Christmas is coming!

Christmas is coming!  The stores are ready! The prices are crazy! The selection is......not fantastic.  Most people buy Christmas online.  The reasons are obvious.  Still, its nice to see the stores decked out in their Christmas splendour, and to know there is stuff here you can buy if you're in a pinch. 

On November 26th Northmart advertised they were selling a limited number of Christmas trees.  They aren't all THAT expensive, considering.  My worry is, if the trees were available to purchase at the end of November, when had they been cut down? After all, it's not like they were grown locally.  All the trees had to be cut down somewhere further south and flown in. How soon until the needles start falling off the branches? Maybe people buy them and leave them outside frozen until closer to the holidays.....  

Christmas trees: $89.99 Not bad! Elsewhere
in the city they are going for $120 and up.

My mother thinks the prices for the cookies below and the Toffifee are crazy.  I don't normally buy either of these, so I have no idea.  I just know they are Christmas-y!  Yay!

Arctic Ventures has their Christmas stuff in stock, too.  The upstairs mezzanine has been decorated, and the shelves are full of toys and ornaments.

Arctic Ventures Christmas section.

The toys, though, are crazy expensive.  It's understandable, given they need to pay to ship them up here. Also, unlike groceries, toys aren't subsidized by the Government of Canada.

The same Lego Elves set is selling on Amazon Canada for $12.99

Selling here for $43.29. On Amazon Canada for $21.99.

This one is the worst. Here for $75.99.  Amazon Canada: $29.99.

Arctic Ventures Christmas tree.

This tree is kind of crazy.  It was selling for $449.39. And obviously, given the sign on it, it sold.  Its a nice artificial tree, but its not big.  For reference, my mother is about 5'4", so that tree is about 6' tall, maybe 6 1/2' if you're being generous with the tape measure.

We brought an artificial tree up with us.  I got it at Michaels last year for cheap. I decided to put it up and surprise the kids when they came home for lunch.  Lucky for me, it was dead easy to put together.

I triumphed over the artificial tree, despite my skeptical
mother thinking this would be an all-day event.

Captain Jack Sparrow. Standin' by the tree, yo.

Time for putting the tree up also means time for baking.  Every year Gramma helps Coraline and Captain Jack bake and decorate elaborate gingerbread cookies.  Usually there is so much frosting and candy piled on top of these "works of art" they are difficult to eat.

And of course, you can't forget Christmas concerts.  Keeping with the theme of "Iqaluit loves holidays", Christmas is a really big deal.  Last Thursday was the music concert.  There were performances by all three elementary school choirs, the high school performance band, the french school choir, the french school band, the Inuksuk High School Drum Dancers, and the Iqaluit Music Society fiddle and accordion players.  This week we'll be attending the middle school Christmas play (Coraline does the backstage stuff), and Captain Jack Sparrow's Joamie School Christmas Concert. Then there are the 2 weeks of Christmas Games (an Inuit event I'm looking forward to), the "Lighting Ceremony" at the Legislature building, etc.

I gotta say, while the singing and music on Thursday was great, the best thing about the music concert was the traditional costumes.  All the choir girls (down to Kindergarten age) wore traditional amautis, and all the boys wore traditional Inuit parkas.  Each choir had their own color of garment: the french school wore yellow, Nakasuk elementary wore white, Aqsarniit middle school wore tan, and the high school drum dancers wore black and red.

The choir from the french school. Love those huskies snarling
in the background.

The Nakasuk Elementary School Choir.

Inuksuk High School Drum Dancers.

Coraline's fiddle group

I was going to end this post telling you all about the Christmas craft show.  Turns out, there is a whole lot to the Christmas craft show, so I'm cutting this post short and giving the craft show its own post.  It was the strangest "craft sales" event I've ever been to. So, up next: the Iqaluit Christmas Craft Show!

And: JJ's stories about Kimmirut are fantastic!  I have given him a deadline (next week) for his blog post.  Based on what I've seen of his photos and heard of his stories, this one may end up being a two-parter.  We'll see.  Stay tuned!

PS: got a Christmas package today in the mail.  Inside was a cute card and lots of junk food (yay!).  Also, safely cushioned inside a custom wood frame (sandwiched by books for CJS) was a tiny portable USB stick.  On which had been saved Game of Thrones, season 7. Time to binge watch while eating Sour Patch Kids! WAHOOO!!!!!!!! Thanks R family! 

Questions from Mrs. H's class

This is a follow-up post to Mrs. H's grade 2 class.  If you are not in second grade, don't worry.  I will do another regular post on Monday.

