vancouver: city of mass diversity

the woman at the booth next to mine is blond with green eyes. nothing special here. and then i learn she grew up in oaxaca, mexico, the roots of which have inspired her latest pursuit: frog friendly coffee. she works directly with the coffee bean growers, who receive $2.00 per pound of coffee and half of her proceeds go back to the indigenous people living off of and working the land. she's not "fair trade certified" and agreed with my bone of contention on the whole issue (administrative costs and middle men). when asked if the coffee's organic, she replies, "it's above organic" and hails back to when hernan cortes sought out chocolate in the region and coffee began growing there. did i mention she has a master's in theology? hmm. we agree on shoes (sensible over fashionably painful), trying to "be in the moment" and prioritizing spirituality over religiousity.

the cabbie who brought me back to the hotel had to be the most smily chinese man i had ever met. he actually made me feel happier and more up at the end of a ten hour day standing, just by smiling. at dinner tonight, in what appeared to be an "american restaurant," the menu not only contained american sounding dishes but also indian and east asian. i feel like i have been fed a morsel of a place i would enjoy exploring more in depth in the future. i also think (and have been thinking) i want to live by myself, which i'm sure will go nowhere at this time.