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!