the tree is gone and i am as well

something happened last night that got me so angry and frustrated that no one could do anything about it. i was looking out the window of my aunt´s apartment at 11pm when i saw someone climbing on top of a ladder that was against a tree on the sidewalk and cutting it with a saw! and this person wasn´t a city worker, it wasn`t his tree and the tree looked perfectly healthy. all the branches were cut and he dragged the tree accross the street to leave it by the garbage bin. there were people watching but no one was doing anything about it. they were 2 men involved and they looked like they were having fun doing it. the tree was big enough that it provided lots of shade and now all that`s left is the trunk. it`ll never grow back the same way again. i told my aunt about it and she went downstairs to talk to the doorman and he said that it`s people from the communist party who were paid to cut it because they rent the building in front of the tree and they needed space to place the scaffolding so they could paint the building. i asked why no one is calling the police and she said that these are people you don`t want to get involved with. even the police are scared to come to some neighourhoods and there`s one block right here that`s scary. you can`t trust the police here anyway. they`ll tell them who called and people can come after you. there´s a whole building of people who live close by who steal for a living. the way these 2 guys looked and kept yelling all night, they looked like the most barbaric people i´ve ever seen. when something like this happens, it makes me happy that in canada you can go to prison for that like that woman did in vancouver when she poisoned those trees in stanley park because they were ruining her view of the beach from her condo.

i spent almost an hour on the bus on 2 seperate trips yesterday. the first time i was on for 30 minutes. i was sitting close to the front and 7 people came on at different times selling stuff. candy, gum, earphones, astrology books, and a puppet show. the noise from the engine is so loud so when someone comes up to sell something they stand at the front and start yelling about what they`re selling and after a while it was really getting on my nerves. the puppet show was really strange. i think this man had some type of mental problem. he was holding the puppet and acting like he was the puppet and it was really theatrical. it made me smile but most people in the bus are jaded about all of that and no one reacts to anything. you could do anything on the bus and it wouldn´t be shocking to anyone. some people did clap after the show and gave him some change.

you don`t get taxed on your wages here. there`s no deductions from what you earn. there`s a 23% sales tax on everything that you buy and consume in a restaurant but it`s included in the price. people also pay property taxes but that´s it. and the government never has enough money for any services or to improve hospitals, roads and schools because of this. you have the choice between public and private health care. private health care costs $40 a month which is a lot for the amount people make here and the public health care system is horrible. you have to bring your own sheets if you`re staying overnight and the hospitals are dirty.

i`m not completely happy with my hair cut. i have a cute pixie cut. i look more like liza minelli from cabaret than miss ross from the supremes. she cut a lot more than i wanted. i don`t think i could express myself that well in spanish when it comes to hairstyles. but she did give me a great cut and everyone loves it. it`s no big deal. it`ll grow back.