Why I Love Toronto

You may or may not recall my first blog post in which I briefly described the amount of moving that my family has done. Let me break it down for you. We moved from Guatemala City, Guatemala, to Dardanelle, Arkansas. From there, we moved to Toronto, Ontario (St. Clair area). We then moved to West Seneca, New York as we waited for the Canadian government to accept our applications for residency. THEN we moved back to Toronto (Etobicoke). We then moved to London, Ontario until finally settling in Kitchener, Ontario. 

LOL JKZ. I moved to Toronto for school again and right now I'm thinking I might stay in Toronto after university (but that's way too far ahead to be solidified. I'm not even sure what I'm going to have for lunch. Darn. Now I'm hungry.) 

So class, is anyone noticing some what of a pattern or a recurring aspect to this story? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? That's right. I keep moving to Toronto. 

Now why do I keep doing this? I'd like to say that it's because since the first time I stepped foot in this city I knew that this was my place in the world, and that I was supposed to live the rest of my days here in this magnificent city! However the first time I stepped foot in this city I looked something like this: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

(I'm the curly headed cutie in the middle.) So I don't really remember the first time I lived in Toronto.

The second time though, I was a little older, about 3-5 years old. I lived in Etobicoke and went to two different schools in those 3 years. I remember the days that my mom and I would go to the mall. I remember walking with her to go pick my brother and sister up from school. I remember riding the subway with her and going to the Skydome (It will ALWAYS be Skydome to me) with my famly.

However after we moved to London, and later to Kitchener I always said for some reason, that I would never want to go back to Toronto. I cited the fact that I hated the hustle and bustle of the big city and would never want to be a part of that. In high school though, I was part of DECA and every year we would go to Toronto in February for the Provincial competition. Being from out of city, my school made a whole weekend out of it where we stayed downtown, connected to the Eaton Center, in front of City Hall. Right in the hustle and bustle. I loved being right downtown for those few days, but even then, I would get tired of the big city by the end of the weekend, begging to go back to the quiet, peacefulness of Suburbia. 

When I had heard about Glendon, that only thing that somewhat hindered me in completely being in love with the idea, was the fact that it was in Toronto. Not only would I have to move once again, I'd have to live in Toronto. The great thing about Glendon though is that it is located in a very quiet area of Toronto. The Bridle Path, is known for it's peacefulness and the quaint feeling you have when walking in this area. Glendon, is surrounded by the forest, so you feel even more secluded, and sometimes you forget that you're in the biggest city in Canada. Glendon however is also about 30 minutes from downtown and right by a subway station and on a couple of bus routes so you don't have trek that far to leave our wooded corner of the city,

The first weekend I went back home after moving, I found myself already missing Glendon and "home". But I didn't miss Toronto. However it was the night of Nuit Blanche that I finally realized how enamored I was of this city (see picture). The fact that downtown could shut down, and people came in flocks to see artwork was just beautiful to me. It was magnificent and the energy of Toronto really came alive. That's when I fell in love with the city. Then one weekend, my brother and I had gone to see a show downtown, so he crashed in my residence room. I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sensation of pride, showing my brother around the city. To this day, when I'm on the Greyhound on the way back to TO, I get a goofy grin when I see the skyline. 

I love Toronto. I don't know why I used to say I'd never want to live here. The energy, the people, the life in this city is awe-inspiring. When I'm here, I feel like I want to do something big. Something exceptional, because I was to contribute to this community. That's what's special about Toronto. Although there's 4 000 000+ people in this city, there's a sense of community. There's a sense of community and a communal energy from all those 4 million people, who come from different backgrounds, countries, cultures and experiences. Do you want to see the energy that Toronto has? Watch this stunning time-lapse video by Ryan Emond. It's really the closest way to feel the energy without being actually being here.