First Visitor and Vacation!

I've fallen off the radar because I was busy entertaining my first visitor. So many things to do like walk to the store, check the post office (which is in the store so it's a two-fer), watch holiday movies, cook, carry boxes back from post office, borrow ATV for ride around town (and another post office run), play games like Boggle, Battleship, Bananagrams, Blink....see, I mean, just no time for anything. Oh and did I mention eating? I am in dire straits in terms of fitting into the only pair of snow pants I have up here. No scale or worry about looking good. No. My motivation is making sure I can fit into my 'survival' gear. lolol!!

We had a very nice visit. I think my husband was able to relax from a hectic past 3 months at work as well as figuring out life on his own. I think he enjoyed that the most taxing thing he had to do for two weeks was break down cardboard from the lovely, amazing packages we received.

Speaking of packages, the mail ladies (There are two of them), know me by name. We chat. I spend some time there...picking up the xmas packages from my mom and friends. I tell ya what, I am freaking SPOILED. I am eating better snacks and goodies, and toys, games, puzzles than I ever did in Vancouver area! lololol!!

During the holidays, the various groups in the community host 'games' every night at the community hall followed by hukki until the wee hours of the morning. It's incredible. The groups hosting include the local circus, daycare, alcohol education committee, high school, the co-op store, etc. So, groups in the community host these 'games'. I thought they were competitive athletic games, but they're actually group games that anyone over 16 (if they're giving away money or prizes) can participate in. Really neat way to get the community involved and fun. Folks get serious about winning these games!! The games we went to were preceded by a community feast. I thought it was key for Jonathan to really see the town and the events. We were the only two non-natives there to start. Yep, didn't stick out like sore thumbs with Jonathan's 6'2" frame and our clearly, non-Inuit faces. The food is called 'country food', which I find funnily ironic since I grew up in a place in the States considered "country" and full of foods that the rest of the States, let alone Canada, are aware of....."country food" so to speak. Somehow, I end up in a place in the Arctic that eats "country food". lol. For the feast, the food is laid out in the center of the community hall on large piecemeal pieces of cardboard. This feast consisted of the immediately recognizable and pungent igunaq. Igunaq is fermented walrus meat. It has been cached in the rocks for months and then dug up. It's considered a delicacy. It has the distinct green glaze of very ripe food. There wasn't a chance I was going to try it. The odor was enough for me. Inuit know that us newcomers are wimps and don't handle a lot of the food very well. So, I wasn't worried about being disrespectful---we are not necessarily expected to eat it. I should mention everything was frozen. The other items were (frozen of course), raw Arctic char, raw caribou, beluga and narwhal muktuk (the skin/blubber pieces). You are supposed to bring your own knife or ulu (a specialty knife that is used for cutting) and a piece of cardboard if you want to eat the country food. They brought out pots of caribou stew and that thankfully masked the igunaq smell quite nicely. It smelled delicious! After prayer, people rushed, and I use that term literally, to the center to get a sampling of the foods. I quickly lined up for the stew! I knew my priorities. It was yummy with potatoes, tomatoes, corn, and caribou pieces served with rice.

I got up the nerve to ask my coworker who was there if she would help me try some country food. I figured it was time. And, I trust her. I knew she'd properly prep me. As an aside, when the TV show Fear Factor was in its heyday, I never thought about applying because I knew I'd gag and throw up on the gross food things they had to do. I even looked at a semi-fresh cow placenta replete with flies one time at the dairy farm where I was doing some work....I imagined myself having to eat that placenta and whether I could do if for 50k. The answer was a resounding, yakking, "NO!". My coworker generously cut up some narwhal muktuk and gave me a tiny tiny piece. Her father-in-law also slid in to give me advice. That was really sweet. Everyone nearby was watching the white lady to see what happened. So much pressure. I put it in my mouth and lo and behold, it tasted like......nothing. Well, tasted like some soy sauce I doused it in...but no real strong flavor at all! I was so relieved! It wasn't bad at all. The skin was a bit chewy. Go figure. Raw whale skin, chewy. Who would have thought?? lolol. Then, she offered me a thin slice of caribou. I thought, well, if I did the muktuk, I can do raw carbou. WRONG. Ugh! It was fine.....just tasted like a hunk of blood. So much blood taste. (my face is scrunched up now with the memory). After I rubbed my tongue vigorously on the roof of my mouth and got my wits back about me, I asked my coworker what her favorite country food was......to which she replied, "caribou". Of course. Glad I just acted like an ass eating it. Perfect. Insert foot Jasmine. Jonathan declined to try anything. lol.Read more