The greatest country in the world. At least while I was growing up. Tell me where you could find another country in the early 2000s that had so much stability, safety, and life possibilities. I arrived in Calgary, Canada in January 2005 in the middle of a snow storm. I was astounded when the plane landed and I stepped outside to breath in the cold air through my nostrils, my chest felt tight. It's the first time I experience such a frigid and unforgiving weather. But this was my new home and I accepted it fully.
Calgary is the one city in Canada which you can ascribe more of an American style to and can be compared to its sister city Denver. The city is immaculately clean, driven mostly by the oil and gas industry, and caters mostly to family life. And of course, we can't forget the magnificent Canadian Rockies a couple hours drive away giving you an opportunity to discover rich natural beauties. Calgary is famously known for the Calgary Stampede, annual festival and rodeo that takes over the city and its really the only time the city comes alive with pancake breakfasts, parties, and everybody dressed as a cowboy/cowgirl.
I enrolled right away into junior high school (grade 9) and adapted quickly and excelled and moved on to high school. I took my studies seriously and during first year of high school, I discovered my new love: RUGBY. I would have never imagined in a million years that I would play a game like rugby because it is so rough and seemed to me like a barbaric game but how wrong I was. Rugby is a hooligan sport played by gentlemen and most importantly, it's highly strategic. We played together as team, each player responsible for doing his best in his given position. I started out as a wing and transitioned into Scrum Half. The middle man between the backs and the front and the one who directed the flow of the game. The role was perfect for me because I was small, loud, and bossy! and during my last year with the team, I won the MVP award. Wow Wow Wow. I was also an Honour Roll student 3 years in a row, meaning having an average of 80% and higher. To say the least, I worked my ass off. I also continued working in Canada from age 15, every summer in high school, I worked. First, at Burger King then I moved into retail sales.
Then came the new challenge. We had to choose our path for university. I knew right away that I wanted to become an engineer. It's a solid degree that taught you a solid set of skills, how to think, how to solve problems, and the salary was great and so engineering school started. I will never forget the grueling days of hard work and sacrifice that went into year one. The year we all had to work hard to prove ourselves so we can get into our discipline of choice and I got into mine, PETROLEUM ENGINEERING.
I hustled hard. I spent my university years studying like an animal, working like an animal in retail sales and then as a reception in a massage place before securing my first engineering internship. Damn all that work paid off. Having money felt good. Before I started working, I got my driving license within 10 days and passed the test the first time and within a month of starting my new job, I went to the bank, took out a line of credit and bought my first car. It was my prized possession. The best car that 5000 dollars can buy. Fast with 260 horsepower, leather everything, automatic everything, sporty, coupe, and bose sound system so I can blast music as loud as possible.
My engineering internships allowed me to make good money and I saved money for two years because I had plans to travel after I graduated and boy, I did not hold back. After I graduated from engineering school in April 2014, I went with my engineering classmates on a school funded trip to Brazil, namely Sao Paulo and after that I extended my trip and stayed behind to discover Brazil. Such a delight! After a month of Brazil, I went back to Canada and then went to Iceland with my only Canadian friend and from there, I continued my journey to Europe for my first ever solo backpacking trip starting with Amsterdam. And after 5 weeks of touring around Europe, I caught a flight to Montreal to enroll in a fully funded French immersion program. That month was one of the best months of my life. So much fun, so many amazing friends, and so many amazing memories. And no that was not enough for me, I went back to Europe for another 5 weeks. I blew all my money and it was worth every penny.
After that, I secured my first full time engineering job which put me in a strong financial position. I continued to travel around the world and even bought my first apartment in the Bridgeland/Renfrew area. It was a magnificent apartment with amazing views of the downtown skyline, brand new, and the area was just perfect. Quaint and cute. But I will always remember that apartment with a heavy heart because it was the most difficult and challenging days of my life. The misery I felt while I was living there was too much to get into. Losing my engineering job during the economic downturn of 2016 was so traumatizing, I left engineering altogether and it was also the biggest blessing of my life. It prompted me to change my entire life and once I broke the shackles of my prison, I ran for the hills!
All the way to Montreal.
Canada is a country of vast geographical differences. You have the west which was conquered by the British and you can feel the Anglo-Saxon influence in everyday life. It is very straight. Then you have the Northern part with harsh colds still inhabited by indigenous people. The part in the middle is mostly forgotten like Saskatchewan and Manitoba (lol). Then you have Eastern parts of the country which are more populated and cultural. Especially Quebec, which the British and the French fought over making Montreal the interesting eclectic bilingual city that it is.
I booked a one way ticket and took it from there. I spent a year in Montreal trying to heal and make sense of the trauma I experienced in Calgary. I was lost, confused, and felt all kinds of feelings I do not even have the words to describe. Montreal is a safe zone for me. A place I can also go back to for safety. It became my adopted home. I left Canada in 2018 to go on my world adventures but again retreated to Montreal for safety and shelter in 2020 when corona virus broke out. And once again, I retreated to safety in Canada in 2023 when I found myself in a troublesome position in Dubai.
My return to Canada in 2023 was terrifying because finally I had to face the biggest demon of my life, my mother. Usually a mother is a home of refuge and warmth and safety. But not my mother. So back I went, trashed my parents home and got arrested by the police. I spent months after that in and out of the hospital, namely the psyche ward. An exaggeration in my opinion but even being in the hospital, I felt safe. Because Canada will always be that for me, a place where I can find safety.
Canada is an accepting society regardless of skin colour, religion, and gender. In Canada, you are a human. In Canada, you are respected. In Canada, you are safe. Perhaps Canada has changed over the years but it will always remain the greatest country on earth.
I would describe Canadians as efficient, reserved, respectful, professional, and most importantly VERY POLITE. And who can be better than that? So here is an ode to Canada on Canada Day for being a magnificent country that has the ability and intelligence and energy to continue working on itself and maybe it will never be the country it used to be but it will find a way to stand again and guess what, we will always be nice because being nice is cool.
I finally feel safe in the world and even though I am far away from you, Canada, I will never forget you. A country that gave me so much and I am forever grateful to you for everything. You will always be in my heart. Canada always has my back.
HAPPY CANADA DAY!
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