Canada
Igloolik

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    • Day 244

      Dog sled race-Nunavut Quest

      May 12, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

      Every year, dog sled teams meet in a Nunavut community and set off on a race to another community at least 500 km (315 mi). It is run between completely isolated communities. In ordr to arrive at the 'start' line, mushers and their dogs will have had to already travel overland from their home community--sometimes hundreds of kilometers.

      There are no support teams running along side them, no helicopters monitoring progress, no medical stations. Each evening, the teams are supposed to arrive at a set camp that has been set up by the forward crew of supports using snowmobiles and carrying qomatiks full of gear. On the racers' qomatiks, however, there is only a box with a rifle, sleeping bag, snow saw, knife, 2-burner stove, and a little food for emergencies. There are a few sat phones these days, carried by the support crew. I suspect, but do not know, that the racers have at least GPS SPOT devices, but maybe they're carrying InReach devices---which allow 2-way text communication to any other device, by using the Iridium satellite network.

      Everything the racers use must be HANDMADE (well, not the stove and rifle and stuff like that---but dog team stuff has to be) . The dog harnesses, the whips, and the qamatiks have to be handmade (though, I am not sure you can buy an Inuit qamatik at the Home Depot anyway). The qamatik is lashed together with rope, made from nylon or sealskin, no screws. This allows the sled to flex rather than break. The dogs run in a fan hitch which allows them to choose their own way over the terrain and rough snow.

      This year, the race started in Igloolik and we were allowed the afternoon off to go watch the start of the race. For several days, I had heard and seen the dogs out on on the ice in front of town. There were massive qomatiks in town---bigger than I'd ever seen. There were different ski-doos racing around. It was interesting how I noticed these things and have only been living here less than a year. I found it funny that I would see a ski-doo drive by and think, "where's that thing from? That's not from Igoolik!"

      It looked like a majority of the town came out, including the school children. They were let out as well to come down to the ice to watch. The police were there, the mayor of course, and basically every other able-bodied person.

      The dogs reminded me of racing horses. If you've ever been to a horse race, you can see that the horse has a single-track mind, and that is to run. They are actually a bit crazy....like the dogs. When the dogs felt their leader get ready and start moving the whip, they became frenzied. Barking, yelping, and jumping against their harnesses. The qomatiks were held in place with a claw-like anchor dug in the ground like a tent stake to prevent the dogs from taking off with the sled. One guy's anchor clearly wasn't in too good because all of a sudden, I heard a commotion and I see a team of dogs streaking by....with an Empty sled! Guys were running after it and one young man managed to grab it and he dug his heels in, getting dragged by the dogs. He prevailed over the dogs, but was massaging his shoulder afterward---clearly, it didn't feel super great to stop a giant wooden sled being pulled by dogs!
      This is the type of knowledge and tradition that the Inuit do not want to lose. This is the cool stuff that their culture has been practicing for years. How does this fit in a modern society? What is the value of preserving these types of things? How do young people reconcile the need to gain skills to be successful in the current world, but have to leave these skills behind to die with the elders? It's a tough question.
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    • Day 223

      Spring has sprung

      April 21, 2018 in Canada ⋅ 🌬 -3 °C

      As I've been noticing from many of my friends and family, spring is springing in their neck of the woods. Well, the Arctic is no different. Spring is in full sprung here. We have had a few days above -17C (0F) and on 2 occasions in the last 2 weeks, I have ridden to work with NO snow/wind pants. I know, I know, it truly is spring. Who knows when I get to switch to a regular ski jacket instead of my light parka!? I can even see the wooden porch and metal steps leading up to my door! The snow has been sublimated from them in the now-long hours of sunlight.

      Speaking of sun....does anyone realize that the sun reflecting off all white everywhere is, um, extremely freaking bright?! Makes my eyes tear and I don't have sensitive eyes! The city's loader has been hard at work starting the unenviable task of moving all the accumulated (well, as much as possible) snow away from buildings and homes so that when the melt starts to happen, things don't flood or cause damage. One doesn't realize how much snow has accumulated over the winter until the front-end loader scoops to the ground several feet below.

