After my ATM card was eaten by a Scotiabank machine I was in a pissy mood. There was unfortunately no time to mourn it, I had to nestle my way into the belly of Calgary, for deep within the metropolis was the Wicked Hostel right in the heart of downtown.
After spending the last 1,500 miles in the great plains, crossing vast expanses, diving into a dense urban environment is a hell of an adjustment. I've said it in videos before: it's like dropping a cat into a crowd of people. The stimulation overload with all of the cars, turns, pedestrians... it's a bit much to take in after spending hours driving in straight lines.
When I check in, it's also quite a rush. It was a Sunday afternoon but the hostel was brimming with life. A crowd of 1-2 dozen people were drinking in the common area, pre-gaming for what would be another night at the biggest rodeo Canada has to offer: The Calgary Stampede.
This 9-day festival is the biggest Alberta has to offer, Alberta the Canadian province most associated with ranching, wide open spaces, big trucks, and country music. If each province in Canada were a person, Alberta would be the cowboy.
The hostel was full of the archetype too- even if my fellow hostel neighbors were from all corners of the globe, they all were still donned with leather boots, denim vests, and cowboy hats. Some were here to actually partake in the competitions themselves, driving their bulls, horses, ponies, and other competition megafauna from places as far away as Mexico.
It had the traditional hallmarks of hostel life: Cellphones charging in the hallways, sleepy guests at all times of day arriving from far off locales, people on laptops getting their travel arrangements in order, people leaving or arriving in packs, and some laying in bed in the middle of the day just trying to get rest.
I'm an extremely outgoing person but it's been such a long time since I've been in this social ecosystem. I decide I'd hit up a liquor store, pop into a group of people and just ask: "Mind if I drink with you guys?!" and I plop down and go through the regular pleasantries. There are so many things to ask:
-Where are you from?
-Where are you coming from? Where are you going?
-How long have you been in Canada?
-What have you found interesting around here?
Any one of these questions varies wildly depending on who you ask and it's always fascinating, leading to new questions. The other thing is that everything falls into place nightly in a place like this during a time like this. Any night of the week you can expect people to be hitting up bars, looking to find travel companions to take with to any particular attraction, OR, if you so wish, you can find yourself a couch, your bed, and just rest, relax, and regroup.
I found myself doing something interesting with someone different each night, or sometimes the same folks a couple nights in a row. I danced at clubs, local bars, took in a concert, watched the competitions, ate local food, toasted with locals, and made connections with new and very different people.
I'm not a country music person. I've never been to a rodeo. You won't typically see me wear cowboy 'anything'. In Calgary found myself immersed in a world I'm familiar with but have never gotten to know. I was able to see the people it attracted, learned the rules of the competitions themselves, and gorge myself on fair-style poutine. The Native, 1st Nations People were also commonly represented throughout the festivities and competitions.
I was so caught up in the din of the culture I hardly filmed, I hardly took pictures, I barely prepared for my next leg of my journey. I'm playing a little catch-up now. More later...
JT - 7/18/2022