Getting "stuff", the post office, and a chance to win!

Last post I showed you some photos of the swag the kids got for Christmas. (Also, if you haven't yet seen JJ wearing a dishcloth on his head, click HERE.) 

CJS really wanted a "real" metal sword.  I asked him why.
"So I can hunt caribou and provide for my family!"
(This one is plastic.)

A challenge is how to get these items to the north, as many retailers have exorbitant shipping fees to Iqaluit.  Most of Christmas came up with us from Thunder Bay.  (Yes, that means a LOT of shopping was done before the summer. I also have things set aside for Easter.)  Anything made of sealskin or fur was obviously purchased locally. 

I warned family and friends to send any Christmas packages well in advance, as the mail is so slow to get here.  My brother simply had Amazon ship 2 video games for the kids directly to us way back in October (genius).  My mother purchased gifts for the kids 6 months ago, and they were packed with our belongings when the movers showed up in August in Thunder Bay. On her last visit here she brought everything else from extended family in Nova Scotia in a suitcase.  (Not sure how the large plastic sword for Captain Jack got through security without drawing attention........) That said, there were still things that had to be picked up at the post office here in town. 

source

The Iqaluit post office is the centre of the universe up here. There is no mail delivery to any home, and all the mailboxes are located in this one building. Word around town is that the post office was built to accommodate anywhere from 2000 to 4000 people, depending on who you talk to.  There are now 7,700 people living here, so the post office is nowhere near as large as it should be.  

Also, much of the population is transient.  People stay for short-term contracts (some for as short as a couple of months), and are gone again.  I suppose its easy to think of coming to the north as a short-term adventure (the way we are doing it) but considering staying here long term is rather daunting.  The darkness, the isolation, the cold..... (There are some people who come up planning to stay for a short time and end up staying because they love it.)  Unfortunately, residents who leave don't always turn in mailbox keys or notify the post office that the box is now available.

Because of the turnover, and the "too small" post office, getting a mailbox is a bit of a challenge.  When we arrived we looked into it right away, as we had been forewarned.  There were no boxes available.  If you don't have a box it means (sadly) that your mailing address is: 

Your Name 

General Delivery

Iqaluit, NU 

X0A 0H0

Not having a box means you need to get into the long post office line a couple of times per week and just wait.  When you gradually make your way to the front you need to hand over your driver's license and say "Can you please check for general delivery?"  The staff person takes your ID, and walks over to the huge drawer full of stuff.  It takes several minutes for them to flip through the mail (its arranged alphabetically) to see if you have anything waiting for you.  Its LOUSY and time consuming.  Also, you can only check general delivery for yourself.  This meant I could not check for my husband, or (presumably) my kids, though luckily this didn't really come up.

I was (as expected) determined to get a post office box.  The first time I went in I was told there were none available.  So I asked how often I should check back.  I got a shrug.  A few days later I went back in and asked again.  I was told the person who dishes out boxes was "on a break", but they took my name and number.  I got a call a few hours later, and was again told "no boxes".  I asked when to check back and was told "in 2 days".  So I checked back in 2 days.  "Do you have a copy of your rental agreement?" asked the employee.  Well, since no one had mentioned that in my previous 3 conversations, I did NOT have a rental agreement copy.  That was quickly remedied, and.....WE GOT A BOX!  I still need to wait in line every time I get a package, but I can live with that. At least I know I'm not waiting in line for nothing, or worse,  flyers.

We got a box! Wahoo!

If you want to run into someone you know, or just feel like being social, you can head over and see who is in line.  Generally, standing in line at the post office takes about 20 minutes to half an hour. If you have a package, it might be at the post office, or it might be at the little house owned by the post office just down the road.  This was one creative solution to "the post office isn't big enough" problem.  You know where your package is based on what type of package delivery slip ends up in your box.

You can't use 90 percent of these gift cards here. Subway?
 There isn't one. Vie en Rose? Ha! Swiss Chalet?  
You're kidding, right? And Air Canada doesn't even fly here. 
I'm guessing these are here to buy for others as Christmas gifts, 
or just because all post offices have to have them.