      Currently, the daylength is already very long. Technically, Igloolik no longer has official 'night' or 'astronomical twilight' (don't ask me the official definitions of those terms...I wouldn't want to take that excitement of researching that yourself away from you. lol). We still have 'nautical twilight' and 'civil twilight' (I know civil twilight is commonly referred to as dawn and dusk). Official sunrise and sunset is occurring at about 4:50am and 10:00pm, respectively. However, it remains dusky until about 11:30pm. And it's only end of April! I remember being in Anchorage right around the summer solstice in June and being so weirded out by sun setting at around midnight to 12:30am. All us visitors there for a conference thought it was about 9pm and were still chatting and visiting...until someone noted it was past midnight and we had to be back up for the conference in a few hours! Don't ask me about dawn....those of you that know me know I have no idea cause I'm never up that early!

      The blackout curtains and tin foil work wonders. I am going to affix a bit of velcro to the edges of the curtains so I can make them stick together and not 'wave beautifully'. Beautifully hanging and waving curtains are pros at letting annoying light in.

      Hopefully the weather will continue to warm because I'm anxious to get out and about on the bike again (I say 'again' like I actually have a history of riding it other than the exactly 1 time I tried to explode my lungs on it...lolol)
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    • Day 180

      Rabid foxes and rabid prices

      March 9, 2018 in Canada ⋅ 🌬 -15 °C

      I stepped out of my house Monday and saw a coworker standing outside his house with luggage. I moseyed on over and we were chatting about his work trip. As we were chatting, an Arctic fox bounded across the road in front of me (behind him) about 15 meters (yards) away. It scurried across the road and beelined straight toward a family of mom, dad, and 2 kids. It skirted them by what looked like 3 or so feet as it ran under the house. I remarked, "Probably rabies" cause that's what I hear. Foxes have rabies and then they act like friendly puppy dogs until they zombie bite your ass.

      I heard later that day that the Conservation officer popped that puffy little fox and sent it off for rabies testing. The results came back today. It was positive. Always have to be on your toes no matter where you live. Maybe it's a sewer truck that hits you or a rabid fox. You just never know.

      I myself almost turned rabid this week when I triumphantly set 3 Dr. Pepper cans on the checkout conveyor belt. The store has been without Dr. Pepper since December and so I was absolutely gleeful when I saw it on the shelves again. I even remarked to a total stranger how exciting this was---to which they stared blankly back at me. Clearly they didn't share my enthusiasm.

      Unfortunately, my enthusiasm came to a screeching halt when I happened to look up and see the price that these devil cans were ringing up to. Five dollars a can. 12 ounces, 355 ml. One can. 5 dollars. I may have audibly gasped; I can't be sure. I did, however, pull the ghetto cheapness right on out as I told the lady to please take all 3 of those cans off my bill. She too looked blankly at me, but I didn't care. I could NOT spend $15 on three cans of soda. If I did that, I'd have to ration my serving sizes through medicine droppers. At that moment, I realized my addiction to Dr. Pepper has a price and it's apparently 5 dollars a freaking can. It's good stuff but it's not heroin. Sheesh.

      Subsequently, I've been "enjoying" copious amounts of water which I have to make sure is fully marinated in ice cubes and flavored with lime juice in order to choke it down. The water here tastes like sweat. Coupled with the extreme dryness and my reluctance to take in water, I will likely be mummified by fall. Maybe I've stopped aging too? Wouldn't that be a nice side effect of desiccating oneself.
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    • Day 178

      Roads ridden by skidoos

      March 7, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ -25 °C

      I've noticed an interesting phenomenon that I would have never realized happened before living in a place where the primary mode of winter motorized transport is snowmobile. The roads are so hard and cold that the front runners of the skidoos carve tracks into the packed ice/snow. These 'tracks' are like the amusement park rides where kids get to "drive" the vehicles. You are locked on a track and pulled this way and that. The same thing happens here....the snowmobile gets jerked into these etched tracks and you can't hardly get out of them. Who knew?