Hi again, Mrs. H and Grade 2 students!  It was wonderful to hear from the class.  I'm so happy that you are learning all about Nunavut.  You know what we got to do? Play in an igloo! People here do not live in igloos, but hunters use them when they are out on the land. They are often used in emergencies, if a snowmobile breaks down or bad weather comes up suddenly.

The igloo we played in.

Captain Jack and Coraline in an igloo having suckers.

One thing Captain Jack Sparrow and Coraline both noticed is that igloos are smaller than they thought they would be.  Also, once you are inside an igloo, your body heat warms it up very quickly.  They are very cozy and warm inside!

Now, let's answer your questions.

How do we have Christmas trees when there are no trees in Nunavut?

Like you guys, we have been getting ready for Christmas. You are right, there are no trees that grow up here. We can, however, buy real Christmas trees at some stores in town.  They are quite expensive, and there are not many to choose from.  The trees are chopped down somewhere else, then put on big cargo planes and flown up.  We didn't choose to buy a real tree this year.  Instead, we bought an artificial (pretend) tree in Ontario and brought it up with us. We put it up last week and decorated it.

Here are some trees for sale
at the grocery store.

Here is Captain Jack being "cool" in front of our
artificial tree. 

These ornaments are made of dried gourds and hand-painted. There
are a lot of craft sales up here.

This ornament is made from thin leather, but
its painted to look like a sealskin drying out.

How was the fur on Coraline's headband dyed red?

The whole sealskin, once it has been scraped clean, is dipped into a big bucket full of red dye.  Then it is cut up and sewn into whatever the artist chooses.

Here is Coraline's sealskin headband again.

This is what the sealskin looks like after
it has been dipped in dye and allowed to dry out.

These sealskins were dyed dark blue, brown, and green.

The same thing can be done with other kinds of fur.

After the sealskin is dyed, it can be used to make all sorts of things,
like these cute little creatures.

These holly pins for Christmas were made with red
and green sealskin, and white arctic fox fur.

How do you say "husky" in Inuktitut?

There is no word for "husky" in Inuktitut.  Most of the dogs up here were huskies (or part husky) for a very long time.  They are the kind of dogs that can survive in the cold and are great for pulling a dog sled. Since there was only one type of dog, the Inuit have one word for all dogs:  qimmiq (say it like kim-ick).

There are so many dog-sleds up here they have to
put up signs to warn drivers to watch for them.

Here is one we saw one day.

Do we have the same Christmas break as you?

School here works a little differently than what you are used to.  Every day all the students come home for lunch on the bus.  After they have lunch at home, the school bus takes all the kids back to school again.  Our Christmas break starts on Friday afternoon, December 15th. So, all the children will go to school in the morning, and come home for lunch.  After lunch, instead of going back to school for the afternoon, they just get to stay home.  They are home until Tuesday morning, January 2nd.

I hope I answered all your questions!  If you have any more just let me know.  Coraline asks if you could please say hello to her friend, Zyla in Grade 6. Captain Jack Sparrow asks if Mrs. H could please tell the Grade 3 class that he misses them, and we hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Heading south

JJ and I are heading south for a few days.  And by "south", I mean Ottawa, not a nice tropical vacation.  "Why are we heading south?" you may be wondering.  "I thought you were up there for a year!" you may be thinking.  Yes, we are still committed to staying in Nunavut for a year.  But, we had a great opportunity come up--my mother is visiting and has agreed to look after the kids for us while we run for the hills for a quick "break".  We need it.  The house we are in is small, it has been winter for 2 months already, and its dark a lot.  At times it feels cramped.

How good is your Inuktitut? 

This trip will give us a chance to purchase some supplies not readily available up here.  Mostly we need things for Freya, our new rescue cat, and her kittens. There is no pet store in Iqaluit, so this is a good time to pick things up (cat collar, tag with our house number on it, decent cat food, cat carrier, etc.), We also will look for pants and shirts for JJ (his are getting holes in them) and hair supplies for me (a deep conditioner is an essential item I am missing--I've actually considered just coating my hair in Vaseline to see if it helps with the static). Also, it will be amazing to eat at restaurants and shop in real stores. We have both made a deliberate choice NOT to turn this trip into 3 days of dashing around the city procuring things we can't find in Iqaluit.  Instead, our priorities will be 1) sleeping in, 2) eating at least once at McDonalds and at least once somewhere nice, 3) picking up only supplies that made "the list", and 4) going to the spa.  That last one is just for me.  I want a facial.

