Although Vancouver has a reputation for being a bit grey and drizzly, we only saw one day of less than gorgeous weather. Our second day was spent tooling around the Olympic-ized city and heading over to Granville Island. Granville had a great little market area and after a delicious lunch and amazing gelati, we were happy to sit down and watch a local singer.
On March 7th, we drove through the city a bit more to see the different areas. Vancouver, like most cities, has suburbs with different "specialties." There are areas where a lot of the hippies hang out, the richer business district, Chinatown, etc. Brad asked me if Detroit had an area where all the crack heads and druggies hang out. "Yeah, Detroit." But when Brad drove us through the drug area in Vancouver, I was unprepared. There were hundreds and hundreds of people literally lining the streets for blocks. All of the buildings were dilapidated and abandoned. People stood in little groups, all looking fairly homeless and strung out. I saw a couple of drug deals happen in the short amount of time it took us to drive past. It was one of the most bizarre sights to see such a concentrated amount of burn outs. I guess the police prefer to have them all in one area where it can be a bit more controlled. Pretty entertaining but I definitely wouldn't want to walk down those streets. Wish I had a photo...
That evening we were invited to an Oscar party at Brad's school. Brad helps run an out of school program where kids come through at different times each day. They usually have specific activities and he usually has about 40 kids! It's kind of like latch-key with structure. Really great. Anyways, that evening we got really dressed up and went to watch the Oscars. Really dressed up. Probably too dressed up. It was fun though. One of the highlights of the evening for Brian and me was one of the appetizers. Pineapple chunk + cheese + toothpick = amazing. Weird combination, awesome results. It's one of our new favorite snacks! Jalapeno cheese is surprisingly good too.
The following day, we had a full day at Kid's Club (is that what it's called Brad?). Because it was in the middle of winter break, there were only 12 kids which was kind of good for Brian and I because we were able to learn names and hang out a little easier. The kids were hilarious. We played games and hung out outside. There was even a few break dancing kids that put on quite a good show. Brad's definitely got a good gig. They wear you out for sure. Well at least Brian, who had to sit down while pushing girls on a tire swing. Classic.
The next day we had to say goodbye to Vancouver. After a stressful morning we caught the bus to Seattle and ended up waiting over an hour at the border. Apparently all of the guards who check buses through (you have to get off the bus and go through customs) went on break at the same time. Have you ever heard of anything so asinine? We missed our flight but were nicely put on another one and made it to Hawaii with no more drama. Thanks Vancouver for the good times and great weather!! (That means you Brad)
I hope you're having a good time. I hope you enjoyed Vancouver. I just read a bit. I figure I'd tell you a bit more about Vancouver's downtown eastside. So Hasting and Main is the center of what is called The Downtown East side. It's the poorest zip code in Canada and has the cheapest heroin in North America. The reason they are in that area is such great concentration is because of the housing problems. The are was historically a place you could rent cheap rooms. Loggers use to go there in the winter and rent rooms when the weather was too bad for logging. So there was a large amount of cheap housing and eventually the street people start moving to that area looking for housing. Later, social wokers started moving their offices there as well. So some people argue the reason drug addicts and the people with mental peoblems are so concentrated in that area is because that were all the social workers and drug prevention places have set up. But also with the gentrification of the neighbourhood ie..Gastown and Downtown the area has become smaller and smaller. Also, there is a place called Insight there...which is trying to be closed down by the Federal governemnt. Insight is a safe injection site, where people can shoot up with clean needle and nurses are there to help people who might O.D. They also provide informations for people who want to clean up.
ReplyDelete"Pretty entertaining but I definitely wouldn't want to walk down those streets."
It's actually not that bad. I've had walk and catch the bus in that area many times. People generally leave you alone. They're too out of it to harm you.
And now you Know!
-Robinson
Hello you two:
ReplyDeleteHappy to hear that you have arrived....rough trip.....Vancouver, Hawaii...don't know how you managed....I am envious...big time.
I enjoyed your blog and look forward to many more.
Have fun!
Aunt Sheila
P.S. Jen I like your dark hair...looks good.
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited about this blog, all our love!
ReplyDelete