Ok, so I lied.

When I first stepped off the plane in Iqaluit I did take a deep breath and breathe out a big sigh, yes, it was exactly what I expected. However, when I flew over from Iqaluit to Pangnirtung I wondered for the briefest of moments if I really knew what I was doing. Why? Because of all the ice. I couldn't see water...no water at all...anywhere. I wondered about the sanity of moving to a place that didn't have open water.

Yes, I'm an East Coast Girl. I think I would die without water. Sure, we lived in Alberta for a while and it is a dry prarie with little to no water, but I think spending every summer on PEI made up for the lack of ocean in Alberta. Anyway, I simply don't think I could ever live far away from the smell of salt water. I didn't realize how much I missed the water until I saw open water over the weekend.

The open water made me wish I was somewhere else. Don't misunderstand, I'm not flying home tomorrow, but there is something about living without water that just doesn't seem right. I can't wait to see the open water, to smell the salt water and to feel the water on my toes.


Open Water

Yes, open water is coming soon to the North, within a couple of months it will be nothing but open water around me. And that will be glorious. To smell the salt air everytime I walk to work and to skip down to the beach anytime I have a need for water will be fantastic. But what is an East Coast girl doing in a place where she can't see or smell open water 12 months a year? Good question.

For those of you who have tuned in to hear about my day trip across the Cumberland Sound or my trip to the Arctic Circle you will have to come back in a couple of days. The picture below is one I took on Saturday looking out into the Cumberland Sound from the edge of the Pangnirtung Fiord.


Ice and Air...Interesting how the colours are the same...

Moving?


No, this isn't Newfoundland, this is moving Arctic style.

Sick. I’m sick, sick, sick. And I’m not getting the sympathy I feel is required. I left work early (4:42pm instead of 5:00pm) and came home to call everyone I know looking for sympathy. All I got was a ‘You sound like H…”….Thanks.

I did however get a suggestion for today's blog topic…Things I like or dislike about living in Pang…

I spent about a ½ hour tonight working on my lists and then my internet crashed…d’oh. So now I’m sick and grumpy cause I lost all of my work….I will try to re-create, but frankly the lists were a work of art, a literary masterpiece…or not.

Some of the things I like about living in Pang…

1. The people, everyone is so friendly and helpful.

2. The scenery, I get paid to be here and some people spend thousands of dollars to visit.

3. The free food, caribou and fish practically arriving on my door step.

4. My friends from down South who stay in touch and my new friends from up North

5. The pace of life and how unrushed it is, I don’t even know where my watch is.

6. The ability to wear fur anytime and not look out of place.

7. The casual dress code at work, every day is Casual Friday and I enjoy wearing my socks around the office.

8. Being Miss Independent. If I can make it here I’ll make it anywhere. I wanna be in Pang...INNNN PAANNNNGGGG!

9. Mail. Food mail, mail from home, email, mail from friends and all those special packages that people send me.

10. The sunshine. Who can argue with almost 24 hour daylight and bright, clear skies. We hardly ever have grey skies.



Some of the things I don’t like about living in Pang….

10. The lack of a bar. It's a dry community and frankly now and then I could use a glass of wine or a Pangtini!

9. Making payments on my car. The one that is in PEI thousands of miles away from me with a for sale sign on it...going cheap! I'll give you a good deal on it. Yes, I could have it sent up, but where would I drive too?

8. The fact that no one in town sells Lipton Green Tea Ice Tea.

7. My slow internet connection speed. Makes downloading very difficult.

6. The cost of going anywhere South of 60.

5. Not having a long distance phone plan to call anytime and chat for as long as I want.

4. How lazy I’ve become about exercising and house keeping. (Of course I was never going to win awards in these areas before I moved here...but any excuse is a good excuse).

3. Having to wear sunglasses everytime I go outside. (I'm kidding, I just wanted another opportunity to brag about the sunlight we get.)

2. The length of time it takes Canada Post to have mail arrive in the North. Dear Canada Post, there is a flight everyday from Montreal to Iqaluit and one everyday from Ottawa to Iqaluit...think about it.

And the number one reason I don't like living in Pang is...
my inability to go shoe shopping whenever the mood strikes.

Night?

