Double Stuffed.

So what can I say about the past week and a day?

Lots.

But I'm tired.

Got a second job today at one of the Day Cares here. I'm in charge of the three year olds. Eek. The place seems nice and the kids are adorable, so it shouldn't be too terrible.

So from now out, I will be working 8:15am-3:45pm at the Day Care and 4:00pm-10:30pm at DJs. Can you say overload much? I have a feeling I will probably crash and burn (since it's only my first day at the Day Care and I already feel I have), but we'll give it a go for a couple of weeks.

Did I mention $?

Seems to be a great incentive.

I'd really like to write more about what's happening, but like I said, I'm tired.




Miss you.

It's no excuse to say you're easily led.

Today was my second day of work at DJs. I like it there, the staff is very friendly.

But might I just add,

Holly asked me a funny question the other day: Are there any hot guys up there?

To which I reply: Hell Yes.

I've never seen anything like it, there are so many six-foot-something-rugged-nice-hair guys in Iqaluit! It is so bizarre. And working at one of the most busiest places in town definitely allows me to size up everyone. It's just bizarre.

I dreamt I was pregnant (again) last night. I don't have many dreams that impact me out of sleep because I almost always know that I'm dreaming when I'm dreaming. But last night I woke up in panic with the kind of "What do I do? I can't have an abortion, can I? What is everyone going to say?" It took a long time for my conscious mind to convince the rest of me it was dream. I am getting sick of these.

I got a call to come in for an interview Monday morning at one of the day cares in town (don't ask me what it's called, it's got about four a's and six i's in it). I'm really excited because one of the two people I've actually met in town works there (her name is Ravee, RAH-VAY). It looks like a really nice place and the people seem cool so I hope I get it (plus it pays like double the store does!).

I keep buying Inuit art. :( A fabric painting and a soapstone carving has been added to the mix. So beautiful.

Jason (a guy I work with at DJs who is both a full time teacher and a full time manager at DJs, can you say KACHING) asked me today if I like it up here, and I surprised the both of us with a big "Yeah, I really do". And I mean it, I am completely enamored with the place.

I went for a walk the other day and ended up at the museum (again lots of vowels so don't ask me what it's called). The work is so beautiful and I wish I could take it all home with me. Here are some pictures from the walk.

The view from my window (taken from the road though).

See that field behind the houses? Nope, it's the bay. The ice right now is about twenty-five feet deep, it won't thaw until July.

Cool Nunavut license plates.

Formerly the beloved "The Snack", my brother remembers it fondly as it sadly burnt down on his birthday.

Only animals in town (other than the millions of dogs) are the GIANT ravens. I pee myself every time I'm near one, they are honestly the size of a large cat.

Funky school. The reason all the buildings are on poles is because it's hard to dig through frozen earth, because of this a lot of buildings in town have to have their sewage pumped because they are not connected to lines (kind of like a port-a-potty).

Front of the museum (see what I mean about the spelling?).

Some of the art. I loved this painting.

Made entirely out of caribou antler.

Made with whale bone, it was huge!

And for sale. . . ATCs!!!!!!!!! OH YEAH. I didn't buy one (they were $15 each), but I'm thinking I'll go back and buy the first one in the second row if it's still there.

So everyone who has ever been to S'ville knows about the FCP, aka The Food Center Parking Lot. Well Iqaluit has its own version in the North Mart front entrance, except people just stand around instead of park.

So to prevent it, another store in town blasts LOUD annoying music (either opera or middle-eastern/indianish music). So I took this video (which doesn't do it justice because I'm far away and the cold/snow is messing with the view, but you get the idea):

From the ocean to the permafrost.

Alright! I'm eating my words.

But $40? I can't even get a couple of liters of milk and a box of Special K Red Berry for that price.

But whatever the price ends up being, I know what I'm doing June 27th.

Day two in Iqaluit.

So today was my second day in the Arctic. After yesterday's exhausting minus thirty mood today was a welcomed change (only minus eighteen!).

