Salma RI Blog: Canada: Weather & People

Cold

I loved how cold it can get here, it felt lively, sometimes deadly. I was never exposed to such extreme weather where you could feel you fingers and toes freeze inside your pockets, not just metaphorically, but literarily, they can become hard as a rock and you can’t move them. The lower of my butt cheeks, as though dipped in water filled with ice cubes, felt funny and weird as I walked. The temperature falling below 30°C, totally dismissing the presence of the sun, makes your cheeks red and nose runny. One night we stood too long in -20°C waiting for a bus, and by too long I mean over 15 min. I thought we were going to leave our blue lifeless feet behind!

The snow is so fluffy and soft, so white and joyful, until it gets under your clothes, and it turns into snakes showering you with cold bites.

The snow is not always really snow-white, on the side of the roads during winter, you get that perfectly pyramid-shape brown and darkish pile of snow, sometimes mixed with trash. Not the kind of snow you want to play with or slide on.

Our cozy apartement in winter

Warmth

My new definition of luxury: deadly cold just on the other side of your apartment walls, while you are snuggling on the cozy sofa cuddled by the warmth of your living room.

People say it’s cold in Canada, and indeed it is. But the catch is: you only get to walk in the cold for a brief moment, unless you choose to go camping outdoors in January, which is unlikely.

Meaning? Well, I couldn’t understand either until I personally experience it. In Morocco, you are a defenseless deer against nature’s wrath, thankfully its wrath is mostly mild. In winter for example, not only you walk in the cold, your whole body shivering under the poor clothing, but you sleep, eat, sit, watch TV, shower in the cold, and take a shit, no protection whatsoever, NADA! Same goes in hot summers, always brutally exposed under the mercy of nature. But here in Canada, I feel like a spoiled child, the house is warm, all facilities, no matter how big, are carefully kept warm and safe from the harsh weather. Same thing for buses, trains, even the covered ATMs. Usually when I walk in winter, I’m all heated up by the effort of piercing through the thick layer of snow, so I don’t really feel the chill. Only when I stand still that the caresses of bitter cold creeps into my bones.

Speaking of warmth, I was startled of how hot the sun it can gets here. And there I thought I would never experience sun burns. Seemingly however, the sun here is the exact same one shining over my home country! Unbelievable!

Spring

In Morrocco, I watched the winter go by and the shy spring discreetly replacing it. Nothing really changes; In the cities, where most of the space is dirt, asphalt, stone, and walls, the scenery obviously remains pretty much the same. The few trees here and there are mostly the kind of trees that kept their leaves on, seldomly exchanging it. Back in my small hometown, you can spot abundant grass in the surrounding farmlands, some wild yellow flowers randomly growing on the sidewalks, only useful as fortune-teller to children who would mercilessly tear off their petals over and over until satisfied with their fate.

Spring was a beautiful season only in poetry and elementary school books, when we hear about the nice breeze echoing the sound of merry bees that hover over blooming flowers of all kinds. The trees coming alive letting loose their green leaves. The animals running and jumping welcoming the spring with excitement and joy. The lovely melody of birds, and butterflies flapping their long colorful wings swirling with pride. Pure paradise!

When I think of spring, I solely think of that image on my first grade’s book picturing a prairie full of flowers, bees, butterflies, and a fox. Can’t answer why the fox was there!

In Canada, you get to experience spring with both its tiny and glorious details, nothing is left out. My jaw dropped when I saw the sudden change that occurred in mid-April. How can a lifeless place turn into such heaven. The soil that soaked up the tremendous amount of water during winter, now reflected back the generosity of the sky. How people gardened their front yards was breathtaking; seeing the beautiful tulips neatly planted, a wide diversity of vegetation carefully positioned to form eye-catching patterns, clay pots vibrating with colorful flowers, lawn gracefully trimmed, and decoration proudly displayed celebrating the beginning of a delightful season.

The trees are another wonder. I have never seen in my life such diversity in colors and shapes. Trees here wear all shades, proudly displaying rainbow-like spectrum. I saw trees with ranges of green and red leaves, some bloomed with pink, purple and white, others had yellowish leaves. The rows of these vivid trees flickered the artist inside of me. It brought back my slumbering senses to life. Everywhere I looked, there was nothing but exquisite beauty.

