9 days left...

I have 9 days left at Trois-Pistoles and a little time today, so I thought I'd better blog again before I leave and forget the place altogether. I am admittedly beginning to like the town a lot now that it's a little warmer. It's a place worth describing once the rain stops. The town is Shaunavon-sized, with about 3500 residents and more bars than churches. There is, in fact, only one church: an immense stone cathedral in the Baroque style. The interior is decorated with faux-marble pillars, gilded arches, and an overabundance of cherubs. The most impressive element of the exterior is three enormous silver spires, featured prominently on almost every postcard in the town. The church has stood for over a century and the story goes that it was completed by means of a deal with the devil. I always think of legends and myths as something confined to places like Europe and Asia, where the same groups of people have lived in the same places for vast stretches of time. Nevertheless, they have legends here, and lost goblets, dark horses and diabolic pacts are intertwined with fur traders, Jesuit missions, and European warships in the collective memory. It's amazing to a prairie girl like me to live in a town this small that has been settled for so long.

There are lots of other great things about Trois Pistoles. There are good hiking trails in the woods and the Fleuve (the St. Laurence) is absolutely beautiful. The Cafe L'Essentiel has great coffee, the Cantine D'Amour makes the best poutine I've ever eaten, and it's just a short bike ride to the shore. It's great to be back in a small town and I'm getting fat on all the good food my hostess has prepared for us. Most importantly, I can speak a little French, read a little more, and smile and nod at the right places. This is a vast improvement from five weeks ago, so I'm satisfied. I hope eventually to be much, much more capable than I am at present, but it's okay for now.

The bad taste of exams is wearing off and I'm starting to think that returning to school won't be so bad... but tomorrow my marks come back. A month ago I was resigned to the fact that they won't be what I want, but now it's all I can do to keep myself from hoping... and hoping... and hoping... that they're better than I thought. I just want to get them back and have it over with so I can deal with the blow, wipe law school out of my mind for a few months and enjoy the summer.

I can't wait to get back to the prairies! The sun and dryness are completely welcome to me. Whenever I whine about the heat and the lack of rain, just remind me that I'm heading back to the coast in the fall and will have my fill of damp and cold. I'm so excited to get back to my girls and our house - it's been too long. I want to make this a very seize-the-day kind of summer, full of memorable moments and blessed randomness. I can't shake the realization that this might be the last time for a long time that I spend more than a couple weeks on the prairies, so instead of letting the feeling depress me I'm going to let it spur me on to see as much as possible of the people and places who count. Hopefully it works out.

Well, I'm done indulging my English craving. Love to all and I'll see you soon!