Still here

Luis with our friend Ken (back right) and Ken's friend at Vancouver Gay Pride, Aug. 3, 2008.

Fireworks competition, Aug. 2, 2008

Sorry I haven't posted in such a long time. We arrived in Vancouver on Saturday afternoon. Our landlord arrived right at the appointed time and gave us the keys to our apartment.
Vancouver welcomed us with a fireworks display. :) We saw a bunch of people all heading the same direction, and it turned out there was a finale to several days of a fireworks competition. So we headed there with our camera and tripod, trying to have some fun catching fireworks pix, not a very easy task, especially among crowds. But we got some good shots.
We made a little gaffe, though, related to Canadian's politeness.
We were watching the fireworks and saw that a bunch of people were standing about three feet back from a fence. Maybe they were standing back a bit because the fence would have obstructed their view if they were any closer. Well, being New Yorkers, we saw an opening and took it. Then someone tapped me on my shoulder and politely said I was blocking his view. I thought it was a bit strange. "If you wanted to stand where I was standing, you should have stood there," I thought. But being new to the city, we were polite and moved.
Then I told this to a bunch of people at a party. When I began to say that I saw the open area, they knew I was going to say we moved there, and their jaws dropped. "You didn't, did you?" someone said.
He said that Canadians are so polite that there's even a joke.
Q. What does a Canadian say when you step on his foot?
A. I'm sorry.
But it's really not a joke. He said a Canadian would assume that they were in your way and apologize.
Sunday was Vancouver's gay pride parade. The city probably has it in August because the temps can reach as high as 80 degrees now. :) I keep joking with Luis that it's so nice that the city air-conditions the outside. When you're walking around, it's the perfect temperature, the temperature you would set your thermostat to.
We had a great time at Pride.
Monday was BC (British Columbia) Day, but we didn't realize it until we arrived at Costco and it was closed. We got some practical things done, like getting a shower curtain. It's weird being in a new country and city because we don't know the stores or anything. I used to love Walgreens but now I've discovered its equivalent, London Drugs, which carries everything at decent prices.
We won't have Internet access at our apartment until Friday. I can't wait!