It can be tough to get things up here.  I think I've already mentioned in a previous post that our kitchen garbage can lid broke the first couple of weeks we were here.  Northmart didn't have anything suitable, so I did what any other person living here would do: ordered another one using Amazon.  If you purchase a subscription to Canada's version of Amazon Prime, shipping is free.  I don't know how this is possible, the company MUST be losing money.  Its not as great as it sounds though--remember, its only amazon.ca, not amazon.com, so you don't have access to the American store's unlimited inventory.  Also, not everything on amazon.ca is eligible for Prime, so you need to double check. And even with the "free" shipping (due to your paid subscription) you are still looking at several weeks' wait for your item.

Many people use Amazon to buy their groceries, as certain things (dry goods and diapers, for instance) are cheaper to purchase online, despite the government subsidies offered here. "Amazon Prime has done more toward elevating the standard off living of my family than any territorial or federal program.  Full stop. Period." a local principal, who declined to speak further, said on Facebook. (source) Other things, such as good quality pet food, are impossible to find locally.  Amazon even has a "ship once monthly" option, so you can count on regular deliveries for cat/dog food. Obviously residents can't count on this as a long-term solution, Amazon has already stopped offering Prime to many other northern communities. The possibility of the program being cancelled here in Iqaluit is a concern for a lot of residents.

Although I have long since stopped keeping track, the things I purchased from Amazon Canada's Prime during the month of September included: garbage can, pet stain cleaner, digital meat thermometer, DVD's (Remember? Our internet is capped so streaming movies is out.), bathroom soap dish, birthday presents, clothes drying rack, and placemats.  I didn't buy them online because I was being picky or wanted a certain style or color, I bought them online because I could NOT buy them locally.  Imagine a city of 7000 people doing the same thing. That's a LOT of mail.

Here's another Iqaluit quirk:  everyone's mailing address is a PO box.  Do you know how many online retailers will not ship to PO boxes?  MANY.  So, the people of Iqaluit have developed a few "cheats" to get around the system.  Many websites you order through use dumb programming for entering a standard mailing address.  As soon as you type "box" or "PO box", the system spits you out and asks for your "real" address. I've learned that boite (the french word for "box") doesn't flag these systems.  So my address can say Boite 1868, instead of Box 1868. Another option is 1868 Boite St. And, since many of the postal workers speak french, it totally works!

Update! The little house down the street is no longer rented by the post office. Instead, they have rented a big warehouse!

View of the new improved parcel pick-up location. This is the side of the building,
where the door is.  On front of the building is taped a sign that says "Door at side.
Follow the caution tape." See it there in the corner?

Coraline is waiting for a package that will turn out to be a
box from her uncles full of wrapped gifts to go under the tree.

As you can tell the photo above, the new location wasn't quite finished in time for the holidays.  (Remember how the beer/wine store didn't have siding when it opened? (link) That doesn't stop people from making do.) There is a large tarp hanging to the left of the door.  It is a "wall" that creates an area where people can line up to wait for their packages. The walls are not painted. The floor is.......industrial. The tables were salvaged second-hand. That said, we have been getting slips in our mailbox within a day of when a package tracking number says it has arrived here, so that's progress!

Housekeeping note: I've noticed that the vast majority of my readers get here by clicking on links through Facebook.  (To everyone who does this, thanks for coming!) However, not all readers are "friends" on Facebook with me or JJ. Because of this, I've created a Facebook page just for this blog called "Seriously North".   If enough people follow the page, I'll use it to update everyone as to when a new post is up.  This is a way for people to follow the blog who don't necessarily want another "friend" on their FB feed (I'm thinking of the TBRHSC nurses, for instance).

Also, this will allow me to do a GIVE AWAY CONTEST!!!  Want to own a piece of the north for yourself?  Great! Since I don't know who you all are (blogger just tells me how many views, not names of who reads) you can let me know this way!  If you "share" the FB blog site Seriously North I will see your name in my notifications, and can enter you in the draw! I don't think it matters if you share it with one person or with the world.   Don't have a Facebook account? Don't want to be a cog in the machine that is FB sharing? No problem.  Just send me a text or an email, or leave a comment on the blog (this method isn't always foolproof) and I'll enter you. I'll provide more details on the prize and deadline for entering in a future post.

Up next: We did something really cool yesterday! A photographer who works for National Geographic took photos for us, and you'll get to see them! What did we do? Check back and find out.

