Back East!

Home again. The low point of the trip was watching the Marijuana Cafe in Vancouver burn down on my first night there! Got some photos of the firemen putting out the fire (which I can't get at cos, true to form, my camera batteries died about 5 minutes ago). Damn!!!!! All that was left was the ton of Cuban cigar shops...Rob was insisting that I bring some (cigars, not shops) back for him. Nearly did but decided it wasn't worth the hassle. Although, this morning, I found out from a half-Cuban that, there is a loophole that does allow you to bring them back into the country. Hmmmm. Maybe next time. Probably not so bad if I'd flown back into the country but driving over the bridge can be a bit iffy...as demonstrated by the very cute customs guy that stopped me yesterday. Cute but thick as two short planks. The driver was highly amused when cute officer guy asked me three times where I was born. Same answer every time....London......still London.....yes...London! Thought we were going to get pulled over when he hesitated in giving me back my passport but we survived!!!

High point of the trip, other than 70 degrees of beautiful sunshine and blue sky every day, was walking through the Virgin Megastore and spotting a copy of "Finest" by Ultravox and Midge Ure. The first band I ever saw. They split up but this album is dated 2004 (import) so I wonder if they're back together again or just short of cash???

Got home last night just in time to jump in the shower and run out to the Fred's Tax Season party (red, white. blue and green attire required). Another wonderful evening. Cute guy's birthday was being celebrated so I finally found out how old he is.....21....baby.....oh dear......that makes him...errrr...let's not go there...let's just say far too young for me. Totally devastating. Would have said he was at least 5 years older than that but would have been wrong! :-( Oh well, at least I can get to call him "baby" officially.....seems to embarass him so we'll have to keep that up for a little while. Only one cute guy in Vancouver.....French Canadian...must be the accent.

Big plan for next year...Costa Rica. Well, doesn't hurt to dream does it? Spanish class this morning and someone asked me if I wanted to go. Hell, yeah!!! Course I do. Not til next Easter but it's a nice thought. Encouraged me to buy a text book so I can practice at home. Today we were reading about la familia Lopez, interspersed with negative words (nunca, ni.......). There's a war going on between Carlos, the teacher, and El Buen Amigo (the store over the road). He used to teach there but they had some falling out so now he has a place opposite. Carlos is fully certified and teaches at UB (or maybe Buff State). EBA have non-certified instructors so it'll be interesting to see how many people migrate across the road. He's a tiny guy but he's so sweet and the classes are still pretty small (4 of us today) so we get lots of attention. Just have to see how long I keep motivated to study.......