearing the conclusion.  Not so!  He began to show yet more steps.  By this time, however, I was getting quite hot and tired.  I had been dancing just over 30 minutes and it was nearing 1:00, so I was getting hungry too.  Though the workshop was not quite finished, I slipped myself out of the maze of dancers (it was then I saw how many people had joined in).  I got myself onto Saint Catherine and looking for somewhere cool to have lunch.  I saw Place des Arts after about a block and thought that was an ideal place to stop (the festival was between the Saint Laurent and Place des arts metros, just a bit closer to Saint Laurent).  I opened the door and stepped into the relief of the air conditionning.  I popped down to the metro level and seated myself in the food court with a panini and salad for lunch.
     I was glad to be out of the heat and eating lunch.  This also afforded me the opportunity to rest.  I grew more and more tired as I sat resting.  I know the heat can make me rather tired, so I had to evaluate at that point whether I was able to go back to the festival.  I checked the schedule again for the next activity I wanted to see.  I was interested in the story-telling activity with "grandmother's tales" at 3:40.  That meant waiting two hours for a twenty minute segment and getting home probably about 6:00.  The waiting didn't bother me so much because I could do that in the air conditioning rather than at the festival itself.  It was more that it would be so much longer a day just for the sake of a 20 minute activity.  That is what decided me, so I headed back home.
     I didn't get to see much of the festival, but enjoyed what I did see.  The African Dance workshop was announced as one of the most popular activities of the entire festival and one of the activities it is known for.  It is put on every year and is largely considered a highlight.  It was certainly a highlight for me!  It was worth going if only to be at that workshop.  I liked it so much, it made me want to go back.  Who knows, I might just clear my calendar again tomorrow!  The weather is supposed to be much more reasonable, so it might just tire me less and be much more manageable (I did have to rest for the remainder of the day after my adventures at the festival).
     67 metros, 40 days...

African Dance workshop as shown on the festival site: http://www.festivalnuitsdafrique.com/ (my camera died, so I didn't get a single picture!)

Beginnings

Day 1 - Every project has to begin somehow and usually that is with an idea.  This particular idea has been taking shape for some time.  To my great surprise, it came back to me today with so much insistance, I decided it was high time to try it out.  Instead of postponing it to some other distant future as I have done so often before, I felt the time was now.
I first got this idea when I was thinking of visiting my cousins in Ontario.  I thought I could take the train there and stay a few days with them.  It's been awhile since I've seen them and they are growing up so very fast.  Then I thought it would be really neat if on my train ride back, I could take them with me and show them Montreal.  That's when the challenge first presented itself: how best to showcase the city.  What are the best places to see?  What is quintessentially "Montreal"?  And the startling answer was: I'm not sure!
So at first I was thinking of the idea from the point of view of a tourist.  That is when I realized that I am still somewhat of a tourist.  How embarrassing!  I didn't grow up here, but have been here some years, so you would think by now I would know the city.  Apparently not... A tour of the metro somehow seemed logical to me to get me to a variety of places and a hopefully representative view of the city and what it has to offer.  I thought how nice it would be to keep up with people when they talk about such and such a street or restaurant instead of feeling sheepishly ignorant.
Thus, the project is not just fun, but useful.  It is good to have something to do before my vacation is up.  It also gives myself something to look back on.  Instead of saying to myself "What did I do this summer?" or "What was the highlight of my summer?" and coming up blank, I will have something pleasant reflect on.  This is especially important to me since my calendar has been mostly blank for the past 3 years or so.  My life had to come to a halt when I was diagnosed with a debilitating illness.  A year ago, a project such as Around the Metro in 41 days would've been physically impossible for me.  Now that I am on the mend, getting out will help me on my continued road to recovery.  With this adventure, I might make up for some of the time I've lost. 
As for the blogging aspect, this was the last turn my idea took just today.  I never pictured myself as a blogger (and I'll have to see how I do).  It occured to me that blogging would be a nice way to commemorate my project.  I would be able to keep photos and souvenirs of my adventure in one place.  So my blog will primarily be for my use, but if someone else reads this from the sea of unending blogs out there and gets some enjoyment out of it, I'm glad.
So here we are: 68 metros, 41 days - GO!