Christmas!

I've just got home from my fourth straight night of eating until my stomach hurts!! I have had a fun holiday season here - there is quite a few of us who are here without our families, so we have kept ourselves busy and made our own unique Christmas on the Island of Misfit Toys! I am still missing everyone from "down South", but am happy to be surrounded by great friends here.

This is a photo of my Christmas tree - tin stars and origami. I love it!!

Land of the midday moon

I just got back from a quick trip to Resolute Bay - the second most northern community in Canada. It is located on the southern shore of Cornwallis Island, and has a population of about 230 people. I went up to do ultrasounds for the people of Resolute who needed them, as well as a few patients that flew to meet me from Grise Fiord - the most northern community. We are just one day away from the winter solstice, and so I spent the last two days in total darkness, which was pretty cool to experience even though I'm glad it was only for a short time! I was so happy to get back to Iqaluit and it's few hours of daylight!! It was a short, but memorable experience - I'm happy to have gone, and I'm happy to be home.

This is a photo from the airplane window on the approach to
Resolute Bay - yep, that's the whole town -
and this was taken at noon!!
(remember you can click on the photo to enlarge it)

This is a narwhal tusk - super heavy, and SUPER cool!!
It's such a strange, amazing marvel of nature!

Me standing under a whale rib that was propped against a building - I couldn't fit it all in the photo because it was so huge!

I know I've already posted a photo of a bilingual stop sign,
but I love this one because it's handmade!!

Santa will soon be flying around pulled by reindeer, and I was flying around in a plane with a caribou on it's tail...almost the same thing, really....

A weekend on ice

I roped a few friends into curling in a bonspiel this weekend - they are all new to curling, and they all did great! We finished with a 0-4 record, but I think we had the most fun out of all the teams! I've also been curling in a regular league on Thursday nights. It's really casual, and people often switch teams so that everyone has enough people to play a game - lots of fun, and a great way to meet people.

I also went skating at the arena on Sunday, something I haven't done in well over a decade. I managed to avoid falling on my butt, so I consider it a success! It was just like I remember public skating to be like, right down to the tinny music coming out of the loudspeakers!! Unfortunately I haven't magically gained the ability to stop myself on skates....oh well, maybe in another 15 years.


Last weekend some of us got all dressed up and went out for dinner. It's not often an opportunity arises to put on a dress, so it we made the most of it!

Just a quick mention...as I am writing this it is -42 degrees with the windchill outside!!!

Getting darker....

The hospital at night

There hasn't been too much going on around here lately. I've just been trying to think of things to do during the precious few hours of daylight on the weekends, and during the dark evenings during the week. I'm certainly not the only one, as there are quite a few sports, craft fairs, and other events happening around town. This week there's a few local musicians presenting 'Hip Hop Hump Night' on Wednesday (hence the 'hump night'!). A few girlfriends and I are going to go check it out, if for no other reason than it's something different to do!! That's one thing about living here - there's not a tonne of choices of activities so when something comes along, you are either IN or OUT, and if you're out and you're bored, you only have yourself to blame!!

I think it's time for...

Arctic Lesson #4: When in doubt, always choose to be IN. No matter how odd the activity sounds, it will almost certainly be better than doing nothing.

Olympic spirit

The Olympic flame came to Iqaluit today. It was a huge deal for the town - roads were closed and all non-essential personnel got to leave work an hour early!! It was pretty fun to feel the energy in the crowd that gathered in the -30 degree weather, and I realized that there's a good chance that this may be the only real Olympic-related event I ever attend so I stuck it out against the cold.

The flame on it's last leg of the relay through town.

Wickedly cold, but having fun!!

Not the same old food guide...

This is the Nunavut Food Guide, and I love how it incorporates so many aspects of life up here. The overall shape is an ulu (not the rainbow or the pyramid that I remember from Home Ec. class!). There's a lot of traditional foods on it, especially in the protein section. People who eat a diet of 'country food' are generally quite healthy, and it's the sugar, fat, and processed foods dominating the grocery store shelves that cause so many health issues. My favorite picture is the seaweed, but my favorite to eat are the blueberries!

(You can click on the photo to see it in more detail. Same goes for all the photos I've posted)

Thermostat chic

Just a quick post, as I realized that I never gave an update on what I did about the centrally placed thermostat on the wall of the apartment. What do you think....?!

