One Month And Counting!

Another cold day here in Sanikiluaq - although I have been laughed at by some of the regulars out here (ahem, Johnny) saying that it's gonna get wayyyyy worse. Well for those of us who have to walk the dog, this is pretty darn cold. What made me smile was that it was the exact same temperature in Ottawa yesterday and today (including windchill); sorry folks back home, I know it is mean of me to find a bit of glee in that simple fact, but there you have it - I am more vindictive than I thought!!! :)

Unfortunately today I am still sick - time for the buckleys I think? I cringe just mentioning the name. I did bring a stash up with me though and suspect that I will have to cave. Seriously, shouldn't all virus' be dead in this kind of weather??? Apparently I am just one of the locals now, fit right in as half the town is sick. Blah. What did make my day though was several packages I received in the mail.

Nat sent me a couple of lovely packages, including a book by the name of "Have a Little Faith" - yes Nat, cheese, but I am really enjoying it. Beautifully written and simple in it's observations. It was one of the books from my former book club...although I had a brutal attendance record I do like reading from their suggestions - they are my own Oprah club! I have to give a shout out to Nat and her husband to be Eric. The best and most exciting news I received throughout the holidays is that Eric popped the big question and they are planning on getting married in 2010. Way to go guys! XO.

I also got a bunch of really nice and funny Christmas cards! A little shout out also has to go out to my little niece who made me a lovely snowman ornament for the tree. I will take a picture of it Kayla and send it your way! Terry and I also got a fun gift from his sister Nevie. Thanks Nevie but as you guessed, the dried meat never made it to the freezer before he DOVE into the bag to eat some. You will have to teach me how to make that - never seen him smile so big, and that's saying something for Terry.

Today the winter games continue, but I suspect the might be indoors. There is a local radio station in town where they announce the games and locations but unfortunately it is all in Inuktitut, so I don't understand it! I would like to head out to some of the games, so maybe I will just have to stand on the side of the road and flag someone down to get the information!!!

For those of you who are still on holidays hope you enjoyed your day and are looking forward to NYE!

Talk soon,

DJ
xo

Let The Games Begin!

Yesterday the winter games began in Sanikiluaq! Similar to the ancient Roman times, these games....yada yada. Just kidding. These are completely different than anything I have ever seen (not that I saw real roman games, but you get the point) - I mean how many Canadians can make an igloo? At least one that stands up? In the picture to the left, Terry and some mini-friends are kneeling inside one of the igloos that was built in the igloo contest yesterday. Throughout Christmas-night games took place at the community hall, continued all day yesterday and they are back at it today and tonight - apparently no one parties quite like the North!


After we checked out the igloos we went to watch the gas can race. This is done by young women only, and the concept is to make it to 100 feet or so with an empty gas can sitting on a small garbage bag while the women pull it with a string. Pretty funny stuff to watch! I believe the prize at the end of that contest was a gift certificate for the top 3 winners to one of the stores. Well worth it when a 12 pack of pop costs about $19.


Unfortunately yesterday I came down with a cold and was unable to really go around town to check out all the activities - so I sent out my trusty side-kick T-Ly. Terry and Mike headed up to the community hall yesterday eve to participate and watch some of the games going on within. Last night's entertainment was the "jig" dance, where people were invited up, one by one, to dance a jig (each to the same song) to win a prize. I believe there were a lot of other games going on throughout the night as this morning was pretty quiet around town.

Today was the FEAST. At 2:30 everyone in the community heads over to the community hall to enjoy some local country food (country food means local delicacies, which include, but are not limited to, raw seal meat, whale meat and reindeer meat).

As a side note, we woke up this morning to a sunny sky once again and then within the hour a really thick fog moved in and covered everything with pretty sparkly crystals - including the dog who had whiter face than usual.

Wasn't feeling up to par to do much today and while we went to check the FEAST out, it was a long wait having 947 people ahead of you and one I wasn't really up for, considering I am not feeling 100% ...too bad, I know, I mean who doesn't want to eat raw seal meat right?! Terry has his own stash of raw caribou, so he wasn't too upset about missing the FEAST.

More pictures to come tomorrow. It has started snowing tonight, winds are supposed to pick up again overnight and the temperature is supposed to drop...here comes the cold winter days. Countdown is definitely on to our southern trip!

DJ
xo

Merry Christmas!

'White Christmas' has an entire new meaning...

I know most of you are now experiencing a thaw, as we always seem to have at this time of the year, but up here there is no chance that a thaw will occur anytime soon - apparently there is still ice in June, so this is one of many firsts at Christmastime 2009. Maybe, like my birthday, Christmas festivities will have to continue until June 2010??? ha ha - poor Terry.

Christmas Eve the boys were busy the entire day, so no half- day for them. Hope and I spent the day cooking, walking and enjoying some 'alone' time...that doesn't happen much. ;) The day was perfect, about -8 with no wind (I repeat, NO WIND) and sunny. I decided to go for a run and take the pooch with me. I was excited about it - she wasn't. We ran up to the airport and to appease the dog, we continued on to the dump - all were happy AND I felt I could eat way more for xmas-eve dinner...which I did.

Steak and potatoes was our repas for the evening and surprise, neighbours Johnny, Debbie, Katlin and Bill invited us over for an amazing seafood chowder. Oh My God - it was awesome. The entire evening of eating, chatting and laughter was a worthy Christmas Eve. Did I mention how delicious that seafood chowder was? I believe this might be a new tradition for us...:)

I did end up opening two gifts on Christmas eve: a beautiful painting of a drum dancer that Terry got when he visited Iqaluit and an authentic pair of Northern slippers he brought from Nain. I was spoiled. He opened up Super Mario for Wii and a little something something from my parents which he continues to enjoy today. ;)

Christmas morning we ran downstairs to see if Santa had indeed dropped off some more gifts, only to realize that he would have been plum outta luck considering we don't have a chimney...and who wants to break into a cop's house?? He was best to be safe! So we got to eating some breaky, drinking some hot chocolate and getting to the rest of our gifts. I also got some beautiful jewelry (made out of caribou antler and walrus tusk), a new watch, a printer AND a return flight home!!!!! I love Terry!!!! He got a few more games for the Wii (including CSI, right up his alley), some clothes and an Ipod docking system which he has been proudly playing country music on since he opened it - as he says "it's mine right?"...

