Last weeks in Iqaluit

There is not much to say expect that I am extremely excited to leave and see more parts of Canada.  Everything is wrapping up very slowly; time seems to be moving like a snail.

We have started making seal skin mitts, and mine did not turn out very well.  I cannot sew; though I tried very hard to, I’m just not a perfectionist. 

Our debriefing turned out to be really fun.  The person who came up to Iqaluit was really fun to be with and we made letters to our workplaces and created a poster of our PL.  Debriefing is when the last couple of days are devoted to reflection of the last 3 months and thinking about what we have done in the past and what we want to change about ourselves to make the next 3 months better.  It was a really neat experience; we answered personal questions and wrote letters to ourselves (that will be given back to us by the end of the second rotation). 

We also had our open house, which means people that we know within the community and our work partners came to our house to see what we have been up to within the last 3 months. We created a slideshow presentation of all the activities we did and places we saw and used all the amazing photos from the last 3 months in Iqaluit.  It was a really great success; we had a nice turn out. 

By the last week I was ready to leave and start something new again.  My time in Iqaluit was well spent and I would definitely come back up and visit again.  It was an amazing and a once in a life time experience that I am glad I did and finished. 

Montreal, I am ready for you. 

Montreal

Montreal!

As soon as I arrived in Montreal I went straight to the bar in the airport and had a shot of tequila.  It tasted so good; I had to have a drink. By the time I was done I hurried back to my group, hoping that they hadn’t left without me.  Our drive to our new house with our new PL was extremely interesting.  Her name is Ericka and she is so chill.  It is hard to describe her but she knows and notices when you’re down and happy and she is always up for anything!

Now that I have been here for about a couple of weeks, there are some interesting things about Montreal that are worth mentioning.  The drivers are CRAZY.  You are not allowed to turn right on a red light because of they did then a lot of people would be dead.  The drivers do not care about pedestrians, if you’re in their way they will not slow down.  They down not signal when changing lanes and they do not obey the speed limit.  I’m sure that in every city this happens but it is extremely more noticeable here in Montreal than anywhere else because they have odd driving restrictions like the ‘no turning on a red light’ rule. 

The city is beautiful.  The houses are mostly townhouse with amazing spiraling staircases.  Montreal looks like a cross between a European country such as France and Toronto.  Old Montreal also known as Old Port is breathtaking.  I love there. Any amount of free time I get I go all the way down there to go explore the place.

My workplace is at the Montreal Children’s Library.  During the days I organize the books and just help around with the odd job.  Last week I helped my boss organize the place and move bookcases around to utilize more space.  In the afternoons there is homework help and arts and crafts for the kids and chess club.  Needless to say I suck at chess, and I am a sore loser.  I can’t take not winning.  Guess it’s something else I have to work on.  I have a mini assignment /presentation to the kids about the places I have been.  So sometime in May I will be presenting England and France.   

The group has been getting along, it has been really fun because there is another Katimavik group in Montreal and we get to see them and plan events with them.  They’re an awesome bunch of people.  I think that know that the group knows what everyone is like we kind of know how to stay away from each other when we’re upset or having an off day.  But of course then there are the times when it is awesome to be with everyone and everyone’s energy just bounces off of each other.

For the time being I have not gone shopping.  It is killing me.  I am waiting for my mum to come up and bring my spring/summer clothing and shoes.  But there is light at the end of the tunnel, I will go shopping very soon. 

We have done some volunteer events within the community thus far, such as we volunteered for the Walk of Hope to end MS.  We are also helping out on Earth Day to help pick up garbage in the parks.  And to stay active we all have our own bikes that are were donated by a bike garage.  And the most interesting event we had was Justin Trudeau came to have dinner with us this past Tuesday.  He used to be the president of Katimavik, somehow I believe, and so he paid us a visit.  Can I just say how cute he is and how down to earth.  And for those of you who do not know him, he is the son of the former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. 

