I have a bunch of random observations and no where to put them, so:

1. Mom and sister's 2 week visit down here went really, really well. My mom and his mom were immediate friends and would not stop talking. Got a good laugh out of everyone when mom showed terribly un-photogenic pictures of me from her cellphone. I mostly just pretended I was offended for effect, because it was friggin' heart-warming to see them all together having a nice time. Such a relief! The whole thing made me feel very loved and supported, not just on my own but also as a couple. I never thought I'd have that, with the way our relationship started, but here we are .

2. $1 CAD = $0.75 USD right now. Mixed feelings.

I was taking the bus for the first time, put in $2.25 and sat my ass down. Looked up to see the driver holding up my quarter, going "This is not a quarter!!!" after the electronic fare box beeped. First, I was like, ??? Then I was like, oh. Ohhhh. No sir, that's the peso of the North and it's only worth 19 freedom cents right now. Sorry.

It's more expensive for my family to visit us or send goodies in the mail. Booo. It's cheaper for us to visit Toronto and my student loans are about 25% cheaper when you look at them from here (!!). Wooo.

3. Back home, the South Asian population is pretty substantial and I just look like another run-of-the-mill brown chick haha. For some reason, it's rare around here. I get gawked at a bit and constantly asked where I'm from. I could probably count the number of times I was asked that in Toronto on my fingers. I can't leave the apartment here without expecting this conversation to happen at least twice. It's hilarious.

The science centre where I volunteer at, I always spend part of the shift greeting people and taking tickets. This sweet, little old lady was asking me a question, abruptly paused, and reached her cupped-hand towards my face while going "Oh my goooodness, aren't you gorgeous! Where are you from, honey??". I felt like a unique butterfly specimen being marvelled at. Not even mad, yo.

After recounting this constant stream of weirdness to my SO, he thinks it's really cute to call me "exotic" at every chance he can get. If it was anyone else...

4. I. Miss. Sri Lankan. Fooood. I've done pretty well replicating the most basic curries on my own but it's still tough going. I've been trying to find a source for curry leaves, but no luck. Toronto spoiled me all my life! String hoppers, appam, puttu, kotthu roti, 5 for $1 samosas. You don't need to know what any of that is. It's all labour intensive, makes use of specialty cookware but cheap and easily found at home. Bright side, my SO's done well introducing me to his favourite Mexican foods that happen to be vegetarian and also delicious. Last week, he made the two of us sopes with vegetarian toppings for dinner. Yuuum .

5. The whole health care thing is just bizarre. I posted about having to see the podiatrist, knowing I'll need inserts, but not sure if they'd be covered or not. Well, the doctor put in a request and I'll find out in a couple weeks if I qualify. If I don't, I'll need to pay about $450 each time I want them. ._. They were really nice, but it is something else having to think about money while seeing a doctor.

I also had a stroke long, long ago and while I'm good as new now, I still need to get my brain scanned once a year to see how things are looking. That's $120 each time. It feels sort of arbitrary, what is and isn't covered. I clearly have more to read about it. I see that a pap smear is covered, which is a preventative measure and could help you catch cancer early. I need those brain scans as a preventative measure, so I know nothing is about to blow up in there. Why isn't something like that completely paid for?? I only have guesses and it's probably a topic you could read plenty about and not really know much more, but I'll still try.

6. I can't get over how good it is actually being with my SO. It makes everything so much easier to deal with. He even calmed me down when I was considering backing out of my podiatrist appointment haha. He babies me when I'm having a migraine. Talks me into going out for ice cream every now and then. Puts up with me when I'm being obnoxious. I wish I signed up for this sooner.