Christmas in Iqaluit

So much has happened over the past few days!  We had the winter solstice (longest night/shortest day of the year), Coraline's birthday, Christmas Games, and the Christmas Pageant. Its now Christmas day. If you are like us-- after all the baking, the wrapping, the visiting, and once the presents are open-- you start getting kind of bored. You have come to the right place. What could be better to do than read? Rather than writing several posts to be published over the next week, I've chosen to divide one somewhat longer post into sections.  This way, you have something to do instead of trying to make small talk with Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia.

Happy reading!

December 21st

Today is the winter solstice. This makes it the darkest day of the year.

Coraline and Captain Jack Sparrow, sunrise at 9:22.

The photo above was taken at sunrise today, 9:22am. The sun sets today at 1:42pm, for a total of four hours, twenty minutes of "daylight". Yesterday the sun rose at 9:21 and set at 1:41pm, which also gave us four hours, twenty minutes of "daylight", so no real change. On Christmas day we will have an extra two minutes of daylight.  Wahoo.

Rather than stand around gawking at the sunset today (which is not realistically any earlier than it has been lately, only by a couple of minutes), we are going to a matinee.

Captain Jack, Bea, Coraline at 1pm, 40 minutes before sunset.
Not a huge difference in the amount of sunlight.

In addition to it being the winter solstice, it is Coraline's birthday! She turned 11 this year. Unlike Captain Jack, Coraline prefers to keep her birthday celebrations low-key.  Rather than a crazy pool party with lots of kids, Coraline has invited one friend (Bea) over to spend the day with us.  We'll be going to see the movie "Coco", then home for the kids to play (inside of course, it will be dark), then pizza and cake once JJ is home from work.  Aside from asking a random stranger on Facebook to bake you a cake, the only place to buy them in town that I have found is Northmart.  This morning we went in after dropping JJ off at work.  Our choice of birthday cake was chocolate or......chocolate.  Coraline went with chocolate, which happily was her first choice anyway.

Bea and Coraline go to the movies.

Update: Coraline had a fantastic, quiet birthday.  She got a beautiful watch from her cousins, some clothing, birthday cash, fantastic doll clothes, her sealskin headband, a DVD about cats in Istanbul, painting supplies, and lego.

The sealskin headband she begged for on Thanksgiving
is finally hers.

All 4 cakes in the store had green and yellow balloons
on them. All 4 were chocolate. It was a non-fussy birthday.

December 24th

Christmas is here!  In Iqaluit, that means its time for the Christmas Games.  Don't know what "Christmas Games" are?  Well, you aren't alone.  We had no idea either, but they are very popular up here.  There are games for kids, games for adults, snowmobile races (and a parade), skating, pool party, etc.  The schedule for the games doesn't provide much detail--often there is just a time and a location. Sometimes the games are as simple as "Hot Potato".  Other times you may show up and join a circle of traditional Inuit dancers.

Christmas Games schedule as posted on Facebook.

Today (Christmas Eve), JJ took the kids to watch a snowmobile race just down the road from our house on Dead Dog Lake.  (The name of the lake? Don't ask. I haven't.) The race was 10 laps.  Tires marked the course. The tires will be staying up for future races, and taken back to the dump in spring.

CJS found a unique place to veg out while
waiting for the race to start.

As did Coraline.

On yer marks..........

And off they went.

See those black things sticking up? Those are tires.
That's how they mark the track.

Winners of the race were posted on Facebook.  I don't think there were prizes, participants raced for honour and glory.  The race organizers are looking for a photographer.  Payment will be in the form of free coffee.

In a previous post I mentioned how "relaxed" the church is here.  JJ noted on the schedule a couple of weeks ago that there would be a Christmas pageant today, performed by the children.  "Huh", we both said. "Funny that we haven't heard anything about that. Must be other children."  Then a few days ago I got an email asking if the kids would be interested in participating.  Coraline's immediately reaction was to roll her eyes and sigh.  "Ugh", she said. "Christmas pageant?"  Then I told her they wanted her to play Mary.  Her eyes lit up. "I'm the STARRING ROLE!"  "So, that's a yes, then?"

Captain Jack Sparrow was tagged to be a shepherd.  Since JJ was the one to take the kids to one-and-only-practice, and since they were short actors, JJ is also a shepherd. He was asked to please bring a bathrobe.  (SO glad I was home wrapping presents!!!)

Shepherd #1, Shepherd #2, Mary

Having a pep talk with Shepherd #3, who was quite nervous.

