Three Words of Many

Rimouski weekends are very diverse, quite like this town. I am forever discovering new things about Rimouski and the people here. They love their coffee. Really, there are two coffee shops on Rue St-Germain that are always bustling with caffeine addicts and not to yummy sugary coffees like my white mocha latte (which doesn't exist thus far in Rimouski). But to massive bowls of coffee. Or to little bitty mugs of straight espresso. For any of you fellow Crandallites who are reading, I found a new coffee shop: Presse Cafe. Just imagine a red Jitter Bean. The coffee shops are also competitive; they don't even like you to sit outside the shop for a minute with a cup from another cafe. Like I said, they live for coffee.

This is likely how they are so unbelievably active.

They make me feel lazy. Early on we asked some locals if people in Rimouski do many outdoor activities and we got laughed at. They thrive off of outdoor activities (and coffee). Along the river runs a beautiful boardwalk that is always busy with people walking, running, and biking on it. Oh, the bikes. So many bicycles here. Every other person has a bike and it doesn't even serve as an alternative to their car. It is their car. So I'm currently in a dilemma, do I blend in with the locals and get a little bike for going around town or do I stick with my little car? Obviously I wouldn't use it for going to work. Oh goodness, that would be quite the trek and my calves would probably break out of my skin by the time I arrived at school - the little village I work in has a sign that says "Saint-Gabriel: Le Coeur des Montagnes". Translation: The Heart of the Mountains. Enough said.

Like I said, Rimouski people are very active which means that they are also out around town tons. I had been told before I got here that I would start to see people around and recognize their faces. For some reason I doubted that this actually happened. But it does! I have seen a few examples of this already.. like this afternoon I was at the corner of Cathedrale and St-Germain when I saw a couple crossing the street that I had seen at the Brulerie earlier this week. Then later on today I saw them at Wal-mart! Another example actually happened earlier in September. My friend Emily and I visited an apartment we had seen an ad for and the girl who showed us the apartment was at the Jazz festival that weekend AND we saw her at La Creperie Chignon (a crepe restaurant that had my mouth watering for the rest of the day and apparently two weeks later too).

Rimouski: coffee, activity, and familiarity. Three words of many that I can describe Rimouski as.