We have more upcoming events planned! I also have 72 hours this Easter weekend full of free time, meaning I can do whatever I want! I am planning to meet some of my KKG sisters from McGill this weekend but we’ll see…I promise to keep regular blog updates! Until the next one, love you guys! Bye

The people I live with...A miniature bio on all of them

I’ll start with the boys.  There are 5 boys that live with me and they’re alright.    

Andrew is super cute.  He is 19 and has a miniature Jew fro; he is from British Colombia and likes to be cute.  He is into video games, sci-fi and reading…he identifies himself with the nerd culture but he is super lazy so he doesn’t put in much effort to great straight A’s.  Andrew is great to talk to; he is shy at first but opens up once he feels comfortable with you.  He enjoys walking around our house with his boxers on and loves to participate in naked Tuesdays. 

(Naked Tuesdays are when we get naked on Tuesday nights just for fun.  Because we have no TV here there is not much else to do)

Chris doesn’t know how to spell his name.  He is 18 and from Crap which is located in Ottawa.  He is extremely funny and witty; he is the comic relief of the group.  Always making jokes and having a good time he is still capable of a serious conversation though.  I haven’t had a serious conversation with him yet...

Phil is 19 and is British and has been living in Canada for about a year now.  Phil and I have a love-hate relationship.  We fight/ play fight and then we gain up on other people and take them down.  We make a really good team but we also get on each other’s nerves.  He is also witty and knows how to have fun.  He has a dominating personality but isn’t the Alpha male, he’s just okay.

Cole is skinny and has the potential to be cute when he is in his 20’s.  He is 18 and has lived in so many places throughout his life because his father was in the British army.  His mother is Canadian.  He wants to be an actor and can play the guitar but has stage fright so he doesn’t perform in front of anyone. Odd.

Toby is socially awkward.  Think of him as Randal from the Disney show Recess.  He is getting better, but it takes lots of patience.  He is scholarly and can be fun to be around with.   

And know for the lovely Katimavik ladies!!

Kellya is from Quebec and speaks French.  She is a Native (Cree I believe) and is super chill.  I like hanging out with her because she may be the youngest in the group (17) but she is extremely mature and knows how to have fun. 

Alison is one of my roommates and is super cute.  She is short and is full of energy and is an amazing dancer! We were both house managers together and had an amazing time doing it together.  We really bounced off of each other and worked as a team. 

Anna is my other roommate and is a hipster, totally with the new fad of dressing in the 80s and being chill.  She is extremely smart and has an amazing boyfriend.  She’s in a long distanced relationship and they are going strong.  She is into being healthy and goes to the gym a lot, she is really good at motivating us into climbing the mountain that is right behind our house. 

Sam is the second oldest and everyone confuses our names.  We do not even look alike but apparently we sound alike because we’re both from Toronto. She is fun and loving and loves tequila and when we go to Montreal she’s not going to remember it.  Enough said.  She and I will be partying.  I don't need to say this but she's trouble. We also work together in the daycare and have loads of fun. 

Heather is our project leader; this role can be compared to a don.  She is fun to be around with and knows a lot of people from Iqaluit.  She grew up here as a minority (she’s white) and so her insight into cultural diversity is interesting.

The last couple of weeks just flew by!!

It has been a while since I have written a blog entry, and I must admit that the entries will become less and less as time goes on. 

These past couple of weeks have gone by extremely quickly, we have gone to see speakers about the permafrost, a man back in 2003 was attacked by a polar bear and told us his story, we have seen a tattoo documentary about Inuit people and the reason why they tattooed their faces and how within the last few decades face tattooing has decreased.  As a group we have started taking French classes every Thursday night from 6:30 to 8:30 and I am pretty much acing that class.  It is all review of French material that I have learned back in grade 4 and the teacher noticed I was restless so I became her 'go to girl'.  I am the one she asks to write on the board and do other jobs around the class.

