Fun Facts Learned on our Trip to ABR
May 8, 2008 | Updates
Don’t trust the airline gate listed on your ticket because it is usually wrong.
Metal implants set off metal detectors. Only stupid people don’t know that!
Some people are very nice and don’t request a seat change on a flight despite there being open seats up front and them realizing they have just been put next to a mom and her severly handicapped son. THANK YOU to whoever was riding next to us our first leg to Hartford.
Diaper bags can appear much heavier than they really are and nearly pull a male airline steward to the ground when handed to them unexpectantly from a child’s mom.
NEVER take a trip far away without a GPS. We missed our turn on the freeway in Salt Lake on the way back home because we didn’t have the GPS. And that was in OUR territory!
As we drove around Montreal, I liked reading some of the signs out loud practicing the tiny bit of French I remember from high school. At one point, I saw a sign that said “Mega Lotto” and I read it out loud. I was going to follow it with “Maybe we should try our luck at the lottery.” But Tom spoke up first and not having seen the sign totally misunderstood what it meant and commented by saying, “That must mean a whole freakin’ lot ‘o something!” Needless to say, we are from Utah.
The streets in Montreal are lined with parked cars because no one has garages or anywhere else to park. And the parked cars take up the far lanes on each side of the road. That drove Tom crazy as he couldn’t stand seeing an empty lane filled with parked cars. He figured he should be able to drive in that lane and did as often as he could – even if just for a few feet. At one point, we pulled into the right lane of a road to wait in line to turn into a grocery store. We were talking about something and after a time, I realized the cars in front of us were sure taking a long time to move. I looked ahead and then said, “Um, honey, I don’t think there is anyone in those cars.” Come to find out, we were sitting in line behind a bunch of parked cars waiting our turn to pull into the parking lot. Funny!
Everytime Tom asked for extra BBQ sauce, they brought him watered down gravy. And I can’t even tell you how funny it is to ask for fry sauce in Montreal or even New York.
The convenience store across from our apartment was run by a China man with a very heavy Chinese accent who spoke to me in broken English and who lives in a completely French city. Talk about multicultural!
When we were in China Town in Montreal, we ate at a Chinese restaurant. They had French rap music playing over the speakers and the Chinese waiter spoke very fluent English with no Chinese accent at all. All in a French city. Crazy!
We accidentally found Le Village in Montreal, which is the gay community there. It only took a few moments for us to realize where we were. It was a strange feeling as we do not have much of that – at least out in the open – in Utah. But I have to say that we saw more gay couples in New York than we did in The Village in Montreal.
It costs $8 to drive over the bridge into New York City. It costs $5 to drive back out. Maybe we went a different way on the way back out, but I get the feeling they would rather you were headed out than in.
There is scaffolding everywhere in New York. Anyone know why that is? They use it for advertising there is so much of it. Strange.
Being in Montreal is more like being in France than Canada. And Samuel got a HUGE kiss from one of his therapists the moment she met him! I mean it was a hands-on-both-sides-of-his-head while squeezing his cheeks and planting a big kiss on his lips. I was also told by a French man that if any of our boys found French women, they would marry them instantly. After that kiss, I’m beginning to understand why!
If you’re ever in Montreal and you discover that your cashier or waiter doesn’t speak English, don’t fret. Most of them know the words Mastercard, Visa, Discover, No, Yes, Fries and Rootbeer. You can usually at least get something close to what you came for. Only once did Tom end up eating something that he had no idea what it was.
Oh, yea, just FYI, Walmart in Montreal doesn’t carry eggs, but they do carry pickled pig tongues. For real!
No one in Montreal has a dryer. (Well, our apartment did.) But EVERYONE has a clothesline going from their balconies to 10 stories up, it seems. And most of them use it.
Three floors up is a long ways when you have a wiggly kid in your arms.
If you park your car in Montreal on your first night there and then don’t keep track of where you parked, then when your wife sends you out to the car to gather up all the change because you have no Canadian money and they won’t take your credit card and you have to leave the waitress a tip, you won’t be able to find your car and you will be freaked out that someone stole your car in the 2 seconds you’ve been in the country. (Just ask Tom!)
Thanks again to everyone who has been supporting us in this endeavor. We’ll keep you posted on the therapy and results! And always know that this little guy is SO WORTH IT!!!
Love,
The Jewkes
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