We had hoped to head out ski-dooing but never got around to it as we were too lazy. So we enjoyed the day all 3 of us together (and our extra house guest) and started our own traditions... (wink wink). We did cook the turkey that Mike supplied and while it was ironically fully cooked by 3 it was still juicy at 6. Good to go! I pick up my horrible turkey cooking skills from Mom - right Mom? I did find out that Terry makes an awesome turkey gravy though, who knew?

Yesterday evening we spent 8 hours playing the new Super Mario game. It is similar to the old one but you can play up to 4 people at the same time. It was crazy but a lot of fun. The games around town started at 10 last night and continue today. Out in the Bay there was a huge gathering of people all getting ready to play some form of winter games. And I expect we will see more of that throughout the week and I will try and get some good pictures!!

No big boxing day sale at the Norther or the Co-op, but we will make our way down and see if there are any sales on?!!! Wishful thinking I believe.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Christmas!

Miss you all.

DJ, Terry & Hope

xoxoxoxo

A LITTLE BIT OF THIS...

Terry told me today that it is "tips eve"...and apparently everyone gets a little "tipsy" on the night before xmas eve. I have several observations about this East Coast tradition. 1 - we can't do it here, so that SUCKS. 2 - honestly, what East Coaster needs an excuse to get tipsy? And finally, aren't you supposed to spend the entire holidays tipsy? Maybe that's just a Norris tradition???

The weather has been really nice here the past few days - windy, but heck that is now par for the course. I just try pretend I am somewhere in the Caribbean where the wind never stops blowing...and no, before you ask it's not working. But yesterday to make myself feel better I did check out some potential hot spots for our future trip down south in March. Holy Toledo I am looking forward to that...and seeing all my family and comrades too of course! Terry did say that Tahiti might be a bit far and pricey. Fine, how `bout Hawaii??? Muahahaha!

We had our first experience with foodmail this week. While the Northern and the Co-op definitely provide the essentials that you need it can be quite pricey so we are lucky enough to be able to order food from the Metro in Val d'Or Quebec. The order had to be in last Thursday for it to arrive this week before xmas. Certain foods are subsidized - specially healthy foods and others are charged an extra cargo fee. It's not the same as heading over to the local grocer and getting what you need but what did come was fresh and in good shape. I failed somewhere though as we spent too much, and the cost was mostly on shipping fees and not on the food. Hopped on the phone today to speak to the kind folks at Metro but of course, everyone is gone to celebrate the season. A learning curve to be tackled in the new year.

Mike was smart enough to order a turkey on the barge order (you can make very large orders twice a year on the barge) so for xmas day we plan on having a traditional feast, with just a few improvisations...outcome to be determined. :) Presents are under the tree, stockings are stuffed and only a few more things to bake before I can.....relax ('cause I haven't been doing that enough lately eh?).

Our new little house guest is adapting quite nicely to our family. We have all decided that Mom and Dad should ship the fat cat Maggie up here and we will switch Maggie with Duncan - wonder if Lindsay and Joe would notice. When she jumps on them at night they certainly might notice a difference...suffocation is an awful thing.

To throw a little mix into the festive traditional we are having lasagna tonight. While we put in the order for foodmail I must have missed the fact that we had not more meet left other than chicken drum sticks and filet mignon (while I know most of you are saying "so what", it actually does leave a lot to be desired), and didn't order anything other than a couple of fish filets and 2 chicken breasts (I actually thought they were going to be whole chickens). Therefore, we are limited with our meats and had to pick some ground beef at the Co-op...I need variety.

Bon apétît à tous!

DJ
xo

The Workings of Sanikiluaq

Now that we have had a chance to settle in, I have a better understanding of what makes this little down tick. The islands themselves, the Belcher Islands are a large mass of volcanic rock (lets hope there is no imminent volcano explosion like the one about to happen in the Philippines). Our little town is located at the southern end of Flaherty island, one of the 1500 islands comprising it's total sum. So what does all this mean? Well for starters, there are fresh water lakes throughout the islands and we have one located right beside the town.

WATER:
Each house is equipped with it's own very large water tank. I was a bit worried in the beginning and would cut my showers down to 2 or 3 minutes (not easy when you have a mop of hair on your head like mine) but our tank has yet to empty since I have been here and that is 3 of us using the supply (no I am not counting the dog, rather our neighbour Mike). I have yet to figure out just how many water trucks there are in town because I tend to confuse them with the sewer and diesel trucks (hope the drivers don't get confused!!). These water trucks go to the water station right across the street from us and pump fresh water out of the lake. During the winter you will see the townsfolk head out on the lake and chop out large blocks of ice. This is to drink as the actual lake water is full of minerals and the trucks that deliver the water are not cleaned all that much...we buy our drinking water from the Northern.

SEWER:
Along with large water tanks each house hosts a lovely above ground septic tank. All the houses are built on stilts, for various reasons, and the septic tank is visible under the house. So far I have estimated, in the almost month that I have been here, these are cleaned out bi-monthly for us. Now I have not been able to do a comparison to see if we "foreigners" fill up the tanks faster or not, but I have been told that our "poop" stinks really bad. :)

DIESEL:
All houses heat by diesel. So along with the water tanks (housed inside the houses), the septic tanks (housed under the houses) you will also find an outdoor diesel barrel that sits high up on stilts. All the trucks run 6 days a week except Sunday (sucks to be you if you forgot to order the water). They randomly visit houses around the community and make sure that these things function. All these jobs are run by the Hamlet or township office, as we know it.