This morning I woke up early (hard to adjust to the time difference) and relaxed for most of the morning. This afternoon Darryl and I went shopping for hangers and milk. I picked up my groceries yesterday, it broke my heart. Eighty dollar tukeys anyone? How about three dollar Kraft Dinner?

Picked up two boxes of Special K (they only sell tiny ones, no jumbo sizes), at eight dollars a piece I'm pretty sure my mind broke a little.

For supper Darryl took Ashley (his girlfriend) and I out to the "fine dining" of Iqaluit. The Frobisher Inn (conveniently located in Darryl's building along with the movie theatres, the bar, a convenience store and a coffee place) is just like the Holiday Inn with two exceptions. One, the prices: My hamburger? Twenty-two dollars.

The other difference: sellers. The Inuit come in and walk around while you are seated to try and sell you things. Carvings, jewellery, prints - all at really high prices. But the thing is they're beautiful. So. I suck. Artsy stuff is my weakness.

Haggling him down to $50, I bought this piece and so far do not regret it. Darryl has a thing for carvings, but my weakness is definitely the beautiful watercolours, screened and hand-drawn (like this one) pictures.

Iqaluit.

Here's a quick update of the last couple of days! Arctic is cold and very sunny.

2:02am
The journey begins! Shower and final packing time, and then off to the airport. . .

7:18am (now switching to Eastern time zone)


Just landed in Toronto’s Pearson airport. Despite the copious amounts of fog in St. John’s, we got and here on time (actually, 40 minutes ahead of time). The sun is absolutely glowing here, which is awesome since I know that the weather is even better in Ottawa.

Right now I’m debating what to be doing since I have about four hours before I have to go anywhere. I think I’ll choose finding a drink machine and watching some dl-ed television.

9:30am
It’s kind of weird, but when Darryl heard I had a four hour stop-over in Toronto he warned me “bring a book, because you’ll be bored”. And having been here before, I couldn’t imagine being bored! With more stores than the Avalon mall, the Toronto airport seems like it would be a hoping place.

Timeee. Isss. Slowww.

You forget that everyone around you is weary with travel. That there’s that constant nagging you’re missing your flight while perusing one of the two bookstores. And then there’s giantness. Everything is nowhere and trying to find something is near impossible.

So what have I been doing? Basically sitting in front of the sunshine-y window and watching episode after episode of Sex and the City (holy awkward naked parts with other travelers near). Sounds like it would be alright, but after the fourth episode and awkward too cheesy sandwiches and OH YEAH, KATE WINSLET, it gets to be too much.


I know, Kate, you love your American Express.

12:58pm
So I’m in the Hotel, the second flight from Toronto to Ottawa arrived early too. And the plane was wayyy nicer. I was one of three that were not wearing business attire. Now I’m starving. And hot. It’s like nineteen degrees here and that was huge jump from the minus eight that I left behind in St. John’s. It’s not really a good way to help adjust to Arctic temperatures. So. Hot.

4:44pm
One fruit and yogurt parfait, blueberry muffin and banana later. . .

Trying to nap is proving to make my feeling of nausea worst. It’s still absolutely gorgeous out and I’d like to go out and look around Ottawa but my exhaustion is winning the battle. I’m really craving juice and I know it’s just because I didn’t but some when I was at Wal-Mart. Juice de Pomme, s’il vous plait. :(

There really is every store imaginable across the street (Chapters and Michaels included), it sucks to not be able to buy anything. I’m sure North Mart doesn’t have the selection.

5:57pm
Finally figured out how to open the window, thank goodness. It’s six o’clock in the evening! It should not be this muggy. Opening the window graced me with the sight of the most intimidating intersection I’ve ever seen. If I counted right, a thirty-two lane intersection. The constant barmping would suggest this intersection is as hard to maneuver as it looks.


