The Raven

Although we are told that there are a few birds that winter in Iqaluit, the only one we see is the Raven. They are everywhere! We were walking the dogs this morning, (Dec. 27th) and there was a flock of Ravens mowing down on something; they litterally eat almost anything. Anyway the dogs ran after them, as they usually do, and as usual they didn't catch them. It's fun to watch the interaction the dogs have with the Ravens. Ravens are touted to be very intelligent birds. I beleive it; after seeing how they seem to manipulate the dogs. Ocassionally they will hover over the dogs just out of reach and drive the poor puppies crazy. Quinn and Holly will jump for them, never quite reaching them.
A classic story, that I may have told in another blog, is where Quinn was trying to have a dump and a Raven was hovering over his head. He would just settle into a squat and the bird would almost touch the top of his head. Of course Quinn jumped up trying to catch the bird (the real joke is Jacquie and I have no idea what he would do if he ever caught it) Anyway, this happened 3 or 4 times. Poor Quinn never did finish his job, he had to seek out alternate, more protected surroundings for the "call of nature".

According to Wikipedia, the Common Raven, also known as the Northern Raven, is a large, all-black passerine bird. There are at least eight subspecies with little variation in appearance— although recent research has demonstrated significant genetic differences among populations from various regions. It is one of the two largest corvids, alongside the Thick-billed Raven, and is possibly the heaviest passerine bird; at maturity, the Common Raven averages 63 cm (25 inches) in length and 1.2 kg (2.6 pounds)(I have to say that some of the Ravens in Iqaluit even look bigger that that). Common Ravens typically live about 10 to 15 years in the wild, although lifespans of up to 40 years have been recorded. Young birds may travel in flocks, but later mate for life, with each mated pair defending a territory. (In town the territory must be small, since there are literally hundreds of Ravens in a relatively small geographical area).

The Common Raven has coexisted with humans for thousands of years and in some areas has been so numerous that it is considered a pest (like Iqaluit). Part of its success comes from its omnivorous diet; Common Ravens are extremely versatile and opportunistic in finding sources of nutrition, feeding on carrion, insects, cereal grains, berries, fruit, small animals, and food waste.

Just last week,there was a Raven perched on our front step. He had something in his mouth that he was chewing on. They are very bold birds and have no problem getting within a few feet of you. It's hard to determine whether it's because they have become quite tame being around us for so long, or they don't intimidate easily because of their size? They love the seal hunters and we are told that a flock will chew out a seal carcass in a matter of minutes.

The other interesting trait is that they can mimick sounds, much like a parrot. We have heard them sound like a bell, cawing like a crow, twittering and can squawk annoyingly loud when they want to.

One thing that Jacquie and I have wondered about is how they stay warm. For example it's -28C this morning without the wind chill and there are many Ravens out flying around. You would think that when it's so cold that flying would increase the wind chill and make it uncomfortable for them. It certainly doesn't seem to. There is no doubt they are very hardy birds.

I for one am happy that the Raven is native to Iqaluit. They are the only animal that is in abundance in town and it gives the place a less desolate feel. There is also no doubt that Iqaluit would be a much different place without the presence of the Raven.

Rotary Christmas Hampers

Jacquie and I had an awesome opportunity today to participate in the packing and distributing of 125-150 Rotary Christmas Hampers. As well, there were 35 turkeys distributed seperately as there were some late additions and the organizers wanted all families to receive something.

We all met at the Cadet Hall at 9:00 AM this morning (Saturday December 17th) and there were skids full or food. Each box received 14 items like peanut butter, flour, potatoes, coffee, carrots, baking powder, fruit cake and the like.
We were surprised at the number of people that showed up to help. There were probably 30-40 Rotarians and their family members there packing the boxes.
All the boxes were packed in 1 and 1/2 hours. One of the Rotary members had the distribution process down to a tee. He had a number of maps with 7 or 8 locations identifed on each map. Jacquie and I ended up with two maps and 16 hampers to distribute. Being newer to town, we had some difficulty finding all of the places, however after a little trial and error, we found all the residences.
The recipients were very appreciative with one older gentleman shaking hands with us and talking to us in one of the inuit languages for some length of time. Almost all of the famlies that we went to also had small children that were very exited to see us.
It really gives you a good feeling to be able to do something nice at Christmas time and Jacquie and I were so very happy to be able to help. Also, for me it reinforced my understanding of just how blessed Jacquie and I are. Merry Christmas to all!!

