Am I In Canada? Read On!
A few hours after I wrote my last blog, a plan was in place. At 7 am I was on the phone with my mom, who LUCKILY had my birth certificate locked up in the family safe. By nine she had taken it to FedEx and it was on its way to me in DC. By nine I had reserved a rental car and finally calmed down, so I decided to finally go to bed for the night. I set my alarm for 1pm, so I could clean and pack some more, and then tucked in to sleep.
At 4pm my mom called, waking me out of my deep sleep. DAMN! Of course I had to then take a super-fast shower, run some errands, and then hop on public transportation (metro and then a bus) to get out to the airport to pick up my car. I missed my first bus, but by 7:30pm I had a white Buick Lacrosse under my butt, and I was heading back to my apartment. The rest of my Monday was spent cleaning, packing, and trying to be as ready as possible, so that on Tuesday morning at 10 I could walk downstairs, grab my FedEx package, and be on the road. By 2am I was in bed, with an alarm for 8am set.
On Tuesday at 10am, my mom called. I WAS ASLEEP AGAIN! I jumped out of bed, and immediately had to start a load of laundry so that I could wash the sheets I had slept on. This is the problem when you're living in someone else's apartment. As the laundry churned, I packed up every last piece of anything, and vacuumed, leaving absolutely no trace that I had even ever lived in the apartment. I went to grab the car and parked it downstairs, and then slowly wheeled my enormous suitcases downstairs. When everything was shiny and clean, I locked up and prepared to hit the road. With a fruit smoothie in hand, I headed out to face the wilds on my way to Canada.
From DC starting around noon, I drove due North, passing through Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and eventually Canada. The sights were generally very pretty... lots of hills, trees, and green pastures. I had packed some of my favorite long-distance snacks, including carrot sticks, goldfish, and diet coke, and so I didn't stop until dinner time. After gas and a McDonald's drive-thru, I was back on the road. I spent most of the time listening to the radio, or to the three CDs I had randomly on hand (Joni Mitchell's Ladies of the Canyon, Mika's Life in Cartoon Motion, and a mix that my bestie Flann had made me) which was awesome. I sang as loud as I could and made friends with other drivers as we took turns following each other. By about 8:30 I had just crossed over the 1000 Islands, and was heading into Canada.
Driving into Canada, the first thing you encounter is a man in a booth, who looks harmless, but immediately starts firing questions at you. I must have hesitated, because after he asked me questions like, "where do you live, where are you coming from, what are you doing here, how long are you staying, is this your car?" He commented that I spent time in lots of metropolitan areas, and then told me to pull over and go into the customs building. YUCK. Of course I did, and as I walked in I knew this was going to be an adventure. There were about two people really working, and five other customs officers just wandering around doing who-knows-what. There were six people sitting on chairs at the side of the room, and ten in line in front of me. As I waited I listened to their stories.
On the chair to my left was a woman with two children, who was a Mexican illegal immigrant into the States. She was trying to get into Canada, but since she was already illegally in the States, they wouldn't let her in. Directly in front of me was a British man who was coming to Canada for business. Apparently he worked for some architecture company that was coming to give a proposal, that would hopefully get him work. This was also not cool with Canada. Another couple was from Iran, and they were trying to come into Canada only to take a flight to go to Belgium. But, they didn't have passports. The agent tried to explain that they couldn't fly without passports, and that they couldn't come in only to fly, because then when they tried to fly back into Canada the country would have to spend money deporting them.
My favorite people were the three men from Georgia. They had the thickest Southern accents I've ever heard, and one kept on taking off his shoes. They were being held because all of them had serious felonies on their records, including one of them having a conviction for murder! He kept saying, "I ain't tryin' to come in an' murder nobody! I jes' wanna work." This was not really working for the sweet lady customs officer. She replied, "I'm sorry, we just don't need any more convicted felons in our country who are looking for work." Sassy!