The pageant went off without a hitch. All around the world cardboard sheep, baby Jesus dolls, and tea towels are being put back into storage until next year.

December 25

Its finally Christmas!  What do you get for Christmas in the far north? Well, you get the usual sundries: candy, books, clothing, toys.  Lego featured prominently in our house this year.  However, since you are in the land of 6 month sub-zero temperatures, you also get FUR!!! (If you don't know why fur/sealskin is a big deal up here, click here.) Coraline loves her sealskin mittens.  She also got a sealskin coat for her doll.  Captain Jack is sporting his new hat. I got sealskin mittens (that I purchased awhile and posted about here), and a gorgeous fox fur scarf. Captain Jack also got an Iqaluit Blizzard hoodie, with the flag of Nunavut on the arm (more on the Blizzard to follow in a future post).  JJ has been playing squash here at the local racquet club so he got a Frobisher Racquet Club jacket.

Sealskin mittens

Fur hat

Mommy's sealskin mittens

JJ's Frobisher Racquet Club jacket

Fox fur scarf

Sealskin doll coat

Iqaluit Blizzard hoodie.....

.....with flag of Nunavut

Merry Christmas everyone!  The second part of this post was put together quickly, so I apologize in advance for any typos or grammatical errors. Now I'm off to cook a turkey dinner.

Up next: Something good!  Probably on Thursday, like usual. :)

Spirituality in Iqaluit

A few weeks ago I got a request to do a post on the religions here in Nunavut.  When my readers speak, I listen. Plus, Christmas is coming so it seems appropriate. Here goes!

Most people in Nunavut, if religious, are Protestant (mainly Anglican--that's the Church of England for my American friends. Its the religion created by Henry VIII that made him head of the church and allowed him to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon).  Martin Frobisher, attempting to discover a Northwest Passage from England to Asia, set off with Queen Elizabeth's blessing to discover what is now Nunavut in 1576.  Seeing as how Elizabeth would not have been his heir had King Henry not changed the religion (and allowed himself to marry her mother Anne Boleyn), AND being the head of the church as queen, she was probably pretty devout. A colony from England was established later in Elizabeth's name, no doubt bringing the Anglican religion with them.

Martin Frobisher. Pretty dashing lookin' fellow.
(Side note: Captain Jack is convinced this is his Uncle
Chocolate Mark.)
(source)

A replica cairn constructed using the same rocks as the
original built by Frobisher overlooking Frobisher Bay.
(source)

"Frobisher's first duty was to claim the newly discovered country and its hidden riches for England.  By raising a cross and claiming the land in the name of God and their monarch, Christian Europeans of the time considered that they had legitimized their claim to the ownership of the homelands of non-Christian peoples." (source)

There are also some Catholics living here.  There are less than 50 Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, and Hindus in the entire territory.

In Thunder Bay, both Coraline and Captain Jack went to a Catholic elementary school.  Neither JJ or I are devoutly religious, but this school was right around the corner from our house, had small class sizes, and a reputation for wonderful staff.  We were still hesitant to send the kids there, as the Catholic church has some views that we both disagree with (their take on homosexuality is one example).  Then we found out that friends of ours, a wonderful family who happen to be Muslim, were sending their children to this school, too. In the end we decided if they could do it, we could too. The school has been fantastic, and we have no regrets.

When they got a little older the kids wanted to do the "Catholic things" their friends at school were doing (ie: taking first communion, participating in mass).  JJ, who was raised Catholic, took on the job of taking the kids to church.  We both feel exposing our children to organized religion will give them a broader view of the world. Ultimately the decision as to whether the kids choose to practice a religion, or what that religion might be, will of course be up to them.

The Anglican Church in Iqaluit.

Up here, however, we decided to try something sort-of new.  Since the vast majority of people (at least among those who practice a religion) are Anglican, and since the Anglican church building is just so cool (it looks like a giant igloo!), then we would be Anglican too! (See what I mean about not exactly being "devout"?)  Its been neat for JJ and the kids to see the differences in how the services are conducted (I was raised Anglican, so no real surprises for me). 

The large cross on the wall is made of 2 narwhal tusks.

