Experiencing Iqaluit

We’ve been here now in Iqaluit more than a week and, to put it bluntly, I’m weak!

Weak with the wonder of it all … like, I wonder where I get so-and-so or, who sells this’n’that?  Because it stays light for 24 hours, well, almost light, we need to block the light in our bedroom so our body and brains think it’s time to sleep.  My brain hasn’t really cottoned on to ‘it’s time to sleep’ since my twenties but, I digress.

What one might expect but will they have paint?

Michael wanted paint and I wanted light-blocking fabric so where does one go in Iqaluit for these items?  Would you believe ‘Baffin Electronics’?  We made our first trip there yesterday.  I had a great time because, TA-DA, they also carry yarn.  I was in my element with all that fabric and yarn.  The delightful women behind the counter also had interesting ‘yarns’ to spin.  Hang on, I’m about to digress again, it’s what I’m best at.  We keep meeting people originally from the south, these two women being part of that group, who came here temporarily and then never left … hmmm?  Did I mention we bought only a one-way plane ticket?
  

Ah-hah, the bonus items for the wife and yes, he got his paint.

Baffin Electronics, being way at the other end of town, was too far to walk so, we took a taxi.  The taxi service here is splendid.  They charge $5/senior and $7/adults AND after you’ve made the call you barely have time to put your shoes on before your cheerful cabby it at the door.  Once out, if you get tired walking home, there’s always a cab passing by.  

We were able to get absolutely everything needed to make Roman blinds for the kitchen (just to spruce it up a little - those who know me, know how much I like to decorate) and our bedroom, once I’ve made the blind, will be totally dark at night.  Oh, and the yarn?  I bought what’s needed to make a tea cozy … I’ve lost count of how many tea cozy’s I’ve made.  If you guessed I bought yarn to coordinate with the kitchen curtain fabric, you’re getting to know me.  

I wanted to tell you about the light.  Baha’i House looks out onto Frobisher Bay which, as I understand it, will remain frozen until the first week of July.  So, if you stare out on all that bright white for long it takes awhile to see inside the house again.  The sun rose today (May 29th) at 2:41 a.m. and will set at 10:21 p.m.  After sunset it goes to dusk and never gets totally dark.  Being one who wakens often during the night and makes many trips to the bathroom, I don’t need a nightlight to find my way there and back.  Bonus!

We shared a taxi on the way home with two Inuit ladies who were also shopping for yarn.  They spoke to each other in Inuktitut so I’m not certain if they understood me when I spoke to them but the universal language of laughter was very much present when Michael got into the cab and shut the door on the wooden dowels we’d bought.  The driver was starting to take off when an obviously distressed Michael called out, “Wait, wait, wait!”  We all looked to see why the WAIT and then laughed together when we saw the struggle to get the dowelling out of the closed door.  So glad the inspector in him made sure he bought undamaged goods.

I’m interested in learning an Inuit art and/or craft while I’m here.  That’s what I tried to question these ladies about, one of them was buying tiny beads.  I asked if she taught bead-work.  She shook her head.  To this end I’ve placed an ad on a local ‘Sell and Swap’ Facebook page.  I’m offering Zentangle lessons in exchange for taking home some Inuit craft knowledge.  I’ve got my fingers crossed but will quickly uncross them in order to learn a new craft.  I’ll keep you posted. 

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I have trouble uploading photos to my blog page but have been able to put some out on my Facebook page.  Please ‘friend’ Marlene Turner Russell if you’d like to follow the pictorial version of our Iqaluit experience.  I’ve got lots more to post but am a little worried about sucking all the gigs out of our monthly byte allowance.  Yet another thing for me to learn.

Finally, if you click on ‘Follow’, as seen to your right, you’ll receive an email message when a new piece is posted to my blog page.  I invite you to take that step.  Thanks again for joining me.          

      

Here We Are in Iqaluit and Everything's New to Nunavut

We arrived in Iqaluit on Wednesday, May 20, 2015 and were greeted at the airport by a welcoming committee of one.  That one being in the person of Cam McGregor.  He helped Michael heft our five matching pieces of luggage off the airport carousel and into his waiting vehicle.  Before you get too carried away imagining five leather-bound lovelies, think again.  We packed our clothes and supplies in U-Haul cartons.

More than a little awkward for two men to haul however, they did manage getting them safely stowed for the short tour and description of Iqaluit given by Cam during our ride to Baha’i House.  

If you go on Google Earth and ask for the street view of Iqaluit you will find our temporary home is on a corner just left of the spit (if you’re facing the shore) that goes out into Koojesse Inlet on Frobisher Bay.  The reddish house surrounded by large boulders is our home away from home until late August or early September. 

Reports seemed to indicate the house is small.  We, whose home in Erin, Ontario is small, do not find it so.  Our bedroom here is quite roomy and our thanks go out to whoever organized this warm and wonderful queen-sized bed.  It is indeed comfortable, not to mention high.  Being short, Michael had to organize a step to help me get in and out otherwise I’d have to take a flying leap which, I dare not attempt.      

We did move the furniture about in the room knowing the window, located just over our head, may cause some head drafts and we do like to sleep with the window open a crack. I’m grateful for the desk/office space in our room.  It’s a great place to escape to, hopefully, get some writing done but, first we must figure out where everything is and this we are accomplishing by organizing so it’s convenient for us.  I’m posting photos of our time here on my Facebook page.  I go by Marlene Turner Russell on Facebook.  You may find my shots will help to fill in any gaps missing in my words.    