We also took a flamingo class, went to the youth centre and participated in traditional Inuit games. And the two highlights of the past weeks are one we went ski-doing also known as snow mobile.  It was great fun; our group was taken with sleds that were pulled by ski dos.  The people who took us there were friends of our project leader.  They were really amazing, the husband and wife took care of us and their children were amazing as well.  We travelled to parts that were frozen over.... once we arrived there we went ice fishing, some group members went hiking and me and a couple of the girls took the ski dos out for a spin.  I was able to reach 50 km and accidentally went over some snow bumps and Sam almost fell off.   Of course everyone in the group was freezing no matter how many Canada Goose coats we put on.  And the wife her name was Moosie, she took very good care of us because when I became cold I put on another pair of snow pants and she completely took over and put on the extra snow plants for me.  This of course happened in the middle of the Arctic.  It was an amazing experience.  All of which lasted about 2 hours and it was the best 2 hours that I have ever spent.

The other highlight was yesterday.   We went to Sylvia Grinnell which can be compared to Algonquin Park in Ontario.  We walked there and climbed the mountains, took photos and true to our nature went sliding down hill tops that were not designed to be sled down.  The drop from the mountain top was high and scary.  Of course the first time going down it I had to be pushed down because I was so scared.  And the second time I went down a steeper part I sort of did that all by myself.   Us girls went all the way down the mountain part and took a mini tour the national park.  We walked around and just chilled out by a rock.  It was extremely comfortable; snow may be cold but it is really comfy.  Instead of going around the mountain we decided to go back up the way we came, the semi-steep mountain.  I was exhausted by the time we reached the top.  On our way back I saw huskies that were tied up and I decided to go closer to them.  Upon coming closer I realized that all the dogs had blood on them and I wondered why? But there was no one around to answer my questions, there was about a dozen dogs barking at me and my heart just went out to them.   There is one thing that I have noticed while being here in Nunavut is that there are plenty of stray dogs. I even made friends with one of them, his name is Marco and I feed him left over whenever he comes by.   But back to today, I took pictures of the dogs and I just felt so helpless because I could not help them. However, all in all it was a really great day!

This past week at work was blissful.  It was their March break/ reading week and so when I did go into work there were no children!! I had to prepare and photocopy the preschooler’s homework for next year and had to clean up the offices but this week there was really nothing for me to do.  I really did enjoy this week, no kids, no headaches, nothing.  Even though I went into work every day it was relaxing and delightful. 

This upcoming weekend we have our 48 hours off.   Which means that starting Friday March 5^th after work we can do whatever we want to; we do not have to spend our nights at the Katimavik house nor do we have any planned group activities.  Sam and I have thought about renting ski dos for the day and travelling around Iqaluit.  But it is still not set in stone, we are still undecided. 

I know that a lot of you went somewhere for your reading week and I would love to hear what everyone did.  I know that some of you went to Jamaica, Nova Scotia and Ohio.  What did everyone else do? Fill me in; even if you went nowhere, I still would love to hear it! 

Interesting facts about Nunavut

Nuna means land and Vut means our, together that means out land.  The Inuit people of Nunavut have a long history.  Last night we had guest speakers come into the Katimavik house and speak to us about Nunavut.  We got a lecture on how Inuit people were sustainable as a culture by themselves to being destroyed by assimilation of culture and then by the 1970 to 1999 the leaders of the pack fought to create Nunavut, formerly known as the North Western Territories.  In 1999 they were finally established and within a span of a generation they had created what is known as our land. One of the guest speakers who spoke, her mother was a part of the movement in the 1970’s and she was invited to meet Pope John Paul II, who blessed the flag of Nunavut.  He said that what they did, to create a land and unite a group of people, they did it without shedding an ounce of blood.  He said that they were an inspiration for people in the Middle East and Africa and other parts of the world to unite.  Nunavut and the Inuit people are a source of hope and strength.  

Here in Nunavut there are not many street signs and there are absolutely no traffic signs only stop signs.