Pond Inlet

I recently spent four days in Pond Inlet, a community on the northern shore of Baffin Island. I was doing portable ultrasound service at the local health centre. Usually when a person needs an ultrasound they are flown to Iqaluit and they stay in a hotel or boarding home while they are here. All of the expenses are covered by the government, but many people don't like to leave their homes and families for the days that it takes to have the test, see a doctor and have return travel arrangements made. I got the chance to see and experience a bit of life in the high arctic, was told that I saved the government about $45 000 in expenses, and was thanked by many of my patients for allowing them to stay in Pond Inlet.....I am considering it a win-win-win situation!

The health centre is the building with the red roof, and you can see a glacier in the distance - it's one that I could see from my office window. The entire town stretches out up to the top of a hill from the shorline, and so it seems like there's multiple levels to the town. The area around Pond Inlet is mountainous, with countless fiords and glaciers. The sky was a bit overcast on the flight in, but the views that I had were spectacular.


The Northern store...one of two grocery stores in town. Most of the commercial buildings don't have windows as it saves energy, and becomes a non-issue once the 24 hour darkness comes! Notice that there's more ATV's in the parking lot than vehicles!!

A stop sign in English and Inuktitut. (We have those in Iqaluit too!)


The sun setting over Eclipse Sound.

Definitely the arctic!!!

Ok, so it's been pretty chilly here lately, usually hovering around 1 or 2 degrees for the last week. I snapped this photo yesterday on my way to work (across the gully!). There's been snow on the ground a few times, but it has always melted during the day. Until today, that is. Iqaluit is in the middle of a full-on blizzard right now!!! It started around noon, and just keeps building - enough that I was wishing I had my winter boots on for the walk home! September 25th and I'm wading through snow drifts. Yep.....definitely the arctic.

I'm cultured!

I got the chance to go to a Cultural Orientation seminar a little while ago. I spent the day on the tundra in a tent listening to stories and learning about traditional Inuit practices from a couple of the local elders. I had caribou heart stew, bannock, and muktuq for lunch, along with tea made from plants gathered from the land. I actually enjoyed the muktuq this time - it was more frozen than the last time I tried it. I even cut it up myself with an ulu - a crescent shaped cutting tool - the same tool that I'm using in the photo to clean a seal pelt! I also went berry picking - the tundra is covered in blueberries and crowberries, which are more sour than blueberries. I had a fantastic day, and it was a great reminder to continue to go looking for 'local flavour' even though I'm beginning to feel like one of the locals.





This is a photo of a qulliq - it was often the only source of light and heat inside of the igloos and tents. I have a hard time imagining that, because it does NOT throw off a lot of heat! Apparently it would take most of the day just to boil water for tea. I think I know why Inuit people ate their food raw - they would starve just waiting for it to cook! The seal oil gets wicked up by a combination of moss and arctic cotton and burns very slowly. This lamp burned all day, and the moss did not have to be replenished at all.

Definitely not the arctic!

I've been back in Iqaluit for a few weeks now, but I still keep dreaming of the lush, humid forests of Vancouver Island.....especially since I woke up to snow on the ground yesterday morning!! It melted by mid-morning, and was quite pretty while it lasted, but I'm more than happy to wait a few more weeks before it's here for good.

I just learned that I will be travelling to one of the other communites to do portable ultrasound service, and I'm really excited about it. I will be going to Pond Inlet, which is on the northern end of Baffin Island. It is apparently one of the most beautiful places to go, but I'm not sure that I'm going at a great time of the year - in between the 24-hour sunlit days, and the pretty blankets of snow. I'm sure I will enjoy it, whatever the weather is like....I think it will be amazing to be so far north.

The QGH

The hospital that is my second home here is the Qikiqtani General Hospital. I've been told that qikiqtani means 'on the island' or 'of the island'... the island in this case being Baffin Island. It is the only hospital in the eastern arctic, so anything that the community health centres can't handle gets sent to us, and anything we can't handle gets sent to Ottawa or somewhere else 'down south'.

This photo is of the atrium of the hospital, which also serves as the waiting room for the emergency department. I really like the colours...they have a very non-hospital feeling. The floor is also inlaid with similar designs along some of the hallways. The 'new hospital' was opened in 2007, and is attached to the 'old hospital' which serves as a clinic now. The staff is a fairly close knit, fairly dysfunctional group! The general consensus is that you have to be a bit crazy to be up here in the first place, so all of us have something in common right off the bat!!

Hungry, anyone?

There was a big community celebration for Nunavut Day, part of which was a feast of 'country food'. There were large tables set up, with volunteers at each one handing out portions of traditional local food. On the plate above, going clockwise, are two different kinds of bannock, muktuq (narwhal skin and blubber), raw char (a salmon-like fish), and dried caribou. Also available, which I did not even bother to put on my plate, was raw caribou meat. I have to honestly say that I did not eat very much of what was on the plate, but it was a very.....interesting.......experience!! My friend and I ended up eating hot dogs, which we knew were much worse for us, but somehow still more palatable!