      Last weekend there was a community fundraiser via hockey games. Of course Canada, of course would do fundraising through hockey. ;) The premise was neat. Teams put together by community members for the fundraiser competed for bragging rights. However, the teams were made of anyone--young, old, played hockey, never played hockey. The spectators then paid money to effect certain acts by the players. For example, for $2, you could send a player to the penalty box for 1 minute. For $20 you could have a player of your choice take a mid-ice shot on an empty net. For $50, you could make a player of your choice have to dance at center ice by his/herself for 2 minutes. Things like that. Really fun for spectators. The problem for me was that the arena apparently forgot that those NOT playing were not immune to the fact that it felt like there was NO heat on in the building. It was COLD. I went in thinking it was going to be like other ice arenas I'd been in---chilly, but nothing to write home about. After 40 minutes, my toes were numb, my nose was red and running, and I was rocking back and forth. I didn't dress as if I were going skidooing out on the land. I should have!

      Unlike the ice arena here, the outside is becoming decidedly warmer. It feels quite nice. I never thought I'd say that about -27 or -29C but it's true. It has actually been in the low -20s (-10 to -15F) and every day I walk out I think, "Wow, it's warm!" Touching doorknobs without fear of being burned gives me a giddy feeling. Being able to tolerate the air without gloves long enough to, well, to do anything, is so freeing. It's so nice to not feel like your face is literally freezing off. I do not miss the burning sensation on my face that would linger after coming indoors for a good bit. I bet 0 degrees C (32 F) is going to feel so hot. I've even noticed that the power lines, chimneys, and metal railings have lost their frozen, snow-frost-coated appearances. It's now just cold, not frigid and my surroundings show that. The stop signs and telephone poles are not completely encased in snow-hoar frost anymore.

      Is spring coming??!!
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    • Day 135

      Do you have the baculum?

      January 23, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

      "Do you have the baculum?" and other assorted things I never thought I'd hear.

      The setting: I was relaying my excitement at finally getting a package from my husband that was several days overdue to my boss. He looks dead at me and goes, "Do you have the baculum?" That was my boss's response to me saying, "Yay! The post office finally had my parcel today!" Blink. Blink. Now, those of you that have been following this blog have learned that 'baculum' is the technical term for a penis bone. In this case, we'd be referring to polar bear penis bone. So, yeah, I was a more than a little confused. To alleviate the confusion, my boss then repeats the exact same question, just louder and slower, as if I did not hear him ask if I had the baculum. Blink. Blink. Blink. My mind is racing to try and make polar bear penis bone and "yay, mail!" somehow fit together. What do these two things have in common? It's like I'm on a game show trying to figure out the common thread. My brain is failing me. I wonder if my boss is being really weird and somehow asking if my husband has included some sort of penis thing in my "package". I nixed that idea--I wasn't willing to go there and even ask if that's what he was talking about. Was someone shipping us baculums? Why would they do that; our polar bear samples come frozen by air...not in general mail with your electric bill and Zulily magazine----you know, polar bear penis meat isn't exactly great to send through snail mail. Everyone loses in that scenario. Finally, when none of my mental confabulations could construct anything remotely sensical, I gave up and said, "What in the ever loving world are you talking about penis bones?!!?" To which he replies, "I guess you don't have the baculum." lololol. Now the situation was just silly. "Nope, no I do not have the baculum. Care to enlighten me?" He then goes on to explain (as if this should have been stunningly obvious) that our work's post office box key is attached to a baculum. You know, so we don't lose it. Kinda like restaurants putting cute flowers on their pens to dissuade accidental (or purposeful) theft. We, apparently, attach penis bones to things we don't want to disappear.

      About one to two weeks ago, it was frigid. I know, I know, it's always frigid. But, this was the coldest it's been all year. Real cold. Real windchill. So, I felt as if I had enough, shall we say, "arctic" on my plate. Then, as if things could not be any more inhospitable, our office manager comes in and delivers a warning: "Be careful walking home. There are reports of rabid dogs in town." And she walks out. That's it. As I sit there, mouth still gaping, I switch from shock to hilarity. Of COURSE, there'd be rabid dogs. I mean, why not? Why wouldn't there be?? I mean, life is just too cushy and easy here anyways. We need a little excitement to top up the day. What better way than throw in a pack of rabid dogs in the mix??!! It's not enough to have to endure the extreme cold. Noooooo, we gotta make it actually tough by adding in "avoid rabid dogs". When 5 pm rolled around, I put on all my gear, and because it was so cold, I had to have my hood up and pulled forward to protect from the wind. For those of you that have not been in an Arctic parka, the hood, fully on and pulled up, creates a tunnel of vision that allows a field of view of approximately 37.8 degrees (I made that up). The point is, you can't see shit. Not the person standing next to you, not the person standing slightly in front of you. You can't hear either. So you damn sure can't see a "friendly" rabid dog racing up to bite your ass. And, it's not like you can carry a stick for defense cause there are NO trees----yep, just like we learned about the tundra. I stood outside my work and did a 360 to see what I could see. No dogs. Oh well, gotta get home. Mama is hungry! And off I set, swoosh, swoosh, swooshing in all my ski pant, parka glory. I rationalized that if a dog did, in fact, try to bite me, it wouldn't get through the outerwear....like one of those police dog training suits. I made it safely home and now just keep an eye out for rabid foxes or whatever other creature, like a polar bear, might be wandering about. But hey! --at least the sun's come back so I'll hopefully be able to see the monsters before they get me!