It's 10:56pm. This is a picture taken out my front door looking in towards the park. I'm not sure the exact direction, North Eastish...anyway. As I was getting ready for be I did my nightly check out the front door and noticed that I could still see all the mountains in the pass...it was still light over the hills. The sky isn't black, it is dark blue.

Yes, I should have carried on and went to bed, but I thought some of you might enjoy seeing a picture of a very beautiful sight.

Who's leading the band?

Are we victims of circumstance? Or do we create our own circumstances? Do we really have any say in the overall direction our life is headed? Perhaps you decided to go to college and studied to be a plumber, does that affect the rest of your life? Does that determine where you end up?

Did that one decision to become a plumber determine the rest of your life?

Or is it the culmination of many decisions that determine what direction our lives take?

How many people settle?

Should there be fireworks and explosions? Or should there come a point when we grow up and say that we can live without the beginning fireworks and just be happy to have the second stage, compatibility, reliability?

Or do the fireworks change over time depending on our circumstances? When we are younger a phone call brought nervous giggles and sweaty palms. Now that phone call is replaced by happiness and comfort. Is that settling? Or is that smart?

Or, am I watching too many Sex in the City reruns?

90 days and counting...

Today I have officially been in Nunavut for 90 days or 3 months. It seems hard to believe at times that I have been here for such a short time and apparently the feeling is mutual. A number of people are under the impression that I've been here for at least a year now. I am fitting in, according to a number of people at work.

Now, that statement may seem grand, but...you have to live here to fully appreciate that statement. I've been told that the Pecan Pie theory fits most of the people who move up here. You spin a pecan pie and the nuts move around...the nuts that go to the edge--those are the people who move to Nunavut--the ones who don't fit in anywhere else. So, does that make me a pecan? If so, am I in the centre of the pack? Or out by the crust? Do I not fit in or belong anywhere else? Or, do I fit in and belong here?

Sunshine and me.

"BTW, the sun rise this morning was at 5:32am and sun set was at 5:30pm. In PEI the sun rise was 6:20am and sun set was 6:21pm. So, we are both getting about 12 hours of day light. Let's check back in a month and compare the times." Originally posted March 18, 2006.

Here we are about a month later...let's see who's ahead now.

Pangnirtung: Charlottetown:
Sunrise 4:15am Sunrise 6:14am
Sunset 8:31pm Sunset 8:09pm

16 hours, 16 minutes of daylight in Pang and 13hours, 55 minutes in Charlottetown.

The other thing I find really interesting is dawn and dusk times.

Today, dawn arrived in Pang at 3:06am and dusk is at 9:40pm. In Charlottetown, dawn arrived at 5:42am and dusk is at 8:41pm. Everyday Pang gets an extra 7 minutes of daylight, Charlottetown gets an extra 4.

So while I may still be experiencing -14 on a regular basis and Charlottetown has been having temperatures in the +6 range, I can feel good about the amount of sunlight in my life.

In Iqaluit yesterday the temperatures went up to +2. The snow was melting and the air felt soooo warm. It reminded me that Spring really will eventually come to the North.

So enjoy your warm temperatures and your green grass, by next month I will hear the roar of the river by my house and watch spring redesign the look of my surroundings even at midnight. Check back in a month for the next daylight hours update.

Caribou spotted on the way to the lake

Left home at 7am on Saturday to go ice fishing. I rode in the back of my neighbours qamotiq. It's a little bumpy, but it was great. The view on the way up is amazing. We crossed the fiord and headed up the river to the lake. It is about 1 1/2 hours by skidoo.

On the way up we spotted a number of caribou who didn't pay us much attention other than to look in our direction and then keep looking for food. The caribou are smaller than the caribou found in Labrador and Newfoundland. Apparently the farther North you go the smaller the caribou are.


Making the holes for fishing

Because we (my neighbours and I) don't have the proper equipment to drill our own holes we asked some of the locals if we could use theirs. They were happy to oblige and later A helped to make a new hole.


My fishing hole.

This is the hole that I fished out of. The stick is my jigging equipment. Basically a piece of wood with 30-40 feet of line attached and a lure of some kind at the end. No need for fancy high tech equipment, people just use what they have. Traditionally a caribou antler would be used instead of a stick. That makes sense when you consider that there are no trees to get sticks or branches off. The two black objects are my glove and camera case.