Yep...more flowers

Flowers, lots of flowers!

The tundra in the summer is beautiful!! Everywhere you look there are tiny flowers covering the ground in large patches. They look so delicate, and totally contrary to what you would expect to find in a harsh environment like this. The season is short so they appear quickly, and I'm told that they will disappear nearly as fast. I am thoroughly enjoying it while it lasts!

Midnight in Iqaluit

I just wanted to quickly post this - another beautiful sunset, as dark as it gets here these days.

Arctic Circus

Iqaluit is in the middle of Alianait - an annual arts festival. It features music and performing arts from within the territory, and beyond. It all takes place in a large, cheerful purple and yellow tent that's been set up in the parking lot of the elementary school. Each night has a general theme, like Hip Hop & Rock night which took place on Friday. Yesterday was circus day, and I went to the evening show - it was so much fun! There is a circus troupe, Artcirq, that is based out of Igloolik, one of the small communities in Nunavut. When I first heard about the arctic circus, I thought it was a pretty random concept, but since I learned about how and why it was created I find it pretty inspiring. You can check out their website for more details: http://www.artcirq.org/, but the short version is that it was created as a way to try to give youth a sense of pride and direction in a community where substance abuse, violence, and suicide claim the lives of so many young people.



The show last night was a collaboration between Artcirq and an African/Francophone group called Productions Kalabante. It was an amazing show that included traditional Inuit activities, like throat singing, with acrobatics, juggling and live music. It was incredibly eclectic - at one point there were Inuk and African performers wearing Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts doing stunts on a large hammock, beside a sign that said "Nunavut in 50 years" - a nod to the global warming that is already having effects on the area. All in all a great show!!

Sunset....sort of

I've had a busy couple weeks since I've been back. This photo was taken two weeks ago at about 11:30 pm - the sunset was gorgeous, and it only got a little bit darker that evening. For a few weeks now it has not gotten completely dark at night, and the nights are still getting brighter. It is strange to leave somewhere (like the Legion!) and know that it's the middle of the night, but to see that it's still light out.

There's some sadness at the hospital these days too, as one of the best-loved permanent doctors here is moving to Edmonton to join the surgical residency program at the University of Alberta Hospital. There has been a few farewell celebrations, which will probably continue until he steps on the plane tomorrow. So if any of you in Edmonton are getting your gallbladder removed, and run into Dr. Saba.....say hi to him for me!!!

Back to the grind...

My trip back to Nunavut was long, but mostly uneventful which was nice. One of my suitcases - the one carrying all of my clothes and quite a few groceries - did not make it to Iqaluit at the same time as I did. This caused a little bit of anxiety (my favorite jeans were in there!) but it was short-lived as I got it the next day. Now I have my favorite clothes AND my favorite foods!

I was a bit curious to return to work and see how things had gone since I'd left - as those of you who know me well know that I can be a TEENY bit obsessive compulsive about some things :0) Things were fine though, and it was nice to go to the hospital and be thoroughly welcomed back by almost everyone I saw - good feeling!

This photo is from when I landed back in Iqaluit. The runway here is huge, and can accommodate very large aircraft, but the airport itself is quite small. Apparently the colour was chosen for it's visibility...go figure. The little grey tunnel on the right hand side (ultrasound left!!) is where you walk into when you get off the plane.

Wedding in Waterton

I am taking a short break from the north to bask in the Alberta sunshine. I spent the last three days in the stunning surroundings of Waterton Lakes National Park to join in the wedding celebrations of Jenn and Matt. It was beautiful from start to finish and tonnes of fun - made possible, in part, because they may be the most easy-going, yet organized couple I know!!

I'm also taking advantage of the opportunity to wear my only pair of shorts that aren't in storage! It's wonderful to feel grass under my toes and sit in the shade of a tree. I know it hasn't been THAT long since I've done that (mid-February in Christchurch, to be exact), but I still missed it. I have to say though, that I'm really looking forward to seeing the arctic tundra in bloom in the summer. From what I've been told I just have to wait for the snow to melt, then get through the season of massive mosquito swarms!

8th Wonder?

I was pretty lazy, overall, this past week but did manage to get out yesterday and build this inuksuk with a friend. The original plan for it was much more impressive, but it turns out that rocks are HEAVY!!! Despite it's small stature, it's sitting at the top of a hill and you can see it clearly from the town below.

