Hey Laidlaw! 

Please don’t make me leave Canada. 

I cannot believe we only have a week left. I don’t think I will be able to sleep at all this week because I don’t want to waste a single second. 

It’s insane how at home I have felt from the second we landed. I am sure having Tilly (who feels like home) by my side played a big part in that. But I always feel most like myself when I spend every second of every day (and most nights) outside. When I am surrounded by mountains and sea and forests it is even harder to convince me to come inside.  

This week was one of the best ones yet. We ended up at a barbecue with the outdoors society on Wednesday night. At about 11 pm we decided we should go surfing on Vancouver Island. At 6:30 am the next day Tilly and I got picked up by our friend Oliver and two other club members and made our way to Tofino! I LOVE being surrounded by people who agree to any and every plan whenever. I originally mentioned to Oliver that he should drive us there as a joke because I was disappointed that we hadn’t made it to the Island. I am so so happy that he (and two others) didn’t see any reason why proposing a trip which would take 7 hours to get to for which we had not booked a ferry, rental car, campsite or surf boards only 7 hours before departure time should be interpreted as a joke. 

We spent the nights camping and the days SURFING which is my favourite thing ever ever ever (except for dancing) (and maybe running) (and also yoga!). I could write 10000 pages on why I love it but I shall give you the top 3 reasons:

1. When you line up to catch a wave and it suddenly builds up to be MUCH bigger than expected. It feels really scary but the safest thing to do is just attempting to surf it!! You need to stay really calm because if you get stressed you will become very tense and immediately be wiped out by the wave. So you just lie on your board and wait for the wave to hit you, focussing on your breathing. It feels really good to force myself to do scary things and stay calm about it/ embrace it!!
2. When the wave does hit you and you go SO fast!! It’s insane how much power a wave can have 
3. I always feel really frustrated when I’m not surfing as well as I want. But that forces me to constantly reframe the way I’m thinking. I don’t surf because I’m good, I surf because I love everything involved in the sport. It’s a really good exercice in letting yourself enjoy things without involving the ego!
4. (I lied, I am giving a forth reason because I love surfing so so much) The people in the line up are always so kind and I make loads of friends. This weekend a Canadian couple asked me for advice and I ended giving them a basically one hour long lesson. I’ve also had strangers offer to watch me get a wave if it is particularly big so that I know someone would notice should anything happen. 
5. (Last reason!!) IT IS OUTSIDE!!! and you can stay ALL DAY! (Which we did). 

From Tofino we visited some distant family friends of Tilly’s in Victoria (capital of Vancouver Island). They were an 80 year old couple and incredibly friendly and generous. We slept in beds (which felt really great after Tofino- it took me about ten minutes to remember where I was when I woke up cause I was so out of it), got home cooked meals (first time in YEARS eating meat because I felt bad telling them I was vegetarian but it was quite tasty!) and got driven around to all of their friends’ houses who all conveniently had ponds in their gardens to swim in. It’s such a beautiful corner of the world. They told us SO many stories which encouraged me to go live even more adventures so that I have just as many stories to tell random girls who want to stay in my house when I am old. Duncan (the man) was originally from England and reminded me a lot of my grandpa which was so lovely because my grandpa was really cool and I miss him a lot. 

Apart from that Tilly and I are getting mega strong. She will have insane biceps from using the crutches so much. I will have insane legs from giving her so many piggy backs (including up the 450 steps to get home from the beach on Monday).

Work wise we have done some! Which has been really fun. It is strange because the topic is EXACTLY what interests me (genetics and psychiatry/ mental health) and the research team are the most kind and fun people ever but I cannot imagine myself doing this job permanently. I am a bit discouraged from public health and how much of a difference it can actually make. Trump cutting all of US’s funding does not help. Sometimes I think the best way to make a concrete difference is through much more practical ways. This includes anything from running a local organisation to smiling/ talking to people on the street (a bit cheesy sorry- but also true). I think I am partly limiting what types of jobs I imagine myself doing in the future because I do well in school and am therefore expected to do something fancy. But I would truly be so happy being a surf/ yoga instructor which 1. Includes doing what I love all day long 2. Brings so much joy/ value to people and should not be underestimated!!!!!!! However, I also do love sitting in a room and using research papers to be bossy and tell people why they are wrong (in a respectful way of course). It’s been a really great experience doing this project and I’ve learnt a lot about how these organisations work but also about myself! 

Anyways, as you can tell, I am having the best time ever so if there is any extra funding going, I would be very happy to receive it! Although I do miss home (especially the bread, my parents/friends, speaking French and my big blue hoodie which I forgot there) (in no particular order!!). 

Bye!!!