Four Weeks Too Fast

Last Friday we had the opportunity to go to Ulaajuk Elementary School for their cultural day. This included game such as handball, baseball, high kick, throat singing, square dancing, bannock making and our favourite - face painting. Sarah was first stationed at the outdoor games but eventually got too cold and had to join Emily face painting. Some of the kids requests included: inukshuk's, ulu (women's knife), narwhal, and tribal designs. There we met three high school girls who were also helping out to make their community hours. The kids were all so cute and so excited! We sampled some fresh bannock that was made by the elders outside in a tent. Unfortunately we were unable this year to actually teach at the elementary school but after talking with the teachers and meeting the kid's they seem anxious for QHO's return.

This week at Nasivvik High School we taught about leadership. Topics included: teamwork, trust, and communication. The kids particularly like this week because it involved a lot of games and interaction. We prepared a small feast for Donna's grade 8 students of all our left over food. They ate canned chicken, rice, quinoa with brown-sugar and pecans, and dried fruit.We weren't sure how well this would go over but they ate a ton! With some classes we made collages of ourselves and our role models to decorate the halls of the school. They worked really hard on them and were very proud to have them displayed. It was sad to teach our last class and the kids made us promise to remember them, although on the contrary they will be impossible to forget.

Yesterday was a school assembly to reward good attendance and volunteer appreciation around the school. Some students received certificates and gift cards. Unexpectedly Charlie (the principal) presented us with Nasivvik t-shirts which we wore the next day. Julia, the grade 8 teacher showed the school a short video of her grade 8 boys out on the land trip. This was a very well done movie and showed the boys seal hunting, skinning a seal and eating the eyeball.

Last night was one of the most memorable moments we've experienced yet. It was Chris Panipicoochi's 21st birthday (he is the grandson of our host mother Alice). Alice and her daughter from Iqaluit spent all day preparing a feast of steak, potatoes, veggies, fresh bread, and three types of desert. They invited all their friends and family and squished them into Alice's kitchen/living room. Chris was so excited to have everyone there and got very emotional saying that this was his best birthday yet! His appreciation of his grandmother was very touching. He also thanked us for coming although we were humbled that he would even invite us. We learned to play some Inuit games with nails and chopsticks (hard to explain the logistics here) but it got very competitive.

Today at the High School was a cultural day. This afternoon we learned string games, high kick, rock throwing, tug of war games, stilt walking games and traditional bannock making. Many Inuit games involve pain tolerance, but Sarah was able to defeat a 9th grade boy at a two person tug war. We learned to make different Inuit shapes in the string game cat's cradle. We can now proudly make a tent and an elastic. Two elders were leading this activity (one was over 105 years old!!) and they could make caribou, rabbits, kayaks, and ravens. Many of the designs told a story, although the literal translation didn't completely make sense to us it was neat to see.

After school the staff gathered into the staff room and to our surprise presented us with some gifts to show their appreciation. We received Nunavut pins, badges and a Pond Inlet shot glass which Meeka (the vice principal) told us we must only use hard liqueur and must always toast to her. The staff has been so kind and welcoming to us and it is sad to say good bye. They have told us countless times how great this program is and how Queen's has set an excellent example and they hope QHO continues to visit for years to come.

Its hard to summarize this experience in words. We can not believe how fast these four weeks have flown past. Although we did not encourage it, we will be sent off tomorrow morning by the grade 8 girls who promise to stay up all night tonight and meet us at the airport at 7am! We have been so lucky to have this experience and live with a Inuit family. Alice was so welcoming in sharing her home, her customs and her friendship with us. There are many stereotypes of the North, both good and bad. We can now say with authority that the perception of the giving, smiling, community centered culture is true. For full effect one must truly experience this for themselves. We both hope to return again as soon as possible.

xoxo,

Glacier Girls

Mittimatalik!

POND INLET = MITTIMATALK

Due to changing weather patterns and satellite 'issues', our internet has been few and far between aka non-existent! Cross your fingers this sends.

