Day 25 - U of M

Hello friends, today is the first day of my trip west of Ontario, and it was a very enjoyable start to the last bit of freedom I have before I have to be a real person and find a job. It was a 7.5 hour drive from Thunder Bay to Winnipeg, but it was overall pretty smooth and I kept myself entertained for the entirety of the drive, so it flew by. The only major drawback to the drive (and the day as a whole to be honest) is that it was ridiculously hot and humid today, to a point where my A/C was not even helpful. I've sweat more today than I have in years, so it was kind of rough (also kind of sad, I need to get in better shape). Anyways, while driving through Manitoba, I felt like it was very similar to Ontario in many ways, with the main difference that it was a lot flatter than what I've become used to over the past few weeks. And the interesting thing I found about Winnipeg is that it is simultaneously a beautiful city with such a neat community, and a super sketchy place to live, but that's just my opinion. I still had a lot of fun visiting though!

When I got to the University of Manitoba (U of M), I felt like this university had a very unique feel and look to it. It's a mixture of modern and vintage, with a decent amount of green space, and a real "campus" feeling (like what you see in movies). After stopping by the Welcome Centre to pick up a campus map, I walked over to the main Engineering building EITC (Engineering and Information Technology Complex). The building was basically a showcase for what U of M Engineering has to offer, having numerous past student projects on display in the foyer, a wall celebrating Women in Engineering, the Engineering Lounge, and the U of M Engineering Society (UMES) Office, all of which were on the main floor of the building. Even the Dean's office is on the main floor, which is the first school I've visited that has that. I was hoping to see the inside of the UMES office, unfortunately no one was around, but what I saw from the outside really emphasized the spirited culture at U of M. Fun fact about the UMES, they don't have a "President" and several VP's, they have a "Senior Stick" and several "Vice-Sticks", which is very interesting. The other floors of the building are mostly made up of labs, offices, classrooms, and student study spaces. 

Right next door to EITC was the University Centre, so I walked through it a bit to see where students generally hang out, and the building was huge! Basically anything you would need as a student in terms of services can be found in the building, which is pretty handy. I also saw that there are tunnels that connect some of the buildings, and the tunnel towards the Engineering building had the UMES logo on it, so I managed to get a picture with it. I then walked through the rest of campus, and man the architecture of their buildings are just beautiful. And like most other campuses, they had a decent amount of random art, some more unorthodox than others. One weird thing was that their main school sign was about 2 km away from any of the buildings, so it was a bit of a trek to get to it. I was a big fan of the campus overall, and even though it is the only Engineering school in the entirety of the province, it more than makes up for it.

After seeing everything I wanted to see on their campus, I drove over to "The Forks", which is basically a riverside city centre with a variety of shops, restaurants, museums, and other recreational activities. It was actually such a nice place to visit and really highlights the community and cultural diversity in Winnipeg. I walked around some of the shops, got some ice cream, and took a lot of pictures while I was there. I was kind of upset that I got to The Forks after the Canadian Museum for Human RIghts was closed, but it just gives me an excuse to come back to Winnipeg at some point in the future. I then went to explore the Old Market Square, which was a few kilometers away, and there was honestly a lot of really cool graffiti in the area surrounding it. Last stop of the day before heading home was Kildonan Park, which is situated on the Red River, and it was a pretty nice park to go for a walk in. The weather was finally nice enough outside that it made for quite a pleasant walk (until it started raining, but thankfully I was in the car at that point).

Today I am spending the night at a new friend I've made named Theo, who is a friend, of a friend, of a friend. It again just goes to show you how kind everyone is by letting (in some cases) a complete stranger into their home and supporting me through my trip. I am immensely grateful to everyone who has helped me out so far, it has made my trip so much smoother than I could have hoped for. Today was a lot of fun, and tomorrow I will be heading to Regina, SK!

UManitoba: www.instagram.com/p/BjL0LXuloRA