      Next story: After a wind storm and power outage, our work servers were fried in Igloolik. We did not have internet, at all, for 4 days. Think about that. A lot of organizing, cleaning, and editing documents got done in those days. And we all feared when the internet would return to bombard us with piled up emails full of crap that we'd been so happily oblivious to for 4 work days. But, the inevitable happened...a server was flown in and a tech flown in and a mere 4 days later, we had internet. The best part is that when I saw the first email envelope ping into my inbox, I ran out into the center atrium area and asked if anyone else had internet. At that moment, someone yelled, "I have internet!" and we all smiled and hurrahed. Before the smiles could even fade, a coworker came out of the bathroom and said, "the toilets aren't working properly." Cue instant smile-fade. I turned to the manager and quipped, "Welp, we got working internet but no toilets. Guess you can't have it all!" and flounced away to my office to hold my pee.

      Next story: Today, the guy from housing came back from my house, to my work, to show me what he'd pulled out of my tub drain. I live on the other side of town from work. He drove over to work with that nasty drain ooze in the vehicle. Then, he brought it into my work, walked past everyone's offices to show. me. a. drain. clog. Not in a bag, not in a container. Just out there for all to enjoy. If I had any pride, I'd be embarrassed. However, I just told him, "wow, that's wonderful. No thank you, I do not want to keep it." (he asked if I wanted to keep it).

      Every day folks. If seems that every single day something happens or is said that I never thought I'd hear or have to deal with. I am not sure I can go back to working in a place where the internet is fast and reliable, the toilets work, there isn't the constant fear of frostbite and rabid dogs, and people don't randomly ask me about polar bear penis bones.
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    • Day 132

      Okay, I'm a sucker for the sun

      January 20, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ -28 °C

      I know I already wrote about the sun, but seriously, have you guys seen it?! It's really cool! In 6 days, we went from 0 hrs of daylight to 3 HOURS. In SIX DAYS! Some places don't have a 3 hour difference in daylength for the entire YEAR!

      The increase is slowing down. The first day that we had sun, it was above the horizon for an hour. So in 1 day, we went from nothing to a full hour. Now, it's about 15 minutes more per day. That is fast! So bizarre. I can't help but be fascinated. And, it's so big all the time because it's still so low on the horizon. In that first week, it went from not being fully above the horizon to now, when I look at it, there is about 2 inches of sky below it!

      The Return of the Sun big celebration was cancelled because the city was suffering some tragedy. A family suffered the loss of one family member with natural/health causes and then the deceased person's nephew took his own life later that night. Since the town is so small, things like affect everyone and having a celebration would be inappropriate given the circumstances. And, this bears mentioning. Nunavut's suicide rate is unbelievable. Since the territory was established in 1999, the number of suicides mean that every single person of the territories ~35,000 people have been directly touched by suicide. I took this from an article I'm going to link here. "Canada's average annual suicide rate is 11 per 100,000 people, but Nunavut's rate is 117. For Inuit males between 15 and 29, the rate is almost 40 times the national figure." Let that sink in. Think about the suicides you know.....that have affected you or been someone you knew, however remotely or removed. Now, multiply that by TEN! That is the pain Nunavummiat carry here. Since November, Igloolik has had 2 suicides. In three months. In a town of 1500-2000 people. Both suicides were young people. Here are the two (Short, I promise) articles about suicide in Nunavut.
      http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nunavut-sui…

      http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nunavut-sui…

      I hate to be a downer, but that is life here and it is something that touches everyone. My coworkers have left several times from work to go to funerals. You can see in their faces the sadness. We all know sadness, but suicide sadness has that added layer, like I suspect murder has, of sheer pointlessness and powerlessness.