Groceries in Iqaluit

We've had quite a few people ask us about the cost of food. Well I thought I would give you a glimpse into our weekly groceries. There are three grocery stores that we visit. Our main store is Northmart. This is the main of main stores. Everyone at some point in time visits Northmart. We often call it Walmart, although it is nothing like Walmart.

Another store we frequent is called Arctic Ventures. It's a smaller grocery store and has some good deals. Arctic Ventures has three parts to its store: groceries (no fresh meats or veggies), the Source is on the second floor to the right and to the left you can purchase clothing, souvenirs and a myriad of other items.

Our last grocery store is the Iqaluit Cannery, why it's called this we're not quite sure. If you think of a co-op you have this place. An out of the way, tucked backed into a corner, wouldn't know a grocery store even existed and has odd open and close times. This place offers some good deals and when we have time to price compare Larry and I will "shop around."

So, below is some typical pricing:

1 green pepper $ 1.72
1.5 L juice $ 8.99
8kg bag dog food $ 42.39
1 can dog food $ 3.49
12 can orange crush $ 13.99
1 pkg romaine lettuce hrt $ 6.25
1 tomato $ 2.16
1 lb butter $ 6.39
1 can mushroom soup (on sale) $ 1.45
1 bag chips (on sale) $ 7.39

Our Wednesday Eating Club

Our Wednesday evening dinners have developed into an eating club of sorts. It started out 3 or 4 weeks ago, with us inviting Natdin (SP ?) from work for dinner. He is an East Indian from Guelph that is the Finance Manager at work. His family is back in Guelph and we all decided that it was good for all of us to get together for an ocassional dinner. So 2 weeks ago, he came over and said that he would like to make us an Indian traditional dish. Last week, he and another friend from work, Curtice came over and Nadtin made us curried vegetables and rice. This week it has been decided that we will have a "crock pot" creation; a stew of sorts. And next week, Curtis has agreed to make us a meal using in part, as a tool, his super duper blender!!
The first week we had talapia, roasted potatoes and mixed vegetables, with a bottle of wine. The second week we had "Cloyne style chicken cacciatore" with a beer before dinner and wine with dinner. And last week we had the Curried Vegetables with a cocktail before dinner and some wine with dinner. The first couple of weeks we watched a movie after dinner. Nitdin likes action movie's (in fact the more violence the better); so the first week we watched "the Born Sepremacy" and the second week we watched "Casino Royale". Last Wednesday we played Trivial Pursuit. We didn't know that Curtis is a trivial pursuit champion and of course Jacquie's no slouch either!! Natdin and I got our perverbial asses whipped!! It was a lot of fun though.
We are all looking forward to this Wednesday to see what the crock pot produces. And then we are curious about what Curtis is going to concock from his super duper blender.
Our Wednesday night Eating Club has become something that Jacquie and I look forward to, for the fellowship, great food and a bit of a change in our regular daily routine!!

The Iqaluit Christmas Parade

Today, December 11 is the day that Santa Clause came to Iqaluit. Of course Santa didn't have that far to go. In fact we are so close to the North Pole that our Postal Code has a (HO) in it. (X0A 0H0)
At noon today the parade started from downtown. It went right by our house. We took the dogs out to watch, however they got cold so we had to bring them back in before the parade actually got here. We could hear it long before we could see it.
It was cool today with the temperature at -17C with the wind chill at -30C. And you could tell that the people on the floats were quite cool, however they all seemed very enthusiatic!!
The one thing that we missed in the parade was a band. There were a number of floats and many floats were throwing candy. In fact, when Jacquie and I came home, I had my fill and ended up with a belly ache!
There were very good crowds out to watch the parade. In our area of town, cars were backed in on the side of the street with people peering out through the windows. The hardy, or some might say fool-hardy (Jacquie and I fit into that catagory) were out in person along the parade route cheering on the participants with vigor!
It wasn't as long a parade as we are used to in Brockville, however it was well intended and well attended. And of course Santa was cheered and Ho Ho Ho 'ing all along the parade route. Jacquie and I had fun watching the children watch the parade (Ok I admit, I really enjoyed the parade itself!!) I love Santa!! :-)

