One more week. One. More. Week.
I hate wanting to wish my last week here away so quickly, but I am so looking forward to some warmer temperatures, treating myself to a Canada Goose jacket (for when sub zero temps come to Toronto... it shall be my "you survived your first stint in Nunavut" gift to myself, because self care!), and baseball games and Jason Mraz concerts and grad school and the LCBO! And cheap produce and food and fast internet! I was telling a friend the other day how I've honestly forgotten what regular prices for grocery items are, and I'll probably be hitting up Loblaws on Friday and crying at how inexpensive everything is... or how two weeks, not two days, worth of groceries will be about $140.
I thought I'd write an entry for people to read in case they are considering coming up here. I had some helpful advice before coming here, but there were many things I had to learn on my own as well, and if I can help someone else prepare for their time up here, then amazing! You too, can benefit from my mistakes!
I figured I would start with packing. To get here, I borrowed a 181 quart Rubbermaid trunk from a friend, in addition to a Coleman wheel cooler to check as my luggage. Traveling domestically, bringing produce and meat and stuff is no issue in Canada. If you're coming up here to work, you're going to be here from anywhere from two to four months, and you want to be prepared. I came prepared for any event from military-style coup d'etat to nuclear holocaust to weekend in Vegas. I probably did not need the fancy clothes.
Speaking of clothes, seriously forget anything "professional" and "nice" and leave it at home. I maybe wore my black dress pants once, got dust and mud all over them, and said screw it, and bought a pair of jeans. Which I have faithfully worn. Things are not formal and professional here, it's dusty and dirty, it rains a lot, and you just want to be comfortable. And warm! Never listen to anyone who tells you that if you're going in the summer it's going to be 20 and warm... maybe some summers, sure, but here in Igloolik, we had a pretty cold summer, and on average I would say it was 7. We saw temperatures of 18-20degs maybe two days? I wish I had brought warmer clothing, and better shoes. I also found myself wearing less makeup that I usually do, not really caring how my hair looked, and not as much jewelry, so I could have probably left that all at home as well. Just think "comfort and warmth" when you're packing, and you should be fine. I also think next time, when I get my community assignment confirmed, I will ship a humidifier up ahead of me. The air here is super dry - if I don't put on heavy duty lotion my skin cracks and bleeds - and nosebleeds have been a bit of an issue. Also remembering to bring heavier lip balm, and can probably do without the hair dryer next time :)
I filled my cooler up with frozen meats, pre-made president's choice burgers, and lots of frozen fruits and vegetables. I also brought nice bread and nice cheese, as the only bread they sell up here tends to be of the Wonderbread variety, and the cheese is usually Kraft or Compliments style. You can expect to pay anywhere from $2-$10 more for basic items at the grocery store. For example, I made tuna casserole the other night, which cost me about $55 in ingredients - a meal which costs me about $15 to make back in Toronto. But it kind of gets to the point where the stupidest, littlest things make you happy. A $5 slushie from the convenience store? Oh sure. A $4 super sugary worse-than-Tim-Hortons Crispy Crunch flavoured cappuccino from a machine in the Northern Store which was probably cleaned never, becomes the highlight of your work week.
In my carry-ons (a gym bag and a roller carry-on) I packed as much fresh produce and bread as I could, in addition to several changes of clothing, books, and my laptop. I have heard horror stories of people arriving, but no luggage for days on end. The person who picked me up at the airport quite rudely stated to me within two seconds of her sighting me that I packed way too much stuff, but I feel I had just enough while here, especially in the food department. I know I spent a lot less money up here than I would have had I not brought all these food items, for the most part, I was warm, and things were ok. That pretty much takes care of how to pack and what to bring!
You need to understand that not everyone here is going to speak English. And many times, it is broken English. Inuktitut is one of the official languages of this territory, as French is to Quebec. I had to really check myself and my thoughts the first few days when I hadn't picked up on any Inuktitut words and phrases yet, and was grinding my teeth and thinking that they should speak English. Please remember that they were here first, and they are probably more "Canadian" than you or I ever will be.
I'm not sure if this is Igloolik-specific, but people here walk in the middle of the roads, as there are no sidewalks. Get used to driving at a snails pace as children like to do dumb things, like run up to your vehicle while you're driving. I use my horn here more than I do in Toronto.
When you are up here, shit will happen, and things will go wrong. Electricity goes out a fair amount, and there are scheduled power outages (the hamlet is run on diesel generators). The internet here sucks (although I'm reading they are laying out a new fiber optic network so I hope when I come up here next, this won't be an issue. If Hawaii can have great internet... Nunavut? Why you havin' nunavut?) and it's expensive, and you get 10gb per month. Best to get a terrabyte hard drive and put every Simpsons episode ever made on it so you have something to keep you busy.
