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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Picture Wednsday!

I don't really feel like writing a long blog so I am going to make today Picture Wensday! A day when I share some new pics with you all!


These are large chuncks of ice in the "harbour" the tide is out so they are just sitting there... I am calling them my mini ice bergs!


Friday, June 22, 2012

Walking in Sunshine and New Experience!

This past Wednesday I was off work and for once the sun was out and it was warm(about 13 degrees) I decided to go for a walk around the road by my house. Mainly to see how far the road went and to take some pics , now that alot of our snow is gone and the harbour is melting.

I was off taking pics on a chunk of snow when I heard a growl and turned around to find a pack of 6 dogs behind me. To say I was a bit scared/panicked would have been an understatement. The only thoughts that went through my head were "Crap I don't have a stick to beat them off if they come after me " and " There are like 6 of them one of me...odds arnt good". After my little panic attack I found they were tied out so I was like ok cool I can still take some pics. Which I did until I got a bit too close to them and they started howling , then the whole mountain erupted in howls....

I later found out that one of the guys from town keeps his dog team out there since you are not allowed to have that many dogs in town. He told me he actually has 24 dogs , he just got 4 dogs in from Iqaluit. Here are some of the pics of the dogs:



I also got to take some awesome pics of flowers that are starting to pop out here.. We don't have many flowers here and what we do have are very low to the ground. Alot of pink flower and low shrubs .





After I finished my walk I came home and was chilling when about 730 Sheryl calls and asks me if I want to come over for another adventure in "Country Food" . Country food is what wild game is called here. I was a bit hesitant but said Ok and off I went.

We had Muktaaq which is beluga whale skin and cartilage. The pieces are cut up into about 5cm rectangles. The cartilage is then scored so it is easier to eat. You dip the pieces in soy sauce or put some salt on it. My first piece I was very hesitant ... what happened if I got sick?! So I doused it in Soy sauce.. Sheryl and Sam asked me how I liked it .. I said it was very salty... their response " Most people don't use that much Soy sauce". In total I had about 6 pieces. It really doesn't have a taste , but with soy sauce it was good. I mean Tuesday is not going to become muktaaq night in my house but I would eat it again.


I also purchased my first carving. It is a smaller one about 2-3 inches high and carved in the local soapstone called apple green. I love my little swan!




WIND IN MY HAIR!

Sunday, June 17, 2012

One Month Seems like a Life Time

As of Friday I have been in Nunavut a month. It has not seemed like a month it has seemed like I have been apart of the Kimmirut community for much longer. Which is great because it means I am accepting Nunavut as my new "home".

I still miss New Brunswick , especially my family but we talk alot through Facebook and the great phone plans everyone has gotten :) I am loving my job and the people I work with. I learn something new everyday. I am working on my Inuktitut ... I have progressed to 9 words.... OK well phrases and 7 words.

Slowly but surly I am getting use to living in Nunavut. Before I moved I was eating a lot healthier and working out more. Moving here got me out of whack I was eating alot of convince foods that I could just throw in the oven. I am working on making healthier eating a priority to me. That means Wednesdays will be my cooking day ... no more baking for me more making meals for the week .


There is a goal I have for myself that I want accomplish this summer. At the other end of town there is a big hill that goes up past the RCMP detachment to this flat spot by the power plant. I put some pics from up there in my last blog. I want to walk up that hill and just chill on the upper part when the sun is up, Which is pretty much from 2:30am until 11pm and supposedly getting longer!


Now that the ice is breaking up I cant wait to take some more pictures of the area. Although it has been rainy and foggy here so not ideal picture taking. Although I am looking forward to seeing the Sea barge when they come in. We are expecting ours to come in the middle of July.

The sea barge is how large quanties of dry shelf stable foods get shipped to Nunavut communities. It is a better freight pricing and can supply you with alot of dry goods and cleaning products. I was lucky because Sheryl( my boss) was able to get my cat litter and cat food on the barge order. Though it was very hard figuring out how much cat food my cat eats and how much litter she uses because I bought cat food and littler supply for a year.