GAS STATION:
There is a gas station in town to keep all the ATVs, Ski-doos, work trucks and other motorized machinery running. They have two large drums that hold the gas for the season. The gas is shipped in on the barge - so again, a lot of planning has to be done for this, including ordering enough diesel.

There is also a Housing Corporation that takes care of the rental houses and the new buildings that are going up around town. I would have to say that things in Sanikiluaq are booming. There are a bunch of new housing units that have gone up on the southern side of town, all different colours, and are yet to be complete. Knowing we have the highest birth-rate in Canada I guess this should not come as a surprise. There is a need for housing.

Finally there is a Northern Store (The Bay), a Co-op, Arctic College, Daycare centre, School (k to 12), a convenience store, wildlife centre, fire truck and recreation center plus the RCMP detachment. And of course, a hotel. :)

I have to admit that I thought moving out here would be quieter, but there is more noise here than at home. For one Ski-doos are noisier than cars and everyone has a Ski-doo. Second, the big trucks have less than 9 kms of roads, so you hear them everywhere! Also, the 3 snowplows in town never stop running...so it's a noisy and busy little community.

To all my steadfast followers, have a great evening!

DJ
xo

Rock....a whole lotta rock...

Hope has yet to realize that this entire island is made of rocks. Every time she finds a rock (which is about every 2 steps) it's like Christmas all over again. So I thought that I should let you share in her utter joy of rock finding. It's a whole new dog game. She is usually a stick fan but alas, there are none to be found on this island so she is resorting to rocks, rocks and more rocks. Ah well, whatever works.

Today was my first day on my Christmas holiday. So I made sure to take full advantage. This morning was a nice long walk (it was sunny with little wind, but coooooold) and then some reading, a nice lunch with Terry and a short nap in the afternoon followed by some painting. My first print should be done soon and putting some colour on our walls. :) Once Christmas is over this house might look as barren as the outdoors...at least as colourless. I really can't complain about the house. Found out the other day that the two houses are valued at $1.5 million. It is absolutely ridiculous but the cost of housing in the North is extremely high due to the difficulty in getting supplies.

Mario Mario Mario...

This weekend was quiet, except for the 100 games of Mario Kart (thanks Lindsay and Joe!). I have never been a ''gamer'' but wow, I really really really have a great time kicking Terry's butt in the driving races!! Ha ha, just kidding, that guy is a Super Mario pro!

The winter games start up next week, should be lots to report on then. The weather is supposed to hold up for the rest of the week, with sunshine for Christmas Eve and Day.

Tomorrow should be another repeat of today...hard to take. I am going to enjoy doing NOTHING this year, next year will be right back at it!!

Also wanted to include a picture of the blizzard - this is Hope and I outside trying to 'enjoy' a few moments of fresh air. Problem is that when we tried to breath we sucked in big gulps of snow. Crazy! No blizzards in the near forecast but I am sure it is only a matter of time!!!

Happy Monday!


DJ
xo

House Guest, Surprises and School's Out!

I didn't get a chance to write a blog entry last night, this is what happens when you start to work full-time again, I had forgotten about that. :-) I went from a long day at school, to a wonderful dinner of filet mignon cooked to perfection by Terry to having Joe and Lindsay over to watch Survivor. You have no idea how bloody happy I am that I have found "Survivor warriors" (not to be confused with "Prayer warriors", a little inside joke for us Survivor fanatics). They are just as excited as I am for Sunday's 3 HOUR finale!! WOOHOO! I am already planning events for that day which will culminate in utter Survivor heaven. Poor Terry.

Today was the last day of school which finished at 11:45. Many of the teachers had to catch the 1pm flight out of Sani and therefore the school would be more chaotic than usual without all the profs. It has been an interesting couple of days teaching. I should mention that the school hosts almost 300 children from K to 12, all in one small school. Luckily they should have a sparkling new high school built by this time next year. It is already under construction and progress seems to be good. Hoping that this works for the kids, would give them a better venue and opportunity to take their studies seriously. The school is also a museum for Arctic artifacts. They have 2 stuffed polar bears, numerous other animal pelts, the history of the Thule (Inuit) and many more interesting carvings and baskets made by the locals. Over the holiday season the floors are to be replaced throughout the school and unfortunately this construction started yesterday. We had to move every single artifact out of all the classes and into the gym amongst the dust made by the workers who were sanding down the floors. It was complete chaos and an exhausting day, but we did it and the new year will bring clean floors throughout. Of course the downside is the remaining dust and the reversal of yesterday's activities: getting everything back in it's rightful spot.

We have a new house guest for the holidays. His name is Duncan and he is a handsome one at that. He struts his stuff all over the house and is sweet to each of us. Even tried to snuggle up in bed beside me last night. Good thing Terry is so understanding. ;) Duncan is Joe and Lindsay's cat. Funny, they warned us that he was overweight...the little guy maybe weighs in at a champion 13 lbs...he's got nothing on Margaret at 21lbs. I miss her too, just not the morning where I would wake up with her lying on my chest. So Duncan is going to live with us until Jan 4th and Mike has another teacher's dog, Nuka. Should be some fun holidays.

Finally today we received a wonderful box full of goodies in the mail from Mom and Dad. THANKS!!! It was so much fun to get something from home and so very thoughtful! Also got my first xmas card from Pam and Chris!!! :) YAY! Things aren't being dropped in the ocean on the way over after all! Also got to talk to my nieces Alex and Kayla on the phone tonight, it was quite the eventful conversation and included all the regular details, like poop talk, Santa and holiday activities. :)

Weather is not too bad here right now. Wind is light but we are colder than our neighbours to the North, Iqaluit who are experience above freezing numbers. Hoping it stays like this for the weekend and maybe we can get out for some long romantic walks...

Hope everyone got their shopping done, Christmas is one week away! YAY!!!