Me jigging for Arctic Char

I didn't catch any fish. Apparenlty I'm not a good fisherperson. You would think that I would have had beginners luck and caught the biggest fish...nope. Apparently my technique could use a little work. Hopefully I will get the chance to go back and do it again.


A very small Arctic Char...not one that I caught

Someone else caught this fish, not sure who. This fish is small. Generally they are about twice that size. The fishing is best in the morning, I'm not sure why. How could the fish possibly know that it is morning. They are under 6 feet of ice and there is a good six inches of snow on top of the ice...so I'm not sure how they know it is daylight.


Fishing out on the lake

People really make a day of it bringing the whole family. A few groups set up tents for the kids to hang out in or take naps. A Coleman stove is a pretty standard piece of equipment, used to make tea or boil up some fish for lunch. Bannock is also a staple out at the lake. My lunch was soup, bannock, fresh cooked char and kool-aid. It was great. You just can't get fresher fish than that. Out of the lake and into the soup pot. It was soooo good.


Probably about 100 people were at the lake fishing on Saturday.

It was great to see so many people out fishing. And it was great to have people stop by my fishing hole to say hello to me. I feel like I'm part of the community.



Catch of the Day

A&E each caught a fish on Saturday. You should have seen the one that got away...


Packing up the catch and heading home

On the way back from the lake we spotted some of the people that we had been fishing with earlier in the day. They left us to go caribou hunting and did very well. They got 4 caribou and were nice enough to share some of it with us.


Every part of the caribou gets used with the exception of the stomach. The butchering is done out on the snow and ice. This allows the meat to cool so it can be packed up and taken home.



Apparently the jaws make a tasty snack. I haven't tried.

Caribou is similar to moose. It is very low in fat and is best cooked slowly or marinated as it can be tough.

Chicken takes a ride


Chicken goes fishing

More update on the big fishing trip Chicken and I took after my nap.

A gift from the south.


Many, many thanks to MK in Winnipeg, who took pity on me and sent me fresh jalapeno peppers. You may remember from a month or so ago that I wasn't able to get them through food mail (unless they are on sale). They were/are wonderful. I cut them all up to make jalapeno pepper poppers....yummy! The smell of jalapeno in the house was fantastic. MK also sent a recipe for a special jalapeno dip that she makes...I haven't got my act together to make it yet, but I can't wait to try it....maybe sometime over the long weekend.

Isn't he cute?

Found this little cutie last week at the Hamlet Day event. There are lots of dogs around town and most of them are allowed to run free. I'm not sure if they are suppossed to be free, but they are...well not most, but a high proportion certainly are not chained up. The mean dogs are chained up as our the sled dogs, but smaller dogs run free.


Going for a ride?

It looked like this guy was waiting for a drive somewhere. And from the collection of objects around the ski-doo I'd say someone was getting ready for a trip out on the land.


This big brute was tied up.

He didn't even lift his head while I took photos or blink in my direction. He must have been tired, maybe he had been out for a ride the previous evening.

Here's an interesting tid bit...Country Food. Country food is basically defined as anything you hunt and kill yourself. Caribou, musk ox, char, seal, polar bear, things like that. There was a nutrition campaign a few years ago that was meant to inform people about the Canada Food Guide and everyone has these great magnets in the shape of ulu's that tell you about the different food groups and where the country foods fit into the guide.

The Frosty Treat is Open.

Sigh.


I can't believe I will have to wait 3 months and 10 days before I will get a small combination cone. Sigh. My dad emailed today "Good News" read the subject line...I assumed maybe he had had a call on my car...nope. The only words he'd written were THE DAIRY BAR IS NOW OPEN !!!!! A big smile appeared on my face and my tummy went YUM. Then I remembered I would not be able to go for a cone for a few months...sigh.

For those of you who know about the Frosty Treat and can understand my pain thank you for your sympathy. For those unfamiliar with the Frosty Treat, let me just assure you that it is indeed the best soft ice cream ever. It is so smooth and creamy...yum. The small cone is big enough for any appetite and while I prefer the waffle cone for taste, a traditional combination on the old short cone is a great choice. Combination is the half chocolate, half vanilla swirl that Islanders have come to love and is available in Kensington at the Frosty Treat. If you pass through have one for me.

Wages and Prices in Nunavut.


Views around town.