      Anyhow, if you've made it this far, then I'll reward you with stories of happier things...like the elementary school's Return of the Sun assembly. My coworker told me about it so I walked down to the school to check it out. I worried that they wouldn't let me come in because I was a stranger and probably a pedophile. But, nope. Just walked straight in and followed the lines of children to the auditorium. No signing in or locked doors here. lol. The ceremony was perfect---short and sweet. The emcee explained that the return of the sun was a period of celebration because although the coldest, most difficult part of the winter lays ahead of us (February), the sun promises warmer temps and return of some animal----couldn't hear what he was saying. A stone lamp is lit using traditional methods of seal fat, cotton grass and flint. Like the Olympic torch kind of. Then, there was drum dancing, a little throat singing (for those of you that know I went to Mongolia and became fascinated with the throat singers there, you know this was really cool for me!! ---two different cultures' throat singing!), a few performances by the kids and then we were donzo!

      The sun is bringing back all sorts of things I forgot....like shadows. Did you ever think about the fact that in order to have shadows, you have to have sun? It's like we've all been vampires here for months....casting no shadows! Today, I found myself staring at the wall in my house as I write this because the sun is SHINING on my walls! At 9:30 this morning, it was already way brighter than any of the days without sun and the sun wasn't actually rising for another 2ish hours! But, it doesn't mean that it's warmer. Still hangin in the -30s C with windchills staying at the -42 to -45 point. So far, no frostbite for me. I see quite a few people with frostbitten cheeks----they are dark red/black patches on their faces. They have literally frozen their skin cells and killed them. The skin will slough off, but what grows back is apparently more sensitive to the cold for a long time. And, you'll be more prone to getting frostbitten if you've actually killed your cells. I've actually had to start wearing my goggles to/from work because my eyes have been exhibiting some pretty strong dry eye symptoms. Last week, it was so bad, I took some Scotch tape and taped one of my eyes shut at work to alleviate the pain. Turns out that's not a great solution. So, I ordered a better, bigger humidifier for my house---the one I bought is small and only lasts a couple of hours so my mucus membranes are sad. Then, drops in my eyes, wearing glasses, and goggles to prevent the wind drying them out. It's been better and I'm snug as a bug in a rug in my goggles, gaiter, and hat. I can hang my head off the back of the snowmobile like a dog out the window with that gear. It's all good.
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    • Day 128

      Return of the Sun!

      January 16, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

      It happened folks! The sun came back! It is stunning and shockingly bright! I think I forgot how bright that boiling orb was.

      The first two days that it was supposed to be here were cloudy and so I couldn't tell if it was above the horizon or not. Then, yesterday, on Monday, I actually stopped working to look out the window around 11am because the brightness caught my attention. The whole sky was just so light and the sun wasn't even showing yet! Then, BOOM! There it was....almost 1/2 to 3/4 of the way showing on the horizon.

      Then, I stared at it. Over and over again. I seemingly forgot that you're not supposed to stare at the sun. I couldn't help it. I guess I didn't realize how captivating it is.

      It has not yet made it completely above the horizon, but the days are very much brighter and there is even a lightening in the sky around 9am! By 2:30-3pm, it's not pitch black anymore. Over Christmas, it was pitch black by 2pm. Things are changing rapidly. I think it's going to feel so surreal to have a normal daylength. It's like boiling a frog. You gotta put that sucker in there while the water isn't hot and slowly crank the heat. That's how I feel this winter went.....while fast and quick changes occurred, you adapt. And, you don't realize you're adapting until it goes back the other way----like the sun showing up.

