I am going to Nepal.
Four days away, and it still feels completely surreal. As the days fly by and my departure creeps closer, I find that I have mixed emotions – excitement interspersed with urges to vomit.
The latter case is best justified with the ever so popular quote – “so much to do, so little time”. A combination of poor foresight, procrastination and a series of unfortunate events has left my tasks of packing for my five week trip, moving out of my apartment, and tying up loose ends spread over the course of the weekend and the next four days. And here starts my life living out of boxes.
Those who know me know I never go anywhere without my Vogues
Did I mention that I’m still in school up until I fly out? If you take that into account, then I actually have something along the lines of 3 days… and that’s if I don’t sleep, and more importantly, if my subsequent reliance on energy drinks don’t kill me first.
And when I say loose ends, I mean imagine a shoe lace that is so frayed that getting it through a shoe hole is impossible. A total shit show. Four days before and I still need to get my vaccines (which technically should have already been done but there is some debate as to whether or not mefloquine is better than malarone for malaria). Long story short, I initially got mefloquine only to find out that potential side effects is hallucinations.
Um, no thanks.
I still need to exchange money, supposedly Canadian currency isn’t as widely accepted in Nepal. Grab my passport/indian visa. Buy a rain jacket. Hand out items to my silent auction fundraiser. Update my iPod. Compile some sort of school study package. Buy some sort of Nepal/India travel book. There’s that urge to vomit again.
Now this begs the question: why did I leave everything so last minute? Simple, I am a world class procrastinator. The problem is there are just so many things I’d rather be doing. Instead of packing last week, which probably would have made this weekend so much more efficient, I opted for the open roof festival instead.
Open roof festival (http://openrooffestival.com/about/):
A non profit outdoors film and music festival that features local artists and varying independent films and documentaries.
Located at the Amsterdam Brewery (21 Bathurst Street) every Thursday until August 23rd, the festival is a mix of extremely salty popcorn, locally catered food, great movies and beer. Local bands play at 8pm and movies starts at 9, but of course this is all tentative.
The movie this week was China Heavyweight, a movie I’d definitely recommend. With the same director as the chinese documentary Up the Yangtze, the movie focuses on the role and emphasis boxing can have on rural areas of China.
Although last Thursday’s forecast made for a beautiful, not too humid night; what really made the experience in my opinion was the location. Nestled between garbage canisters, tall condo’s and the highway, the eclectic combination of the surroundings and sound of speeding cars made for the perfect backdrop. There’s just something special about enjoying a movie in the middle of a big city.
Plus, the sunset was pretty awesome.
This is what I would consider one of Toronto’s many secret gardens. So if you’re free this Thursday, support your local film and music makers. If independent films aren’t up your alley, just grab a beer with friends, enjoy the scenery and kick it.
thebirdtrap 