Much like some of our fellow classmates and professor I have quite a few places that I hold dear to me, but for the sake of time and being concise here are two of the many places I love.
Downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma
While this place has a love and hate quality to it, love eventually edges out any distain because I cannot seem to knock where I grew up. The reason I name the city instead of my personal home is because downtown Tulsa actually represents my family/childhood more than any location in Tulsa. Downtown Tulsa is kind of a different world from the largely suburban parts of South Tulsa where my family's home is. With its eclectic coffee shops/bars, arts district and random events going on, Downtown Tulsa breathes life into the somewhat mundane daily lives of its residents. This area showcases all the different things each of my family members loved doing when they lived in the city and still receives the occasional visit from any one of us when we happen to be in town.
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| (Downtown Tulsa Skyline. Source: Wikipedia) |
Montréal, Quebec, Canada
I recently had the opportunity to visit this city for two weeks right before classes started and Montréal easily slipped its way into becoming one of my favourite places. My first language is not English but French and there are not many chances to speak my native language in Oklahoma except for with my family. Yet living/exploring in Montréal, for however short the time, felt like a exhaling a breath I did not know I was holding in. It may seem like an over-exaggeration but something as simple as being able to make small talk with the words I was most familiar with was a really cool and comforting experience for me. Besides the language, the city itself has some beautiful spots to relax, explore and learn about. The picture below is one my big brother took of me arriving at the famous Notre-Dame square in Old Montréal, which boasts the Notre-Dame Roman Catholic Church as well as quaint eating spots and live music/events.
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| (Personal Photo of Me, walking in Montreal; photo from August 2016) |
Tulsa is so much fun, Belle! I know what you mean about hometown love/hate... but as hometowns go, Tulsa is a very fine one!
ReplyDeleteI haven't been to Montreal, but I am so sure I would like it... maybe someday I will get to make that trip! The image is not coming up there because you linked to it by URL instead of uploading an actual copy of the image to your post; there are some notes here that should help with that: Images in Blog Posts ... when you do the next blog post, make sure you do the actual image upload, and that should take care of any display problems.
I have never been to Montreal, but it sounds like a place I would enjoy visiting. I have only left the country three times in my life, and am interested in doing it more. I’ve always wanted to experience different cultures. That is really cool that you got to go somewhere and speak your native tongue. I know when I went to Spain, the language barrier was difficult. It must’ve been really nice to experience the opposite.
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that you love downtown Tulsa because of the Art and vibe that you get from the area. I have never been to Canada before but I would love to explore a new area and culture. I think its cool that your native language is French. I never can get the skills down to learn a new language.
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