Yesterday [Wednesday Nov 28th, I am writing the English version a few days late] I drove all day to go from New York to Ottawa, Canada's capital. I will be here until Monday, visiting a friend, professor at Carleton University, and I will give two talks.
Canada, as everybody knows, is a sort of US but more Europe-ized. It has a few traits proper of European countries, like the universal National Health System, which doesn't exist in the US, although Democrats say they will implement it if they win. In Canada, everything is like in the US, but a little different. Money in different denominations has different colors, which is nice after the uniformity of American bills. And the Canadian dollar, which used to be 60 US cents, is now even after the free fall of the US dollar.
The other interesting trait of this country is that it really is bilingual. Signs are also in French, and it's not difficult to hear French in the street. The border agent who checked my papers had a heavy French accent.
And it's really cold. Right now, at 11 am, we are at -3C [27F]. And it's snowing. It's my first exposure to snow this trip, but surely it won't be the last. Here's a picture of a white Ottawa from my hotel room window. The first building you see is the City Hall.