Happy Friday night,
DJ
xo

A Whole New Respect

I officially have a whole new respect for teachers, teacher assistants, staff and all the rest who work with kids for their entire day. I always assumed that when working with adults I ran into a lot of immature people, BUT in reality immature adults are way easier to deal with than immature teenagers. It's a whole new ball game folks!

I taught for the first time all day today. Don't laugh but I started out with math classes all morning - brilliant-, my math skills have always been less than stellar. We managed to make our way through those, without too many hic-ups (I think). This afternoon was mostly English and a fun classed called Enterprise - all business and management stuff (now we were talking). School day starts at 8:30 and ends at 3:30 for the kids and a bit later for me. All in all, as Mom would say, I didn't lose nary a kid, and I think they may have actually learned something. Teachers and teaching staff really are amazing. I haven't even had to deal with parents yet. :) My favorite question received from a student today: "So how many kids do you have?"!!! It was just assumed because I am passed the ripe old age of 20 that I must have kids. Shocked 'em when I said ZERO and it's going to stay that way for a while. I think they thought I had lost all my marbles.

After school was Hip Hop. My coaches are getting ready for their live performance coming up after Christmas. Tonight it was just them practicing their 'smooth' moves and getting into the 'groove'. I think they are going to do great. Have included a picture to the left of some of the kids who want to take part in the upcoming program. They joined us to check out what it was going to look like and I think they were pretty happy with the results if the smiles on their faces where any indication. We were playing my version of 'learn a hip hop move and race your buddies'...it was a success!

On a side note, I made my sister in law's (Chantale) bread, 'country something' and it was delicious. Much better than my first attempt, this one we are gobbling up!!! :) Tonight Terry treated me to Sanikiluaq's version of "take out" pizza. It wasn't bad for frozen, but that is definitely on my list of cravings...Russell's Milano's pizza. Yum. Along with many other cravings...like various forms of alcoholic beverages, preferably Vino Norris.

9 days until Santa comes to visit!

DJ
xo

Cold, Teaching and Christmas Concert

Today was a whole bundle of fun and different things. This morning's agenda was to see DJ off teaching by 8am. Both of us dragged our derrieres out of bed by 7 (I know a lot of you are groaning about this, but it has been over a month since I have gotten up before 8am) and were ready to rock and roll by 7:30, when I received a call from the school Principal - school's canceled this morning due to the ongoing blizzard. Ok. Sure. I can handle that right? Negative, I then had to come to terms with the fact that Hope and I had to go for a walk...in the blizzard...again. It's like cheap exfoliation for the skin, makes it all soft and sparkly (at least that's what I keep telling myself). Anyway I make myself a nice hot cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows quite often! Inset is my cup of coco!

Things started to clear a bit around lunchtime and school was back on. I was heading in to teach high school kids a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Actually the Christmas concert/pageant was tonight, so not much teaching took place and in fact, didn't have too many kids join me in class. I am to return tomorrow and should have more to say on that matter. I start with a couple of math classes in the morning (you know, because I am so Einstein brilliant) and then on to English in the afternoon. Ok. Sure. I can handle that right??? I will let you know.

The Christmas pageant or concert as the kids called it was put on at the school this evening. It was definitely an interesting experience. Because of the blizzard getting ready for the concert was a little behind, but the kids and staff pulled it together and it was an entertaining evening. Each class either did a little skit or sang a song. Seemed like the whole town showed up!!!!








Back to school tomorrow - wish me luck! Will no doubt have even better tails. Apparently the weather is supposed to improve with a balmy high of -10 (am praying that this is true!).

Have a great night!!!

DJ
xo

Detachment cleaning ...

School was canceled today - who knew? Tomorrow it is supposed to be back on so I took advantage of some "down" time to clean up the detachment (see picture on the left). It is slated for renewal hopefully sometime soon and it definitely needs it. You know when you clean something and you spend a lot of time trying to make things sparkle and somehow, it just doesn't show? Well that is how it is at the RCMP detachment in Sanikiluaq. Ah well, it was a job and I like to clean, so a good combination. Wind is still blowing hard too, not like we could go out and make any snow angels...not yet anyway.

School should be on tomorrow and in I go to be a substitute teacher. Principle isn't sure exactly what he will have me doing but he IS sure that he needs me. All for the adventure my friends.

Thoughts go out to a former colleague of mine who lost his father over the weekend. xo.

Have a great Tuesday night.

DJ
xo

So ya, Mother Nature is a bit pissy...

I warned you that the blog was going to turn weather-related and it seems that this will be a reality. The blizzard started on Saturday and has yet to stop. Last night Terry, Hope and I braved the weather to head out for a walk (I will be sure to take a picture tonight of our get-up) and went out for about a half hour. The winds were so strong it felt like it was lifting me up and shuffling me along. Frankly I am surprised the dog was able to keep all four paws safely on the ground, must be that fabulous coat I bought her (pictures to come I promise).

Yesterday was a good day for a 24 marathon (24 the show) and so that is precisely what we did. We finished season 1 and I am NOT impressed with the ending...of course I was bawling and Terry was laughing. So ridiculous. We had not TV reception all day yesterday but thankfully the wind is blowing from the East today so it doesn't affect the satellite.

Today was exciting as well as I was supposed to teach this afternoon. Not sure what grade, I was just told "high school". Ok, I can go with that right? Anyway all that got blown away, literally as the storm has once again picked up and we are all housebound. Except for our courageous boys in blue who have to head around town checking out the best haunts for coffee stops. :)

I am starting my third week here and feel like I am just getting settled in. Everyday I meet new people and Hope continues to be the little golden star she is, loving up all the kids and adults alike.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and wishing you all a safe and happy last week before the holidays!

DJ
xo

Blizzard, and not the DQ kind!

