Friday, November 15, 2013

Toronto

Toronto was my first city in Canada. I almost thought I wouldn't get to go because I had troubles at the border. Yes troubles at the Canadian border! They made the whole bus wait on me while they asked me some questions, did a background check and (to my surprise i found out only late when i arrived) they called my couchsurfer to make sure I was telling the truth. I keep blaming it on the blue hair. So in Toronto My couchsurfer gave me a bike with a flat tire and some other problems, i fixed it up and went around the city by bike. I spent a lot of time exploring on my own. Some of my highlights were seeing a jazz concert in a building downtown with glass windows so i could see the city and car lights and the rain, while i myself was warm and entertained inside. I saw my first glimpse at canadian art and i found some coops! yes the coops were probably the best part. I went to two although there are over 20 houses in Toronto. I went to a potluck at one and that was just a lovely night. I also went to a talk given by one of the founders of Food Not Bombs. It was a great talk and they had so much food!









oh they are so punny here

 the kensington market (like the haight and ashbury of toronto)
 an art museum downtown, the architecture is so cool. they actually cut out a chunk of the old art museum and put in these cube like structures that now look like they are protruding from an old building. you cant see that part in the picture though.
 Old distillery district



 Still found some colors, although most of the trees have dropped their leaves here

 hmmm never thought as turning a car into a planter. oh did you notice the tree coming out of the top of the car?
street art in action


Sunday, November 10, 2013

Ann Arbor

So I stayed in Ann Arbor a total of 2 weeks. I had a marvelous time! I made many new friends and learned a lot about the city and the coops there. I also had the fortune of reuniting with some santa barbara friends at the end of my stay (unfortunately all of those pictures are on my phone).

This Was my lovely home for the two weeks, it is a coop by the name of Owen
These were my housemates

 Part of campus


This must be the happiest place on earth
Ann Arbor's Stork tower
 and the view from it

 old school Xray machine
 Black Elk, the coolest coop from the outside







 If you explore the angles of this sculpture you can see every letter of the alphabet, how many can you spot from this picture?
 the famous cube (it spins)

 The library at the campus radio station


The peoples food co-op


 One of the many loaves of Challah-ween bread
 Set up of the coolest fort ever!
The Morning After 

 So my conditions for staying at Owen and eating their food for 2 weeks were to contribute 4 hours and contribute $30. SO I painted the mural above for hours and bought the whiskey below for the $30... who said traveling was not affordable?