There are no trees here because we are above the tree line. All we have are rocks and mountains or rock.

The time zone is the exact same as Toronto.

There are no sidewalks, just areas that have been plowed of to the side.

Icicles here can kill people. That’s why there are some buildings here that have oddly shaped roofs to prevent ice from forming.

There are no forms of public transportation the way most people get around here during the winter time is snow mobiles, cars, walking and taxis.  The way taxis work here is that they do not keep fares they just charge $6 per person anywhere you go. That is also why people share taxis here. For example if there are 4 people in the car they pay $6 each even if they are going to the same place.  Whereas in Toronto they charge a fare and if you travel somewhere that is $15 you can split it between the people in the car.  There are ups and downs with this method; it works in Nunavut because it is a small city with a population of 3500 people.  And to walk across town it takes 30 minutes.  If this same method was in Toronto or Waterloo it would not be profitable.

The crime that occurs here are mainly due to 3 things.  The first is because of bootlegging.  There are no LCBOs or NSLCs or beer stores here, instead the way people get drunk here is by going to the local bars and pubs.  So people go to Yellowknife or to other territories and buy alcohol and travel back to Nunavut and sell it out of their homes for 10x more then what they bought it for. Bootlegging alcohol is illegal and the RCMP try to stop it however there is not much checking done at the airports.  In airports they check your carryon luggage but not your checked luggage and once you are in Canada and are travelling within Canada there is virtually no checking done.  So in reality once you entre Canada you’re safe and can distribute contrabands within the country and from one territory/province to another.

The second is domestic violence. 

The third is….I’ll find out.

The difference between a territory and a province is that any proceeds, from mining for example, go to the government of Canada and in a province the proceeds go directly to the provincial government.  Nunavut is working its way up to become a province.

PS I'll be updating this one throughout the time that I am here! 

Last week.

The week and weekend!!

Monday started off with a really nice surprise; two of the volunteers here work at the animal shelter and because there was a storm last Monday their boss was worried that no one would be able to come in and take care of the puppies. Sooo they (the two volunteers) were allowed to take the 6 puppies’ home for the night! The puppies are a husky mix and are about 6 weeks old. I named the ginger looking one after me. It only seemed befitting.

Tuesday night came around and Kellya and I decided to go for a walk; she showed me the downtown area and where everything else was.  And to my amazement we saw the northern lights! It was beautiful. There were pink, purple, yellow and green lights just dancing around for me.  I tried to take pictures but only some cameras can capture the lights.  I did, however, take a video but the only thing you’ll be able to see is the black sky and hear my voice.

Thursday rolled around and we ended up going to a community event in Iqaluit.  The community members were square dancing! Naturally I joined in after the first song and of course I nearly slipped and tripped over people’s feet.  The pictures are they to prove it and along with videos to hear it! Square dancing is not part of the pre contact era; it was introduced to Inuit culture once the settlers came. After all that square dancing, I danced to two songs, my legs were killing me! Totally out of shape!

So of course even though my legs were hurting from square dancing the next night we played capture the boot, also known as capture the flag, but we didn’t have a flag.  We played in the side field of where we live.  The weather was perfect, only minus 20 and no wind. Guess which team won? Mine. Did you really have to guess?

Saturday was also another day of activity filled, we walked over to a town called Apex which is a 45 minute walk but wither our group it took about an hour. We walked past Frobisher Bay and pretty much walked on the frozen shores of Hudson Bay.  We also saw one of the first buildings of the Hudson Bay Company, it is locked up now but it sits of the shore looking out towards the bay.  It was the place where the Inuit and settlers came to trade goods.  I learned a lot of interesting facts including information about the Hudson Bay Company but also about the houses in that area.   When walking to Apex, there were houses that had a red light on it. Heather, our project leader, said that this is because they have no water and are in need of more.  The houses that are located there have no running water so there is a truck that comes around and provides the houses with water.  There is also no sewage removal by flushing the toilet, and there is a truck for that too.  From what was said there is a schedule that everyone follows.

