A VERY HAPPY BIRTH-DAY

Ontario was beautiful even through the bitter feeling of having been refused the entry to the States. I should have thanked the border guards, I thought later, as Canada´s road unrolled before me in its most beautiful fall colours. I had just published my post about closed doors (see U.S.A. says No) when from the ride that brought me to Ottawa, received a present – a little key.
“It is exactly what I need,” I told Megan who had taken the necklace from her neck.
Quebec, Canadian French speaking province, received me with a lot of rain. Communication with my, all of them very kind, drivers was often limited to around ten sentences in French that I knew.

I made a sign that said “Halifax”, to go faster, but due to my language barrier missed the turn to New Brunswick. At one point I had no idea where I was – my map showed one road going around the peninsula of Gaspesie, toward a place called Gaspe, and another one going across to New Brunswick. I hoped I was on the one going across. My tent was wet, I was also wet and cold. Standing and hitchhiking under a bridge, does not in any way make you feel rich, but quite the opposite. I had camped in a place called Amqui, put up my moist tent under a shelter of a picnic place in town center. The next morning Charles Andre – a young fellow, once also a traveller, stopped for me after I had been hitchhiking for about half an hour just outside Amqui.

“You are my ride no 198 from Estonia” I told Charles-Andre and showed him my diary of hitchhiking where I have been keeping track of all kind people who have helped me along the way. This way I know the number of days I have spent on the road, the distances I travel in a day; comments I write about drivers do not let me forget anyone.
“So what data do you need?”
“Like, what is the name of the place you can take me to and how far from Amqui is it?” I said.
“That depends on where you decide to go,” smiled Charlo “You would love Gaspe!”
I laughed.
“Gaspe is such an amazing place, that if you went there, you would not want to leave,” he continued.”And if you went to Gaspe, you also would have a place to stay. I have a sailing boat and if you wanted you could live there even for the whole week.”
“So do you want to get off here?” asked Charles-Andre without even slowing down as we passed the crossroad to New Brunswick.
We were going to Gaspe.
“How ironic, that Gaspe was the place I so much did not want to go to, when I had looked at the map before. ”
I had wished to cross Quebec as fast as possible, and going to Gaspe at the tip of the peninsula did not fit into that idea at all.

Suddenly I saw the sun. I was happy.
“Travelling teaches you what you can live without,” a Mennonite girl Hannah had once said after listening to my stories. I could not agree more. At that point when I saw the sun in a blue sky, I felt I needed nothing more to be happy. But it takes a week of rain to learn that. Just as it takes a couple of days of instant food to appreciate the taste of a well-cooked meal.

When still in Japan, my friend Beatrix had taught me a personality test based on creative visualization of a desert. While coming to Gaspe I made the test to Charlo. I´ve done it altogether to about a hundred people, but Charlo took it really seriously. “I could use it in my work,” he said. Among other things, Charles Andre had a shiatsu massage practice in town. The week that I spent in Gaspe we went around making the test to many of Charlo´s friends. Those who could not do it in English, did it in French. The results and interpretations were always discussed with everyone. If someone had not been in their “desert” yet, the key was carefully kept in secret. I will not be exadurating if I said that the desert test became the topic of the week in Charlo´s circle.

Charlo brought me home to his girlfriend Anne and a kind lady - single mother Genevieve. That night I was to stay there. In fact I only had to stay on a boat once (which was a great experience!). Jean-David, another owner of the boat took me home to his parents place. His mother Carmen was a great cook and we had a very wonderful conversation behind the dinner table. Both Charlo and Jean-David showed me the park of Forillon on different days and from different spots. Beautiful places, great times! I came to say good-bye to Charlo at his office on October 3rd. Time to go…
“You can´t go,” he said to my good-bye. “There is a lady in town, she is from Estonia! You have to meet her. Today we are going sailing, and then there is improvisation-theater tonight and ultimate-frisbee tournament tomorrow. We need a player!”
So I stayed, and later moved back to Charlo´s, Anne´s and Genevieve´s place.

“Happy birthday!” said Charlo in the morning of October 4th. Are you ready to play?”
The tournament lasted from ten in the morning to three in the afternoon. Our team won and everyone sang Happy Birthday in French. It was such a happy day.

Anne made a traditional cake from Quebec, gave us the dough to take along to Jean-Raphael´s place where everyone was to watch hockey. The T.V. did not work letting the night become the most beautiful birthday party for…me. The cake came out great, especially the way they presented it to me – a birthday classic - a surprise in the dark room, one more “Happy birthday to me” in French and of course a candle! A week ago I did not even know these people, and now it feels like I am celebrating with old friends!

Another feeling I have to thank the road for. It is because of limited times, that they become so intense. When hitchhiking, a meeting lasts usually only a few hours, in this perspective a few days becomes a long time.


Next day we went sailing again. What a present!

“So what kind of work could you do on the boat?” The guys were discussing my options of getting a ride to Mexico from Halifax. The tornado season was over, timing was supposed to be good. “Do you have any experience with sailboats?”

“I was sleeping on a sail boat a few days ago. Went sailing for an hour yesterday, and today for the whole day…” I said bluntly.
They laughed.
“…though I would be very happy if someone still took me. Wouldn´t that be enough?”
“That´s it!” said Charlo later. “You should write an add to put up in some big yacht club in Halifax: If you take me on your boat, I will be so happy, that I will make you happy too.”

I started my journey toward Halifax the next day, on October 6th and reached my destination three days later.