Eventually it was time for me to get to the front of the line, where I spoke to her. I gave her my driver's license and birth certificate (all the ID I had, mind you) and a letter that we all carry when traveling. It explains that we are working for an American company, and on the back it has a letter from the theatrical producers that we partner with in Canada, explaining that we were working jointly with them. Basically, that we weren't stealing jobs from Canadians, or selling something they hadn't already bought. After reading it and asking about a bijillion questions (including what I did in the show -- and when I told her, saying that she didn't remember my part) she took my paperwork and went in the back. Forty-five minutes later she was back.
The ordeal dragged on and on, with more questions and then a hasty search of my person for firearms. WHAT? If I even had a gun, wouldn't I have left it in the car? About an hour and a half after I 'd arrived, I was finally on my way, still having not much idea about why I was considered such a threat. As I crossed into Canada, I whooped joyfully and began the math to constantly convert km/hr into miles/hr. Otherwise I would have been speeding for days!
By 11pm I was at the National Car Rental counter returning a car, and catching a cab to my fabulous Extended Stay Deluxe. At midnight I finally checked in, dragged all my stuff upstairs, and unpacked for an hour before crashing. I HAD FINALLY MADE IT!!! Of course I never got my down time, because on Wednesday I had to wake up early and head to our first day rehearsal. On my ten minute walk to the theatre I got to see a little bit of Ottawa, and I love it! My hotel, and the theatre, are right by an adorable little canal that runs right through the middle of the city. A lot of the architecture is french, and Parliament even looks like a castle! There are tons of restaurants in the area, and a cute little park. I haven't gotten to see it all though, because we had rehearsal all Wednesday, and then our first preview Wednesday night!
Wednesday's preview went really well (although audiences are a little quieter here) and it was also a really special night. It was the night of the 6000th show of the tour!! This is a really big deal, since most shows never even dream of making 1000. This is 15 years of touring. WOW. We celebrated with hors d'oeuvres and a champagne toast, which led to some late night cast bonding that I won't go into. Regardless, I'm SO excited to be here, in this beautiful city with the amazing weather, and I am just glad that I finally made it.
At 4pm my mom called, waking me out of my deep sleep. DAMN! Of course I had to then take a super-fast shower, run some errands, and then hop on public transportation (metro and then a bus) to get out to the airport to pick up my car. I missed my first bus, but by 7:30pm I had a white Buick Lacrosse under my butt, and I was heading back to my apartment. The rest of my Monday was spent cleaning, packing, and trying to be as ready as possible, so that on Tuesday morning at 10 I could walk downstairs, grab my FedEx package, and be on the road. By 2am I was in bed, with an alarm for 8am set.
On Tuesday at 10am, my mom called. I WAS ASLEEP AGAIN! I jumped out of bed, and immediately had to start a load of laundry so that I could wash the sheets I had slept on. This is the problem when you're living in someone else's apartment. As the laundry churned, I packed up every last piece of anything, and vacuumed, leaving absolutely no trace that I had even ever lived in the apartment. I went to grab the car and parked it downstairs, and then slowly wheeled my enormous suitcases downstairs. When everything was shiny and clean, I locked up and prepared to hit the road. With a fruit smoothie in hand, I headed out to face the wilds on my way to Canada.
From DC starting around noon, I drove due North, passing through Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and eventually Canada. The sights were generally very pretty... lots of hills, trees, and green pastures. I had packed some of my favorite long-distance snacks, including carrot sticks, goldfish, and diet coke, and so I didn't stop until dinner time. After gas and a McDonald's drive-thru, I was back on the road. I spent most of the time listening to the radio, or to the three CDs I had randomly on hand (Joni Mitchell's Ladies of the Canyon, Mika's Life in Cartoon Motion, and a mix that my bestie Flann had made me) which was awesome. I sang as loud as I could and made friends with other drivers as we took turns following each other. By about 8:30 I had just crossed over the 1000 Islands, and was heading into Canada.
