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I've spent the last two weeks hobbling around on crutches, showing me just how wonderful it is being able to walk.

Still, things are looking much better. In the beginning they told me that I might have to wear a leg brace for the rest of my life [no joke!], and in the very best case scenario, that I'd be on crutches till the end of the summer. Yet a few days ago the doctor said that my knee is doing fine. I can start to put as much weight as possible on it, in order to build it's strength so that it can support me again when I walk. Right now it feels like it's asleep, as there isn't much pain at all, aside from a little stiffness. The problem is that my leg tends to collapse under my weight if I'm not careful, as I haven't used it at all in three weeks.

Some things that I've noticed these past couple of weeks...

I've been very surprised by how kind people are to you at times like these. Strangers have constantly been going out of their way to open doors for me, and to tell me their own stories of when they were on crutches, giving me advice of how best to get around on them. I hadn't expected people to take notice of me so often.

Crutches are a great work-out. My arms are stronger than they've ever been, and my good leg is also in great shape, from my having hopped around on one foot so much recently. Still, the feeling of being able to walk again is incredible, even though up to this point I still have to use one crutch as a cane. Hopefully I'll be back to full mobility in a week or so.

Today, I've started to move into my permanent apartment, which I'll be sharing with three others. Two of my roommates, Melissa and Lucie, are nursing students at McGill. The third is Lucie's boyfriend. My room is very spacious, with nice atmosphere to boot. It's shaping up to be one of the nicest places that I've lived in.

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A few comments on current events...

One thing that really bugs me with the situation in Lebanon is how Israel refuses to take any blame for the civilians they kill. They recently killed over 30 children in one blast, and still refused to admit any wrong doing. Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. There's no question about this. Israel says that Hezbollah is refusing to let civilians leave dangerous areas, using them for human shields. This could very well be true. But to look at Israel's logic on a smaller scale, consider someone who just robbed a bank, killing the teller in the process. This man is a serial criminal, very dangerous, impossible to reform. As he runs from the police, he takes a hostage, a ten year old girl. The police responde by shooting blindly, killing both the hostage and the murderer. They then refuse to take any blame in the killing of the child. If this would obviously not fly in the local scenario, why isn't it condemned on the much larger scale where this argument is being used by Israel?

Also, why is Harper aligning us solidly behind the U.S. and Israel? What possible gain is there in this? Well, moral gain, anyway. Canada should be working with every other free country in the world [well, except of course for the U.S.] in finding a solution to the crisis, not standing on the side doing nothing but pointing fingers and playing the blame game.