4th of July... in Canada

Let me throw it out there from the start and say that the Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. It doesn't get much better than grilling out, jean shorts, bomb pops, flag everything, fireworks, family and America. However, they don't celebrate America's independence day here... weird I know ;) I mentioned the 4th in class today and received blank stares and in general, looks of disapproval. Needless to say, I figured my American flag jacket would receive a similar reaction.

GBA.

Despite my frustrations at missing the 4th, today was a good day. We had our first full day of classes which was exciting and honestly, quite tiring. I don't know how I did it before but sitting in class for four hours seemed like the hardest thing I've done in awhile! The teachers move around here so we stay in one room and they come to us. Each day I have two classes except for Friday when I have one class for the whole morning. My teachers are all really nice and encouraging.

Ventured to "Vieux Quebec" this afternoon for my first off-campus trip!! It was great to go downtown and see a bit of the city. We rode the bus and successfully navigated our way to the farmer's market that takes place everyday near the river. There were lots of smaller vendors and some permanent stands that made up the indoor market. I grabbed some ice cream (naturally) and enjoyed that while walking around some more of the city. The streets are cobblestone and everything in the area seemed so European. There are lots of cafes and small shops along the winding streets. It was fairly difficult to navigate but we were able to find a lookout point onto the river where I commandeered a cannon from the early days of the  French settlers:

St. Lawrence River in the background!

We explored a bit more but decided to head back to campus when we heard the thunder of an approaching storm. It was quite a successful day and I was pumped to see part of the 'real Quebec' aside from the Laval campus.

Happy 4th everyone!!