I also went to take in some live music at a few places this weekend. Iqaluit seems to have quite a few musicians with a range of styles. I've really enjoyed everyone I've heard so far, and it is a welcome relief from the Top 40 music that's played everywhere else!

Ahoy!

It seems like a lot of people here have boats, which is amazing since the water is frozen for 3/4 of the year. Fish are a huge part of the local diet though, so I guess it's not too surprising. There are dozens of boats like this one lining the bay, and sitting in people's yards. Arctic char is one of the more common fish here - it's similar to salmon. So far I've had it baked, smoked, and in raw frozen chunks. I've enjoyed them all, but definitely prefer it cooked -especially since ovens, stoves and barbecues are readily available and I don't have to scrounge for tinder on the tundra. At least I know that I could survive if I was lost and only had frozen char to eat!!

Have you ever wondered how the Inuit avoided scurvy during the long winters with no fruits or vegetables? No? Well, I did...and apparently raw meat is a good source of vitamin C. The animal with the highest vitamin C content is narwhal - just as good as orange juice! And even if you never pondered scurvy in the arctic before....now you know.

The great outdoors

I spent a large part of the weekend outside - walking around town and out to the Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park just outside of town on Saturday, and dogsledding on Sunday. The walk to Sylvia Grinnell Park is not too long, and Saturday was a beautiful day so it was great to get outside. I was rewarded with a gorgeous view of.....white. White overcast sky blending into white snow covered tundra blending into a white frozen river!! Yes, all three of those things are in the photo above! Apparently it is really pretty in the summer, but I guess I'll have to wait a few more months to see it!

This is me, Sharon and Janine on the dogsled on the way out to the spot where we stopped for a snack and a rest. The photo below is on the way back (I'm in the middle!). I'm sure you can guess when we had the wind at our backs and when it was in our faces!!


The style of dogsledding here is very different from other areas of Canada. The dogs themselves are bigger and sturdier, making them able to pull more weight and withstand the elements, but they are also slower than their more southerly counterparts. They are hooked up to the sled differently too - each dog has their own long lead, and they are attached to one point so they end up in a fan-like formation. This lets them pick their own individual paths over the snow and ice and also lets the musher release them all very quickly in the event of an emergency (like a polar bear encounter). The sleds, or komatiks, are long and flat and the musher sits at the front with gear and passengers behind.

The dogs were playful and friendly before and after our trek, but when they were harnessed they were 'working', and we were told not to approach or pet them. The pack leader, Scott, is too old to pull sleds now but still maintains his alpha male status - he decided to join our expidition and ran beside the rest of the dogs, just with no harness, until the very end when he either got annoyed with all of the 'young' dogs or just wanted to get home, and he ran ahead of us!

Oh, and good news - the Astro Theater is open. $12 for admission, $5 for a regular popcorn...so pretty much the same as down south!!

A few more photos

An inuksuk

Part of the golf course!

Self-portrait

A raven

Toonik Tyme

My first Toonik Tyme is almost over, and even though I didn't get to see the igloo building (I was ice golfing) and the seal skinning was cancelled (it was too windy for the hunters) I still had fun. During the ice golf my team skipped two holes to hang out in an igloo and drink hot chocolate. It was -34 so we thought it was a great idea!! A few tips for if you ever find yourself golfing on ice: you need to account for a BIG bounce when you're chipping, the greens are REALLY fast, and just forget about the drivers....they don't work!!

I've also seen ski-doo races, a craft fair, ice sculptures, dogsled races and para-skiing. I've picked up a few tips now, so if I'm around next spring, I'll be Toonik-savvy!

Aside from the festivities, I'm still moving the furniture around in the apartment!! I'm trying to find a configuration that I like, that also works for hanging pictures....that's my new goal: get pictures on the walls. I have a few things I'd like to frame too, but frames are insanely expensive here. I know that I should just cut my losses and buy some, but I can't quite bring myself to give in to that yet!! Any bets on how long it takes me to break?!?

Lazy Easter weekend

So, I've been on call for 6 days now, and have only been called in twice - not too bad. I've relaxed about it a bit more now too....I no longer feel the need to carry my phone with me from room to room in my tiny one bedroom apartment. I'm confident I will hear it ring even if it's in the bedroom and I'm ALL THE WAY in the kitchen!!

I went to check out what movies were playing in the theater, called the Astro Theater, only to see signs that say "The Astro is closed". At this point I'm wondering: Closed for the night? Closed forever? Closed while whoever's working goes to have a cigarette? Around here, all of those are completely plausible answers. It turns out that the guy who runs the theater had to fly to Ottawa for medical reasons and no one wanted to take over while he's gone. How's that for 'small town' ?!! So.....the word is that it should reopen in two weeks, but no one knows for sure. I'm just happy that I have my own supply of popcorn, or this could have been disasterous!

