... buggered if I know!

I boarded a train from Quebec, discovering that i could purchase a rail pass that would carry me in comfort for the next month of my travels, all the way back to BC. But for now i continued to head east. I planned to visit a friend in Halifax which is on the eastern seaboard, the capital of the province of Nova Scotia.

The train was far superior in comfort to the buses i was accustomed to travelling in. The seats are more comfortable and spacious and the best thing is that you can get up and walk around. One thing to note is that the age demographic of train travellers tends to be slightly older than the bus. Less vagabonds and travelling minstrels and more families and dying people. I felt almost grown up on the train, like i was maturing as a traveller.

The first carriage i found myself on seemed to have an inordinate number of such old and sick people. How could one carriage contain so many coughers. I wondered if they had all been coughing this much since they got on on or was it steadily increasing? Was this the beginning of some plague? Was this carriage an infirmary? The guy next to me was sounding very sick, and he had a bandage on his arm which was weeping a dark fluid...Was there a war going on in the west and these were all the refugees being shipped out east? I think some of them were coughing just because it had become fashionable. How long had these poor people been on this carriage? After a short while of listening and observing i realised that coughing had become their main form of communication. The woman sitting just opposite from me had been alone since i had got on hours earlier. Soon enough she too had begun coughing. Nothing too serious, just a few sporadic splutters, which were echoed somewhere further up the carriage. Someone was replying to her. Shortly after, her mate appeared, answering her call. She gave a cough upon his arrival and he promptly replied with a cough as he sat down next to her. She coughed again and he seemed to understand, as he opened a packet of cracker biscuits and he shared them with her. Not a single word had been spoken between the two of them.

The guy in the block of seats next to me with the seeping arm was of grave concern. Fortunately there was an isle between us, so i could observe him from a distance. He occupied a double seat to himself. He seemed to jump and start every minute or so and he would sniff, cough, hoik, and moan, but mostly he would sigh. Every half hour or so he would suddenly look behind him down the carriage with a furrowed brow on his puffy face, then jump up and head back toward the toilet with a determined stride. From my seat i could hear even more desperate coughing and hoiking coming from back there. He returned to his seat with the same determined stride, yet looking defeated, and sighing so deliberately. He then sat back in his chair, eyes shut, hand on head, sighing and breathing deeply. This man was obviously suffering a great deal. Later I saw the cabin attendant offer him some antacid. The man was suffering from crippling heart burn, coupled with a terrible cough, both possibly caused by the zombie bite on his arm. I lost all sympathy for him when i later saw him consume two cheeseburgers and a can of coke, purchased from the canteen carriage. This man clearly needed his mother, who i suspect was on the carriage somewhere. There seemed to be a whole family of them, these hoiking hoarders of double seats.
The following is an excerpt from my journal: "I fear i am becoming one. I saw a double seat become available and i lunged for it, moving only half my stuff so as to keep my lucky no.11 seat, but to also stake my claim on the cherished double, 12A and 12B. I managed to get some sleep for it, stuffing my head in my hood and mimicking the hunched position that i had observed in my fellow travellers. The coughing has not started yet, but i am sure it is just a matter of time..."

Halifax, ah Halifax. what isn't there to say about Halifax. What a magical town. Filled with fabulous folks, fine food, affordable films, fair trade coffee, Frenchy's fashions and other fortuitous findings. The east coast of Canada is fundamentally different to the west. Where BC has mountains, Nova Scotia has a hill. BC has forests, NS has trees. In Vancouver you catch the bus or ride a bike, in Halifax you can walk everywhere. The west coast can be cold, the east coast is fucking freezing! But Halifax is worth it. I had such a great time there.

I arrived and contacted my friend Sebastian who had kindly offered to have me to stay. I walked to his house and we relaxed and chatted for a while. It had started snowing shortly after i had arrived and i headed out in it on sebs bike, to pick up some beers. It was so peaceful out, i love the first snow that falls. Seb told me my arrival was well timed as one of his favourite bands was playing that evening. Later, we headed off to the gig and along the way we met Seb's girlfriend Lee. As we parted i remember reflecting on how lucky he was to have the love of such a woman. If only such a love could be bestowed upon me.

The bar was full of people and music. Several more beers were consumed and beeties were the aroma of the night. I met a girl, her name was Max. She smiled and said, "Welcome to Halifax!"

Funny thing is that two days later i went to see a movie and Max was sitting right next to me in the Cinema. After the movie i decided to go Tobogganing on the fresh snow on Citadel Hill in the middle of town. I make-shifted a toboggan out of card board and headed up. You can imagine my surprise when i should see Maxine there and we slid down the hill together. Then the next night i went with Sebastian to see Stephen Lewis talk and who should i run into but Maxine. The next night i decided to go for a walk over the Bridge which connects Halifax and Dartmouth and right in the middle i bumped into Maxine! It was freezing that night so we huddled together for warmth. The next night i went with Lee to a bar and then she had to leave but i stayed on and chatted to the barman, who had married an Australian gal. Believe it or not but Max walks in, wearing her famous blue coat and we hung out over a few more bevvies. Later that night i was at the Art Museum perusing some art and there was this cute girl there that i was flirting with and it turned out to be Maxine! Afterwards i went and grabbed some sushi. The funny thing is that Maxine was there too, sitting right across from me at the table!
The weekend had come around again and this Friday night there was a party at Sebastian's friend's place. Yep, Maxine was there... performing, singing songs from her new album. Next day i went to the farmers market and Maxine was there, then we went to the national ice skating championships together, competed and WON!

On Sunday we headed to a farm out in Tatamagouche, Sebastian, Lee, Maxine and Me. The kids out that way are really funny and the ocean is frozen. We were able to walk out beyond the breakers. I could go on about what else i did that week and i will. We went to a greenhouse on top of Dalhousie University, went shopping at Frenchy's thrift store, rented Harold and Maud and never watched it, caught the ferry to Dartmouth and visited the Urquhart's, rented a car and went on a road trip around the south of Nova Scotia.
I ended up staying in Halifax two weeks longer than planned, sometimes you've just got to let it all go and roll. I had so much fun hanging out with Seb and Lee at all and any time of the day or night. They were so hospitable welcoming me into there home. I left Halifax just as i had arrived, by train. You wont believe this but when i was at the train station saying goodbye, who should we run into but Maxine! Bizarre.