Christmas Trees at the Legislature

I had the awesome opportunity to go to the legislature on Friday to pick up some boxes from our previous Minister's office, the Honorable Mr. Curley. There was just a big cabinet shuffle and we ended up with a new Minister for the Nunavut Housing Corporation. As a matter of interest, Jacquie's Ministry, the Environment received a new Minister out of the shuffle too the Honorable James Arreak.
Anyway, while I was at the legislature, I was intrigued with the very nicely decorated trees. There was a number of them in the foyer. In chatting with the security guard I found out that every year all of the Public Schools in Iqaluit and area have the opportunity to set up and decorate a tree in the foyer of the Legislature. The Premier and Speaker of the house, greet the children from the schools as they are decorating the trees. Apparently it is quite an event that the children in the area look forward to each year!

Typical Day

Now that Jacquie and I have been in Iqaluit for 7 weeks, we have settled into a routine. On a typical weekday, we would get up about 6:45. Jacquie sets her cell phone alarm. Sometimes she hits the snooze and I certainly don't complain!

We get dressed and take the dogs for a walk. If it's not too cold and the wind isn't blowing too hard, we go towards the local school. Behind and beside the school there is a wide open area that we let the dogs off lead and they go and do their business. The walk in total is usually 15 - 20 minutes. Jacquie always puts the coffee on auto the night before, so it is ready in the morning. So she pours the coffee and I feed the dogs. Next we have a shower. We have developed the habit of showering together (saves hot water and our backs get cleaned) Then dressed, breakfast and get ready for work. We usually take our squash stuff, since most days we go to the club after work. When we return from the walk in the morning we plug in the jeep. So before we leave for work the dogs are let out and the jeep is started to give it a chance to warm up. The dogs are out for 5 minutes or so and then they are hussled back into the house and off we go to work. Its about 7:50 or so and there isn't much traffic on the road. Jacquie gets dropped off first and then I pick up my boss (John Connor - he is acting CFO at present) John lives across the parking lot from where Jacquie works. Actually, I usually drop Jacquie off at the building where John lives, since there is a Tim Horton's on the main floor.
We both work for the morning (work will be the topic of another blog) and then it's lunch time - YEAH!! I usually leave for lunch around 11:40 to beat the traffic. Interestingly the worst time for traffic in Iqaluit is at noon and 5:00pm.

I pick Jacquie up and we head home to let out the dogs. I usually let the dogs out while Jacquie makes lunch. Quite often its soup and a sandwich. She is an excellent lunch maker and it always "hits the spot". Just before we leave to go back to work, we let the dogs out for a few minutes and then back to work. Usually by 12:35ish. Same routine as the morning. Jacquie gets dropped off first and then I go to work. Jacquie's work is down town, perhaps 3 or so KM from our house and my work is another 2 KM or so from where Jacquie works. My office is exactly kitty-corner from where we live. We live in the south east part of town and I work in the north west part of town.
Anyway, after work, I usually drop John off at his place and pick up Jacquie. Most days we go to the squash club, which is fairly close to where Jacquie works. We would normally play squash or work out for an hour or so!
Then, you know what they say "after action satisfaction" we would normally have a beer and head home.

As soon as we are home, we take the dogs for a walk. Normally a pretty good walk, weather permitting like a 1/2 or so.
We treat ourselves well from a food perspective. There was a meat man (that's what we call him) from Ottawa that was selling boxes of meat, so we purchased steaks (both rib eye and strip loin), chicken breasts, chicken strips, lamb chops, sole, talapia and pork tenderloins. So almost every night we eat meat, salad and vegetable and sometimes a potato or fries for supper.
After supper, a movie, TV, internet or a little guitar playing and then to bed we go. Usually in bed by 10:00PM - 10:30PM.
It probably sounds pretty boring, however we really have a pretty good time although admittedly both Jacquie and I look forward to the weekends!!