8:28pm
Ever since I got off the plane I’ve felt like absolute s-h-i-t. That was before. Before I found out that I had free access to the Hotel’s pool, Jacuzzi and sauna. So the last two hours have kind have gone pool-jacuzzi-pool-sauna-jacuzzi-pool.

I was so wrinkly by the time I got out that I was almost unrecognizable. There was only one other woman in the water area for the first half an hour. For the rest of the time, all three were solely mine! She was from Winnipeg and really nice and showed me how to use the Jacuzzi/sauna. She also tried to recruit me into the military. Now I feel awesome, like I could sleep foreverrr. :)

6:01am
Oh, these early morning. Last night I slept great, the pillows here are absolutely rockin’. I’d asked to buy one if it wasn’t so gross. Now I’m showered and semi-packed, debating how to get a cab here and cringing at the thought of paying another fair ($11.30 for something like three and half minutes).

Plus you all know how bad I am at hearing people, and it seems everyone here has an accent, it really makes me feel like an idiot saying “wha?” every ten seconds. Iqaluit in six hours!

6:31am
Ugh. I just looked in the mirror and my eye was bleeding. It was killing me all night so I’m not surprised. I probably caught frigging pink eye or something on the plane, stupid recycled air. Does bleeding even occur with pink eye? I honestly have no idea. I’m not sure what to do.

They say you should take your contacts out when something like this happens, but my glasses yesterday was making the pain worse because it was digging into the corner of me eye. I’m not good with this stuff. :/

11:43am


Dans la plane. Sex and the City is keeping me sober. I’m pretty sure my head is about to explode from the air pressure.



I'll give a real update when I get the chance. You know how they say getting a job is easy in Iqaluit? I had an interview (and got the job) in less than my first hour here.

New scooter.

Equal before the law.

I wanted to write something about the shootings yesterday that took place in Virginia (if you really live under a rock, read here).

But then I realized it would be nothing you hadn't heard or thought before. We all realize how ridiculous this whole massacre is and that it happened unecessarily, you do not need me to tell you that.

So instead I'll write on the fact that today is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the changing of the constitution to include the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

In true grade six Language Arts fashion: What do the Charter of Rights and Freedoms mean to me?

15. (1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.

That says it all right there for me. My mom always laughs it off when I talk about ageism, but now I'm old enough to cease her laughter by yelling "Section fifteen, subsection one of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Mommm." Really, it works.

Sometimes I get chills when I think about how lucky I am to be born in Canada. I don't think people say and think stuff like that enough.

Macdonald, Mackenzie, Macdonald, Abbot, Thompson, Bowell, Tupper, Laurier, Borden, Meighen, King, Meighen, King, Bennett, King, St. Laurent, Diefenbaker, Pearson, Trudeau, Clark, Trudeau, Turner, Mulroney, Campbell, Chretien, Martin, Harper. YUSSS. Going to ace this ridiculous exam.

A proof is a proof.

Yesterday while rubbing the side of my face I lost a part of it.

Yeah, you read that right.

Some of you might have heard of the "Curling Iron Disaster of '07" that I suffered through last week. After a full day of intense pain I thought I had put it all behind me.

The partial face loss would suggest otherwise.

Okay, I didn't lose anything other than skin (yup, the image I'm creating in your head is as gross as the image I see when I look at it in the mirror). But now today as I check up on it, I realize I am left with a big scar.

[Insert the curse word here that I have too much dignity to say, but does not mean I am not thinking it]

I really hate scars. They don't go away and they make a person look and feel like crap. I really only have two scars (make that three now). One under my eye (see: "My Face in the Corner of a Table Disaster of '95").That one is usually only visible when my face is red (either from physical exertion or sun). The other is right on the middle of my stomach (see: "Pool Disaster of '99").

This blows.

At least I didn't lose my leg to the flesh-eating disease while trying to seperate Quebec from Canada. Burnnn, Mr. Bouchard (/political humor).

Okay, one more:

"A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof, and when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven"

- Jean Chretien

Can you tell I have two Political Science exams in a row starting tomorrow?

