Yesterday I got groceries...lots of groceries. Four bags of chocolate chips and ten cans of soup-type groceries. Flour groceries. Heavy groceries. Why? A few reasons actually, the main one being, of course, that I had access to a car. The other reason being that I finally got my paycheque deposited :-)
Now, for those of you who don't know, Pang has no bank. Not only that, you may remember from previous posts that I mentioned the two bank machines that are here have been broken since I arrived. Fortunately, now that the connections are up and running again, my interac and credit card have been restored to their former glory. Generally, though, with 19% interest I prefer to avoid the credit when I can...I'll keep it for my internet purchases. My personal rule has been to keep all community buys paid with interac-based.
Herein lies the problem: regardless of the fact that I requested - and filled out all the forms - for direct deposit, I received a crisp cheque with my name on it about a week ago. Here, that is basically only worth the paper it's printed on. I needed to figure out how to get it to Iqaluit ASAP. Since my supervisor was coming to town, it was easy enough for her to bring it back...I would just have to wait a bit. Fi-na-lly. It's there. Saa-weet!
Last night, walking home, I met one of my students on her way to the latest 'Loonie-Toonie' sale. Apparently a local Elder has died and it's customary to raise money to fly in people from neighboring communities. I don't know when the funeral will happen, but it's sure to be big. It was interesting to see how everyone came together. Although I didn't win anything, I'm glad I went.
Another 'yesterday comment'? It looked like Pang was surrounded in a fog bubble. From town I could see across the bridge to the GN housing, I could see Mt.Duval and I could even see the tip of the curling peninsula. That's where it stopped. The tip looked like an island and the Pass had disappeared completely. The fog didn't move, it just sat there for hours and hours. I couldn't see past the airport on the other side of town and when the sun finally set, the darkness was complete. Amazing.
Tonight I really don't have anything profound to say...actually, profound thoughts generally don't come out of me. However, I would like to send a shout out to Christa over in Gjoa Haven. You sound like you need a hug. I'm dealing with the whole teaching thing too, and the adjustment to the north is crazy. However, at least I went through the battle with disillusionment that everyone goes through after a BEd about a decade ago...long enough to have dealt with it, but close enough to still remember. Don't lose faith...only a good teacher would care enough to let it affect them.
That's about it from Pang tonight. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to, once again, watch the only 2 shows of Sex and the City that I have saved on my computer again, surf a bit, then head off to bed. I would really like to have a tv in times like these. It's true, I have no tv. That's fine in the south with streaming movies and shows, but qiniq connection quality in a community surrounded by mountains isn't really conducive to watching without downloading...which takes forever.
...good night dear readers. Enjoy the green fires in the night sky as often as you can...
2 comments:
Thanks Tara, I do actually need a hug. It is a bit more than the teaching stuff, which I haven't even written half of because I don't want anyone in the community to stumble upon me saying anything really negative about the students or school.
On an unrelated note, I wish we could see the Northern lights here. So far I've either not been up late enough, or it has been super cloudy (you can't see them while it's cloudy right?). I have been told that Gjoa doesn't have very good northern lights and that my roommates only saw them good twice last year, both times in December. I was a bit disheartened to hear that!
Oh dear god girl... get a TV! I think I would have gone nuts quickly without one. Then again, I'm an addict so maybe you'll be alright :)
Loony-Toonie sale? You buy tickets and you put your name in the bag and they draw at the end? We call that a penny sale in Cape Dorset even though the tickets are $1 and 2$. I love hearing how the communities are the same but different.
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