That night we did a volunteer shift at the animal shelter! I was working with the puppies.  But instead I played with all the animals and took photos of them. Being there made me feel so much better because I missed my puppy and kitten that by seeing other animals and playing with them it gave me a sense of happiness.

Epiphany

The week I found that I had a lot of free time and did not like it.  We do not have a television at the Katimavik house and do not have a wireless internet connection and the connection that we do have is extremely slow.

I've had an epiphany….I do not like children. And by working in a preschool I have realized that I need to do something more while I am in Nunavut.  Volunteering at a preschool can be done anywhere especially in Southern Ontario so I need to do more.  I really want to get out there and see Northern Canada and the Arctic region.  Back to the point this week was boring and brutal, there was too much free time and work was hectic.  I feel like I go to work to become the perfect housewife. I clean and wash dishes three times a day and do everything else and even though I am helping people who need it I just feel like I am not accomplishing anything productive.  It’s frustrating but I guess I could also look at the positives, I get to look after some really cute kids, when I come home I get to chill with some awesome dudes, I get work experience and I don’t have to pay a thing!  But I still need to do more with my time here.

One thing that I am really looking forward to is Anna’s new radio show! I am going to be on it.  I am going to be looking into activities that are offered in Nunavut, if you have any ideas that are relatively cheap let me know.

The other aspect that I am looking forward to is my week off from work and staying at home.  If anyone has any ideas for food and cooking please send them to me.  I need easy and cheap recipes by Sunday!

I just can’t wait to go to Montreal! There will be so much to do that I’m really looking forward to and it will be a new place to be and the chance to explore.

The line up for this weekend includes going to the animal shelter and seeing the puppies again! Spending an evening at the youth centre and having a bon fire!

I spoke to my mum on Monday evening and she put the phone to my puppy’s ear and I spoke to him.  My mum told me he went quite and was looking for where the sound of my voice was coming from <3 I am a little homesick but I don't realize it when I am busy doing something. Therefore I NEED TO STAY BUSY!!! :)

By the way, my project leader Heather was in Nova Scotia this past summer. Guess where she went while she was there. To the Evolve concert. I know. AH- MAZING. We were both there and didn't even know it. Evolve brings everyone together. 

My first week of work!!

My first week of work! Done. 

I work in a pre-school, in the morning it is an English pre-school and in the after-noon it is the Inuktitut pre-school, where they learn to speak Inuktitut. And at 3:30 the after school kids come on over, so my day starts at 8:30am and ends at 5:30 pm.  By the end of the end, I’m exhausted, literally.  Kids have this abundance of energy that I can only get from coffee. Every Friday's we clean all the toys and sanitize everything. So there are no kids that day but we still have to prepare the next week's activities and schedule. All in all it’s fun, the walk to and from work is painful and cold because they have no TTC here but again, it's interesting to see what part of my body goes numb first.  

I know some of you have been wondering what I eat and it’s all pretty much the same things as what I would eat back home.  The way it works here at the Katimavik house is that every week two people are the ‘house managers’ and they cook and clean and maintain the house while the rest of us go to our work placements.  Everyone takes turn being a house manager, in a couple of weeks it’ll be my turn.  Because everything is expensive here we are on a budget, and so to cut cost we try to make our own bread and other items.  It’s really interesting to see what people make for dinner and how it turns out.  I’m really excited to be a house manager but the only problem is that I really do not know how to cook.  And naturally the other person that I’m partnered up with doesn’t know how to cook either.  I think that week we’ll be ordering a lot of take out.