P.S. This is my 301st post! Show the lovin'!

Going out and coming in.

Today was one of those days that even though I'm stressing over the remainder of my exams, I'm feeling the love and happiness of everything.

I got my Delia's stuff today in the mail and everything is soooo super cute. I absolutely love the tops and I was worried about the pants because I thought the size I had ordered might have been too small, but if anything they are a little loose on me (which is something I can handle). Hawt stuff.

I also got a nice going away card from my Nanny and Poppy. They sent me two things that totally sum them up. From my Nan: a Bible verse on a little card that she says I have to take with me and read every morning and night so that I won't forget her and God. From my Poppy: a blank cheque that he says "I can fill out for what ever amount I think I'll need", he just signed the bottom.

Both these thing just make me feel happy and loved and just good all over. LOVIN' THE LOVIN'.

I also added to the growing pile of "stuff I bought for Iqaluit". It only occurred to me today that I won't get half of that stuff in my suitcase. What started out with two shopping bags of stuff ended up being nine, a box, a coffee percolator and a big bushy vest. I pray the coffee percolator makes it to the Arctic.

Doubles.

My Mom in the early seventies.

The times, they are a-changin’

One cup coffee.

Studying sucks. Especially when it's trying to construct a sociological imagination based on society in Newfoundland.

BORING.

Last night must have been Stephenville night at the Avalon mall. In the span of a half an hour I saw curly haired Emily, Johnny, Mike's sister Erica, Mme. O'Keefe and I think that was it. It was like being in an alternate universe.

I also bought some more stuff for Iqaluit. Just some jeans and random necessities like toothpaste and a one cup coffee percolator.

So, I'm moving in a week. HAH. This is going to get screwy isn't it? I'm really not looking forward to having to get up at like 2am on Thursday, but I see no way of getting around it since my flight leaves at 5:20 and I have OCD and cannot go out in public without showering after I wake-up (can't do the whole shower then sleep thing, messes with my system).

Stephenville crew: I know you all have exams on Wednesday, but they aren't until three. Feel like going out for breakfast? I'll have you all home again before you know it, I just really hated the way we had to rush our goodbyes on Friday. It was not ideal. Pleaseee?

I got new glasses. They rock and make me feel like a rockstar. Funny picture to come soon (someone remind me to do this).

EDIT: I read Leah's comment which reminded me of this. The White Stripes promise to go to ALL provinces and territories, uhh, do they plan on making any money? PEI, Newfoundland. . . Nunavut?! The tickets are going to be a thousand dollars or they just don't care about money. And time. Canada is one big frigging place.

I remember the days.

Settling for less.

"You’re a great girl,
and the world deserves to know you.
You deserve it too,
Don’t settle for comfortable"

- Julie to Summer on Season 4 of The OC

Yeah, there's going to be no dark sky. I might not see above zero temperature for another couple of months. And there's a good chance that I'll get eaten by a polar bear.

But I am so not ready to settle for comfortable.

Ending.

Ugh. Life blows sometimes.

I found out from Jen that Mrs. Pilgrim and Mr. Gulton from home died this past week or so. For those of you who don't them, they are people that attended my church and whom I honestly cared for.

I really wish I would have found out before this, apparently Mrs. Pilgrim's funeral was Saturday. For those of you who can't make the connection, Mrs. Pilgrim is Jessica's Mom.

I can only imagine how she is dealing with this. I remember when she got diagnosed with cancer sometime back, it was not taken well. DUH.

I can't imagine losing my Mommy. Not right now (if ever) anyway.

As cliche as it is, it totally puts things into perspective.

All this weight is honest worse
We’re moderate, we modernize, until our hell is a good life
All we know is to forget how to do right
Colouring in the black hole
Can we stop?

Artist trading languages.

Today the nerdy ATC girl in me got a big surprise, a card arrived!

This was a one on one trade so I only got one card. But I did get to choose it, so I knew what it would look like. It is sooo pretty, the picture does not do it justice:

From Kristie in Maryland!

