Monthly Archives: June 2012

It all started with a “No”

This is not a love story.
This is not sad.

The beginning of this story is not very important, I was in Costa-Rica and I met a guy…

The real story begins when he answered “No”.

The question had been: “Do you want me to leave you alone?”
Sounds weird, I know. For the past two hours, I had been standing beside him, watching over him. A long, tiring night but I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world, except maybe less rum!

At the same time, it was one of the worst night. There was nothing I could do to help him, except be there. I barely knew him but already I considered him as a friend, and therefore, I cared. Is it weird to care about someone you just met?  Still, I cared about him and it hurt me to see him like that. I felt so powerless, so useless.

Then I asked the question and he answered. It was so deep, so confident that I could not move. I stayed.

We talked. He couldn’t understand why I stayed with him, the guy I met three days ago. And I couldn’t explain it.

In the few times that we had talked before, he had shown an incredible intelligence. He knew and understood stuff that I can only dream of comprehending, but he was never showy or haughty. He simply had ideals and defended them. He got talking with this one other guy, a very cute American, and they were on the same page though they disagreed completely; but it was interesting to watch. They had intelligent arguments unlike some actual debates in Quebec…

Because of that, it became really easy to forget that the man in front of me was only my age. He always seemed older to me, his eyes…
The one thing that gave him away was his laugh! It was so clear and true, never grave. I couldn’t stop myself smiling when he laughed!  That and Dominique!

At 4 am, I finally went to bed with the thought that I was getting up at 7 am to go surfing.
The worst is that he got up and came surfing too. he actually did pretty well while I ended up on the beach, unable to move, completely dehydrated…

After that night, we talked a lot. About this or that.
We shared stories and for once, I felt like someone understood me entirely.

I learned that he had a girlfriend. I cannot say that I wasn’t disappointed, but I couldn’t fight it. So I backed off.

But, till the very end, he was always a gentleman, and always so caring. He could read my thoughts and emotions like no one. He seemed to know when I was feeling off just by a look.

He taught me not to be afraid of the future and to believe in myself. Sometimes, it’s all you need to succeed. It’s scary to start anew, but he gave me the strength.

I will always remember this meeting and be grateful for what he’s done for me, even if he doesn’t admit it.

This is my Thank You to him, though he might never get to read this text.

Peaceful Lake

A very quiet beach in Waterton, Alberta

May 2009

The city is in a national park, so the land, plants and animals are protected. Deers and wild goats walk freely in town.

Sitting on that beach, alone, the only sound I could hear was the water on the rocks and the wind in the valley. Those mountains, in the back, are part of the Glacier National Park in Montana.

I often dreamed of the peace I found there, and might not find anywhere else!

Volcano in a cornfield?

Have you ever heard the story of the volcano that grew in a cornfield???
It’s true!  It’s the story of the Paricutin.
The volcano destroyed the nearby city when it violently erupted in 1943.

Here is a picture of the ruins of the town’s church.

We started the ascent of the Paricutin, early morning.

The way to the top took near on 3 hours. We had to cross the black lava field. I don’t know if you’ve heard of Mordor, a very hellish country in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, but it was exactly like that. We reached the volcanic cone, a 1,400 feet (400 meters) slope of black ash. The climb was exhausting, because it was generally two steps forward then one step back. You had to fight every moment. The heat was almost unbearable in that blackened landscape.

We had a well deserved rest at the top, near the sulfurous gas rejecting, crater.

Going down was rather easy, it almost took a minute! Just had to run down this very steep slope!

Then we marched for a couple more hours around the lava field to get to the ruins of the old city, where we saw the church, the only building that was saved from the wrath of the volcano.

At that point, most everyone was dangerously dehydrated, me included. We had brought water, but it wasn’t enough… and there weren’t any water source.

A short walk brought us back to our bus, and refreshments. Water for some, soda for others and beer for almost everyone else!!!

In the end, it was a nice day of learning. It was after all, a school fieldtrip!