PEI has very cheap rent rates, so the doubling of my rent seemed a bit much and my paycheque hurts from it. The weird thing is that because my rent comes off my pay cheque I feel cheated when I get my stub. They take 1/2 rent of each cheque...and if I had to pay it myself the end of the month I would hate to see the dip in my account, but this way I feel like I am making less than I did in PEI...even though I'm not. Does that make any sense?

The per diem rate in NU is $113.75 a day, that includes about $17 for incidentals. WOW you are thinking, that's great. Well, yes and no. In the smaller communities the lodge's often charge that for three meals a day. They know what the gov't per diem is and do their best to get all of it when you stay with them. Many people travel with food, just in case they get stuck somewhere or don't like what is being served. I travel with snacks and breakfast foods. You'd be amazed at how much you can cook with just a coffee maker. I learned that handy skill when I was a recruiter. Maybe some day I will write a book on how to cook meals with a hotel coffee maker.


Iqaluit

I went to Subway for lunch one day in Iqaluit and was a little shocked at the prices. I shouldn't be shocked by the prices anywhere up North anymore, but I guess I had forgotten what prices outside of a grocery store are like...check them out...
http://www.subwayiqaluit.com/menu.html



Iqaluit

Chinese Food. I went for Chinese food the Sunday I arrived in town and went a little crazy. My companion that night and I ordered a couple of appetizers and then a few dishes to share, combined with my two glasses of wine the bill came to about $125 each. And that didn't include tip.

Yes, food can be expensive up North, but there are so many more benefits to living up here that the cost of eating out doesn't even come into play.

BTW, the cost of a movie ticket was $12 for weekend ticket, a medium popcorn with butter and a medium slushy came to $7.25. Less than $20 for a movie out.

Touch down in Iqaluit

Arrival in the big city. Ok, Iqaluit would hardly be considered a big city...I don't even know how many people you need to technically be a city, but nonetheless I felt like I had arrived in the big city for a weekend of fun. In reality I had arrived for a week of training, but the excitement I felt was hard to contain.

Ok, I know, I just arrived a couple of months ago and probably shouldn't be feeling trapped in Pang, and I don't think I was feeling trapped, but...I am used to travelling...a lot. Since September I've been to Ottawa (2X), Fredericton, St. John's, Halifax, London, Paris and Amsterdam...so staying put for any amount of time is unusual. Even having a trip booked is usually enough to keep me feeling pumped...so I'm good as I have another trip to Iqaluit booked for May and then my vacation in July....so I'm good now until September when I will start to get the travel bug again.

I spent the week getting training during the day and meeting coworkers. In the evenings I must admit I spent a good portion of my time in the bar...seemed that every night I had at least one drink. When I wasn't drinking I was enjoying some of the delicious food that is found in town and even managed to squeeze in a couple of movies. Ice Age 2 and Failure to Launch...I recommend both.

I spent a lot of money at Arctic Ventures (a kind of grocery store/ everything under the sun store). I was so excited to see newspapers that I bought a total of 4 during the week and brought them home to read slowly, savouring every page of that wonderful printed medium. The really sick thing is that I paid $7.99 for a New York Times...but hey, it was the Times...besides, how often will I get that in Pang...never. I didn't know I missed newspapers until I saw them sitting on the shelf in the store.

Also included in my purchases were a number of Indian food stuffs that I haven't seen here in town either but will look forward to making soon. Funny, I brought some of my favourites with me and haven't cooked them yet. I'm hoarding them, because I know that as soon as I eat them they will be gone and I won't be able to get any more. At this rate I will end up home in the summer having not eaten any of my favourite dishes.


Airport in Iqaluit.

Yellow...bright yellow. The colour was choosen so that the building would be easy to spot in bad weather....I think they got their wish. It would be hard to miss a building of this colour in any kind of weather. You will notice in future posts that the building can often be spotted in the distance and will give you an idea of how 'big' the community really is.

Sunday Past...at the Airport in Pangnirtung


Map of Pangnirtung that hangs on the wall in the airport.

The section of town that I live in is not on the map, not on this map, or any other map of Pang that I have found. A couple of weeks ago the Census people were in town and I photocopied one of the maps they had and we didn't exist on that either. The census people actually came to the office to count all of us. Apparently they weren't having much luck knocking on doors at night. I guess people on the outskirts of town figured they were trying to sell something and the people downtown figured they were the police. I was told during orientation that it is polite to just walk into people's homes, you don't knock you just enter. When there is knocking folks think it is the RCMP cause years ago that was the only person who would knocko on the door before entering.