Last week was our Substance Abuse week, where we taught about drugs, alcohol, smoking, and peer pressure. The kids responded very well to these lessons and had a lot of input. We borrowed props for each class from the health centre and we were fortunate enough to have a local health centre nurse, Appia, take part in our smoking lessons. She brought with her healthy and unhealthy pigs lungs to show the kids, demonstrating the differences in inflation between each. National Quit Smoking Day is May 31st and many students are teaming up to either quit by then or quit starting then, which is very exciting! It was nice to have a community member translate as well as relate to the kids and their culture. The kids were very curious about these topics and asked questions ranging from "who invented alcohol?" to "how do you become addicted to alcohol?"

This long weekend we had the pleasure of house/dog sitting for one of the teachers, Julia. We were responsible for 8 sled dogs - including 5 PUPPIES!! We hacked up an entire arctic char everyday with an axe and were constantly walking all of them around town. Although we love staying at Alice's, it was nice to raid Julia's fridge (we were given free range!). We were invited to dinner Sunday night at Donna's (another teacher). We dined with Jay (grade 11 teacher) and Keith, a government employee. She cooked a turkey with all the fixings and it was great to have a chance to talk outside the classroom and about Pond Inlet as a whole.

This week is Sexual Health week, which is always a little hectic as we have to teach with Appia and need letters of permission. Unfortunately, this week is only 2 days, due to teacher training and the long weekend. We are hoping to overflow lessons on to next week if we can find space.

We are very excited to have been invited to the elementary school, Ulaajuk. We hope to sit in on a few classes and participate in their Culture Day on Friday.

Sadly, this morning we recieved some terrible news that 4 boys from the Grade 8 class, went out on the land last night and did not return. Search and Rescue have been sent out and have been searching all day so our thoughts are with them and everyone in the school is waiting for the news. Due to the harsh terrain and unforgiving weather, this happens all to easy up here and this is not the first time this has happened.

Last night we had the privilege of trying some 'country food'! Alice made us a stir-fry of caribou. It tasted a lot like tough steak but it was cool to say we have tried it. We are also trying to fit in by getting the "arctic tan" or raccoon tan, which is the intense sunglasses tan; it is seen as cool and respected up here so we are trying our hardest.

We have also been teaching the kids a couple new games. Last night we played 4 square for 2 hours (who knew it could be entertaining for this long!). With just sand and a ball the kids played all night. The game got more competitive once the boys joined in. Emily reigned as king for quite sometime, while Sarah coined her name as "canoli" (mispronounced Connolly).

After school today, we will be helping Jim out with the girls basketball again. Monday, we will be partaking in a Suicide Workshop with counselors, students and teachers from the school, and some community members.

Sunday was our half-way mark of being in Pond and we realized one month is not enough! We do not want to leave :)

That's all for now,
till next time....
XoXo Glacier Girls

It's a small world after all

First weekend in the North was a success!

Friday after class we met Phillipa the librarian and she showed us the archives and the library here in Pond. We dropped off some slides from Julia (who's father had been a photographer here about 15 years ago).

On the weekends here the town is pretty much deserted as many families go hunting and winter camping. Saturday we got a chance to go out on the land with the local mechanic Sandy and the temporary mechanic Paul. We met Sandy's brother in law Grant who is originally from Pickle Lake (shout out to Pickle Lake). His mother is Daisy, the social counselor at the school! Grant and his wife Angelica met when she was a teacher in Resolute Bay a few years ago (shout out to Resolute Bay). Small world! The people of Pond Inlet are very generous and lent us a Ski-doo for the day. With Sandy as our guide we travelled 1.5 hours out of the hamlet along a frozen river to a small lake, named Ukta that is situated between 3 mountains. The mountains didn't appear to be that large but once we attempted to climb them we were proven wrong.

