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.