Bicloo!

What a wonderful, sunny day!
I began with a nice run. My legs were really sore after the 5km last week; not nearly as sore as after the half-marathon, but I have been taking it easy this week. This morning felt great and almost back to normal. I have a fantastic ritual that I always do after I run now, which starts my day off just right. I download some podcasts from cbc.ca and one is the Vinyl Cafe stories podcast. After I run, I come back to my room and workout, stretch, and then eat to the excellent storytelling of Stuart McLean. It is so great.
After the good start, I headed downtown with a friend in search of good coffee. I finally ran out of my "It's All Good" coffee from Port Elgin and my Starbuck's from Montparnasse, and since the grocery store coffee is crummy I decided to find some good stuff. I went to a little coffee and tea boutique I had passed by a few times and am very pleased that I went inside today. The man who was working there really did a great job at selling the coffee. He asked me what strength I liked, what flavours, etc, and then let me sniff the various coffees until I found one I liked. I chose Moka Sidamo from Ethiopia. I hope it is good! When it comes to coffee, I must say that I like the good stuff ;) We also picked up a birthday present for one of our friends back home, since her birthday is coming up. In shopping around a bit, we also chatted with one a store-owner who told us a bit about the big manifestation tomorrow. I thought that it was only going to be a strike against the new airport, but it turns out that there are numerous groups who will be manifesting tomorrow, including some anarchists. I guess it might get pretty heated, what with the Euro crisis and the upcoming presidential elections. The police were coming around to store owners telling them not to put anything outside, and for restaurant owners not to set chairs and tables outside because they could be used to break windows. The lady we talked to was afraid that her shop window would get broken. Apparently the police don't warn shopkeepers very often, so this is a pretty big deal. Apparently the anarchists and the contre aeroport people are the ones they are worried about. I hope it isn't too crazy! I might check it out briefly, just to see the crowds, but for the most part I will be staying away from downtown. We are planning on kayaking since it is supposed to be beautiful outside.
In our city we have a company called Bicloo, where you can basically borrow a bike and deposit it at any bike station in the city. We borrowed bikes from the Faculty stop, which is not to far from us.

The bikes took some getting used to, as the basket in front makes the balance a little weird, but all in all it was not too hard to master. We took the path along the river out into the countryside, where I run often. The other three girls hadn't seen the path before, so they were really excited to see how beautiful it was. I love it out there. We then crossed over a bridge and biked along the other side of the river.

We of course had some excitement, as first Jody's sweater disappeared and she had to go back and find it, and then Siobhain dropped her cellphone somewhere. We were luck though; we called the phone and a man who had found it picked up and met her downtown to give it to her. Close call! Then we went to the store and bought caramel ice cream which tasted like crème brûlée. So yummy!
Tonight, the four of us are getting together in Jody's rez room for an old-school sleepover! We have all the necessities (junk food, wine, sleeping bags) and we are looking forward to it. I have said this to a few people over here, but it is so nice to have a really solid group of girlfriends for once. I had some good friends in high school, but it just is not the same as this year. I get along with everyone in the group, but there are five of us who mesh really well. Best part is that three of them are coming back to Trent with me! But we will miss our lone Waterloo buddy. It has been amazing to have so many people to hang out with, talk to, go out with, etc. I would not trade my best friends, or this whole Trent-Waterloo group, for any other people! They are great. I'm sure I will reflect more in this towards the end of the year, but for now I just wanted to mention what a blessing it has been to have met all these wonderful people!
Have a great weekend everyone!

PS- If you aren't sure what to think about Hunger Games, here is a good article to read!
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/culture/film/features/28682-let-the-hunger-games-begin