Canada

Dear Mom,

How are you? I hope that you and dad are doing well. I want you to know that I’m really thankful to have you as my mom. I know that I didn’t get a chance to tell you about my new country that I live in now with my husband and my little boy. You know mom, I still remember the first day here in Canada. It was really the longest day of my whole life. I was so excited about this new life but at the same time I missed my family and my friends. But my husband stood with me and made me feel better,

I will tell you first about the weather here. At the summertime everything is green. Although the summer is very short, I prefer it more than winter. At the summer I can go for a walk with my son, play in the backyard, ride a bike together and swim at the pools. We planted nice flowers and some vegetable and fruits at the in front yard. At the wintertime, the weather is very cold here in North Bay, where I live in now. But all people here like winter because they have lots of things they can do at that time such as, go fishing at the frozen lake, skiing and skating.

The second thing I want to tell you about is the place here. It’s a small city so we don’t have lots of places to go. There are two malls, but not as big as the malls in Toronto or Montreal. Lakes are beautiful, especially at the summertime it’s nice to walk on the waterfront. Around my house you can see all kinds of birds, ducks crossing the street with their babies. Squirrels on the trees searching for nuts and running everywhere, they look funny. Also I saw deer several times. You know mom, it’s like countryside. The area here before five years was a forest. They built lots of houses and they are removing all the trees in this area and building a huge apartment complex. Mom, you know me, when I start talking with you, I can’t stop.

Finally, I want tell you about our trip to Montreal and Québec City. We hadn't gone on a trip for a while. My husband and I went to the aquarium with our son. He was so excited to see many kinds of fish. After that we went to the "Mount Royal". You can see all Montreal from the mountain, especially at night, it was really interesting. After one day we went to "Montreal Botanical Garden". It was a wonderful place where you can see butterflies everywhere. My son was so happy and he ran after them. The last place we visited was Old Quebec. It is a historical neighborhood of Québec City and the capital of Quebec. It's a really amazing place for walking.

Mom, I really miss back home where I lived for more than 22 years. No one can forget her country, but I find the people here are very kind. I don’t feel strange in this new country, absolutely not. I hope to see you soon mom and dad in my new small city. I know that you will like the place here especially at summertime. Take care of yourself and be happy please. I really miss your smile a lot and I love you mom.

Your daughter,

Manal