      Even today, as I was riding home I thought, "What it would feel like to walk outside with just regular clothes on?" How easy and lovely would that be? Having a nice climate controlled car that works and carries you to and fro. Being able to step outside in just a coat and hat. Yesterday, I forgot my neck gaiter and had a VERY cold ride into work. That -30 degree air just slips right down and freezes you out. You could not safely go without a hat or gloves. Today, I was helping my boss do a very quick inventory of a freezer we have in the cold warehouse. The cold warehouse has no heat. We were wearing rubber gloves and the clipboard I was holding was so cold, it was burning my hands. So. Cold. My boss had to take a break to warm his hands because he was the one reaching into the freezer (which is actually warmer than the warehouse) and touching the frozen things. He took off his gloves to warm his hands in his pockets. After a couple of minutes, he reaches for his discarded gloves only to discover they're completely frozen. Just bizarre. And, again, you just adapt.....duly noted....anything with any moisture at all will freeze in less time than it takes to peel an orange.
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    • Day 118

      New Years in Igloolik

      January 6, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      New Years was to be celebrated in Igloolik just like any other town...fireworks at midnight down by the beach followed by a parade and dancing at the community hall. Except in Igloolik, the beach is frozen and the parade includes drawing out the year 2018 on the ice with Skidoos.

      The whole town turned out. I've never seen so many folks gathered. The chilly temps of -36C (windchill -49C) didn't seem to keep anyone away. New Years is exciting! I didn't arrive early enough to see the setting up of the fireworks and to be able to poke my nose around. This has worked for me in the past actually. I got the opportunity to help out with a pyrotechnic show at WSU by simply loitering at the fence and looking interested. Next thing I know, I'm helping load 8" shells and check the detonator boards. Being that close to exploding shells turned out to be a lot scarier than I anticipated, but it was definitely exhilarating. So, I wanted to check out Igloolik's set up too! Alas, I arrived just as they started going off. They were great. We were all lined up no more than 50-100m from them going off so it was like a backyard, front-row show!

      Right after, skidoos began racing out on the ice and lining up in what seemed like a hundred snowmobiles. They were facing the town so all we saw were a line of bright white headlights out on the bay. Then, somehow, a leader began to draw out the giant 2-0-1-8 with his skidoo and everyone followed. It was really neat. After finishing the 8, they raced, single-file, in a line back to town. There they joined the dozen or so vehicles and firetruck driving around town, sirens and lights blazing with everyone yelling "Happy New Year!" Pickup trucks were full up of people in the beds hollering Happy New Year. It was all quite infectious and exciting. However, I noticed that basically the whole town was IN the parade so there weren't too many people to wave and yell to. lol.

      Whole families were on the skidoos. Kiddos in the back of the trucks. I can't imagine how you'd keep your kid out of all the excitement on a night like that. But, damn cold! There was no damn way I'd be out there drawing 2018 on the back of a skidoo. YiKeS!

      I also had a business idea----next year, I need to get there early, and set up a hot chocolate and apple cider table! I'd make bank!! And, it would only take about an hour of my actual time to do it. Awesome!! Folks come in and sell soft drinks at the community hall for $3 a can.....folks will pay!!

      Happy New Year!
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    • Day 116

      Too north for Northern Lights?

      January 4, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

      When Jonathan was visiting, one his major goals was to see the Northern Lights. And, I must admit, I've been mighty remiss in seeking them out. There is something about double-digit minus temperatures and pitch blackness that really takes the motivation out of a person. Meh, some green stuff in the sky. Nah, I'm good. That has apparently been my mentality for the months I've been up here.

      And, to be fair, I did see them out at Allen Island field camp. So, I'm really good now. No need to freeze my face off. But, in the spirit of being a good hostess, I obliged to look up the Aurora forecast and that's when Jonathan and I learned that you can, apparently, live TOO far North to see the best Lights. Are you shitting me??!! I moved to the Arctic and I moved TOO far??!! How is that even possible? It's like the Earth is a freakin big ole jokester.

      We were cracking up. That's life though right? We were laughing that he will have spent a small fortune on a plane ticket, spent two weeks up here, in the Arctic, during the winter when the Northern Lights are most active, only to see nada.

      The forecast was not looking good. The best lights center along the Arctic Circle, which I am well above. We were pretty dismayed. However, out of the blue, I get a text one night from my boss that the Northern Lights were out and great. And, voila! We're donning inadequate clothing, racing out to find these elusive Northern Lights!

      We break out the door and I basically skid into the back of Jonathan because we need not go any further. The lights are literally dancing in the sky in front of my house. Had we not been complete lazy asses for the last week, we probably could have seen more by simply peeling back the curtain for a cursory look. lol.

