Mulva

I'll just get this out in the open: now that we are leaving Athens in T minus 11 days, I'm pretty much done with Greece. I haven't quite reverted to speaking only in English, preceeding every phrase with "Dude," nor am I walking around pumping one fist and chanting "U-S-A! U-S-A!" but I've mentally checked out of all things Hellenic and am looking forward to heading to the States and then on to Toronto. And no, I don't have a job yet, so lay off.

Anywho, the good news is that we got (subsidized) faculty housing from the University of Toronto. Woo hoo! To you green, green Yankees, that means we will live in a place we would not normally be able to swing or would have to sacrifice our first-born for. Spadina Avenue will be our new locale. And, if you're wondering how to pronouce that, yes, yes it does rhyme with a particular female body part (Mulva?). A Canadian friend of ours said that, when in doubt, most things Canadian rhyme with "vagina." We have a lot to get used to.

Some important links you'll want to familiarize yourself with (particularly you, Suki):

Craig's List for Toronto This has a lot of info, but thankfully we won't be needing the apartment classifieds, for which there are about 7 billion listings.

Now Toronto Indie newspaper, a la The Village Voice, or the Triangle Independent. It has all the requisite dining/entertainment listings for the young and hot. Eph and I are loosely counting ourselves among that peer group. Save your comments, I have deleting power anyway.

Toronto Dogs More info than you'll ever need about operating a canine in Toronto

Toronto subway map This is for the downtown only (yeah, that's right, we'll live "downtown!"). We don't mess with the 'burbs anymore. Yarmouth, Maine, Durham, North Carolina, I scoff at you.

The Big Carrot Natural Food Store Seriously, these things are important. I make my own mueslix, so just go stuff your sorries in a sack if you think that's weird.

Alright, let's not kid ourselves here:

Ikea

Home Depot

Bad news, no Target in Canada (yet!), so we'll have to go with Wal Mart for cheap plastic things from the Far East. As Stephen Colbert so rightly noted, "China, your great nation makes our Happy Meals possible."

I have to go take a shower.