Toronto Notes 3

Canada is te second biggest country in the world and by some estimates one with the greatest concentration of natural resources, when you hear opinion leaders discuss American hunger for oil-and therefore their continued interest and interference in the Middle East and Arabia allegedly for oil-you would consider that the us gets most of its oil from those regions, yet the truth is that the US gets most of its oil from Canada. Canada is extremely rich but it is also extremely conservative, with its huge size and resources it has only one 32 million citizens. Explanations vary, the most prominent being the weather, i can't tell what the truth. But for a fact there's a dynamic mix of people in this country from all parts of the world, why the population has not grown to the level of the US or Mexico nearby is the stuff of thick minded people.
There's relatively small number of black of people in Toronto which is by far is the most diverse city in North America-some would say New York.

This black group of people here are called 'visibly Minority' and there are several programmes by government to help them along with the 'First Nation' groups to access social amenities, these include helping them access education, health and other services. There are actually very Canadian born black people according to a former student of the University of Toronto, my of the blacks here are instead from the Caribeans. I made the naive mistake of referring to one such black person as a fellow African, and i got a lesson about the importance of making politically correct statements or identities in this country.
Apparently, Caribeans are very very sensitive to being referred to as Africans. Africa is a place of corruption, poverty and sleazy government officials and no one wants to be identified with them, it is also thought that the Africans that end up in Canada are ones with clout and connections in their countries and so they are part of that corruption.

The Caribeans also have a totally different type of skins relative to the ones we have here, we are black yes but like Europeans near the Meditarean sea and those in the Northern pole, our skin texture is quite different. They also dress very different, their baggy jeans are tied so low that when you look at a male you cannot help thinking that if there's a slight change in his pace of walking the thing will fall off his butt.


There's a whole variety of people in Toronto and there's no better place to observe the different cultural mix other than Downtown Toronto near Queen and King streets. The fashion glitz here would make missionary school managers in Africa faint in shock, the lifestyles are also equally worth noting. Dance clubs-most are the old town Kareoke that we have at the famous Sky Hotel-ony that here they singing, miming and dancing is done by old women-i was told they could actually be men with long pure white hair and even longer boots on their feet.
Couples-sometimes of the same sex are freely kissing away everywhere and on some occasions screaming and groaning from sex orgies taking place around the corner. Sex here is a celebration, it is not a taboo, you can have it just anywhere without any limit-it is indeed very stupefying why, in Africa with all our sacred approach to sex we are the ones dying the most with HIV/Aids and girls dropping out of school because of early pregnancies. Again, thats the stuff of thick minds.


But it is understandable also why you can do anything in Toronto and get away with it, even if people here actually gaze at strangers the way we do in Africa, they are also busy listening to music. Everyone in this city seems to have earphones plugged in their ears purportedly listening. The most part it is pretentious so that they don't seem to be purposely to be staring at you if you appear a stranger but then again it is difficult to appear a strange here. All the same, w shall be hideously staring at each other in the bus but pretending to be listening to music.

Also because on an average day their are many strange things and strange people in a public place like the trains-this is another interesting topic-people will do anything to avoid eye contact, there's a serious reading culture here that if you are a journalist you most definitely have to research about your story before writing it because the audience is quite informed.
In the subway, which is the equivalent of a Twegerane but a more advanced one at that will have most passengers reading something from freely supplied newspapers-which rely on advertisements to novels, magazines, bibles, journals. Even children read here. As a journalist i always felt proud seeing people emersed in a newspaper reading or filling a crossword puzzle.
But foe the most part they are doing this to avoid eye contact, people are shy here which is confusing because when you talk to them, they have a natural flow of confidence.


With such a large country as Canada, it is confusing how everyone tries to be very protective of their personal space and trying to have their own space even on a train which is almost the main place where you can find many people at the same place.