Putting on a show.

These two girls were running around the airport waiting for the same flight as me. When the noticed me taking pictures of the map they ran over and started pointing to it...then looking over their shoulder to see if I was still taking their pictures. It didn't seem right to post the map photo without their photo.


Mural of Pang

This was made in the Arts Centre here in town. The weavers in town are known for their beautiful creations. This one is about 10 feet long and 4 feet high. The scene tells the story of Pang. At the top is a First Air plane. On the left side is the first church in Pang and the RCMP. Below them are a couple of kids playing. To the right of them is a scene of people out camping on the land. In the centre is an inukshuk in front of the entrance to the park. On the far right side at the top is a snowmobile hauling a komotik (sp?), below is a team of dog sleds. (New transportation versus Old transportation) Below the transportation scenes are pictures of all the fish and whales found in the sea.


I think this is a Hawker

Airport security up North is non-existent...except for on flights headed South. When traveling to Iqaluit there is no photo id required in the smaller communities cause everyone knows who you are, (this can be proven when I went in a few weeks ago to pick up my food mail order and didn't have to tell the young man at the counter my name...he knew), and there are no metal detectors to go through. Everyone mills around in the waiting area and when the flight is ready to leave someone opens the door and everyone files out. The planes are smaller than a dash 8, but by no means as small as the planes flying in Northern Labrador. However, most of the plane is cargo space. The plane only had 12 seats on it, 3 sets of 2 down each side.


Cumberland Sound

The flight over to Iqaluit was very smooth and while I looked out the window for most of the trip there isn't much to see right now except snow and rocks. The ice in Cumberland Sound is breaking up already and according to what I've heard seems to be breaking up a little earlier than normal.

Girls Night Out

The Saturday night before I left for Iqaluit I was invited over to a neighbours for supper. Her husband was off on duty travel and we had a sort of girls night. Along with a very yummy supper we also decorated Easter Eggs, something none of us had done since we were in school.


Hanging our Easter Treasures

We had food colouring, markers, crayons, ink, and all kinds of other things to decorate with...and I think everyone's personality came out in their eggs. Mine looks like my three year old nephew made it! Never claimed to be artistic.


Easter Egg Tree

The lack of trees meant we were not able to hang our eggs from a branch, so we decided on the next best thing, the fire extinguisher. Looking forward to the Easter long weekend, maybe the Easter Bunny will find me!

Transportation


This is the truck that I occassionally get to drive around Pang. Always a big thrill. Going from driving everyday to not driving at all has been an adjustment and I miss my car. BTW, it is still for sale so if anyone is looking I'll give you a good deal!

Notice the back window with red tape, this is a typical window replacement in Pang. I'm not sure if people bother to replace side and rear windows with real glass as the plastic windows are common site around town. I'm not sure what it is about the red tape, but everyone who fixes their window with plastic uses the red tape to hold it in place. It must be able to stand up to the low temperatures.

My commute in PEI was 1/2 hour drive to Charlottetown and then another 20 - 25 minutes to get to downtown. At the end of the day the same process in reverse. I love to drive, but would often find myself calling other motorists bad names while stuck in traffic.

My commute in Nunavut is approximately a 2 minute walk and that includes the time it takes to lock the front door and unlock my office. I might run into one of the other 'commuters' from my block walking down the street and we will pleasantly chat along the way. The end of the day commute is very similar and rather peaceful and relaxing.

Sure, I'd love to have a car or truck with me in town, but for now I'm content to drive the department vehicle on occasion. Besides, soon it will be biking weather and I will be taking myself all over town on my 21 speed CCM. Vroom. Vroom.

Detoxing in Pangnirtung.

Back from Iqaluit and am going through withdrawal. This afternoon is Hamlet Day where the whole town gets together to celebrate the incorporation of the Hamlet. There will be games and contests this afternoon....and everyone in town has the afternoon off. The temperature is a little bitter today -20, -32 with windchill, so the parka is coming out this afternoon and my warm snow pants as all activities take place outside. I hope to take lots of pictures and will post them along with pictures from my trip last week in the next day or two.

Tomorrow evening there is suppossed to be a feast and Inuit dancing, so that should be a good time. Stay tuned.