Intense. That's all I can say about today's weather. I suspect that the further we head in to winter the more my blogs may focus on weather related topics. Today, tomorrow and quite possibly Monday are supposed to be blizzard-like conditions. The winds are crazy fierce and it either pushes you along when you are walking (only crazies go out in this weather...or those with demanding dogs) or throws you back if you attempt to take it on. The snow is everywhere, and yet the wind is so strong it doesn't let it accumulate on the ground, at least making vehicle traffic and pedestrian traffic easier - if you can ignore the white-out conditions. On our walk this morning Hope's already white face became even whiter and all you could see where her two little brown eyes way up ahead. Intense.

It's been a busy day unfortunately for Terry and Mike, out and about on calls. They have been at it since 1pm today and not back yet (it's 11:30 pm here). They were able to get a couple of hours off to go to the neighbour's parrrrty! To Nicole and Matt, it did not rival yours that you are having tonight and that I am missing - hope the gifts were as entertaining as always. I was worried that parties would not be the same without booze, but delicious food seems to take it's place. I'm OK with that, especially because we got in 2 hours of badminton again today. There won't be anymore badminton until the new year, everyone heads out this Friday for hometowns to celebrate the holidays. You think they would all know to stay here considering you are that much closer to Santa - hello! MORE GIFTS FASTER! :)

Hoping that tomorrow the winds calm down a big so we can go for a longer walk, but my 'hopes' aren't up that the weather will change anytime soon, when in Rome...stay indoors.

Hope everyone had a great Saturday night.

DJ
xo

Sunshine....on a cloudy day

I have sunshine in my eyes right now as I write this. Beautiful day today in Sanikiluaq. Temperature is hovering around -10 with a bit of a windchill, but all in all just lovely.

Hope and I took advantage and spent most of the day walking around checking things out. I did work up my courage to head over to the COOP. I am not intimidated by much but here is my problem with the COOP: there are a lot of grouchy-looking men smoking and hanging around outside the COOP doors...my fear of course is not for myself, but rather my tasty looking dog.

BACKGROUND: The problem is that it hasn't been cold enough and the ice has not formed over the ocean, therefore hunting is only a wishful thought and not yet a reality. SO all this to say that when I go to the COOP and leave Hope out there on her own with the men, I really do fear that they are going to take off with her and have a "Hope roast"... no worries though, I came back out and being the dog she is, she was everyone's best friend, getting pets and laughs out of all of them.

This afternoon and evening are going to be busy, for me mostly, and hopefully quiet for Terry. I have my regular Hip Hop crew ready to whip me into shape and then the school is having a movie night and I have been asked to supervise the little munchkins. This starts at 6 and I dearly hope it is not as long as the auctions around here. :) Should be fun and I hope it's a movie I haven't seen. Right now the thought of a movie isn't that exciting, but I expect, when it has been a few months since I have seen anything new I will be THRILLED to supervise movie nights. You will probably catch me pushing all those front-row little munchkins out of the way for a good seat: MOVE kids (I gotta learn that in Inuktitut)!

Also, it's ladies night tonight a the Northern store. I was speaking with Manager Marc as I was cashing in some cheques and he said it was bound to get "weird" later and I should come back and check it out. Terrible sales pitch, but somehow it worked and now I want to go and see what it's all about. It could just be a weird night all around.

For all of you who have xmas parties tonight, party safe BUT please have a drink for me. I will be such an easy drunk when I get back (sorry Mom, I know this is bad to write, but it's the honest to goodness truth).

Happy Friday!!!!

DJ
xo

Going once, going twice....SOLD to the highest bidder...

So tonight I had my first taste of an arctic auction. :) To raise money for the school they have random auctions, and the stuff there is GOOD. We are talking beautiful seal skin or beaver mitts, paintings, carvings and most importantly cheaper flights. Obviously the last part, the cheap flights, is the most popular. For example, to fly to Montreal at regular price is about $2k, the flights at the action ran for $1300, a good deal for sure. They also had flights up further North - hello, you are already in the arctic, why do you need to go North??? What's that song with "Go West"...change it to "Go South"! Ah well, when in Rome...ha ha, just kidding - we didn't buy any tickets to go North, staying in good ol' Sanikiluaq.

The auction was not only a good spot to pick up some cool local gear it was also a good place to people watch. Some of the folks that came to the auction were dragged off their hunting boats or away from skinning a seal, I swear. Ah, all auctions always bring out the cream of the crop! :) It was a good time though, the auctioneer was hilarious and after the auction patiently told Terry and I the story about how Sanikiluaq came to be. I didn't get it all and will have to sit down with Johnny in the near future to better understand.

Got home from the auction a little late (which means that I missed Survivor at 8 and have to wait around until 11 to watch the next episode...several concerns here, I am TIRED and the TV isn't working...again). That's getting pretty darn old, so will have to spend another 2 hours with Bell again tomorrow to figure out the problem ARGH. Go Brett!!!!

Tomorrow is Friday - I can't believe the time is going by so fast. Still no work other than the Hip Hop program but people in the community have said to be patient. This time of year everything shuts down and I have to get to better know the community and it's people - a lot of trust needs to be built before they hire you. I would officially offer to dog walk all the huskies, but I am smarter than that - right Mom? I enjoy my arm firmly and happily ensconced into my shoulder socket thank you very much. Speaking of huskies, one guy got free from his rope tonight as we were taking a walk and tried to impress Hope with his high jumps and bum smelling antics - she of course, was having nothing of it, and continued on with her swagger. A real tease that one. He gave up following as I think he got tired peeing on all the things poking out of the snow - she isn't easily impressed...that'a girl.

Tomorrow is Friday - no doubt some excitement will happen and I will be sure to keep you all posted. Hope everyone is getting their xmas shopping done as xmas is only 15 days away!!!!

DJ
xo

WORD!!! (that's hip hop lingo)

I got "jiggy with it" tonight...learned a few hip hop moves and had a great time for a couple of hours with about 30 12 year olds. Only one of my coaches came out tonight and while the actual classes haven't started, there seems to be an awful lot of willing participants and something had to be done with them! Winnie, one of my girl coaches, took charge and she did a great job. She first shows up with a traditional Inuit coat called 'amautik' and her baby Jack tucked inside, pulls him out and gets all the kids in order. I believe Winnie must be somewhere around 17 years old.

