Montreal, August 10. 2:11 AM

Montreal

Montreal is the city where I have lived the last 4 months. It is a cosmopolitan place, a melting pot where in the same street you can see people of every race and language that you can imagine.

The Immigrants

Originally this was a Quebecois city. I mean French Canadian, but this country as big as Europe, and has only two times the Chilean population. Then, the government has made big efforts to increase it. A stable economy, welfare and the proverbial politeness of the natives helps to attract a lot of immigrants.

Basically you can find three kinds of immigrants. Legal immigrants are normally qualificated people that want reaching higher positions in international companies. Refugees are people that go to Canada to avoid wars in their fatherlands. Finally you can see illegal immigrants. They normally arrive on Canada as tourists and start working in the large black market. Some are imprisoned and sent back to their countries. Some make the attempt to reach the status of refugee using lies in their declarations. Some start to pay taxes to prove they aren't a burden to the society. Finally, some get married with older women to obtain the citizenship. I don't judge these people but I think it is a sad situation.


In thesefew months I meet people of Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, U.S.A, Belgium, Holland, Bangladesh, Greece, Hungary, France, Morocco and Russian Jews. The general impression is that everyone is similar in the core but different in the envelope. People that were born in places where families still important talks easily with another people. By contrast people coming from places where families have weak links are very cautious about talking with strangers. I think, it is because they don't have emotional support and this forces them to be very selective by whom will come into their life. I don't know it is good or bad, it is different.

The Quebecois

Quebec's people are very special. Basically they are reluctant to talk with strangers. They are very polite and very cautious about following the rules but they are very distant too. I think French speakers probably will have a better reception. If you gain the confidence of a qubecois then you realize that they are normal people that love to talk. But trust me, reaching this degree of confidence is a very hard. Why? I think our polite customs have other interpretations in Quebecois society. For example, we use invitations to drink coffee as a way to be polite. They use it to dates. So, it is clear: Never, but never offer anything to a Quebecois you don't know, It doesn’t work as a way to start a friendship and worse, may be misunderstood.

The Call

Finally I have to go back to Chile in five weeks. Can I achieve all my objectives? I don't know. A little recognition or a big dishonor wait for me. But the most important objective, the hidden objective will be, must be achieved.


I will probably never be able to walk down these amazing streets again. Probably I can never see the friends that I have to leave here again. But I am sure I will never forget them. I cannot bring the people, the sounds, the smells with me. I can only bring my memories and some pictures of average people. They are the bricks this city is made of .

I have started loving this place. But I was born under Vespero. I cannot forget it. The far and lonely star calls its childrens, it call me now where my loved ones live.