The picture is the sign for the Caribrew Cafe, which is in my apartment complex. There is also the theater, a bar, a convenience store (it's only open until 6pm, which I don't find very convenient), a hotel with a restaurant, a sporting goods store, a swimming pool (the only one in town), and a pharmacy. Even though nothing in town is really far away, it's still nice to be able to go to these places without bundling up to go outside!

Toonik Tyme starts on Wednesday so I'm hoping to be able to see some really unique stuff. I've heard that it can be confusing to find out where things are being held, and at what time.....wish me luck!

Room with a view

So this is the view from my 5th floor apartment window......if I stand at the far right edge of the window and look to the far left.....otherwise I just see the rest of that brown building!!! But ravens like to sit on the edge of the building, and they can be kind of fun to watch....if you're really bored and don't feel like doing the dishes.... :-) Actually, the ravens are pretty cool - they are MASSIVE here, much bigger than I remember them being in Snow Lake. I can see why they play such a role in local legends.

This past weekend brought great excitement for me, not only because I went to the Legion again, but because my stuff arrived!! It felt like Christmas, with a lot more heavy lifting! I've still got a lot of sorting to do, but it definitely feels nice to open the door to familiar things every day. I'm trying to decide where to hang my paintings but I'm being thrown off by the thermostat control that is right in the middle of the wall, pretty much where I would want to hang something....argh!

Work has been extremely busy, but overall pretty good. I will be going on call starting Thursday night.....a new experience for me, in my ultrasound career. I'm pretty sure the novelty will wear off pretty quickly, probably the first time I cross the gully after being woken up in the middle of the night! I'll let you know how that goes....

How much?!?!

This past weekend was beautiful.... -25 but no wind, which makes all the difference in the world.... trust me, it was beautiful. I walked around town and explored the museum, the visitor's center, and a few of the shops around town. I have found out though, that some of the most incredible pieces of hand crafted art are sold by the artists themselves (or their family members) who approach you around town, at the bar, even at the hospital! It's expected that you will barter a bit, so I'll have to hone my skills. I bought a soapstone inuksuk yesterday that I'm quite pleased with!

I also made a few trips to the grocery store, which leads me to....

Arctic Lesson #3: Don't think about how much it used to cost you down south. It will only depress you, and you'll end up buying it anyway.

Case in point - I paid $5.99 for a bag of chips. Most people would not consider that a necessity, but for me it was! I also got a pound of butter for $7.35. Yikes!


I've met some great people here already.... I went out to the Legion on Friday night....yep, the Legion. Contrary to what you may have experienced at the Legion where you grew up, here it is the place to go and most young people have a membership! There was an Arctic Circus performance along with a food fair and live music on Saturday. I had some caribou stew, and watched two women perform the most amazing throat singing - it was mesmerizing, and they went on for quite a long time which is apparently very difficult to do. I met up with some of the people I'd met the night before, and met a few more, which brings me to the photo! This is me with my friends' dog - he's still a puppy, and they said he will keep growing for another year or so!!! He is a sweetheart, and I couldn't resist getting a snapshot to compare our sizes!

I'm EXTREMELY happy to have my internet hooked up at home - now all I need is my furniture.....!

I've arrived....

There was a beautiful blue sky when my plane approached Iqaluit, and I snapped this photo from my window seat! In the past, flying over the ocean, I have always been amazed at being surrounded by water as far as the eye can see: Yesterday I had the same feeling about the tundra. It is beautiful, but dangerous - today at the hospital there was excitement and relief when a man was found alive after being stranded on the tundra for two days when his snowmobile broke down.

Arctic Lesson #1: Don't go beyond the city limits alone. Ever.

I will be moving into my apartment tomorrow, and I am hoping my furniture will arrive soon. Until then I will be using the single fork, spoon, plate, mug and pot that I brought with me!! The apartment building is across the street from work (actually, across the ditch/gully is more accurate!) which will be great, as I walked back to the bed & breakfast today which only took about 30 minutes, but I was frozen by the time I arrived. It was only -11 but the wind was wicked!!

Arctic Lesson #2: Don't be cheap. The $6 taxi ride is worth it.

I am really looking forward to getting a bit more settled. It hasn't sunk in yet that I LIVE HERE. I still feel like I'm on some holiday adventure. I suppose it's only been two days though.....

I miss you all. Send me warm thoughts!!!
Susan