A cool thing for us in Nunavut that happened this week was Qiniq (our Internet provider) launched a new package. Here in Nunavut the Internet packages are similar to Rogers there is a cap after so much usage. I hit my cap this week ( which was ok because my renewal date was tomorrow) Well the new package is like 80 bucks a month but gives very fast speeds and a higher cap.  I was super pumped because I was not able to really use the Internet except for basic Facebooking .

Sorry for no pictures this time but I am sure I will find something to take pictures of here against soon!




Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Exploring in the Rain and Snow

Since my last post I have been working like crazy..

We had to do our general merchandise inventory on Saturday which was kind of fun and monotonous which made the day go by faster. I hadn't had much of a chance to explore or do anything exciting. I am settling into a great routine.

It is very hard to keep up with your healthy eating routine when your access to alot of the foods and brands I ate at home is very limited. I asked my manager if it was possible to get my favorite Greek Yogurt in and sure enough it was possible and today it came in on the plane! I was pumped.

There are only six 4 packs in a case and with an expiration date if the middle of July .. I foresee another case coming in before then lol..

A cool thing I have learned since moving to Nunavut is that my name Jeka means jacket in Inuktitut ... For almost 25 years my name has not meant anything and now it does... The little kids here think it is cool.

I am slowly learning Inuktitut I hear words and then I lose them so I think I am going to have to grab a notepad and write words down phonetically when I hear them and what their meaning is so I can remember it.

Last night I got a phone call for Jacket , from my bosses husband inviting me over for BBQ. I love BBQ so I never turn it down and living alone cooking for one person sucks. After a great steak we were sitting around chatting about Kimmirut and the areas I have been in. Sam and Sheryl suggested we go for a drive to the "outskirts"

Sheryl , Sam , Cassie and baby Dougie and I get into the truck and off we go. I have to say that I live in a beautiful area! Even though there are no trees there are tonnes of beautiful rock formations , natural lakes and even some bushes!

I got to see great expanses of water , which is great because I love water! The area reminded me alot of New Brunswick and PEI all mixed into one. We also went up to the top of one of the big hills in town by the Power plant(who knew?) and our water lake , the old dump and the new dump .

Here are some pics from the top of the big hill!




                              This is off toward where people go hunting to the flow edge.

The Heel from up high


Ice break up

                                              
                                                 The one with the white roof is Mine!


                                                    I love the backdrop for this pic!

I can't wait to explore the outskirts when the weather is a bit more co-operative and there is grass!

Until next time!


Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Walking on Water

On Sunday I decided that since I was off I would go on my first adventure on the Ice!

Sunday was beautiful here in Kimmirut. I was even able to walk around town with no jacket during the day. After confirming with my boss that I did not have to go into work to cover while the planes came in (the scheduled passenger and freighter planes had been canceled due to weather on both Friday and Saturday) and which level the tide had to be to go out on the ice. I packed a backpack , water bottle, binoculars and my camera and set out.

Sheryl(my boss) told me to follow the skidoo trials. There are actually like two main ones, one of which is by my house so I set out there only to find that I cant go that way because of all the ice break up. So I walked along the mushed up ice on the coast line toward the second area that skidoos usually go on and off the ice. During my walk along the coast I saw a dead seal that had no head *graphic pic*


And this cool looking dog who scared the crap out of me because he jumped from behind this rock and barked his heart out at me!

So as I go along I get to the point where the skidoos come on and off and the same issue too much broken ice ... BUT WAIT FOR IT!

There was a guy coming up from the ice on a 4 wheeler so I followed his trail and got going toward the ice. It was a bit slick getting down there and on the way down I found another dead seal ... this one was a bit more real seal looking.

So I finally make it out to the ice , there is lots of water there as the tide was coming back in, as long as I didn't go near the big pools I was good .

Here are some pics of me around out on the ice! You can see the ice wall that forms on the heel when the tide goes out.


And me !!!






This was such an awesome day out on the ice! It was prob my first and last chance to go out on the ice right now because of break up and warm temps. I can say that this is my first TRUE Nunavut adventure and I am looking forward to more!