It's sunday noon, and before I do some work - basically preparing what I'm going to say during my very first tour at my volunteer gig, ( why have I done this to myself???) , thought I'd write about my hippy dippy weekend do far.
I spent part of yesterday on a walking tour of The Drive. As I mentioned in my last blog, I believe the jackass in my story was from the drive. Fortunately, I didn't see him on the tour. The drive is Commerical Drive in Vancouver. This street runs north to south but the area of most interest is a stretch of about 2 miles, from about Venables Street up to Broadway. The tour is part of Jane's Walk - you can google this to find out more. They're basically tours of different areas around town, and are currently held simutaineously in 17 cities across the country. Their are tours covering the Strathcona area, Main Street, even Wreck Beach. The tour we went on was supposed to be a group activity for volunteers at my volunteer gig - but only 6 of of turned up! called Grandview and The Drive Tour.
Anyhoo, the tour started at the home of Bruce MacDonald a 20 year resident of the drive area. He wrote a book called Vancouver: A Visual History - I should check it out. He spoke for about a 1/2 hour about the area, the development of it and the vibe before we went and checked out some places. He pointed out some places of interest - Britannia community centre, the Havana, Joe' Cafe and a new coffee shop called the nest. I've always liked the interesting stores for novelty things, clothes and art and my favorite antique store, Antique Treasures is there. This area, I would have to say, is very laid back and has an interesting energy. The people who live there have that same vibe - the artsy, sit at a coffee shop writing your rants, filling your journal, pick up you guitar and start strumming while your faithful mutt sits by your side. You won't see anyone walking down the street in head to toe Lululemon (thank god) and anyone grocery shopping carried a re-useable bag. Let's just say, if you were idealistic and wanted to change the world- for good or bad- you would probably live in this area. Our guide, Mr. MacDonald spoke of the left wing attitude that seems to be quite pervasive in this part of town. The people who live here are against big chain type stores so any that do crop up seem to never last - except starbucks which would probably survive on the moon. Mom & pop type stores fill the streets as well as restaurants of different world foods, funky stores, and of course the coffee shops.
As I walked along with our group of about 40, I took in the vibe that the drive emits along with the faint smell of incense of petoulle oil. At the same time I thought about how different it is from my neighborhood. My neighborhood is Burnaby Heights, which is about 3-4 miles away from the drive, but what a different world. You don't get the hippy feeling when you walk down streets of Hastings with all the traffic. The heights doesn't have funky shops to peek into but i'll tell you unlike the drive it also doesn't have something else. This is going to sound mean, but you don't feel , grungy when you walk around the Heights. The drive has a grungy vibe to it. You can image most of it's residents would attend the Folk Festival down at Jericho - you know the kind. I said that was going to sound mean.
But there's nothing wrong with that if you like the birkenstock wearing, unkempt hair, mismatched/misshapen just pulled from the pile clothes, too many piercings, organic cotton tote carrying across one shoulder type look. Okay, that's only half of the people who live there. There's a great ethnic mix, and The Drive is also called little Italy because of the many Italians in the area. It's completely nuts there during the world cup.
It's interesting, I think, how parts of town are defined by what it's residents wear! You wouldn't catch that hippy look on a person walking down Robson Street. Robson types have to have there designer sunglasses on and wear head to toe designer outfits on as they stroll down the street, the soul purpose being, to be seen. You also won't see that type down on 4th avenue that has morphed from a boutique store lined street to a boutique store lined street geared toward urban moms and their babies- pass me the bucket. And of course the first evah Lululemon! Now there are tons of stores geared toward the new age yogi who has to wear the head to toe gear whilst carrying they're designer hand bag, with their yoga mat in it's designer bag slung over one shoulder, coffee cup in the other hand which is also holding onto the leash attached to the designer football dog - you just want to punt.
Oh, back to the tour. I think it could use some polish, as in perhaps smaller controlled groups and perhaps more background on the different area shops. In all honesty, it wasn't as interesting as I had hoped for.
Years ago I went on a tour of local heritage houses in Burnaby Heights. You paid a small fee, received a map, and walked around the neighborhood visiting these local amazing homes built around the turn of the century. That was interesting and I wonder if they still do this?
Hippydom continued today. I went to my yoga class this morning. Woke up 15 minutes before the class was to begin, but I made it! There was a sub teacher today one that has subbed before. I remember her as the instructor who throughout the class had to mention that she had a sore shoulder and would be unable to show some moves properly as a result - okay , we get it. But I forgot that she also talks continueosly throughout the whole class and doesn't explain her poses well. I missed my regular instructor- she is the only reason why I pay for these classes instead of going to my gym that has yoga classes there that are part of my membership.
The class is instructed in a small room at my local pool . The room is normally a pre-school room, during the week filled with snot filled drippy kids- germs!
Anyhoo - rules or just plain courtesy of a yoga class. I was a few minutes late so it was hard finding a place to lay my mat, although if anyone was at all kind, they would have made room, because there would normally be room, (well except for an oblivious regular who positions her mat so that no one can sit in front or behind her, until she is forced to move) But today, she wasn't there and no one, made any attempt to move over - that would be too difficult. It's kinda like the people who in an empty theatre, always sit next to you anyway. wtf? Last week, one of the other classmates brought her kid along, sat him in a corner that was right next to me. He tried his best to be quiet, playing with the toys in the room but wtf?
Today's instructor, besides her non stop unhelpful chatter, also chanted during the relaxation period! again, wtf? I thought at first it was a cd, but I was wrong! Normally during a class, I'm checking the clock and thinking, when will this end!! but know that once I'm done, I always feel better. This time, I was really thinking, please let this torture end. My slight dislike for the instructor felt justified when I saw the peace sign necklace hanging around her neck that went with her entire look- 2 braids on both sides of here head, and glasses - Marica or Jan Brady??
4 hours in a petoulli scented aura of a weekend is enough for one beebitter. Sorry for the crappy pictures. By the time I thought about taking some pics, I was already pass the interesting part of the drive.
