I neglected to blog last week. Didn’t really have a lot of time while I was hosting couchsurfers. Granted, I had no excuse to not spend my waking moments with them considering the state of my schedule (love love love double negs). My apologies in advance that I’ll be cramming a lot of both words and pictures into this post.
Once again I had an amazing time hosting a couple strangers on their respective journeys. They both arrived about the same time on Monday evening with Mike staying for two nights and Steph a total of four. I’d never hosted two CSers at the same time but figured it would be worth a shot since they could entertain each other in the rare instance I’d have something legitimate going on. Just as a primer of these peeps: Mike is a software developer coming from San Fran and actually lived at couchsurfing HQ for a while (an modestly apartment so he claims). Terrified of bears, ridiculous Philly accent (ass = eaaayyyssss), and one of those dudes who instantly makes you feel comfortable. Likewise, Steph was also a software hack managing databases for a scientific research project aboard drilling ships in the Pacific. Both were waaaaaaay down to earth, outgoing, friendly and all about getting to know Vancouver in their short stay. Hilariously enough, they both sent me messages to surf my couch using the general template of “Hey … your taste in operating systems kind of rocks … can you host me?” Having three Linux users within close proximity for over a couple days is pretty much unheard of outside Linux cons. Mike did a bit more trailblazing on his own and surely saw his own sights both days but Steph really got the see what Vancouver was all about using a spare bike in the garage.
The first day was a bit of a warm up. They arrived within a half hour of each other and off the bat we all attended a philosophers gathering of sorts at a local restaurant with my roommates. We were immediately thrust into a loose discussion about climate change, lifestyle, and economics, all the while surrounded by yummy Thai food. Needless to say, I was anxious to attend purely for the prospect of a certain loud and needing-to-be-heard character who was bound to hog the spotlight. Indeed I found exactly I hoped for: A dude proposing we bury plastic bags instead of recycle them in order to better sequester the carbon. Nice 
Him aside, a majority of the participants had a decent melon on their shoulders and it was a fine discussion. The couchsurfers weren’t shy about getting involved and I definitely voiced my opinion more than once. I find it hard to suppress the thought that at the end of the day these meetings accomplish very little. It’s a dozen laypeople expressing similar opinions to similar minds. At times the discussion almost puts advocate vs advocate who carry different ideas of how to best approach the problems. Overall it’s still refreshing and honestly these citizen gatherings would go a long way if they were more ubiquitous and got more people enthused about grass roots solutions to big problems. Afterward we got some drinks, rolled with the conversation, ran into some characters on the drive (see picture below of the transvestite on the bike with full steering wheel. Yea…) and shared a few laughs. Ice had been thoroughly broken within five hours.
Day two: Mike went on his own mission while Steph and I rode through the luscious green Stanley park. I’ve now been there a grand total of three times in my stay and it definitely ranks high on the must-see list in Vancouver. It’s probably deserving of it’s own post which I’ll sooner or later get around to writing up. We eventually ran into technical difficulties as she blew a flat but we quickly recovered, borrowing some tools from a local rental shop and repairing the tube for $6 in the span of an hour. Ahh the joys of having a lady with you to bat eyes at appropriate times. Following our repair stint and a pit stop at a scrumptious Mongolian barbeque (pic), we hit Jericho beach and met up with Heather. It’s always a safe bet to have couchsurfers shake hands with other couchsurfers. It just works. If that statement isn’t fully justified yet, the rest of the night surely does it justice. Every Tuesday, couchsurfers in the area gather at the Brickhouse pub which lyes directly between my place and downtown. Having not attended yet, I figured with two fellow surfers in tow, why not try it out? The bar was fantastic. Laxers I’m convinced this is the Bodega of Vancouver. The vibe was right on, the music excellent and the people we met were pretty much top notch. I’ll surely not hesitate to attend on another Tuesday.
Day three: Mike takes off early on as he has some camping to get after on the island. We wave farewell and pray that the bears leave him be. Wednesday wouldn’t be any ordinary day however. Oh no. This was July 1st, Canada day kiddies. As expected, it’s similar to America day only the people seem to actually care about the festivities. July 4th celebrations in the States always feel forced and centered around this one terribly gaudy event best known as fireworks. Setting off your own fire[anything] is a great time but that was never a big aspect of my previous 4ths. Maybe I just never had girlfriends on 4th of Julys. Either way, patriotism on the Independence day seems to pale considerably in comparison to flag waving Canadians on Canada day. It all felt more genuine but then again I may or may not be biased. The weather was gorgeous and as such we snuck in some more beach time, eventually meeting up with Heather and her one night couchsurfer, Beau at Trout beach. Again, mixing and matching couchsurfers was a surefire bet. Beau was fairly new to couchsurfing having only used it on his current trip. He’s an Aussie with a hearty appetite and character just as large. The four of us spent the remainder of the day biking to Granville Island (pic), drinking beer (pic, pic pIc), eating (pic) and generally enjoying Vancouver life (see entire gallary). Far and away the best Canada day I’ve ever experienced and I’m inclined to think a few of my comrades would say the same
Steph decided to stay a final extra day as her schedule was flexible. We made the mission to hit up the much hyped Wreck beach, known for being clothing optional and sporting a certified black market. It was even hotter than the previous days but in all honesty the daytime wasn’t the highlight. Our bike ride back was borderline surreal. As the three of us screamed down the ginormous initial hill on bike, blaze orange sunset poking through the temperate rain forest and the coast within a stones throw I thought to myself, “holy *&$* #)#* I think I live for moments like this!” An solid minute of chills would follow; it was that profound. The sunset along the coast with the city in the distance and the weather nearly perfect gave the feeling of reading the scene from a fantastical fictional account. We continued through coastal parks surrounded by Canadians dancing and delicious barbecues… barbecuing along our sides. At one point of the park we passed the cutest little musical group composed of an accordion, tuba, guitar, and some other player I’m not recalling right now. I recall questioning reality aloud to my mates at that point, “I’m just waiting for someone to pinch me.” Whithering away, we concluded the night with beer and food at a local spot with the absolute best tuna apps (oops!) and poutine known to Canada. The day was complete and I couldn’t help but think something must have been crossed off the bucket list in the past few days.
The next morning I sent Steph on her merry way. Since then, we’ve all written kind things about each other on the couchsurfing website and I obtained my first vouch from Steph who happens to be an experienced surfer able to give a higher level of verification. Perhaps the best part of all was that Steph gladly forfeited her camera to me pretty much the whole visit. Tons of great pictures in much better quality than my POS would deliver. I’ll conclude with some of the best.
Edit: Again, my apologies for length. I’m just as turned off to an internet novel as the next user. In retrospect, it would have been best to chop this post up as the days were happening though pictures wouldn’t have been included. I’ll do better on the timing next round. Also I failed to edit the pictures this time. I guess that’s what happens when you post 45 of em at once.
Edit again: Turns out it takes about 3 rounds of editing to get 1400 words to play nice together.