Julie, our housemate, is a delight and is teaching a Grade Eight class at the Aqsarniit Middle School.  I’ve known Julie and her brother Daniel (yes, the same Daniel mentioned in my previous blog posting who put forward the proposal that we come to Iqaluit) since before they were born.  We lived in the Baha’i community of Scugog in the town of Port Perry for over ten years.  Julie and Daniel’s parents, Dave and Sylvie, were also members of the Scugog Baha’i community and we all served on that Assembly together until the Gardner family moved to Slovenia to pioneer for our Faith. 

Daniel was about four and Julie and her twin sister, Carolyne, were about two when they made that brave move.  I was lucky enough to spend a couple of weeks with them in Ljubljana during their stay overseas.  

As a Baha’i when you serve on an Assembly or, engage in any kind of service, you get to know the true character of those you serve with.  We have many wonderful memories of that time in Scugog and the many laughs we shared.  

Before we left Erin for this great adventure, Dave and Sylvie came to Erin along with another Baha’i resident of Baffin Island.  David Parks and his wife, Pat live even further north in Pond Inlet.  It had been about ten years or so since we’d seen the Gardners but as these things go, a decade quickly melted away and it was old-home week once again.  

It’s a bonus for us to be connecting again with this family through the next generation.  In all we’ve covered three generations with this family.  It was at the first Baha'i unit election I attended back in ’78 when I met Helen, grandmother to Julie.  

The history of Baha’is living and moving through Baha’i House in Iqaluit is palpable.  Maybe I’ll get to learn some of it and share it with you.  If only the walls could talk they’d have one heck of a story to tell.

    

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Internet service is 'different' here and not allowing me to post pictures with my blog site.  If you would like a pictorial view of our experience befriend Marlene Turner Russell on Facebook.  If you have questions about any of this do ask and I'll try to cover the answers as part of my regular blog postings.  Thanks for reading.   

It WAS Minus Something in Iqaluit

Are you thinking by degrees?  Degrees as in cold weather?  Yes, that too, but, what I’m really talking about is … well … ME!  Iqaluit was missing me!  Bear with me, there’s a story behind this … when one likes to write there is A-L-W-A-Y-S a story. 

Back in February I read a middle-of-the-night Facebook message from my young friend Daniel.  I’d been following Daniel’s Facebook stories and photos with great interest, he was in Iqaluit.  Daniel basically said in his message that my name had come to mind as someone who might like to come to Iqaluit to live ‘temporarily’ in Baha’i House.  Amazingly I went back to bed and went right to sleep. 

It was about mid-afternoon the next day when I said to my husband, Michael … “Oh, by the way” ...  I went on to explain my wee small hours wake up call.  Then it sunk in … Iqaluit? … IQALUIT??? That’s in Nunavut, isn’t it?  It's south of the Arctic Circle for heaven's sake.  I/we replied to Daniel with great interest.  He gave us the who-to-contact info which we did right away and before long we had our one-way tickets to what we consider to be the opportunity of a life time.   

“Wait until you get there to book your return flight so you can watch for seat sales”, was Daniel’s advice.  Our departure tickets were dated April 12th which, I had discovered, were $300 each cheaper than departing one week later on the 19th.  Then the packing and planning became like a full time job.  Luckily we are both retired.  

Coincidentally we had booked a cruise around Cuba only a few days before learning of this wonderful opportunity.  It seemed prudent to have as much packed and planned as possible before going aboard.   We would have only two weeks after our return from the cruise to complete our Iqaluit preparations.  I actually started to regret booking that cruise.  Our plans for it went immediately onto the back burner as the desire to serve the Baha’i Faith in Iqaluit by acting as custodians of ‘Baha’i House’ burned ever so much brighter. 

There is a Baha’i Centre in Iqaluit that was built in the early 1970’s and it was in need of custodians.  We knew we could try to fill the custodial shoes until early September.  That would mean a four and a half month stint.  The Cuba cruise approached.  We had come to think of it as our one-week taste of summer for 2015.  And then it happened!  Maybe it was a slight slip in the shower that started it or, was it the bumpy ride on a Cuban excursion bus or, maybe being trapped in an airplane seat for over three hours was the spine-cracking culprit.  Most likely it was a combination.  Whatever it was I had to visit the ship’s doctor to be diagnosed with sciatica and believe me, it’s a real pain in the butt and down my right leg. 

I manoeuvred my way through the rest of the cruise on pain killers but on the third day after our return to home base AND another long airplane ride, I had my husband dial 911 to be peeled from our bed and carted off on a stretcher.  A four-day hospital stay managed to get me up and limping through life ever so slowly.  We delayed our departure until May 20th and, I’m delighted to say, I’ve had a surprisingly fast 'almost' recovery and  now?  Here we are!

Every day or two ... maybe three if I'm busy ... I'll post to my blog so those who wish to can have a taste of life in The Great White North. 

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Internet service is 'different' here and making it difficult for me to post pictures with my blog site.  If you would like a pictorial view of our experience befriend Marlene Turner Russell on Facebook.  If you have questions about any of this do ask and I'll try to cover the answers as part of my regular blog postings.  Thanks for joining me.  Enjoy the ride!