Toronto In Twenty Dollars

                                                   Ten minutes before departure, I realised that  I  have only a twenty dollar bill in my pocket. 

 

 

I started making a list of the things that I can’t forget to take on my trip to Toronto the same day I decided to spend Christmas there.

It was the first time I was flying on my own and I was scared to my bones, thinking about the hundred things that could go wrong on this trip.

Finally when it was time for the flight,  I shook off my fears, called the cab and triple checked my list to make sure I have taken everything.

Seconds before leaving, I decided to change my jacket, and wear my purple jacket because it makes me look big. Having grown up with the idea that big is scary, I wanted to look really big that morning.

After checking in, I decided to get a coffee.

‘I will pay by debit’ , I said, as I proceeded to take out my wallet.

I slid my hand into my pocket, and a month old crinkled up grocery list is the only thing that inhabited my otherwise empty pocket. The other pocket had the same fate, save I found some coins and used them to pay for the coffee.

I diassembled everything from my purple backpack (Yes I have a purple backpack with a purple jacket, lets not make any judgements here okay?), frantically searching for my wallet, while my heart banged erratically against my ribcage.

I KNOW I put it in, I reassured my self as I continued to search.

And suddenly it hit me, I did remember to put it.

But not in the jacket that I was wearing. It was in the jacket that I had initially planned to wear.

Everything became really quiet all of a sudden. The cacophonous crowd that had just got off of the plane quickly scampering away, the sound of engines roaring to life, passports being scanned, suitcases being hastily dragged – everything was lost in the background. It was just me, rooted to the ground, with one dreadful thought ruminating – WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?

I started to shake as tears welled into my eyes. For a moment I wished that I had never grown up, and that I had my parents here with me right now to take care of it.

I told myself that I needed to be strong, and everything will be alright. Its true that I would have to pay for the ride to the hotel. And yes, I need money for the hotel too. Then there is the food, and oh my parents! How am I going to tell them that the first time they trust me to travel on my own, I left my wallet in my house?

The situation looked pretty bad, but I tried to stay poisitive.

I plastered a fake smile on my face, and boared the plane with only twenty dollars in my pocket.

 

 

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I ended up in Hamilton, a nice quiet city in the outskirts of Toronto. Every morning I took the sky train to Toronto, and toured the city.

 

At first I went to the Toronto Zoo. It was the middle of December, winter had just started to grow its roots. Most of the animals were put away, and the ones that were on display were too lazy to get up. I had my camera, but I could barely move my frozen fingers to click. Despite everything, I  managed to take a couple of shots.

 

 

 

 

The Toronto Zoo:

 

 

The snow leopard told me that, no matter what, always be ready to strike a pose.

 

 

 

The Zebras taught an important lesson about friendship – find pals who like doing everyday things like chomping on grass together. Not weed, regular grass.

Leo and I bonded pretty well, I told Leo about my failing grades and he realised that I wasn’t smart enough for him. He turned his back on me, literally.

Disheartened, I turned to the baboon for some advise.

 

 

The baboon honestly made me feel a lot better, he told me that life isn’t all about studies. Sometimes you gotta smoke a stick, and relax.

 

After that, I met the horny polar bear.

 

 

I am not even kidding, he was legit horny and banging on the door that leads to the other side of the confinement. Later the caretaker confirmed that the polar bear was separated from its partner because its the mating season, which is why the bear was behaving like that.

 

I found the hut in the zoo!

 

 

The frog and his wife told me that meditation is the key to success.

 

 

The rhino too added in a couple of words of advice while chomping on grass.

 

 

 

The fish tank gave the best piece of advice, life will be dark most of the time, but there will be always a light. No matter what, you gotta keep swimming towards the light.

 

This made me wonder what human poo could be capable of. Thoughts?

 

The CN tower

WHOAAH, when did you grow so big?

 

I was brave enough to stand on the CN towers glass floor!

 

Downtown Toronto

 

Niagra Falls

I got on a boat called the Maid of the Mist which took us pretty close to the fall. At one point you can’t really see anything because of the mist.

Later that night I watched the sky split in two as the colours of the fireworks poured into the darkness. I decided that I will have fireworks at my wedding.

 

I ended the night and the trip with music from a weird guy with really long armpit hair.

 

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It was a really fun trip, and filled with exactly the type of distractions I needed.

 

Now you must be wondering how I paid for all these, and the answer is, I didn’t.

My brother did.

 

He lives in Hamilton. Oops! Did I forget to mention that I was visiting my brother?

 

Thank you for reading!