big city living

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For the second day in a row I am up at 6am, wide awake after just5-6 hours of sleep. Gotta love jet lag!

My first full day in Vancouver was very enjoyable. A. and I grabbed a vegetarian/vegan breakfast at a little café called Naam and then spent the rest of the morning walking along the beach, which looked a lot like Cape Town. Not quite as picturesque, but definitely resembled the South African coast with the beach and the mountains in the background. Beautiful, nonetheless. The weather was a perfect mid-70s. We then stocked up on fresh produce and such and headed back to her apartment for a whole foods lunch.

At that point I crashed into a peaceful nap until her friend L. arrived, who is also staying here at A.’s apartment for the weekend. L. is from a small town about 4 hours north of here. A. met her during college, and they have been friends ever since. We got ready to meet another friend, J., at a cute contemporary Mexican restaurant that served delicious small plates. The restaurant was very Frida Khalo-esque in its atmosphere, and there was a fun Cuban band playing while a couple of Latinos danced in between the tables.

The four of us sat there for a few hours munching away on spicy dishes while talking about life, love, and politics. A. is a flight attendant that spends her winters flying back and forth to Cuba and her summers back and forth to Europe. She was once married to a Cuban, but now she is single and dating a European that she gets to see during her layovers in Amsterdam. She is very health conscious, concerned about conservation, loves exploring new places, and is fascinated by other cultures. Thus, she and I hit it off big time when she contacted me through my blog a year and a half ago. L. is in her 40s but got married and had children very young before going to school and becoming a high school teacher. Now she and her game warden husband own a large house that they love to care for, and their daughter is a model for a company in Europe. J. is also divorced, but with a 6-year old daughter. She works as an accountant in the Canadian film industry, where she met and married a man who turned out to be a coke addict that spent 3 times what he earned. But now that the mess is cleaned up, she is doing well as a single mother, taking her daughter on summer trips to Italy to spend time with her relatives and dating when she can.

It was so much fun to spend the evening with these women, all of whom have interesting life stories. Although I have experience in travel and advanced education and whatnot, because they are all a bit older than me they all have more experience in relationships and building families. I kind of felt young and naïve in that respect, but at the same time excited about my own path after listening to their stories. (For those who do not know, Ken and I are engaged to be married on May 15, 2010.)

It’s nice to be spending time in a new, big city. While Ken and I both like the beauty of the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina area, it just is not urban enough for us. We definitely miss close access to major metropolitan areas, and all of the culture, diverse lifestyles, and entertainment that comes with it. I think we are destined to live somewhere between Boston and D.C. someday…hopefully within the next year! In the meantime, I enjoy spending my vacations visiting new cities like Vancouver, where I can take advantage of vegan breakfasts next to crunchy hipsters, dinner while being serenaded by a Cuban band, and strolls down the street to browse little independent shops and boutiques.

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