day 8

it's going to be pretty difficult fitting everything into this journal. aw well, i doubt that would be possible anyways.

of the many things i left out of yesterday's entry was that the town of cap pélé is predominantly french speaking! for some reason, i hadn't been expecting this at all. the owners of the campground where i stayed last night had originally greeted me in french and it took me by surprise. i responded with "parlez-vous anglais?" and he did so i was a bit relieved. but ever since that moment, i'll admit that i'm pretty anxious, paranoid, and... well... pretty scared actually. i've since been constantly rehersing sentences in my head... so far i've determined that i should really try to figure out the french translations for "tent", "trailer", and "cycle/ride", as well as the difference between "bicyclette et velo".

wow, that was cool. no sooner did i just write that than i got the translations from a waitress - "tente", "roulotte", "conduire" (to drive) and a velo is just a less commonly used term for the same thing. yup, so now i should be set for quebec. well, so long as i only have to ask one rehersed sentence at a time and get responses in slow, grade 11 french. nope, on second thought, i'm screwed. i'll be lucky to escape quebec without starving to death. oh, and i guess i should get a translation for, "let's gang rape the english asshole," so i'll know to start looking for the door. i'm kidding of course but again i am pretty freaked out. speaking in french seems to combine the anxiety of public speaking with the reassurance that i'll screw it up. man... and i was just getting over my shy-guy fear of approaching people in english. whatever... i'll live. woot! je vais esser!

oh, and ya... the campground owners were *awesome*. they figured it was going to be cold last night so they offered to rent me a trailer for $15! but that's just one of the things... i can just tell that they're really good people.

so i slept like a baby in the trailer... after watching the tail end of the toronto hockey game on the trailer's tv. woot! came with a bathroom, stove, heat... i remember when the guy was showing it to me, it was like heaven at every corner... first the couch, then tv, then bed, heat, washroom (inc shower), stove, etc, etc... boy, go camping for a week straight and see how it changes your perspective on domestic living.