So, away we go.  I'm a little nervous about the flights.  Not about flying, but about things being cancelled.  This has been a record year for Iqaluit in terms of things being shut down due to weather. It has made the news, and people are starting to complain.  The city has been "closed" so far a total of 10 times since September.  That means essential services stop (such as trucking in water to homes, snow plows, emergency services like the fire department, hospital clinics, the airport, etc.).  The GN (Government of Nunavut) shuts down, as do the schools, grocery stores, dental clinics, convenience stores, aquatic centre, etc.  I don't think the kids have gone to school for a full week in the past month.  Every morning, and every day at lunch, I need to check the websites to make sure school is still happening.  JJ's flight last week to Kimmirut was cancelled, so he had to leave a day later than planned.  Our trip south to Ottawa is only for 3 days, so I'm REALLY hoping nothing goes wrong with our flight.

I had already started a blog post about our airport here in town, so this seems like a nice segue into that. Enjoy!

The Iqaluit International Airport

Everyone knows what a baggage carousel is at the airport.  They are those motorized belts that our suitcases go on when they come off the plane.  They circulate past throngs of recently disembarked passengers, who reach out and nick their bags off the belt before it passes.  If you miss your bag, no big deal, it will eventually make its way to you again.  After all, the belt takes your bag in a continuous loop until it is picked up.

NOT HERE!  At least, that's not how it used to be.  The baggage belt at the Iqaluit airport couldn't be called a carousel.  Baggage carousels are called "carousels" because they are like little merry-go-rounds for our luggage.

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No, the baggage belt at the Iqaluit airport did not go around in the circle.  It travelled about 15 feet and then ended abruptly.  Bags just dropped off the end of the belt.  Onto the floor.  Into a corner.

The old Iqaluit Airport.
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I apologize for not having pictures of the inside of the old airport.  I could easily have gotten some amazing shots when we landed last summer with our 16 suitcases, dog, cat, and tired and cranky kids.  After 2 days of driving, a ridiculously early morning, the flight, and then realizing we had no keys to our house, I was NOT in the mood to take photos.  If I could go back in time as Future Me and tell Past Me to just suck it up and take photos, I would.  (And then Past Me would probably punch Future Me in the mouth.)

In my page about how to get here I mentioned that there are two flights from Ottawa that land in Iqaluit daily.  They are from two different airlines: Canadian North and First Air.  They both land between 12:30pm and 1pm, about lunch time.  (Why both flights are scheduled for the exact same time is a mystery to everyone I've talked to.) This means passengers from both planes are disembarking and looking for their luggage at the same time. That's a lot of people trying to get to the end of the "Baggage Belt to Nowhere", trying to keep their suitcase from ending up on the bottom of the luggage heap. Bear in mind, most people do a lot of shopping when they travel as many items are scarce here, so it isn't unusual for one traveler to have 4 or more bags (or rubbermaid containers) with them when they come back. The airport rectified the problem by hiring people whose job duties included catching all the luggage before it fell off, and trying to make less of a "pile" and more of a "clump" of luggage that people from both flights could rifle through.  It made for disorganized chaos every day from 12:30 until about 2:00pm.

But now, THERE IS A NEW AIRPORT!  And this airport, amazingly, has normal baggage carousels.  Two of them!  So now, like almost every other airport in the world, you can go to the carousel assigned to your flight and look for your bag in a civilized fashion. The best part is, if you miss your bag, it doesn't land in a heap on the floor buried under everyone else's.  It just comes back around to you.

Aaaah.  Better.
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The new airport has a sleek design and is bright red (as opposed to bright yellow).  It is spacious inside, and the walls are covered with painted murals.

Coraline at the gift shop.

The Iqaluit International polar bear and husky.

Inuit carvings on display.

Inuit textiles.

The new airport has only been up and running since about mid-August, but its fantastic.  There is Inuit art on display, a cafe to stop for a snack, a little gift shop, and funky red couches (they look like they would be soft, but they are not.  They are as hard as concrete.  Still, they LOOK really nice.).

Neat-looking hard red benches.

JJ feels the new airport is somewhat deceiving.  When you landed at the old airport (Ol' Yeller), you immediately got a sense of where you were.  The airport was old, looked a little beat-up, was bare-bones, and rugged. It had lots of personality, just like the city.  The new airport is bright and shiny, everything is new, and it even feels a bit cosmopolitan. This is NOT like the rest of the city.  I can see how a newcomer getting off the plane would think "Gee, this actually isn't so bad! Not what I expected at all!"

And then they would walk outside.

Don't worry, I have another blog post lined up to post while we're away.  What is it about? Check back and see.......