Unfortunately Emily had to ride with the rookie driver Paul who played a mean trick on her. While tailing Sandy and Sarah on the way home, he stopped to go to the bathroom and they sped on. After only a few seconds they were out of sight and Paul attempted to catch up. Meanwhile Sarah and Sandy hid (yes, there are places to hide on the ice) and Paul and Emily took the lead aimlessly driving in the wrong direction. Sarah and Sandy realized Emily was probably freaking out and Sandy sped up to catch them while Sarah grasped on to him for dear life (breaking a piece of plastic off the side of the machine). This whole scheme was planned in advance and it was not so funny until we were reunited again!

When we returned to Pond Sandy did a little show and tell and we got to see the different types of guns he uses (his father is a full time hunter). He showed us the pelts of caribou, seal and even polar bear.

Sunday we were treated to a buffet lunch at the Inn by our house parent Alice and Eli. After stuffing our faces with pancakes, eggs, veggies, fruit and dessert we met up with Julia (the grade 7 teacher her husband and her brother in law). The men were heading out on a 2 week dog sled adventure. We went down to the ice and watched them hook up the dog team to the komatik sled and saw them off. After this Julia took us cross country skiing. We followed the shore on Eclipse Sound, stopping for a hot chocolate break half way through. When her dog team returns we might get a chance to go skijoring (when you are pulled on ski's by the huskies). We headed back to town over land. Two of Julia's dogs just had a litter of puppies and we got to see them for a few minutes. They are just tiny balls of fur right now and are adorable. Her oldest dog Jack is their guard right now. Jack is a seasoned sled god (dog - typo stays!) having been to the north pole and back, twice and Siberia!

After this action packed weekend we were exhausted and went to bed knowing we had a full week of lessons and activities planned!

Until next time,

xoxo Glacier Girls

Tukisivit?

Ullaakkut! (Good Morning!)

Our first week of classes has come to an end. Teaching has gone well this week! This week was Physical Health week. Started with Donna's grade 8 class, teaching about diabetes, which went surprisingly well since the material was quite dense. Moved on to Don's rambunctious grade 9 class, where we taught hygiene. The boys are quite energetic but we are learning to work with them. Also this week we taught, fitness & nutrition lessons. The kids enjoy any sort of competition and are great athletes!

Two days after school this week, we have supervised the gym for the girls. We played basketball, floor hockey, volleyball, and an intense game of knights, horses, & cavaliers. Most of the girls pleaded to keep playing all night, but we sent them home for dinner at 5.

We have been working with the language barrier in Pond, so learning as many Inuktitut words as possible is really helping us - such as Tukisivit, "do you understand?". We are also learning the kids names, although there are so many to remember!

Ping pong is a highly popular sport around here, played monday to thursday's at the C-Hall. They allowed us to play but we were mostly out first round as they play round table style and are very quick.

We have had the privilege of some home cooking by Alice. She is a great cook, yet our attempt at making cookies for everyone did not measure up (a few burned cookies in the bunch). We brought our extra cookies to the school for the teachers, who seemed willing to try our scorched oatmeal-chocolate cookies.

Sarah's friend from Queen's, Julia, lived in Pond Inlet as a child and gave her a bunch of pictures and slides to bring up to the Library Archives. We brought them into the school to show the teachers and everyone giggled about them as they recognized almost everyone in the pictures.

Next week is Substance Abuse and we are hoping to use resources from the Health Centre such as cancerous lungs for our smoking lesson.

We feel like grandma's as we are still coping with the 24-hr sunlight and are usually tired by 10:30-11:00 at night! Spring is usually the clearest time of the year, but it has still been quite snowy and foggy.

First weekend in Pond Inlet starts tomorrow. Excited to explore more.
XOXO Glacier Girls.

PS. the birds (ravens) tied up at the houses are actually dead. They are used to keep away scavengers in the garbage. Also it is too cold for anything to rust up here. WILD!

Traffic Jam in Pond

Yesterday was our 1st visit to the high school and we were able to sit in on a few classes. We made Greek masks in Don's grade 9 class, listened to presentations on world religions in Jay's grade 11 class, and sang a Pond Inlet rendition of Yellow Submarine by the Beatles in Julia's grade 7 class. The kids seemed excited to see a new face and many asked where we were from (including one girl asking if Sarah was from Jamaica - Dreadlocks are a hit!)

