Indians, totem poles and tepees

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Today we had our last breakfast in the hotel (Best western) and we had th funniest waiter ever, gay as Christmas and as camp as a row of tents ??? Julian, he described himself as aggressively happy ?, and he was not kiddin, it was like being at a stand up comedy night. He Whispers to us that if we didn't like the scrambled egg or omelette at the buffet he could get us eggs anyway we wanted. I really didn't mind as the buffet was HUGE, but us seemed churlish of me not to go along with it. So egg sunny side up was presented to me with added bacon for good measure.

Sadly it was time to leave Quebec City, I really have fallen in love with it, such a chilled out, arty city, with amazing views, very friendly people, and a vibrant atmospher. So off we went to pick up our car we are going to have for the next 2 days.

We were greeted by a very attentive concierge from the hotel that housed the car rental, who put our luggage in the reception area while we sorted out the paperwork. The car I was given was meant to be a standard sized car, but it turns out to be a massive Ford hybrid ...... I didn't even know what that meant ? However I am now educated regarding what a hybrid car is ..... electric and petrol. It hardly makes a sound, the hand break is a tiny little switch. Connie has a problem with her right knee so I offer to do all the driving and she navigate. So now I'm driving an automatic, on the wrong side of the road and an electric car !!!! It freaks me out at first but I soon get the hang of it, and I really like it now ?.

We drive to a place called Wendake, which is an Indian Reservation that still has the Indian community living there. They have a mock village where you can see how they used to live and learn all about their history. When we arrived the first thing you notice is that gorgeous smell of burning wood, and a really calming atmosphere. Our guide was called "Beautiful Night" a 17 year old girl, who has been brought up in the reservation, her English was good but soooo fast that even I struggled to keep up with her, so I had to do a lot of translating English into English for Connie !!!!

The Indians are a very open and welcoming race, they believe that every living thing deserves equal rights, and they will accept anybody into their community that wants to live there. Apparently it used to be that after you are married if you decide that you don want to be married you just tell everyone and that's it ..... divorced !!! Very common occurrence, accepted as normal, no big deal, no shame ....... I been saying for years "marriage licence should be on a 10 year renewal basis, and after 10 years you have to renew, and if you don't want to, then you don't. So its a normal part of life, no need for lawyers or nastiness, easier on the kids.....etc etc " However, they now don't do now, so I won't be staying here !!!!!

We saw the houses they used to live in, called a long house, it was a huge area that was home for about 6 different families, with separate areas for each family, so it meant that up to 80 people all living in an area about 40 ft x 15 ft with 3 fires in the middle .......cozy ?. The smell must have been horrific, especially as it's freezing cold for 4 months of the year, so the only way they could have washed was so sit in the sweat house, which is like a sauna. Apparently as well as a place to clean up, the sweat house was a place where men would go to contemplate any problems they had, their friends would also go inside, and they would all help the guy to come to a resolution......... the women did not go ...... they were probably a tad busy ........ cooking, keeping the fire burning, keeping the long house clean and habitable, raising the children, making clothes, and having babies ?.

We walked around taking lots of photos, it was a beautifully hot day so perfect for just chillin, which is what Indians do well. Lots of totem poles, canoes, and a statues that are made is large pieces of flat stones to look vaguely like a human. These statues are a way to entrap Moose for hunting, as Moose have extraordinary bad eye sight they come towards the stones thinking it's a human and then its an easy target for the hunters.

One thing we learnt was that they do not bury their dead but they wrap the body together with food, water and tools, (for the after life)in lots of layers of tree bark, and lay them out on a platform about 8 ft high, they will leave them there for about 25 YEARS. Every couple of years they reapply the tree bark that has flaked off, and aftre 25 years they will bury the whole thing. They believe they will be reborn into the body of an animal, whuch type of animal depends on how good they have lived their life.

Anyway we left and headed back to the hotel for a swim befor evoking out for dinner. We found a lovely place where we had a chicken and beef fondue That you cooked yourself, with baked potatoes and salad. At the next table was a couple who asked where we were from and why we were visiting Canada. We told them about our reunion etc, and we spent the next hour or so chatting away with them ,they really are very friendly these Canadians eh ? (Canadians say "eh" at the end of most statements...." hasnt today been beautiful eh"

Next morning we opened the curtains to be greeted by torrential rain !!!!!! So we decided to have a chilled day and just hang out at the hotel, with a little trip out to visit the Sainte Anne church Beaupre which is dedicated to Anne the mother of Mary. it's VERY famous church, originally built about 400 years ago, which burnt down in 1975 and rebuilt a year later, so very modern and traditional at the Same time. I have to say it really was gorgeous. Out for dinner and back for bed, early start tomorrow as we are flying to Toronto for our Windjammer reunion ? .

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