PS: We made it! We are in Ottawa!  Holy cow the internet is fast down here!

Amauti

A quick note before we get started: is everyone OK with clicking on the link in email to get to the blog? Or do you want me to try going back to sending the whole post directly to your inboxes?   I stopped doing that because not all the posts were getting through.  Any feedback? I'm listening...

This little cutie is wearing a traditional amauti.
Her stuffed polar bear rests in the back pouch.

One of the things that immediately caught my eye when arrived here was the beautiful traditional Inuit clothing.  I didn't know what the clothing items were called, or what they were for, just that they were exotic and very, very beautiful.

One of my staple pieces of
clothing circa Grade 8.
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I have always had an interest in fashion.  That does NOT mean that I have always have great fashion sense.  (I thought my Vuarnet France t-shirt in the eighth grade made me the coolest kid ever.  I don't even want to talk about what I did to my hair in the '80's.) Despite my fashion failings, I have always found clothing fascinating.  Really, the only purpose it serves is to cover our "bits" and keep us warm.  Boots and shoes protect our feet.  Clothing doesn't need to be anything more than simple drab coverings,  yet every culture has a different way of a expressing art through fashion.

The Inuit live in one of the harshest climates in the world.  Warm clothing is essential for survival.  Traditionally the Inuit, of course, used resources available to them-- namely furs and leather (caribou and sealskin).  But the fur and leather clothing was not simply utilitarian. Garments were decorated with dye, beads, and other embellishments.

An "amauti" is a type of traditional Inuit parka worn by women with babies, up to about age 2 (I was discouraged when I learned they were for women with babies/toddlers, as my baby is now 7). The baby is placed into the back of the amauti, in a pouch (called the "amaut") designed for it (NOT in the hood, though it looks that way).  This leaves the hood free to pull up over both mom and baby when the weather is cold. Inuit were traditionally nomadic.  An amauti kept a baby warm, safe, and close by--all while leaving the mother's hands free to pick berries, chop meat, skin seals, etc.

Traditional amauti.
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Modern amautis are made with many layers of thick fabric. They are often embellished with ribbon, or beadwork.  Amautis, like many northern parkas, pull on over the head.  This helps keep the vital organs warm. 

Gorgeous modern amauti.

This person was selling her amauti on
Facebook, which is common.

Demonstrating where the baby/
toddler sits in the amaut.

Because amautis are only worn while a child is quite young, they are often handed on to other new mothers.  The Iqaluit Sell/Swap Facebook site regularly has gently used amautis up for grabs.  Making an amauti is an art.  They are not mass-produced, and are always custom-made. Therefore, they are not cheap, often selling for hundreds of dollars.  Amauti patterns are closely guarded secrets.  There is fear that if patterns become common knowledge, the Inuit may lose a part of their unique culture. Amauti patterns differ depending on the community where they are crafted.  An amauti from one community, for instance, may have a pointed hood, or unique style of embroidery on the sleeves. Other amautis are longer in the back than the front.  

A summer amauti.

Amautis are not just worn in the winter.  I have seen beautiful summer and fall amautis as well.  Amautis to be worn in warmer weather tend to be quilted, and are constructed with lighter weight, breathable fabric. Some have sleeves, others are sleeveless.

A sleeveless summer amauti for sale on Facebook.

Summer amauti.

Amautis are everywhere here.  In fact, I don't think I could leave the house without seeing women wearing them. JJ had a young girl as a patient last week (about 2 years old) who had a doll stuffed down the back of her t-shirt.  She didn't have a child-size amauti, so she was copying her mother the best way she could. I don't think you would ever see a child anywhere outside The North do that. 

All amautis are beautiful, and I could fill pages with photos of them.  Unfortunately, many people don't appreciate strangers hanging out of car windows, or stalking them on the street, taking photos of them and their children to stick up on the internet. (I don't want to be that crazy qallunaat tourist.) A lot of the photos for this post are from the Iqaluit Sell/Swap Facebook site (not the little cutie. She went to music camp this summer with Coraline and Captain Jack).  I did managed to sneak some "stealth" shots of a couple of people.  I figure they are Ok to include because no one's face is showing.

Waiting to get into the fall fair.

At the fall fair--love the huge hood and bold lime color.

Another at CJS's school Halloween function.

Apologies to my blog followers who couldn't care less about fashion.  Tough it out, maybe I can eek out a post on hunting for you guys.  Or snowmobiles.  Also, JJ just got back from his stay in Kimmirut.  Can I get him to write another blog post about his adventures there? Stay tuned and find out!