After school we attempted to go to the Health Centre but it was closed by the time we got there. We came home and made dinner and chatted to our house parent Alice who showed us some great pictures and video's of the 2008 Narwhale hunt when 600 Narwhales got trapped under the ice and had to be killed. Alice has offered to cook us a few meals and we are excited to try real 'country food'.

After dinner we got a call from our new friend Paul (the mechanic in town for the month) who had just got his truck delivered. He drove us up to the top of the town where the dump is, ironically it has the best views of Bylot Island. This spot is known as the 'the lagoon' because the raw sewage is dumped here creating a lake that does not freeze. We were lucky enough to watch the sewage truck pump out the sewage while we were up there.

We then took a driving tour around the town searching for new born puppies. We parked on a snowy incline and decided to walk on foot out onto the ice where the dog teams are kept. We got a little too close for comfort to the dogs but most had just finished feasting so we were okay. The blood that covered their mouths did not take away from their charm. Emily thought she made a friend but Sarah warned that it probably just wanted to eat her.

We also saw a hollowed out seal and hare - probably doggies dinner!

Though the ice was at least 4m thick we were full from dinner and we were creating large crevices in the snow while we walked.

The real adventure started when we tried to reverse Paul's truck up the hill. The Ford Ranger was no match for the slippery slope and the mounds of snow. After an attempt with Paul pushing at the front, Sarah bouncing at the back and Emily steering the wheel we realized this was a horrible attempt. Moses, who had been out on the land feeding the dogs attempted to pull the truck out with a snow mobile, failure again. We looked so helpless that a man with a real truck (Ford F150) came and tugged us out. Good thing it was still light out at 10 pm!

We were dropped off and immediately went to bed.

Today we were suppose to go out on the land with the grade 8 girls class to go seal hunting, but the weather is quite snowy and it had to be cancelled. We hope we still get this chance at a later date.

We sat in on a grade 8 math class today with Donna and relived our love for multiplying fractions. Tonight we think were going to be joining a hip hop class at the school, and hope to hangout at the Co-op.

Lessons begin tomorrow so we are going to prep now! Wish us luck!

xoxo Glacier Girls

Greetings from the Great White!

Sigh...we made it. After three take-offs, three landings, and a snowmobile ride, we've finally made it to Pond Inlet. It is BEAUTIFUL! Everything is covered in snow and the hamlet is tiered up from the ice; glaciers and cliffs surround the hamlet. On our short stay over in Iqaluit, we met Paul, a 23 year old mechanic who has been transferred to Pond to fix the airport runway. Thankfully, the runway was fine when we got here. He told us a story about how he had to fix the engine of a plane he was a passenger on simply because the pilot saw his tools - so we were happy when we landed safely.

We were greeted at the airport by Ely, the school counselor and one of our house parents. He picked up our luggage on snowmobile and we were shuttled to the house by Flo, the health center nurse, meeting 2 doctors on the way that will be here for the week. We met Alice, our other house parent and she greeted us with open arms. We unpacked in our rooms (which we were very excited about as we both had double beds and a tv!) and then set out on a hike of the town.

We found the high school, the library, and met some kids on the way. There are dogs chained up everywhere and one dog seems to have made best friends with a raven (they are inseparable). Ravens are also everywhere, either flying around or chained to the houses. We could see in the distance, all the dog teams out on the ice. It is prime hunting time right now, especially for seal.

We had trouble getting to sleep even though Alice had made our rooms quite dark - the 24 hour sunlight will take some getting used too! We attempted to be dainty with our eye covers, but still woke up a few times in the night.

We took our first tour of the school today and we have our own Queen's mailbox! :) Met some of the staff and students and are excited to sit in on a few classes today. We have been invited to go out on the land with the grade 8 girls tomorrow, and are hoping the weather clears up so this is possible. In May, all of the classes take turns doing this. The school has done very well this year with there boys basketball team and we are hoping to get involved in the excitement - whether we are good players or not!

That's all the updates for now!
XOXO
Glacier Girls - Emily & Sarah