OK OK OK.
I've been.... delinquent. M.I.A. Consumed with other things. Downright lazy.
However you want to put it, I have been hugely absent from my blog...
Here's the deets on my travel and first hours in Iqaluit, to catch you up a little:
The visit home was nice, and well needed. My grandmother has slowed down a lot, which was hard to see, but I was happy that she was in good spirits despite the pain and frustration... The farewell at Halifax airport was bittersweet, but I knew the next year would pass quickly... My short-lived visit in Ottawa (early afternoon through very early the next morning) was full of sight-seeing (I'd never been to Ottawa before), laughs, and fun with John and Judy. Early morning on November 7th, we headed to the airport, and I booted it through the airport with complete paranoia in order to catch my flight (I arrived at the gate 10 minutes before boarding). Once in my seat, my heart sagged and I wondered if I was doing the right thing... Only when the clouds parted and I saw more and more barren landscape did my heart start to buoy, and dance at the sight of new-to-me northern Canada.
The flight was excellent - full service (hot towel, meal, warm cookie, blankets and pillows - the works!), and smooth as can be. When I arrived, I stepped off the plane and nearly couldn't contain myself - the excitement finally hit...I freakin' made it!! The air was crisp, the sun was up (not for much longer - hahaha), and I made it in one piece. Now to find my luggage, and the store manager who was picking me up.
In Iqaluit, you walk off the plane and scurry into the large, yellow beacon that is the Airport.
I hauled my luggage onto a cart (the luggage pick-up is the same as Porter in Toronto before they completed renovations. Tiny area and a short little belt that ends in a sort of 'dumping space' for folks to get their things if they can't manage to grab it while on the belt), and waited for who I thought was a man. All of a sudden, a female voice says "are you Melody?" - I turned to see who I found out later was the part of the stores HR department. "They told me you were blond", she said, eyeing my long, brown, curly, all-over-the-place hair.
The next few hours were an absolute whirl-wind. Once my luggage was on the truck, we headed towards my apartment. It was so neat to see things I'd only ever seen in 2D (photos from blogs, twitter, you name it). From the moment I stepped off the plane, it seemed like I'd been here before... The HR rep even said, "I thought you were from here - you had the blue rubbermaid totes like all the locals use" - can't say I wasn't fully researched and prepared!! ;)
We drove past the store (absolutely massive, compared to what I had in my head), and made some turns around town to get into the driveway that connects all the NWCo owned housing. Then, the lovely task of hauling my 50lb rubbermaid totes and 60lb luggage piece up the flight of stairs. I was rewarded, however, with the sight of my very own apartment. Larger than I expected, and in generally good shape (the building has a permanent lean from the constant shifting of the tundra, but hardly-balanced me doesn't even notice it), the apartment looked sort of like a hotel suite. Barren walls, lots of beige and "plain"... A canvas, basically. ;)
After I had my things in, and had looked around, we went to the store so I could get my groceries and meet sooooooooooo many people. I felt like all eyes were on me, that everyone was wondering who the heck I was (staff and locals alike), but the HR rep assured me that I was just paranoid. :) We went upstairs so I could get my uniform and swipe card, and also to meet Rick (the store manager). I was also lucky enough to run into Melissa, who has one of many wonderful blogs that taught me the basics on the 'ways of the north'!
The beginning of the 'don't buy junk food, don't buy junk food' mantra.
$360 in groceries and cleaning supplies later (that I didn't have to directly pay for (I do pay an amount on each paycheck, but nowhere near what groceries would cost me for that two weeks) thanks to my 'mess'), it was back to dragging everything upstairs. Once everything was in, I was left with the keys, and a tonne of 'putting away' and unpacking to do. The bitch of it all is that I had to find something to eat too...hamburger helper was the filling meal of choice, and my first meal in (what I was soon to find out) nutritionally-unfocused Iqaluit.
After all the unpacking (I put every last item away before I went to bed!), I hit the hay around 8pm - completely exhausted... I don't think I slept at all that night, nor at all for the next two weeks. Thanks to two comforters tucked under my sheets, I now sleep somewhat soundly!
I'll write again soon - next up: work, life in Iqaluit, the misadventures of Melody without adequate sunlight, injuries, and whatever else I can blabber on about!
