Hiatus

I have returned to Iqaluit after a nearly 4 week holiday. It was much needed, and turned out fantastic - I spent some time snowboarding in Jasper, then flew to Honduras to soak up some sun (with proper SPF protection, of course!). I was joined by my friend Esther, and we managed to spend 23 straight days together without any major problems - that's a true test of friendship!! It was a trip full of laughs, relaxation, and just the right amount of excitement....


I learned how to dive, and loved it!! I was not sure how it would go, but I had a fantastic instructor to teach me, a gorgeous setting to learn in, and I didn't freak out underwater. That turned out to be my perfect recipe for diving, because I really enjoyed it and am already thinking about when and where I will dive next. (Looking out my window at all of the snow, it seems like a far-off fantasy!!!)

**If you ever find yourself in West End, Roatan, Honduras and your considering going diving I would highly recommend Coconut Tree Divers....ask for Marco!!!**

Before the sun and the sand of Roatan, we spent 5 days snowboarding. As you can tell from the bruise, I spent a fair amount of time falling on my butt. It took me a long time to get back into the rhythm (I hadn't been on a hill in 3 years) and by the time I did I was pretty beat up and discouraged. Luckily I had Esther to cheer me on (she was a superstar on her board) and I ended up having a great time. When I got back to Iqaluit there was a thick layer of powder, and all I could think was "I wish I had my board gear here". I'm taking that as a good sign!

Other highlights of the trip:
-Icewalk in Maligne Canyon, complete with me being able to
crawl into an ice cave intended for children!
-Seeing a wolf
-Seeing Social Code live at a small bar
-River rafting in the jungle
-Seeing a monkey
-Seeing two sea turtles
-Spending as much time as possible in a hammock

So now I'm back to work, back on call, but also back with some great friends and the days are getting longer and longer. Nothing like a holiday to regain some perspective on life... :o)

New hobby

I don't think I've mentioned in my ramblings before, but I bought a guitar a few months after I moved here. I thought I would probably have plenty of spare time to try to learn something new, and while the spare time is sometimes mysteriously hard to come by, I have definitely made some progress! I have had absolutely no musical experience in the past so it has been a pretty slow process, but I am still having a lot of fun with it. I've been using books, the internet, and random tips from friends to try to piece things together and it's pretty rewarding to be able to play a recognizable tune.

I might be jinxing it, but I have to say that the winter up here hasn't been that bad so far. We've had some cold snaps, but so has the rest of Canada, from what I hear! No 'snow days' at the hospital yet, which is apparently unusual. I thought there would be many days of being huddled in my apartment, unable to make it to the grocery store or a friend's house - not so!! Maybe I'd be a rock star by now, if that was the case....

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!!