I was surrounded with Greeneries and wild life; squirls, rabbits, foxes, marmot, and beavers, at plain sight. Places where you can have a peaceful picnic and fully relish the beauty of real spring are multiple.

And when we talk about real spring, that also means, a buggy spring!

Bugs of all kind have left the rest of the world, or at least Morrocco, and came to settle here. Even mosquitos are happily sucking the blood out of you and leaving huge bumps as a souvenir, obviously celebrating life with you. I wish it wasn’t true, but here you have it, spring with all its charm and wildness, you didn’t expect to enjoy it alone, did you?

Weather

The extreme weather her has taken me by surprise. When we first received a warning about tornadoes, I thought it was a joke. There is no such thing as tornados, those are only in movies. Well, welcome to north America. Thunderstorms are exactly what I have read in books and thought had only existed in an imaginary world. The winds can get very strong and rain very heavy. It’s sunny one moment, apocalyptic the next one. Wildfires smoke, frozen rain, big icy balls falling from the sky, Huricans, thunderstorms, and God knows what else I’ll get yet to see, makes me excited!

People

Most people here are nice, and by nice, I mean, they will happily offer help, smile and say Hi when you make eye contact with them, give you plenty of space on the side walk, respect the line, be considerate, respectful, hold the door open for you, and mind their own business.

I got most of my son’s winter clothes, books, and toys from strangers who happily brought full bags to my doorsteps one after another. I just asked where to get affordable stuff for my 5-year-old kid and they showered me with their kindness. My bike was off in the middle of the road, had to stop for 15 minutes to fix it, and two passersby stopped and made sure I didn’t need help.

That is a generalization of course. But what is important is that you feel at ease while walking or going about your business. No one will bother you if not make your day by nice compliments or encouragements. No one will eye you or shoot you glares, harass you because of how you dress, or ambush you for money.

What I have noticed is that this attitude only reflects how relaxed and content they are. Why is that? Well, financially speaking, most are comfortable and not struggling to secure a day-to-day meal. Most of them are educated and have decent jobs. The laws give freedom, safety, and power to everyone without discrimination whatsoever. The eldest and the ones with special need have their place and don’t feel excluded.

In Morocco, we suffered daily invisible and unnecessary stress. Always alerted outside, ready to fight to get our papers done, not surprised to face injustice or humiliation, and low expectations and bruised self-esteem unless you have plenty of money.

I felt a great deal of anxiousness relieved once I have put foot on this soil. I couldn’t get rid of my reflexes though. For example, I expected Airbnb to be modest. A bed, sofa, dinner table, few chairs, a rug, electricity and running water. It struck me how clean and tidy it was when I first entered the one-bedroom appartement. The smell was refreshing, the kitchen fully equipped, the generous stock of toilet-paper, hand and dish soap, cloths, tea bags, and coffee made us feel welcomed.

Then there was registering my son at school; we had just been in Canada for three days and weren’t sure we’d stay in that neighborhood for more than a month. Still, we went nervously to the school reception, mentally prepared to be showed the way out at any moment. Lot of reasons flashed in our mind: lack of paper, not permanently living in the area, too late in the school year, spots are full… And the list goes on. Millions of scenarios spined and we were still working on how to respond to each one when the grey-haired lady blithely announced: “Perfect then, he can start Wednesday, Mr Gregois, his teacher will be here to welcome him in, here is the schedule of the day”.

Just like that, he was registered in 15 minutes!

I can go on and list the number of parks with all needed facilities, the calm and serenity in the neighborhoods, the activities available for everyone to enjoy with small fees or totally free. People here are thoroughly enjoying life without worrying that they would be unfairly treated, or absurdly rejected, or robbed, or watched, or stripped off their rights as human beings. They are cared for and their existence matters.

One other aspect of people here is how diverse they are. From all over the world, lots of people choose Canada to settle - now I sound like some kind of advertisement - But seriously, really people from all backgrounds are here and it is heartwarming. not only racial and religious diversity, but also style diversity. People are comfortable dressing at their own taste without being afraid of judgment. The creativity in their looks astonishes me at every time. They get bold and out of the box wearing whatever they please. I love that!