Along my travels it has been interesting to see the varying levels of security and questioning undertaken by customs officials in a particular country. Canada , by far, has the most stringent security I have seen to date. Which is sort of funny, because, come on....it is Canada.
I was greeted by the most thorough customs official upon arrival to Montreal in early October. After answering a series of standard questions, I was taken off guard when the official asked, "What exactly will you be doing in Montreal?" Not wanting to detail my entire itinerary for the man, I quickly replied "Going out drinking and letting guys shamelessly hit on me." To which he replied, "Welcome to Canada!" as he handed my passport back to me.
I spent a long weekend in the city visiting with my friend Nada and my cousin Saad, who also happened to be in town from Lebanon to attend a medical conference.
Nada took us to a very cool restaurant for dinner one night --- picture a night club environment serving really good food. When dinner was finished I made my way to the restroom. Upon entering the unisex room, I found myself in the coolest bathroom ever. The walls were filled with graffiti that was all showcased with a black light. I returned to the table and immediately grabbed my camera, Nada and Saad to join me in the restroom for a photo shoot. We spent about 15 minutes there taking photos. Upon our exit there was a guy waiting to use the restroom. The look on his face when he saw one guy and two girls exiting the room exclaiming, "That was Awesome!" was just priceless.
After a weekend of sightseeing, hanging out and relaxing at the spa, I was fortunate enough to experience my first Canadian Thanksgiving. I celebrated the holiday in a Lebanese/Caribbean household. Familiar foods from Lebanon were mixed in with jerk turkey and other Caribbean delicacies. So while I might not have experienced a TRUE Canadian Thanksgiving, I certainly had a unique experience.
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