In addition to that, your drinking water and raw sewage will all be pumped into/out of your home via trunk. The drinking water isn't all that clean and I had major stomach problems when I first got here. Now only on the rare occurrence that happens - I found boiling water then letting it cool then running it through a Brita filter kinda worked, but it still tasted like dust. You will run out of water. Your sewage tank will also fill up, making it impossible to run water. These are easily fixed with one phone call to the hamlet but it will be annoying. I do need to say though, it's been pretty good for me while I've been here. I ran out of water only once, and couldn't use water due to a full sewage tank once, but both issues were fixed within an hour of my calling. There was a period where I lost heat and hot water for two days, and that was pretty miserable, but it got fixed, and I survived.
If you're in the community during polar bear migration season (October-February/March) bring a whistle and wear it whenever you go outside. Polar bears are scared of loud noises. If you see one, blow it and make a lot of noise and stamp your feet and run into the nearest house and call RCMP. Sometimes they wander too close to communities because they smell food. When this happens they usually get shot. It's might seem harsh to us, but when it comes down to a polar bear vs your loved one, and the polar bear would eat your loved one in a second, which would you rather have?
This kinda leads to my next point - if things like hunting, making carvings from the bones/tusks/teeth of animals, etc makes you squeamish and you're morally opposed to hurting animals for any purpose, perhaps the North isn't for you. You need to understand that the Inuit have been doing this for millennia and when they kill an animal, the entire animal is being used - meat and entrails for food; blubber for food, gum, and lighting oil lamps; skin to make clothes; teeth, bones and tusks for carvings, artwork, and tools; etc. The federal government has established quotas for each animal which is hunted, so it's not a free-for-all, and really, this does help with population control. If it bothers you, again, don't come up here. Also, if it bothers you, think of all the inhumane and horrible ways we humans have come up with in killing each other... and we're supposed to be the superior species? I feel like I've had to field a lot of questions pertaining to that since I've been here.
Part of coming to Nunavut as well is to forget and let go of what you know to be normal and commonplace - your values, your opinions, you way of doing things; your own personal discourse. It is different up here. But just because it's different from your normal, doesn't mean it's bad. The Inuit, living in some of the harshest climates on Earth, are all about survival. And, especially in Igloolik, they love their traditions and want to keep the culture strong. I found that once I stopped having expectations and truly opened myself up to learning and being present, things got a lot easier. It was a great lesson to re-learn, and I hope I can carry this back home to Toronto with me.
I hate wanting to wish my last week here away so quickly, but I am so looking forward to some warmer temperatures, treating myself to a Canada Goose jacket (for when sub zero temps come to Toronto... it shall be my "you survived your first stint in Nunavut" gift to myself, because self care!), and baseball games and Jason Mraz concerts and grad school and the LCBO! And cheap produce and food and fast internet! I was telling a friend the other day how I've honestly forgotten what regular prices for grocery items are, and I'll probably be hitting up Loblaws on Friday and crying at how inexpensive everything is... or how two weeks, not two days, worth of groceries will be about $140.
I thought I'd write an entry for people to read in case they are considering coming up here. I had some helpful advice before coming here, but there were many things I had to learn on my own as well, and if I can help someone else prepare for their time up here, then amazing! You too, can benefit from my mistakes!
I figured I would start with packing. To get here, I borrowed a 181 quart Rubbermaid trunk from a friend, in addition to a Coleman wheel cooler to check as my luggage. Traveling domestically, bringing produce and meat and stuff is no issue in Canada. If you're coming up here to work, you're going to be here from anywhere from two to four months, and you want to be prepared. I came prepared for any event from military-style coup d'etat to nuclear holocaust to weekend in Vegas. I probably did not need the fancy clothes.
Speaking of clothes, seriously forget anything "professional" and "nice" and leave it at home. I maybe wore my black dress pants once, got dust and mud all over them, and said screw it, and bought a pair of jeans. Which I have faithfully worn. Things are not formal and professional here, it's dusty and dirty, it rains a lot, and you just want to be comfortable. And warm! Never listen to anyone who tells you that if you're going in the summer it's going to be 20 and warm... maybe some summers, sure, but here in Igloolik, we had a pretty cold summer, and on average I would say it was 7. We saw temperatures of 18-20degs maybe two days? I wish I had brought warmer clothing, and better shoes. I also found myself wearing less makeup that I usually do, not really caring how my hair looked, and not as much jewelry, so I could have probably left that all at home as well. Just think "comfort and warmth" when you're packing, and you should be fine. I also think next time, when I get my community assignment confirmed, I will ship a humidifier up ahead of me. The air here is super dry - if I don't put on heavy duty lotion my skin cracks and bleeds - and nosebleeds have been a bit of an issue. Also remembering to bring heavier lip balm, and can probably do without the hair dryer next time :)
I filled my cooler up with frozen meats, pre-made president's choice burgers, and lots of frozen fruits and vegetables. I also brought nice bread and nice cheese, as the only bread they sell up here tends to be of the Wonderbread variety, and the cheese is usually Kraft or Compliments style. You can expect to pay anywhere from $2-$10 more for basic items at the grocery store. For example, I made tuna casserole the other night, which cost me about $55 in ingredients - a meal which costs me about $15 to make back in Toronto. But it kind of gets to the point where the stupidest, littlest things make you happy. A $5 slushie from the convenience store? Oh sure. A $4 super sugary worse-than-Tim-Hortons Crispy Crunch flavoured cappuccino from a machine in the Northern Store which was probably cleaned never, becomes the highlight of your work week.