The room arrangements are that girls are on one floor and boys on the other.  With that said, if anyone has ever lived in residence, it’s like that.  I share my room with two other girls and the room across me has two girls there and the room beside me is where the project leader sleeps.  There is also the computer room (where I am typing this now) and a games room across from it. Upstairs holds two guys, the living room/dinning room and bathroom, plus a laundry room.  This is the area where everyone relaxes.  The second upstairs area holds 3 more guys and a bathroom.  The best way to explain this is to show pictures but for the month of January the house is already over the bandwidth, so next month I’ll upload them. I promise.

I do plan on trying traditional Inuit food and learning a bit of their language through their songs and stories.  And of course I definitely want to buy some of their clothes and bring it back home. I live in Iqaluit which is the capitol of Nunavut and is on Baffin Island.  When you look on the map it is the island that is shaped like an upside down dog with two heads on top of Quebec.

I haven’t really done anything exciting or unique to Nunavut expect gotten minor frostbites, so I’m really hoping that this weekend we’ll do something exciting! And if anyone knows of anything to do or has a suggestion, let me know!

My first day

My day started early with my mum driving me to the airport…

While we were driving on the highway, my mum was going 80 as usual; she gave me advice and words of encouragement. She knew I was a little upset that I was leaving everyone and going into the unknown and trying something completely out of my comfort zone. She said that friends will come and go; if you have lots of money and are successful people will always be around you. If you’re poor and have nothing you will be alone so you need to be successful and be smart. Nothing comes from nothing, you need to be proactive and do it.  With that she stepped the medal to the pedal and started going the speed limit. But I understood what she meant; I need to make something of myself and something needs to come out of this program.  No more loafing around, it’s time for me to be extraordinary, I need to do this for myself. She had no intention of saying friends are bad for you, but that I cannot stay here in one spot for them. We all have to live our lives and friendships will last even in long distance if you work hard enough to talk to them.  Along the way I will meet amazing people and I will never forget the people that I have met, but this needs to be done.

After boarding the plane at 6am, I finally arrived in Nunavut at 1pm.  The airport and everything around it is EXACTLY as you see it online. It’s beautiful. There are hills/mountains of snow and wind blowing. Getting off the plane was interesting; I literally came off and was walking outside to go into the medium sized orange airport. And of course as I was doing this I was taking a massive amount of pictures. When the 5 minute walk to the airport was over I looked down at my figures and they were white. Not kidding they were puffed up and white, of course it wasn’t anything major I didn’t have frost bites but even as I’m writing this out its midnight and my figures still hurt. The temperature was about minus 27 without the wind chill factor.  

When I arrived at the Katimavik house I was welcomed by the two house managers for the week (Chris and the UK guy) who were running around and being hilarious.   There is another girl who is from Toronto and she stayed home from work to greet me and show me around the place! The house has two floors but is separated, guys on one side and girls on another.  It’s hard to explain the separation because the house has two entrances but they face the same way. I should add pictures and video tape the place for you guys.

In total there are 11 people who live here including the project leader, who is sort of but not quite a Don/RA.  We all take turns making food and cleaning the house; if we are not scheduled to be cleaning then we goes to our work placements. My work placement is helping pre-natal and post-natal women and their children.  I am not too sure what is going to happen, because as most of you know I am not very good with children but I guess it’s time for a change.  

By the way, it is extremely cold and windy. And here are some fun facts about Iqaluit, Nunavut.  It is the capitol and it is an island.  Everything that comes here is brought to us by a boat which makes everything about 10% more expensive then in Ontario.  For example I bought a bag of Lays chips and a passion flake thing and it cost me 9 dollars. TAKE THAT IN PEOPLE. $9. It is extremely expensive.  But the people here have higher wages to make up for that, but for us who are working here for free and do not receive money (I actually receive an allowance of 4 dollars a day) it is difficult. The people of the community here have asked the Katimavik volunteers not to drink any alcohol while we are here in Nunavut because they want us to set an example and be role models to the young adults.  There is a massive amount of people here who are alcoholics and so it only makes sense for us to set an example within the community.  But don’t worry guys, when we’re in Montreal we’re all getting plastered.  Just saying.