Trip to Montreal: Day 5

After a long time we are not home on occasion of Gudi Padwa. Today was the first day of the conference I’m here to attend. I was at 4:00 am. It was still somewhat dark when I stepped out on the road and 22 degrees with wind. Attendees had started to show up inside the convention center. Tables were set in the hallways on the second floor with coffee, tea , fruit and egg muffin sandwiches. One of those sandwiches and a hot cup of tea were perfect to get the day started.

The session started on the 5th floor at 8:00 am and went on till past 5 pm. It was very intense and exhaustive. I was learning about the regulations surrounding hospice for the first time. This was the first step towards preparation for the hospice medical director certifying examination coming up in less than 2 months. Here in the USA it is not just about understanding the medical, psychosocial and ethical side of hospice medicine but equally important to know the minute details about regulatory procedures and liabilities. More about it sone other time.

We had to find our own lunch in the interval starting 12:15 till 1:15 pm. I settled for Singapore noodles at a fast food restaurant on the ground floor of the convention center. They were pretty good.

There was a reception held on the second floor starting 5:30 pm. Before they opened the reception area people were mingling outside. I spotted a familiar face walking past me. I sheepishly followed the petite lady. She ran into someone she knew and they began to chat. I stood behind her patiently waiting till they were done. After over 10 minutes I finally went closer and sought her attention. Are you Dr Puri ? An instant smile spread across her face! How did you recognize me, she asked. I told her I had read her book That Good Night and recognized her from the photo of hers on the book. There was so much praise already garnered for the book from critics and peers, what more could I say other than it struck a chord with me. She asked me what I do and we exchanged pleasantries before saying bye.

By then the reception had opened for all. There were various Hospice related vendors, educators, job recruiters and organizations having their booths. There were also tables set with hors d’oeuvres. An attendant at a table, Christine Gabor Capital( her badge read),  serving desserts was very inviting to the guest. She encouraged me to try a maple bar and a maple cake. Everything was local Quebec specialty, she explained. She asked me where I was originally from. Her face lit up instantly when I said Mumbai. She works as a flight attendant and just got back from Mumbai last Saturday. She had a day to spend in Mumbai and walked around the Gateway of India and the Taj Palace. We had quite an animated chat talking about Mumbai. Thanks to her I was loaded with sugar before returning to the room.

Abhay had spent the day exploring things around the hotel and was waiting for me. It was time to set out for dinner. Found a good French restaurant 5 minutes walk from the hotel. Indulged in cheese board, merlot , mushroom risotto and lamb chops. They gave a complimentary crème brûlée dessert because they took too much time to bring out our food.

Saree today was a a beautiful Bhujodi in earthy colors from Pachanbhai of Three Threads. He has used bamboo fiber and experimented with ikat on the body. It was quite cold inside the lecture hall and I sat covered with one of his Bhujodi stoles around my neck during the lecture. 

Took a selfie while leaving the hotel in the morning. The Notre dame Basilica is seen in the background. Another photo in the hotel room after coming back from the conference but the saree was quite crumpled by then after donning the coat over it all day. Oh well! It was a working day in the cold weather of Montreal. It is what it is !

Although the pictures suggest the day was all about food that’s not really true 😃. There was really a lot of learning that happened for the large part of the day.