The lady at the lab

"Is that a cat tattoo on your hand?"

I said I had two tattoos in the memory of a dog and cat I loved and will soon be getting another one in memory of my other dog who passed away 2 years ago.

" I have an old black lab too, I know she is not going to live long, she has greys on her face and body now and I know she will soon be gone. but my selfish self wants her to live long" she said while getting ready to draw blood from my hand.

" I hope your lab lives longer" I said.

" I hope so too. I am not ready to let her go yet" she said. There was no pain as my blood trickled into the small beaker, but the pain of loss of my beloved pet and nostalgia swept through and I left the chair with my eyes slightly moist.

The stranger at the bus stop

"Hello I am H and I am from Iran" he said as he struck a conversation at the bus stop with me and my boy while we waited for our bus. I told him I had a few friends from Iran when I was in college and that they went back to Iran.

"My parents moved to Canada when I was 10 and since then I have not gone back to Iran". I remarked that it must have been tough. He didn't respond to that but stared at a distance. I chose not to say anything further. " I do like Alberta and love this place". He said after a while. " I studied here".

"I am going to the hospital now for a checkup. I just had a major surgery in March. I had cancer in my stomach, I beat cancer you know! Its gone. I say hello to everyone I meet and try to strike up a conversation. I hope you don't mind". I told him I didn't and he got into the bus asking me where I am from and what I had studied. His stop came by quickly. He wished me a good and happy life and told my boy to be a good boy to mommy as he waved goodbye.

Somebody tell the snow its already equinox time!!

Its snowing today!! Sitting at my home, inside the glass window , it feels like I am in a snow globe :) Thank god no one shook up this globe :)

Equinox is just 5 days away but its snowing all day in Edmonton! My friends back in India sent me a warning message of a heatstroke thats expected in South Asia during equinox. I sent them a picture of icicle forming in my balcony and told them I am experiencing a cold wave rather than a heatstroke.

From the time I have been here except for a few initial weeks, I have been covered in a winter jacket and snow boots. When I was in India, I would crave for snow. now I crave to get out of winter jackets and snow boots. They say this winter has been mild and nothing compared to the winters Edmonton experiences. I completely enjoyed the winter, but I would also love some continuous sun soon :)

The Senior Hairstylist

#PeopleofEdmonton
"Your hairstyle has nothing to do with the shape of your face. It's about who you are and how you carry your attitude. All hairstyles suit everyone" said Sarah, senior hairstylist at a salon here, while she cut my hair today. I wanted to go with a shorter than usual haircut and mentioned that I was always told that some styles won't suit my round face.

We went on to talk about various other things like American politics, especially Trump who makes her worry about moving to the US with her American boyfriend, vegetarianism, her animal rights activism, and of course beauty and beauty products. " I am glad that my niece goes to a classroom which has people from different countries and cultures and she will be able to really know people and appreciate who they are" she said as we discussed her travels around the world which let her meet with people from different cultures and know more about other cultures. A rather interesting haircut conversation for the first time in my life smile emoticon

The ETS Bus Driver

#PeopleofEdmonton
"So you are heading home from your art class? Show me what you have drawn" said the ETS bus driver to me and my friend Miriam, looking at the huge drawing boards and sheets in our hands. We thought he was just being nice and said " oh!! It's not that good". He went on to say " that's ok, I would love to see" and then a few more passengers joined in,asking us to show what we have drawn. We decided to showcase our amateur work to the driver and our fellow passengers and got heaps of encouragement from them.
The bus driver then went on to tell us that he also paints and would love to get back to classes to hone his skills. We shared info on our class schedules and the good things about City Arts Centre. As we got down at our stop, we were sent off by the whole bus "continue drawing and have fun!!". Friendly Edmontonians, always smiling and encouraging fellow Edmontonians!!

Tony- My Swim Instructor

I have been taking swimming lessons for the past one and half month. I have the most patient and encouraging instructor- Tony. I tend to ask a lot of questions ( Jai can share enough tales on how irritating I can get with questions).

Coming back to Tony, while most learners just observe him and go on to practice, I end up asking him many questions to clarify a move. Something like this " Tony, the hands and legs should synchronise? Does my body have to be shaped like a boat? And how does it help? The water is pushed by my legs or the whole body? So my tummy should be pushed up? So this move is like a frog? Do my feet have to be like a ballet dancer? Isn't that quite like a duck? etc etc.

Now Tony has understood that I am going to ask him a lot of questions before I try to float and practice. So today, he taught everyone how to do an elementary backstroke. He asked me to wait and then went on to explain everything. "The legs and hands have to be synchronised , Flap and kick at the same time, your stomach and bum shouldn't sink, let your hands flap hard and legs not be shaped like a ballet dancer but be more like a ducks feet" I look at him and we both burst out laughing. He then told me that he actually likes me asking questions and trying to understand the techniques through examples.

Another Cab Driver

#PeopleofEdmonton
" I came from India in 1986, I studied art at Nait and was doing signages for a while. I also was into home building business but I suffered losses while doing a project in Downtown. Thats why I drive taxi now to cover my losses" said our cab driver in Punjabi mixed Hindi.

" My son works with the Govt here. He is a civil engineer. My daughter also works at an IT firm, she got married a few years ago and has a daughter. I got my parents with me after I settled down. They are also here with me. Its good to stay in this country as long as you have a job. You dont have to struggle much. I do miss India, afterall I was born there.But after years of staying here, I dont feel comfortable going back. I have seen my relatives there struggle even with jobs. No matter how much money they make, they all struggle for everything.Waha chain nahin milta.... ...I am not going to charge you the meter. You are from India. It feels nice to talk to someone from my country"

And so he left charging us less than the meter and not accepting the money despite us insisting.