She also put the absolute coolest stamps on the envelope. Even one of JIM HENSON! :)

In case you were wondering this is the card I sent her in return. She said she was starting a collection of Eiffel Towers and liked paper with other languages on it, so I drew her one and included the lyrics to my favourite song by Les Trois Accords!


Crash explanation of ATCS over.

All I need is a bitter song.

Lately I have been unearthing the most wonderful music. The past few weeks I've found countless amazingly talented artists who speak to me (whether it be in English or not). My "Recently Added" bin in iTunes is overflowing.

Tomorrow I have my last class and how fitting that it's with Rob. It will be sorrowful.

Tomorrow also houses the first Stephenville night in close to two months. Wow. We are pitiful excuses for friends. I'm excited to chill out with everyone. Period.

I booked my flight from Ottawa to Iqaluit today because there was a seat sale that ends tomorrow. I am moving to the Arctic. I'm really excited but I feel like everyone (read: my brother and my mother) have been putting so much into making this happen for me (at no cost to me). I hate having a debt I can't pay. I mean that literally and not.

Now I'm off to try and function like a human for awhile. Leah, I'll be looking forward to those midnight love notes.

Arctic.

Seems I'm leaving on the nineteenth. Seventeen days.

"Rarely is the question asked, is our children learning?"

Warning: This post is boring and more for me than anyone else. You can skip to the bottom and read the last paragraph and sentence claiming "Do It", I won't mind. But if you care about what I (key word being "I", this could be all BS for anyone knows) think about Bush and so on. . .

All week I've wanted to write something meaningful about the Bush administration in my blog. Scratch that. All year I have been wanting to, it's just been intensified this week for some reason.

But I never know where to start.

I could start with the fact that since the war began over 655,000 Iraqis have loss their life (an estimation since we will never truly know how many have been -and will be- killed. There's been estimates as low as 390,000ish and as high as 940,000ish. Bush says only 30,000).

I could also add that 41% of American adults believe that Hussein had links to Al Qaeda (with 22% believing that he helped in some capacity fuel the attacks on September 11th).

I might mention that in 2000 when Bush won his first term as President he had lost the nationwide popular vote by more than a half of a million votes! Gore did have more voters vote for him, but the US has a different electoral system (using an electoral college) so technically Bush won the presidency. This is the first time a President had been elected without the plurality of the popular vote since 1888. Can you imagine if Gore had been made President? {sigh} I'm not saying it would be perfect but come on, there's no way it could be worse.

There's the withdrawal of the US from the Kyoto Protocol (Bush states that there is a "debate over whether [global warming is] manmade or naturally caused" and that China and India didn't sign, so why should he have to?). DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON GLOBAL WARMING AND THE RAPID DECLINE OF THIS EARTH.

He failed the people of the South when Hurricane Katrina hit.

He failed his little "Operation Iraqi Freedom".

He failed pretzels.

Most of all he failed his country. Something I find extremely sad, to which I can only respond "IMPEACH!" Frig, the only time you've tried to do it before was because a certain someone "did not have sexual relations with that woman". Don't you think killing thousands and starting random wars mean something a little more?

Which brings me to this website I found earlier today. Take a look. Pretend you care for a second.

It truly scares me to think of the future. My Political Science prof spoke a couple weeks ago about how there is no way the US economy cannot crash in a few years. Bush has spent HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS on the "war on terror". It's bound to come back sometime. I find this terrifying in itself because as the saying goes "when the US sneezes, the world catches a cold".

Where am I going with this? You want to know where I'm honestly going with this (and this will be confusing)?

Vote.

Please vote. It scares me to hear that people won't vote because they "don't know who to vote for" or they believe "it won't make a difference" or they're "not sure how to make an "x" fit in a circle" (k, I'm not even sure they do that anymore, but you get the idea).

If you don't know who to vote for, what party you want to support or even when an election is being held and for what position: EDUCATE YOURSELF.

Do it.