Driving into Canada, the first thing you encounter is a man in a booth, who looks harmless, but immediately starts firing questions at you. I must have hesitated, because after he asked me questions like, "where do you live, where are you coming from, what are you doing here, how long are you staying, is this your car?" He commented that I spent time in lots of metropolitan areas, and then told me to pull over and go into the customs building. YUCK. Of course I did, and as I walked in I knew this was going to be an adventure. There were about two people really working, and five other customs officers just wandering around doing who-knows-what. There were six people sitting on chairs at the side of the room, and ten in line in front of me. As I waited I listened to their stories.
On the chair to my left was a woman with two children, who was a Mexican illegal immigrant into the States. She was trying to get into Canada, but since she was already illegally in the States, they wouldn't let her in. Directly in front of me was a British man who was coming to Canada for business. Apparently he worked for some architecture company that was coming to give a proposal, that would hopefully get him work. This was also not cool with Canada. Another couple was from Iran, and they were trying to come into Canada only to take a flight to go to Belgium. But, they didn't have passports. The agent tried to explain that they couldn't fly without passports, and that they couldn't come in only to fly, because then when they tried to fly back into Canada the country would have to spend money deporting them.
My favorite people were the three men from Georgia. They had the thickest Southern accents I've ever heard, and one kept on taking off his shoes. They were being held because all of them had serious felonies on their records, including one of them having a conviction for murder! He kept saying, "I ain't tryin' to come in an' murder nobody! I jes' wanna work." This was not really working for the sweet lady customs officer. She replied, "I'm sorry, we just don't need any more convicted felons in our country who are looking for work." Sassy!
Eventually it was time for me to get to the front of the line, where I spoke to her. I gave her my driver's license and birth certificate (all the ID I had, mind you) and a letter that we all carry when traveling. It explains that we are working for an American company, and on the back it has a letter from the theatrical producers that we partner with in Canada, explaining that we were working jointly with them. Basically, that we weren't stealing jobs from Canadians, or selling something they hadn't already bought. After reading it and asking about a bijillion questions (including what I did in the show -- and when I told her, saying that she didn't remember my part) she took my paperwork and went in the back. Forty-five minutes later she was back.
The ordeal dragged on and on, with more questions and then a hasty search of my person for firearms. WHAT? If I even had a gun, wouldn't I have left it in the car? About an hour and a half after I 'd arrived, I was finally on my way, still having not much idea about why I was considered such a threat. As I crossed into Canada, I whooped joyfully and began the math to constantly convert km/hr into miles/hr. Otherwise I would have been speeding for days!
By 11pm I was at the National Car Rental counter returning a car, and catching a cab to my fabulous Extended Stay Deluxe. At midnight I finally checked in, dragged all my stuff upstairs, and unpacked for an hour before crashing. I HAD FINALLY MADE IT!!! Of course I never got my down time, because on Wednesday I had to wake up early and head to our first day rehearsal. On my ten minute walk to the theatre I got to see a little bit of Ottawa, and I love it! My hotel, and the theatre, are right by an adorable little canal that runs right through the middle of the city. A lot of the architecture is french, and Parliament even looks like a castle! There are tons of restaurants in the area, and a cute little park. I haven't gotten to see it all though, because we had rehearsal all Wednesday, and then our first preview Wednesday night!
Wednesday's preview went really well (although audiences are a little quieter here) and it was also a really special night. It was the night of the 6000th show of the tour!! This is a really big deal, since most shows never even dream of making 1000. This is 15 years of touring. WOW. We celebrated with hors d'oeuvres and a champagne toast, which led to some late night cast bonding that I won't go into. Regardless, I'm SO excited to be here, in this beautiful city with the amazing weather, and I am just glad that I finally made it.
posted by Beth at 12:58 PM
2 Comments:
You said you gave the customs lady your drivers licence and PASSPORT-I think you meant your birth cert. or you would have been flying in and this great adventure never would have happened!! ha ha!
xxxooomom
Thanks! Fixed!
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