2005-06-12 - 10:59 a.m.
With the abundance of warm weather lately, I can't believe how much I miss Pakistan. I've only been there five times in my life, but those experiences have shaped my own identity and existence much more than I give it credit sometimes.
Met a few friends for drinks in an ultra-cool bar in Mile End: Le Figaro I think it's called. It reminded me of le Bouillon Chartier in Paris. The latter is an orginal Monmartre bar from the 1890s: the food is good and cheap. It's like stepping into 'Bar at the Folies Bergere' by Manet. The warm wood, incandescent (sp?) lighting, brass fixtures, etc. When assembled together in the same space, operating at the same time, all elements lend a harmoneous warm glow. Both spaces speak so much, it's like stepping into a time machine.
Sitting outside on the terasse last night, feeling the summer heat, I was amazed at pedestrian traffic going by. Families walking around at 1am, together-a wonderful sense of community. I also noticed the street signs: corner of Hutchison and Fairmount. The Hutchison sign was a newer one, post language laws when all the signs changed to French only, I think around 1976 or so. The Fairmount sign was an original English sign from the 1950s, W. Fairmount Avenue, but the "W" and the "Avenue" were just whited out. I wonder why this sign had another painted layer of history added to it, while the other one was changed?
I miss being in a place where the dominant narrative has allowed itself to permeate (sp?) itself into daily lived experience. I felt the spirts at this corner, as I do whenever I go to Pakistan. Both places do have 'history', but the visible presence of this sense of time has a direct correlation to its age. What I'm getting at is that the Mughal Empire has left its mark well into the 21st century, an this bar in Mile End had visible marks of time passing through the ages. The dominant narrative from a vanished time has left its mark.
I miss feeling that sense of age, but on the other hand this corner in Mile End, and the street signs especially, reminded me how much the dominant narrative can shape one's sense of age, and also how the dominant narrative can culturally shift.
The heat last night reminded me of evenings in Pakistan. A sense of public life stretching into the wee hours of the morning. A social life, the ambient noise of people out having a good time. The sense of hibernation is much different there, as people tend to escape into slumber only during the day because it is too warm to do anything. In Montreal, the escape is the entire winter, or so it would seem.
A friend of mine who is Dutch was dating a Finnish woman a while back. I asked him once how people from Finland deal with the cold. He responded the three 'S's: Skiing, Sauna and Sex. I think we can learn much about wellness from our European counterparts.