In my carry-ons (a gym bag and a roller carry-on) I packed as much fresh produce and bread as I could, in addition to several changes of clothing, books, and my laptop. I have heard horror stories of people arriving, but no luggage for days on end. The person who picked me up at the airport quite rudely stated to me within two seconds of her sighting me that I packed way too much stuff, but I feel I had just enough while here, especially in the food department. I know I spent a lot less money up here than I would have had I not brought all these food items, for the most part, I was warm, and things were ok. That pretty much takes care of how to pack and what to bring!
You need to understand that not everyone here is going to speak English. And many times, it is broken English. Inuktitut is one of the official languages of this territory, as French is to Quebec. I had to really check myself and my thoughts the first few days when I hadn't picked up on any Inuktitut words and phrases yet, and was grinding my teeth and thinking that they should speak English. Please remember that they were here first, and they are probably more "Canadian" than you or I ever will be.
I'm not sure if this is Igloolik-specific, but people here walk in the middle of the roads, as there are no sidewalks. Get used to driving at a snails pace as children like to do dumb things, like run up to your vehicle while you're driving. I use my horn here more than I do in Toronto.
When you are up here, shit will happen, and things will go wrong. Electricity goes out a fair amount, and there are scheduled power outages (the hamlet is run on diesel generators). The internet here sucks (although I'm reading they are laying out a new fiber optic network so I hope when I come up here next, this won't be an issue. If Hawaii can have great internet... Nunavut? Why you havin' nunavut?) and it's expensive, and you get 10gb per month. Best to get a terrabyte hard drive and put every Simpsons episode ever made on it so you have something to keep you busy.
In addition to that, your drinking water and raw sewage will all be pumped into/out of your home via trunk. The drinking water isn't all that clean and I had major stomach problems when I first got here. Now only on the rare occurrence that happens - I found boiling water then letting it cool then running it through a Brita filter kinda worked, but it still tasted like dust. You will run out of water. Your sewage tank will also fill up, making it impossible to run water. These are easily fixed with one phone call to the hamlet but it will be annoying. I do need to say though, it's been pretty good for me while I've been here. I ran out of water only once, and couldn't use water due to a full sewage tank once, but both issues were fixed within an hour of my calling. There was a period where I lost heat and hot water for two days, and that was pretty miserable, but it got fixed, and I survived.
If you're in the community during polar bear migration season (October-February/March) bring a whistle and wear it whenever you go outside. Polar bears are scared of loud noises. If you see one, blow it and make a lot of noise and stamp your feet and run into the nearest house and call RCMP. Sometimes they wander too close to communities because they smell food. When this happens they usually get shot. It's might seem harsh to us, but when it comes down to a polar bear vs your loved one, and the polar bear would eat your loved one in a second, which would you rather have?
This kinda leads to my next point - if things like hunting, making carvings from the bones/tusks/teeth of animals, etc makes you squeamish and you're morally opposed to hurting animals for any purpose, perhaps the North isn't for you. You need to understand that the Inuit have been doing this for millennia and when they kill an animal, the entire animal is being used - meat and entrails for food; blubber for food, gum, and lighting oil lamps; skin to make clothes; teeth, bones and tusks for carvings, artwork, and tools; etc. The federal government has established quotas for each animal which is hunted, so it's not a free-for-all, and really, this does help with population control. If it bothers you, again, don't come up here. Also, if it bothers you, think of all the inhumane and horrible ways we humans have come up with in killing each other... and we're supposed to be the superior species? I feel like I've had to field a lot of questions pertaining to that since I've been here.
Part of coming to Nunavut as well is to forget and let go of what you know to be normal and commonplace - your values, your opinions, you way of doing things; your own personal discourse. It is different up here. But just because it's different from your normal, doesn't mean it's bad. The Inuit, living in some of the harshest climates on Earth, are all about survival. And, especially in Igloolik, they love their traditions and want to keep the culture strong. I found that once I stopped having expectations and truly opened myself up to learning and being present, things got a lot easier. It was a great lesson to re-learn, and I hope I can carry this back home to Toronto with me.