We played a bunch of games and got the kids moving - that is the point of the program. There are no physical education programs here as the children aren't very fond of them, so this was a good way to expand their energy. Frankly though I am surprised that they could keep up considering during break they all went and smoked! :) Working on that...

Spent the morning on the computer (after our walk of course) and then made muffins. Terry is in charge of dinner tonight and we are having caribou stew. The meat comes from Baffin island and Terry believe it will taste different than Labrador caribou - I will let you know! It is smelling REALLY good in here anyway!

We are about to get all stretched out with Pilates on the Wii, something we got into since I arrived and it really works that core! All in the name of our trip south in March.

For those of you who have had to shovel out due to the storm, stay warm and safe. I asked Mother Nature to send "some" snow your way - I guess she mis-understood!!!!

DJ
xo

Wind wind go away - don't come back another day!

So we have been lucky, at least since I have arrived. The wind has been relatively calm and I was starting to think that the locals were big whiners...I am wrong. Wrong wrong wrong. This wind would not only dry the clothes on the clothes line, it would send them straight down to the Panama Canal! It is some serious wind coming mostly from the North. Gusts were about 80 Km/hr most of the day, it was pretty intense.

Hope and I braved the weather this morning for about 9.42 seconds, and then promptly hid inside of the house until the afternoon, when all of a sudden the eye of the storm was upon us and all was quiet and peaceful.

Hope wore her jacket for the first time today, it was ridiculous really, but biased as I am, it was pretty cute. She didn't particularly like it and proceeded to grab the side of the jacket and walk herself...she sure showed me.

Afternoon was quiet, we wrote xmas cards and read (I am reading Breaking Dawn, the 4th novel in the Twilight series, and while I really like the series I am not finding the time to get through this novel).

It was walk night tonight. We didn't have as many people as last time, but more adults tonight, so a good balance. Probably still about 40 people and some of the important leaders in the community joined which was very nice of them considering it was so brutal out (wind came back up about 5 and hasn't stopped).

Seeing all these kids and knowing how easy it is for them to get lost in the snow and how many of the parents are not concerned about the whereabouts of their children my heart goes out to the little boy and his parents who passed away in Cape Breton.

I wish you all a warm and safe night, more tomorrow.

DJ
xo

Reformed...

I am officially reformed. A reformed shopper that is. As someone with classic shop-o-holic syndrome, everyone must be proud of the fact that I have gone to the Northern store 3 times and bought nothing, zip, zero, nada!!!!! aha - therefore I am REFORMED...for now anyway. Granted I have not been to the CO-OP and I here that it has anything and everything you need...uh oh. TROUBLE.

I did send off a few Christmas cards today...it's starting to FEEL a lot like Christmas. Snow has been around since I arrived last Sunday but it just seems so normal here that you think Christmas has come and gone. People have decorated their houses and it is really cute. Speaking of the houses here, I do have to say that everyone makes a pretty good effort at keeping their house up. They all seem freshly painted in bright colours, making the landscape look like a fishing village in Newfoundland, or anywhere else on the coast most likely.

Re: Hip Hop. I met with the Hamlet today and we figured out a plan for the Hip Hop. The Coaches are practicing as we speak, although it was supposed to only be the 3 of them, somehow half the population of kids have come out to try it out. Some will be duly disapointed when they are refused entry into the program due to low grades. We have tied the program to the school, ensuring that those who join have a minimum average of 60% and an attendance rate of at least 3 days a week...yes you read that right. So stay tuned for more Hip Hop adventure. The great news about this good program is that I have confirmed I will be invoicing them at the end of the program in March - how much is yet to be determined... :)

It was a nice day here again and Terry and I went for a run at lunch. Plans for tonight are a lovely meal of Arctic Char and an evening walk with all the kids. I didn't get around to working on any painting today, I really can't believe how bloody busy you are when you don't work. I used to wonder how Mom, on her days off, wouldn't find time to read...well Mom, I now understand!!!! If this keeps up there is no worry about running out of books anytime soon!!!

Hope everyone had a great day and even better night - I hear a lot of Ontario is going to get nailed with a big winter storm - be safe!!!!

DJ
xo

One week

Today is my one week anniversary in Sanikiluaq. Time is flying and continues to be entertaining and exciting. Although, interestingly, I find myself sleeping longer in the morning, and I am not the only one. All of us (and that includes the dog) are usually early risers, and yet we easily convince ourselves that snuggling in bed for most of the morning is a grand idea :). Granted it doesn't get light here until about 745 or so, but that is really no excuse seen as when I was a 'working woman' I was up at 6 every morning. This last paragraph is going to be especially frustrating for Pam! I feel for you having to get up at 4:30 am this week (xo).

Today was by far the nicest day of the week. In fact Terry and others claimed that they have yet to see such a glorious sunny day, with no wind (and this is key, when there are no flipping trees to stop the gusts, or slow it down it literally feels like you are going to be swept off your feet). This morning the local flags were barely blowing so Hope and I took off early for a nice walk while Terry had a bloody war with the satellite dish and the receiver. He is a big fan of Coronation Street but we can't seem to get any CBC channels for some reason. We think it might be the actual receiver...but then again, it could be the satellite - my challenge for this week is to get things running smoothly by next Sunday before the bear starts roaring about missing his regular soap opera.

We hooked up with some of the teachers (same as last night, Joe and Lindsey) and played badminton for the afternoon at the school. It was a really good time, but I hurt like hell and expect it will get worse tomorrow. Plus Terry kept smashing the shuttle coc (I just like writing that) at my butt.

We also tried to do a little cod fishing but because there was no wind the bay actually froze up today. This is salt water and I would have expected it to take a lot longer to freeze up but perhaps I am just getting used to the cold. It was probably about -5 today and the temperature has dropped considerably since the sun went down.

