More pictures... at the request of a lot of people I will post all the pics I have at the moment. Enjoy.

The first picture is taken out the dining room window...notice the mountains in the background. The other two are views out the living room window in front. The building is basically what mine looks like. Six units, I'm on the end...so only one neighbour and the unit next to me is vacant at the moment...so I can play my music as loud as I want.

Steps from work...

Went on a short walk tonight after supper...From my door to the front of the building I work at it is about 186 clumps. In my big winter boots they are clumps, not steps. It is -37 with the wind chill tonight, and the stars are out. Haven't seen any Northern Lights yet, but I think I go to bed too early...I'm told they are usually on around midnight, some night I will try and stay up for a show.

This picture is out my dining room window looking at my office building. I took this on Friday when I first arrived. see the vehicle on the road, behind the truck is the harbour/waterfront...so it is also very close.

Websites on Pang

http://airphotos.nrcan.gc.ca/photos101/pangnirtung_e.php

If you look at photo 25, the 1992 view of Pang you will see a big pond/lagoon on the upper left side of the picture. That is the town reservoir. What is missing in the street I live on. We sit just below and to the right (when viewed from above) of the road that leads to the lagoon. The units were built within the last 5 years.

Here are a couple of other sites related to Pang...

http://members.shaw.ca/dfetterly/travel/arctic/pangnirtung.htm


http://text.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/forecast/city_e.html?nu-7

My home. Well, it is pretty nice. Think townhouse. Living room, dining area and kitchen are downstairs. Two bedrooms, bath and laundry are upstairs. It isn't HUGE, but it is certainly big enough for me. I took a few pics...these were taken Friday when I was moving in so excuse the mess. There is more closet space than I could ever fill...need more shoes! I will start Food Mail this week, it seems easy. Order on Monday delivered on Friday. Billed to my credit card. I'll let you know how it goes.

I live in a desert.

No, not a dessert. A desert. You know with sand and camels. Except here there is snow, rock and polar bears. Iqaluit gets on average 43 cm of snow a year and 19 cm of rain. That folks makes it an arctic desert. I don't have the stats for Pang, but am assured by the locals that it is about the same. So, I'm living in a desert. Kinda cool.

I found out at supper tonight that power is diesel generated. Each town has their own generator, instead of like home where there are grids. Water comes from the reservoir and is treated, they deliver it to your house and you pay by the litre. Sewage is pumped out when necessary, they have a schedule and apparently it works pretty good. Why you ask? Well, because the ground is frozen for most of the year having basements and underground anything is not a good idea. All the houses are up on stilts and generally sit a few feet off the ground. I have over 12 steps up to the first floor of my house. The water and sewage are kept in large containers under the house but still off the ground. In the picture you can see the grid under one of the houses. This BTW, is the view out of my front window. Not bad, eh?

There are not many wild animals that come into town...which is good to know. But the ravens are HUGE. I'm talking BIGGER than a cat. More like a small dog. Speaking of which, I put the word out at supper tonight that I would be interested in getting a puppy...so I may have a roommate soon.

Pangnirtung

Arrived in Pang Friday morning. Great flight in. I've included some shots taken from the plane. I'm obviously not a great photograhper as the pics don't do the scenery justice.

Had a quick tour of town before checking out my new home...more on it in the next post. The view around town is amazing. No wonder there are a lot of crafts people here, the scenery is certainly inspiring. My view out the front is mountain and my view out the back is mountains. Can't argue with that.

Daylight hours. Well, when I woke up this am at 8, the sun was up. (well, sort of. It was cloudy so you couldn't see the sun, but it was definitely daylight...so I don't know what time dawn was.) the sun starts setting around 3:30ish and it takes almost a full half hour + before it is dark out the front and back views of the unit I live in.

Sorry Janet, but I still don't know how they get electricity here, but it is at the top of my list of things to find out. I do know that I have a great internet connection and can get cable tv the day my tv arrives...so really what more do I want?

Everyone seems very friendly and helpful. And no, I haven't met everyone in town yet, but I did meet the Mayor and he wished me a pleasant stay in Pang...at least that is what the translator told me. My assistant L will prove to be invaluable (I have no doubt), she was a translator for a while and has been with health since July so she knows the ropes and having been born in Pang will be able to help me with any cultural issues I may come up against.

Brenda called last night, it was great to hear a familiar voice. I'm not home sick. But I also don't think the reality has completely hit. It is almost like I am still on vacation, only instead of whirling around Europe I'm whirling around Nunavut. I'm sure once I actually start work on Monday that the reality of the whole thing will be clear. My poor brain is going to really get a workout, it hasn't had to think hard in over a month!

I picked up a calendar from the Arctic College and will flip through to see if there are any courses I would like to take. Yes, I am looking to study already. It seems to be some sort of sick addiction. But it keeps me out of trouble and gives me something to do other than watch tv.

Iqaluit...wow.

It was everything I expected, which is a good thing. Perhaps not the dream destination of many of you but an experience that should be had by all. I was only in Iqaluit for a few days, met some great people, got some training for my new job, but I learned a few things:

1. It is ok to wear your snowpants to supper.
2. Snot does not freeze at -34.
3. There are lots of YUMMY men North of 60.
4. For $5 the taxi will take you anywhere in town.
5. The Road to Nowhere, really actually goes no where.
6. Friendships are formed quickly.
7. You have to have a sense of humor about the speed of life.
8. Haggle. (Especially with the carvers)
9. Caribou makes a great steak!
10. Only people who live up North understand why you would want to move there.

Here are some pictures of Iqaluit as taken from the hotel window.

Leaving Charlottetown

You would think that the hardest part about moving away from home would be saying good-bye to family and friends...it wasn't. Don't get me wrong, I miss every single one of you. A LOT. Being allowed on the plane in Charlottetown was the hardest part of the trip. The ticket agent in Charlottetown wouldn't allow me on the plane because I didn't have a paper copy of my ticket. He blamed the people in Nunavut for not knowing how to send it to me and yelled at me (in front of everyone in line) that I was not being allowed on the flight and to stand aside while he helped the other customers. Rude! At 6:20am, Air Canada realized that my paper ticket was in their drawer...so they quickly got me on the flight. Maybe the rush that then ensued to get me on my 6:30am flight worked in my favour as my bags were not weighed and security didn't bother to look in any of them.

Luckily the rest of the trip was smooth flying and I arrived in Iqaluit with no other issues.