What I find most interesting about the Anglican church in Iqaluit is how they have incorporated parts of the Inuit culture into the physical church itself. The sign that the hymns are posted on has been constructed to look like a miniature qamutiik (traditional Inuit sled).  So has the lectern (podium). The large cross on the wall has been made using 2 huge narwhal tusks.  The collection plates are sealskin bowls.

Coraline doing a reading at the qamutiik lectern. 

And a real qamutiik for comparison. The one
at the church even sort-of shows the wood tied
 together like this one.

Qamutiik sign for hymns.

Sealskin bowls for collection.

Close-up of the sealskin bowls.

Narwhal tusk cross.

At the Catholic church the kids regularly attended in Thunder Bay, children went down to Sunday school during mass.  When they were present in the church they were expected to sit quietly and respectfully. While of course no one objected if a baby cried, parents (us included) would sometimes bring books (or crayons, or phones on "silent") to keep kids occupied in the pew. Its a little different up here.  I've talked a little bit already about how children are "free range" here in Iqaluit.  The same holds true for church services.  Children walk/run all over the place, make noise, and are chased down by adults regularly in the middle of the service. No one is concerned. Its VERY relaxed. The noise and running around is viewed as just part of childhood and children being in a public place.  There is Sunday school offered here as well, but not all kids choose to go (especially the toddlers). There is a service offered weekly in Inuktitut following the English service.

Some of this post I've had to research.  I found myself thinking "Didn't the Inuit have their own spirituality or religion before Frobisher and the English showed up?"  The answer is yes, of course they did, and still do.  It simply isn't talked about much, especially with outsiders. Its also tricky to find information about. The Inuit believed in Animism, which is an understanding that all things have a spirit. The only people who could control the spirits are Shamans. They use charms and dances to communicate with the spirit world. Spirits are credited with good weather and successful hunts, among other things.  If a disaster happens, angry spirits may be blamed.  I found a website called First Peoples of Canada that goes into more detail for those of you who are interested.  I don't feel qualified to really discuss this, as it is part of Inuit culture that I have not been exposed to yet. Some people say Shamanism (or Animism) is actually becoming more popular among the Inuit.  Others say it isn't practiced as much anymore.

Sometimes its difficult to separate religion and cultural tradition.  One such tradition is the Lighting of the Qulliq, which was done at Captain Jack's school Christmas concert.  At the very beginning of the evening, an Inuit elder did the "Lighting of the Qulliq" Ceremony.  A qulliq is a traditional oil lamp in an elliptical or half-moon shape (often made of soapstone, like the one at the school).  The oil is traditionally from seal or whale blubber. The wick is often made of arctic cotton grass. The qulliq is considered the most important household item for the Inuit, who have been using them for about 3000 years.  In the harshest cold, it is a guaranteed source of light and warmth.  In one Inuit myth, the sun deity carries an oil lamp. She spills it, getting soot and oil on her hands.  Then she rubs the face of the moon deity. The quilliq is so important it is even on the Nunavut coat of arms. (source)  After the Lighting of the Qulliq ceremony at the school, the same elder said a prayer in Inuktitut.

Lighting of the Qulliq

The lighting ceremony was followed by a prayer
in Inuktitut.

That little dish on the left with the red on top
is a qulliq.

Drum dancing, which can be part of a religious ceremony or part of cultural identity, still happens on a regular basis.  There is a drum-dancing class taught at the local high school, and Captain Jack Sparrow took drum-dance lessons at music camp this past summer. At Captain Jack's school Christmas concert one of the skits was called "So You Think You Can Dance". (The students pretended to compete for best dance number.)  One of the dances was to a pop song, another was four boys drum dancing, and a third was four children (two boys and two girls) doing a traditional dance.

Drum dancing as part of the "So You Think You Can Dance" skit.

And traditional dancing. The girls are in amautis, the one on the left
is wearing sealskin kamiks (boots). Sorry for the poor picture quality,
my iphone is terrible in low light.

The "So You Think You Can Dance" skit is a great example of how religion, culture and modern life are intertwined.  Hunters wear sealskin, eat raw whale skin and blubber, and ride around on snowmobiles. After going to church, children might put on their sealskin mittens and kamiks to head home to play on their xbox before having a lunch of smoked char.

Up next: Its Christmas!!!!  I normally post on Mondays and Thursdays.  With Monday being Christmas day, I'm going to do my best to get another post published. Wish me luck!

Merry Christmas from Iqaluit everyone!