Day 2, like Day 1 was jam packed. We started the day with a guided walking tour of the The Village, the LGBTQ2 neighborhood of Montreal. Being as it was Sunday morning, the streets were busy but not packed. Our guide spoke about safe spaces the community has created for at-risk LGBTQ2 youth, and the history and evolution of the neighborhood. The main drag (pardon the pun) is decorated with ball-streamers all summer. Very festive, and in a rainbow motif!
One stop on our walk was this small public park, called the "Parc de l'Espoir" (Park of Hope) memorializing members of the community who have died of AIDS.
The monuments were designed for people to sit on, and also to look like coffins. The space currently contains a public piano, open to anyone to sit down and tickle the ivories. These pianos are all over Montreal, and we saw them in other towns and cities we visited as well. As we approached this park, there was an older man playing. He was shirtless, had a deep tan, and was pretty rough looking; he almost certainly lived on the street. He was playing Bach, one of the Goldberg variations, and it was really beautiful. When he was done, he got up and left to a smattering of applause, and another person immediately sat down and started playing a pop-jazz number.
The monuments were designed for people to sit on, and also to look like coffins. The space currently contains a public piano, open to anyone to sit down and tickle the ivories. These pianos are all over Montreal, and we saw them in other towns and cities we visited as well. As we approached this park, there was an older man playing. He was shirtless, had a deep tan, and was pretty rough looking; he almost certainly lived on the street. He was playing Bach, one of the Goldberg variations, and it was really beautiful. When he was done, he got up and left to a smattering of applause, and another person immediately sat down and started playing a pop-jazz number.
I'm pretty sure this isn't the take-away our tour guide had in mind, but the stand out thing for me in some sections of this district were the drug addicts, wandering around like zombies. We saw heroin being bought and sold, right out in the open. There was a police presence, but they were kind of just co-existing with the addicts and the dealers. Being from a small city that is very conservative, it's jarring to see that kind of drug abuse up close and personal. I know heroin and hard drugs exist in Halifax (and let's face it, everywhere), it's just that it's not nearly so open and acceptable in the small towns as it is in big cities.
After lunch we went to the Redpath Museum on the campus of McGill University. The museum is pretty old school (even for a museum) and has some incredible fossils and taxidermy, and some actual Egyptian mummies.
C3 was invited to do a presentation at the museum, Leg 2's first "Ship-To-Shore" event, Our Chief Scientist for Leg 2, Dr. Lyne Morisette, spoke in the museum auditorium about the various science programs happening on C3, and how they will serve to broaden our understanding of the ecosystem from coast to coast to coast. After the talk, we all went outdoors to the courtyard beside the museum to have an informal chat about the expedition to anyone who happened by and was interested. C3 staff rolled out these giant floor maps of Canada, showing the route of the expedition. Next thing you know, kids and adults are pointing out where they are from, places they've visited, etc. It was really fun, and luckily for me the language barrier was minimal in Montreal.
C3 was invited to do a presentation at the museum, Leg 2's first "Ship-To-Shore" event, Our Chief Scientist for Leg 2, Dr. Lyne Morisette, spoke in the museum auditorium about the various science programs happening on C3, and how they will serve to broaden our understanding of the ecosystem from coast to coast to coast. After the talk, we all went outdoors to the courtyard beside the museum to have an informal chat about the expedition to anyone who happened by and was interested. C3 staff rolled out these giant floor maps of Canada, showing the route of the expedition. Next thing you know, kids and adults are pointing out where they are from, places they've visited, etc. It was really fun, and luckily for me the language barrier was minimal in Montreal.
During the map presentation, some of us broke off from the main group and walked a short distance to another area on campus where we got a brief presentation on the historical presence of indigenous people in and around the Montreal area from Kakwirano:ron Cook. (I assume he's a professor, but don't quote me on that!)
The inscription reads, "Near here was the fortified town of Hochelaga visited by Jacques Cartier in 1535, abandoned before 1500. It contained 50 large houses, each lodging several large families who subsisted by cultivation and fishing." Woah, woah, woah... cultivation? I legit did not know that First Nations were farmers. How could I not know this? I assumed all indigenous people in Canada were hunter/gatherers. It's such a basic fact about a whole population, and I had no idea. I wish I could go back in time to that afternoon and ask a lot more questions. I wish we learned this stuff in school!
The discussion around this monument centered around two things: 1) whether the area was actually abandoned as the settler explorers said it was, and 2) how long it took for this monument to be moved from a corner of the park to near a walkway. Apparently the monument had been sitting for years, facing a fence, and few people knew of its existence. It took eight years for Mr. Cook and other university staffers to have it moved, as it was seen as being controversial to acknowledge the presence of indigenous people on the land currently occupied by McGill. Eight years... now there's some bureaucracy at work. Yikes. There is a movement afoot to have the plaque updated, but don't hold your breath!
The discussion around this monument centered around two things: 1) whether the area was actually abandoned as the settler explorers said it was, and 2) how long it took for this monument to be moved from a corner of the park to near a walkway. Apparently the monument had been sitting for years, facing a fence, and few people knew of its existence. It took eight years for Mr. Cook and other university staffers to have it moved, as it was seen as being controversial to acknowledge the presence of indigenous people on the land currently occupied by McGill. Eight years... now there's some bureaucracy at work. Yikes. There is a movement afoot to have the plaque updated, but don't hold your breath!
We were back on the ship for dinner, and then we had a very special treat. The Association Latino-Américaine de Montréal came aboard ship for a showcase concert on the quarterdeck. They performed traditional songs in traditional garb and it was a really great time. The Leg 2 musicians (Heather Rankin, Andrea Menard, and Alex Cuba) each got up and performed as well. The weather was perfect and it was a really beautiful evening.
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