The hip hop practice starts tomorrow...I would have looked like a quad before playing badminton and getting my ass all "bent out of shape" but now, well I may as well bring a video camera so y'all can have a good laugh.

We had burgers on the BBQ tonight - was delicious. Using the BBQ is precious - the cost of a propane tank up here is approximately $160 (yes that zero is supposed to be there), so we treat it like the liquide gold it is. It was still yummy though. Now we are settling in and getting ready for Amazing Race!

Hope everyone has a great week at work (te-he), I plan to focus on getting this place decorated with a few of my own creations.

Happy Sunday,
DJ

xo

More pics (see link below for all of them)

For all the rest visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/Hopemaggie/Sanikiluaq#5411901780609964274

Saturday fun...

I should first start off by saying that the series of 24 is the BEST. The fam has been dishing the details on the series and gushing about it's amazing content and "grab you" factor - who knew? They were right! So last night, our first Friday together we snuggled on the couch, with our little xmas tree alight and watched 3 hours of the first season of 24. The weather outside was indeed frightful... :)

Today we hit the "wilderness"...via snowmobiles. The last time I was ever on a snowmobile was when I was a wee baby teenager, and I don't think that even counted, as I doubt I even drove it anywhere. Off we went on our little buggies and explored this rugged territory with the intent of snapping some amazing pictures of the scary Sani bears (polar bears)...but alas, they were sneaky little devils and we did not see a-one...frankly we saw nothing but white snow and sky, ocean here and there and a whole lot of lava rock. It was stunning. I do have some pics and will post.

Terry has a cousin up in Sani this weekend, he works on northern electrical contracts and was here to install a generator at the hospital. After dinner we poped over next door to Mike's house to watch Boston kick Toronto's ass...was a great game especially 'cause they are allllllll leaf fans. It was really nice tonight, I met another couple who are teaching here. Lindsay and Joe...more east coasters of course (I am picking up an entire new dialect). It was nice to be able to have a bit of "girl" talk with Lindsay. Tomorrow we are all heading over to the school to play some badminton - be warned I will be whining about how sore I am following this blog. :)

Happy Saturday night!

xo

for those of you who are not yet on Skype - get on so we can talk on you, I need to see your faces!!!!! :)

Walk = success!!!

Did you know that 50 to 60 kids running around outside is mob-like and loud??? There was no polar bear about to approach us last night with all the people (well kids) who joined the walking club. I should preface that the club was actually to encourage adults to come out and walk...but they just came around on their ski-doos and ATVs and dropped their kids off...uh, not quite what we had in mind. We did have a couple of the village elders join us - a very important visual in a community like this.

A lot of the kids never have exercise, so this was a big night for them. We had a great walk (I do have some photos and will post shortly), they kids were all very happy, not one complaint about being tired, cold or bored. They are so unspoiled here that our attention to their conversation was gift enough. It also helped that the weather was clear and the moon was bright. We walked up to the airport and back into town.

Interestingly there was a polar bear spotted at the airport this morning - coincidence??? A couple of you have mentioned bringing a radio/walki-talky with me, I think that is a great idea...or I could just stick near town. :)

Today was my first day where I actually felt relaxed and even a bit lonely. I haven't really had time to miss the comforts of home, but I did today. I started making a list of things I will need (can you believe I forgot to pack broth????) and found myself somewhat disbelieving that I will be here for the next year and a half. So I pulled out my paints and started to make some wall decorations. Terry and I just got back from our nighttime walk, this one just the two of us and it was most romantic. We stopped in at the Northern Store as they were having a "customer appreciation night", although couldn't figure out what exactly was on sale...perhaps it was the frozen pizzas at $16? Or maybe the case of 12 pop for $19? :) Good news, eggs and cheese are relative to the south...bad news - milk is WAY expensive. Ah well, who knew my splurges would no longer be on shoes but on milk??? :)

We are hoping to head out for a snowmobile ride tomorrow and maybe catch some pictures of arctic foxes as well as get some fresh cod. We need to keep taking advantage of this good weather. It was again mild today, about -2 but with some good winds. Tonight a storm has blown in, but it's still warm, just windy and snowy. Very pretty and christmassy.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Miss you! Thank you for all your comments, I love reading them!

DJ
xo

Long night....beautiful day...

They atvs and skidoos ran all night and it was LOUD, we are talking York Street in Ottawa loud during Frosh week...needless to say it was very quiet today. Only a couple of people had to be thrown into the 'drunk tank' though, and I wasn't one of them. :) So far so good being dry...

Today Hope and I walked for a couple of hours north of Sanikiluaq. We went up past the airport. This place totally takes your breath away with it's vastness and pure white for miles and miles. In it's own way it is a snow desert. :) There are really nice rolling hills all around the town too. It was really cold today (probably -25 with windchill), but sunny out!!!!

I also dropped off my application for substitute teaching and interestingly enough they have a PR course, right up my ally. Also spoke to the person (Debbie) who runs the Arctic college and in the new year I will possibly be running a communications program.

No new news on the hip hop angle, but if anyone feels up to creating some cd's with last year's best hip hop tunes and sending them up that would be wounderful. The internet up here won't allow for large downloads, therefore the kids are limited with the music they can listne too.

Tonight is the walking club, ideally adults are also supposed to join their children on this walk - but it'll be interesting to see if they do. No one walks anywhere here.

Will let you know how the walk goes tonight, no doubt Hope will encourage the little folk to join us.

xo

A link to more pictures...

I was hoping to be able to post the pics on the blog, but it only lets me select a few. If you are interested, here are some more pics.

http://picasaweb.google.ca/Hopemaggie/Sanikiluaq?authkey=Gv1sRgCMub0MHvsM_AFQ&feat=email#

A few pics...

Domestication...

I have come to realize that I am very domesticated. I firmly believe that I missed my calling in life and should have been a "home maker" from day 1. Ah well, finally understanding how busy those of us who don't head to an office every day really are.

