A latte AND a haircut!

That's right folks, went to the big city and lived it up! Got a latte one day and a haircut on another day! I bought hummus and a dill cucumber dressing to take back with me. had a fountain pepsi in the city. I went to a restaurant and got macaroni and cheese and a real green salad. The luxury was endless. I stepped off the plane onto the tarmac ramp and my brain's first thought was, "Ooooh, pavement, that's nice under my feet". I kid you not. I didn't even realize I hadn't walked on anything but snow for weeks. There is no pavement in Igloolik, but even if there was, it would be snow covered so it doesn't matter.

And this is how acclimation starts. Slowly, you forget and don't realize how you're adapting. It's not as if I was walking around thinking, "Man, sure wish I had some pavement to walk on". I have however, been thinking of how I'm going to get my hair cut. I KNOW there has to be someone in town cutting hair in their house. I just have to find a lady with short hair and ask who cuts her hair. Otherwise, I'm going to be learning a lot of voodoo mirror magic trying to cut the back of my hair......probably be a roaring success too. Professional all the way.

I was down in the city for work and I brought two big suitcases because we get two for free on the work flights. One was empty and the other about half empty. Several other folks do the same. You literally carry empty suitcases around so that you can fill them with whatever you need from the city.....such as hummus....or over the counter medication we don't have here. Whatever you need. I brought back two suitcases filled to the airline's weight limit. Proud of myself. haha.

Things that you just don't think about. I used to travel as light as I could. Carry on all the way. Even getting back to our houses is different. No one has a vehicle. There were 8 of us traveling. No one has a car. As I've mentioned before, they don't do well here and if something goes wrong, there are no parts stores.... So, how do you get that many people, with their luggage, to their homes? Obviously, the husband of one person carries on of us on the back of the snowmobile to the warehouse where the work truck is kept. We get off the machine, get in the warehouse, and bring the truck to retrieve everyone (since it was work travel, we could use the work truck to tote people home).

On the plane ride, almost every single person (All 18 passengers) had some sort of winter parka with fur on it. When I looked ahead, all I could see was fur and heads poking above the seats. Even the flight attendant is in snow pants and a parka. Children have their parkas specially customized to include fur around the hoods. I was getting advice on how to alter my parka's fur so that it was better at protecting my face. I really want some seal skin mitts. I've been told those or wolf/dog skin mitts are the best. That I will really need them. I never thought I'd be pining for wolf or dog skin mittens and checking out folks that were wearing them in a jealous type way. "Man, I WANT those!" lolol. So far, my hands have stayed quite warm in the Outdoor Research brand mitts I've been wearing. But, again, I'm always walking and generating heat when I'm outside. I have heavier duty mitts, but haven't needed them yet.

In the city, it was so warm, that I was walking about without a hat or gloves. It was 10 F (-12C). Never thought that would happen and it already is after just a few short weeks here. I can't wait to see what I'm wearing when it's 30 F (-1C)!! Bathing suit time!!

So, the point of this blog is to say, I think I'm acclimating and not even realizing it.Read more