      The lights this night truly were dancing. They were bright and squiggly (technical term). Of course, fully enjoying them was hampered by the aforementioned hasty, improper dressing. So, after mentally powering through the pain in my hands to take some pics(all with cell phone actually--impressed with the cell phone performance!), we called 'er good and fled back to the toasty warm house.

      Northern Experience points unlocked: 100pts.
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    • Day 82

      JACKPOT!!!

      December 1, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ -14 °C

      And so the addiction begins…with a little taste of winning glory…..

      The plan was to corrupt, I mean introduce, another coworker to bingo last Friday. He’d never played, is up here alone, and he seems to have an open attitude so I thought it would be fun. My boss agreed to host us and so it was set. Well, the newcomer backed out and, on autopilot, I still found myself walking to the radio station to get a bingo card. It wasn’t until I was walking home that I thought, “Why did I buy this? I am tired and the only reason I was gonna play this week was to show my coworker.” Oh well, if you have a card, you gotta play!

      This week it was different. The bingo caller was a native English speaker and was calling in English. However, she was going WAY too fast and I was getting irritated. She was taking all the fun out of the dobbing experience. I couldn’t even rearrange myself in my seat much less take a drink before she was on to the next number. I decided I needed to call the radio station and tell her to slow down. That’s when we realized we didn’t have the number for the radio station; the number listed in the phone book did not dial to the station. Hmmmm…..I scour all 200 entries for Igloolik backwards and forwards. In this town, you can literally read each and every entry in the phone book! Lol. I found nothing. I was getting very agitated now because my boss was having to do both my card and his while I was fiddling with the phone book. Now, I don’t want to say anything bad about his bingo skills since he was kind enough to take over, but let’s just say, missing numbers is not unheard of on his cards. Finally, we both got the idea at the same time to randomly call another coworker and ask for the radio station’s number…cause of course we can find HIS number in the phone book but not the radio station’s. So that is what I did…called him, out of the blue, slightly frantic and explained that I needed the radio station number so I could ask the caller to slow down bingo. Isn’t that what you did last Friday night? Sure enough, he recited the number from memory off the top of his head and I made my call just as the last game was starting. The last game is the Jackpot round where you have to dob all of the numbers on the bingo sheet to win.
      The caller had slowed down. It was much more relaxing. I even had time to check over my numbers and take a sip of my drink every so often. As the game continued, I noticed that one of my cards was getting full so I double-checked to make sure I hadn’t missed any numbers. Sure enough, I had and that left me with only 2 empty spaces. The caller called the next number and it was one of mine. I was down to one. Never happens. Sure enough, the next number wasn’t mine and I knew I had lost because if I’M down to one space then someone, somewhere else, has been down to one space for probably several rounds. But, lo and behold no one called in and when the caller called the next number, my mouth actually dropped open. I stared at my now completely covered bingo card in disbelief. I looked at my boss and his mouth was kinda gaping too with a look of “is this for real?!” I echoed his thoughts and said, “Holy shit, is this for real??!!!” “Oh my god! I’ve got a bingo!! I gotta call the station! Thank god I persevered to find the number earlier!!!” I was shaking and nervous because you have to call in and the whole town can hear you saying your numbers. What if I was wrong?? I was gonna sound like such an idiot. I called all of them and it was a good bingo! I won the JACKPOT! They told me to come down to the station to pick up my winnings and I hung up. Immediately, I began jumping up and down and whooping. You see, this jackpot was no measly $20. No my friends. I was the sole winner of TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!! Two grand! Can you believe that??!! My god! That’s serious money. I screamed at my boss, “Go start your ATV, I gotta go get my money!”
      He was driving a bit fast and loose over to the station for my liking and I yelled to not murder me on my big win night. To which he replied, “Oh no, definitely not, I’m gonna wait until you have the money in hand.” Hahaha.
      My winnings were disbursed in all 20 dollar bills. Has anyone actually carried around 2 grand in 20’s? It’s um, how shall I say, very rapper-esque. I felt like I need to have some gold chains on my neck and a rubber band in my pocket to hold my bank. Hilarious.
      The JACKPOT I say! I still can’t believe it.
      I promptly sent my coworker that decided not to play a text message explaining how he’d missed out big time on bingo night. Now we’ll never win anything again.
      Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Igloolik, Iglulik, Иглулик, Igloulik, YGT, İglulik, اگلولک

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