Still in the middle of boxes (we had 53 in total shipped up and Terry and I each brought up some stuff with us) so things are slowing finding their happy place in the house. Of course I seem to be easily distracted with all the fun and exciting things to do here. For example, Hope and I walk for almost 2 hours every morning. We don't plan on going that long, but so far the weather has been great and we just keep putting one foot in front of the other and see where we end up. We also stop to talk to a lot of the locals. :)

Today at lunch Terry and I went for a run outside. It was pretty funny seeing people's reaction - not quite sure what to do with us...I think perhaps they thought we were running from bears?

Last night was a treat. One of the nurses is originally from Malaysia and she whipped up an asian delight for dinner. We were lucky enough to be invited and to enjoy this gourmet dinner. The only downfall to the entire evening was the realization that I have to reciprocate and whip up something just as good. Not like we have all the ingredients in the world up here. Maybe I will just order a pizza from Dominos.

After dinner last night we went for a walk around town (around 10:30PM) and collected a bunch of avid followers. Kids don't seem to have curfews around here. Granted it was a beautiful night but at one point Terry, Hope and I had about 20 little munchkins running around asking a million questions at once - mostly in Inuktitut. So while Ter looks great and is having a conversation with everyone, I am looking a little sheepish...maybe by the end of my two years I will know how to communicate better in Inuktitut.

Today I am heading over to the Community Hall to meet with some of the young people (teenagers). I have been asked by the Hamlet (township) to run a Hip Hop program for the youth here. Apparently they LOVE hiphop and they thought that my close relationship with Jay-Z and Beyonce would make for some fun activities...uh huh. So we shall see what happens at this meeting and what the kids are looking for.

I was able to get some xmas decorations up yesterday. Apparently you can get a real xmas tree - you have to order it this weekend and the cost is a mere $25...so why is it so darn expensive in Ottawa when we actually GROW them??? Weird. There is not a tree in sight on the island, looks a bit like a new subdivision in Barrhaven or Orleans. :)

Word of the day is Ilook. 10 points for whoever can figure that one out.

Hope everyone is having a great week! I miss everyone. xo

1st day - 1st impressions...

This house is GREAT but (yes there is a 'but', but it's small), it was built by (me being PC) 'vertically challenged people'. I know this because the shower water shoots out at about mid-chest level and I actually have to bend over to get my face in the shower head spray...poor Terry, it is REALLY low for him.

This is not a jab at short people I promise, but definitely made for a funny shower this morning! :) Breakfast consisted of some toast, an orange and some milk (which I didn't finish and stored the rest back in the fridge - you learn to save everything). I got out on my own today and explored this wonderful little hamlet and it's very short people. The kids are by far the most beautiful looking children I have ever seen. They never stop smiling and are beautifully untouched by societal expectations and influences. They follow you everywhere and ask your name numerous time. Hope has made friends with many and has even scared a few of the adults - she is having a really good time.

It has been snowing since I woke up but the weather is mild. We walked and walked and walked this morning, taking it all in. I did get some great pictures, and hope to get them up shortly. Am having a hard time connect the wireless router which would make everything easier. Will see what I can do about that tomorrow.

My afternoon consisted of unpacking and more unpacking. I did make it out to the school to meet with the Principle quickly and pick up the necessary forms to apply as a substitute teacher. I then hopped over (as per Terry's suggestion) to the local Hamlet (Township office) and met with Mohamed. What an amazing man. He was recruited to come here 2 years ago from Toronto to help but this place back into shape. His focus has been and continues to be the young children - the future of this community. Since his rein the hamlet has gone from a 1$million deficit to a $1million surplus. We really hit it off and I am hoping to be able to help the Hamlet in a lot of it's programs with a specific focus on their young teenage girls.

Tonight is not a good night for Sani...the plane came in from Winnipeg at 1 today and since then many of the townspeople have been illegally drinking. It was a very interesting night. As we were walking around town keeping an eye on things we had two 11 girls following us and playing with Hope. We ran into a young woman who was intoxicated, aggressive and extremely vulgar - it was hard for me to imagine the two young smiling little girls turning out like this, but alcohol is definitely NOT their friend. Terry and Mike have been out most of the night chasing down the bad guys and will probably have to spend the night at the jail or out and about.

More unpacking tomorrow, some bread making and a dinner date! One of the local nurses has invited us over for dinner at 6:30. Looking forward to meeting some more of these interesting people.

More to come...

Arrived...as a co-pilot!!!

Took off from Ottawa this morning on the RCMP plane and to my surprise I was the co-pilot...someone obviously knew about my love of speed. The pilot, smart man that he was, didn't let me drive the plane, although I found out that pilots don't really "drive" or "fly" the plane other than for a total of about 20 minutes at take off and landing...it's all about the math. Huh.

Terry picked me up with the other RCMP member Mike, around 4PM this afternoon (EST) and off we went to 800A Sanikiluaq (that's our house). Who knew that my house up North was going to be GORGEOUS. I will get pictures up soon I promise, but tonight is all about relaxing and enjoying being together again.

Hope had a safe flight as well, although in the beginning while we were packing up (couldn't bring all the food as there wasn't enough room) she constantly tried to convince us that being crated was very much "beneath" her. :) Too bad, it's one thing she had to suck up.

We did a walk around the town tonight - everyone here is a big fan of ATVs and no one seems to walk, although Mike did say that he has started a "walking club" every evening and Terry, Hope and I plan on joining.

Next post tomorrow with some pictures and way more details - it's snowing here, feels a lot like XMAS!

xo

Day 1 after leaving CIC

WOW - really? Really???I can't believe this is really happening. I am freaking out just a bit, especially after having spoken to Terry today and being told that the polar bears are making Sanikiluaq their home base as soon as the sun goes down...

A few choice words come to mind "mother father!"...these are NOT coke bears, but I still have faith that Hope can take them on.

More stories to come closer to my departure date...less than 2 weeks away!