Flashback Friday

Back when I wasn't blogging much last year, I had an amazing opportunity.  I always meant to blog about it, but kept putting it off.  Lately, I've been thinking of a few other past experiences that would make some good posts, so I'm going to start doing the occasional Flashback Friday to share those with you.  My apologies in advance for some of the wonky formatting in this post.

If you've been following my blog for any length of time, you know that I used to work for a national youth program.  Now that that program has lost it's funding from the government and I no longer work there, I will call it by name.  I worked for an amazing youth program called Katimavik.  (www.katimavik.org)  When the program was cancelled all of our houses across the country had to be closed.  I had to do pre-inspections with my staff, and then thorough inspections with landlords to see what damages had been done, ensure furniture and property were returned or donated, etc.  It was a big job in all four of the communities in my district and the same thing had to be done across the country. 

Someone needed to go to Iqaluit, Nunavut to do the same thing there.

That someone got to be me!

I had been slyly overtly campaigning for the opportunity to travel to Iqaluit if ever there was a need for anyone to go there to do anything.  Finally, it was my turn!

Getting to Iqaluit is no easy feat.  Though it is the territorial capitol, it is on Baffin Island.  There are no roads in or out, and relatively few flights.  I flew from home to Vancouver, Vancouver to Ottawa, stayed overnight in Ottawa, and got a 3 hour flight on First Air the next morning, flying over a cloudless sky across Northern Quebec, Hudson Bay, and finally, into Frobisher Bay.  (May I just say that First Air is the best airline in our country.  Though the ticket costs a small fortune, you get a good hot meal, a warm cookie, and free wine, and you are not charged for a second piece of luggage).

The ice was just breaking up on the bay at the end of June

A beautiful, sunny day at the airport

The project leader picked me up at the airport.  We had a lot of work to do to get the house ready for the inspection, but it was too beautiful to be inside.  Besides, with 23 hours of daylight, we had plenty of time to clean later.  We headed out for a hike around the bay.

There are no trees at this latitude, but I had perfect timing to see the Arctic in bloom:

Arctic poppies

Bones from a young cariboo were scattered around

 

I may have got a sunburn!

We buckled down and got to work that evening and all the next day.  Then there was a community feast to go to.  This feast was hosted by the health authority, and spoke about health benefits and risks of "country foods," meaning the traditional foods of the Inuit, whale blubber, seal meat, arctic char, and berries.  A feast of all but the berries was available following the presentation:

Community members could help themselves to the arctic char, seal or muktuk

We had more work to do, and a presentation of our own to give the community afterwards.  Then it was time to feed the dogs.  The project leader I was working with was house sitting for a month following her contract and had already started caring for the sled dog team belonging to the owner of the house.  It was very foggy and rainy that evening, but still plenty of daylight at 11pm.

This guy is saving his for later

This guy can't wait to dig in

The team is ready for their food!

The next morning, we were up early for our inspection with the landlord.  Our cleaning and work had paid off!  We were done, and now I had two extra days in Iqaluit.  The project leader took me to a territorial park for another hike.  

Do you see that warning on the bottom?  Let's take a closer look:

Look out for polar bears!

The park was barren, but there was a good view of town, a nice waterfall, some more flowers, and it was just a beautiful and quiet place to walk and reflect.  Katimavik means meeting place in Inuktitut, the language in Iqaluit.  What a perfect place to think back on all of the amazing people I had met over the past 5 years.

A view back towards town

A waterfall that changes with the tide

Glacial action at work

Not a tree in sight

Growing in the lichen

That afternoon, I went off by myself to be a tourist.  I visited the legislative building (more interesting than it sounds), and the museum, and went for a walk around town.  I was very lucky to be there at the same time as the Alainait Arts Festival, which offered free workshops.  I got to try drum dancing, which is much harder than it looks to coordinate the drum, your head, your body and the stick - and I didn't even try singing while doing it.

This is just a short video of a small group at a previous festival:

Then I got to try Arctic Games.  These are amazing athletes.  The stamina, balance, strength and skill required to hunt for your family's survival in these conditions is unfathomable.  These games were developed to keep in shape in the "off season."  They were banned in assimilation efforts by the government, but were re-introduced in the 70s.  I was NOT good at these games.  Here is another small video sample:

In the evening, I took in the Alianait Arts Festival, which was amazing, but my pictures didn't turn out.  60% of the population is Inuit, Metis, or First Nations, and Inuktitut is an official language of the territory.  All welcoming and speeches were done in Inuktitut, as well as English and French.  Ever heard throat singing, live?  It's pretty amazing, but no video I could find did it justice, and mine will not upload.

I ended the night at the restaurant with a $10 can of beer at a table of other youth workers in the community.  Iqaluit is semi-dry.  There is no liquor store, but you can purchase alcohol at a premium at a handful of restaurant/pubs.  I walked home at midnight, with the sun lighting my way.

The following morning I had to fly back to Ottawa, but with long daylight hours, I got up early and I started the day with another hike to the old Hudson Bay post.  I took one of the dogs with me for company, which was good, because it was a little eerie out there in the fog, and again, this is polar bear country.

Summer camp set up

The Bay

My companion

My work with Katimavik took me to every province from Quebec to BC, and to all three territories over five years.  This was an amazing way to end my time with the program.  A special experience I will not soon forget.