Clearly the internet is back on. Thank the lord because I felt so out of contact. Now trying to remember what happened over the last few days is going to be a challenge. Hopefully I remember everything, but if I don't I blame the internet for interrupting my daily blogging.
Let's start off by saying that Sarah and I are famous. We made the local newspaper. Mind you it is just our faces in the crowd and Sarah's is covered by her camera, but non the less we are there. I don't think I have ever been in the paper before. The picture was taken the night we attended the hip hop show at the town hall. We are very proud of our feat and have both acquired a copy for a souvenir to bring home and show off.
Friday night was a bit of an awkward night, I am not going to lie. Sarah and I were both tuckered out and were just taking it easy. We heard a knock on the door and Dave and Pat, our hosts, answered it. It turned out to be two of my students who came wanting to visit. If I had answered I would have said no. We have learned down South that this is not acceptable and this aligns with my personal beliefs. It is not my house so it was not my decision in this situation, but it would not have been my choice to let them in. Apparently visiting teachers is quite common for students to do up here. The words "Law Suit" kept flashing in my mind. I guess this is just another difference in culture. On the same note, it was nice to see them and having some good clean fun. These two particular boys are quite the behavioral issues at school and know way too much information for their age so it was refreshing and heart warming to see them chat in a normal setting and sit and play Lego, even though it stepped outside my norm.
On Saturday Sarah and I ventured to the dump. The local Inuit call the dump Canadian Tire. After going there I can see why. People throw out so much stuff. There were basketball nets, cars, snowmobiles, etc. You name it, it was there. One section of the dump was reserved for the actual bags of garbage and it ends up being burnt. The most surprising part of this visit was a large frozen pond we came across with a brownish tinge to it. Turns out it is the sewage lagoon. It actually did not smell, but can probably be classified into the grossest things I have seen. It is a giant pond full of poop and that is what I renamed it. Our host said it is frozen enough to skate on. I'm thinking I will not take the chance to find out. After the dump we visited the library/museum. I have posted some pictures from there. There were tons of artifacts, books and photos that I really enjoyed looking at. My favourite would have to be the statues of the Inuit people. They were so real. The art done on them was amazing. I was just waiting for them to pop their eyes open and scare the living out of me. Kind of eery, but neat!
Last night we saw a high speed chase outside our house window. We saw a loose dog from one of the dog teams coming towards the shore. He picked up a piece of someone's seal they had hunted and began to run away with it. All of a sudden the dog stopped and dropped the meat. Out of no where came a man on a snowmobile. I do not know if it was the owner of the dog, or the owner of the seal, but who ever it was they were not a happy camper. He came flying towards the dog with no intention of slowing down and boy did that dog run for dear life. The dog luckily got to the team before he was caught and mingled himself in so the man couldn't pin point him. I guess the people here can be quite harsh on the dogs, or so I am told. Anyways, soon after the man left the same dog went back towards his dropped meal and started on his merry way again. Dumb as a door nail or brave, I have not decided. To top it all of this dog did not even end up eating it. A larger dog came by and stole it from him. This is the entertainment of the North. It is better than television.
Static in the North is crazy. I think this is partially due to how dry and cold the air is. I have learned that before opening a door or touching anything metal to rub my hands on something wood. This minimizes and sometimes prevents being shocked. My kids must be accustomed to living with shocks because they look at me like I have two heads when I do this. This must have tipped them off that I do not like shocks, but really who does. Keep in mind when I say shocks I am talking about the stop your heart kind of shocks up here. Anyways, my lovely little angels (a few kids in particular) now shock me on purpose when I least expect it. They rub there feet along the carpet (they barely ever wear shoes, another part of their culture) and make sure I get the zap.
I'm sure I have missed something and if I have and remember I will include it in my next post. That's all for now!
