warm weather for the north

This morning it is minus 15ish C in Salluit. Not a bit of wind. It is the best of weather. I feel fantastic about this kind of weather until I realize that it is plus 15 in Halifax today. I imagine today's Salluit weather is what the world thinks all of Canada is like, all the time. I have outside duty several times today but it is a pleasure today. The sky is blue with some very friendly clouds. The sun has been pouring in my classroom the past few days. I finally had to put some wonderfully colourful tissue paper up as a curtain, as it was getting too warm to work. Many Inuit are out fishing in this warmer weather and are most generous to me. I love Arctic char.

Years ago when Aran came up the first time, Elisapie gave me a char to have for his first dinner in Salluit. The next day when she met him and saw the size of him,she offered me another char. The char has a nice firm pink meat... someone told me it was a cross of a brook trout and a salmon. But were they trying to fool the white teacher? I bake it in the oven with lots of lemon juice and lemon pepper. It is a fatty fish so I dont need any butter when I am cooking it. Having a unlimited supply of char makes up ( well almost) for no haddock and halibut. I do miss my Nova Scotia fish. I do have lots of salt cod for fish cakes. The Inuit who worked in Happy Valley Goose Bay love the salt cod . The Co-op here won't carry it so we use the Phillip Woolaver distribution system. He buys it, he ships it and I give it away. It is a system that works well.

We are all back in school now. The big excitement for my class was a video conference with a Gr. 5 class in a school in the Wicklow Hills, just outside of Dublin. Preparing for the conference... getting the kids ready to ask questions and to be prepared to answer questions took alot of energy and time. But that was nothing compared to setting up the machines to do it. I had computers, cameras, Msn messenger, Skype... I was in the other school, in Michael's office, in my own classroom. It was a crazy two days. Keeping it straight what time it was in Ireland for the test runs...

We had to be ready at 8:30 on Wed am. I had all the students wear the hat that is popular here. Each time we do the conference I am going to try and utilize a different piece of traditional clothing. They were all scrubbed up like new pennies. The questions that the Irish students asked were very thought provoking. My students are 2nd language English and only use it in the classroom. So listening to the Irish students with their accents and slang was a great learning experience for them. Even noticing the different hair colours and complexions was interesting for my students.

Sometimes I think that I am the luckiest teacher in Salluit. My kids work so hard at their learning. One of the Irish students had just moved there from South Africa. As soon as the conference was over my class wanted to go to the globe and maps to see South Africa. I had planned on starting a unit on the continents and oceans next week. What a great intro for me. I love it when one thing leads to another. And my parents have sent several National Geographics that have wonderful articles about S.A.

So school continues to go well. I am tired tho. The year is long and I miss home... family and friends, restuarants, movies, shopping. The TV is both a joy and pain in the butt. That Tim's has caramel treats is driving me nuts. My favourite flavour and I am not there to enjoy it. And if I see one more Dairy Queen commerical.... but it is also things like the snowdrops and the daffodils. As great as an Arctic Char is, I 'd love to be home .

This past Tuesday's Boston Legal had me rolling off the sofa when they used Tammy Wynett's song" Stand By Your Man" to close the show. It was as perfect an ending as a regular watcher could want. In one of my all time favourite movies ,from a few years back," The Crying Game" they also used that great song to close the movie. Tuesday's closing was just as good.

Today is Culture Day in the school. Many of the Inuit teachers are dressed in traditonal clothing. They are preparing seal and fox skins in the old ways. Others are working on the prepared furs to make the clothing. The sewing and piecing of the seal skins is a work of art. They make wonderful designs with the different shades of fur. I have two cameras going to remember it all. And the embroidery on the duffle socks that line the seal skin boots... so beautiful . I have made several pairs of duffle socks for my family to wear in rubber boots or as slippers.
I prepared a booklet for my students to use as they go from station to station. There are questions for them to ask and answer. The ones that fill up their booklet get to come to my house for lunch. Some of them gave up and said they did not want to do it. Others are working very hard at it. Most of the students in the school are using the day as a holiday. Poor mine have to work. I think I will take them out on the hill for Inuit games this afternoon. They have seen most of what is in the gym. There is also a snow house out at the bottom of the hill.

These Culture Days are so important. The old ways are dying out... life is changing here very rapidly in just one generation. Keeping the language alive is so important. I worry about my students and the life they will have because of all the changes. Some change is good but change is a double edged sword. That we have a mdecial centre here is good. That t we can send our
seriously ill out to Montreal is great. But smoking is not good. The effect of smoking on the general health of this community is so negative. I have several students who have been smoking for years. They are as addicted as any 30 year old. Don't get me started on that!

I must close this off for today.
P

March break begins

The spring break begins today. The students are not in school but the teachers are in to do some prep work till noon. Those teachers going south for the holiday leave mid afternoon. I am staying North to see the sites of my adopted territory. Spring has sprung here and it is the best of weather. More snow has fallen so people are heading out of the community to hunt and fish. The land is so b eautiful this time of year.

Everyone is wearing sunglasses... even the babes peeking over their mothers' shoulders wear sunglasses. The sun beats down on the snow and then is reflected back up.. sort of a double dose of sun... which we deserve after the long dark winter. Many of the Inuit have their spring dark face on already. One day out on the land in such strong sunlight darkens the skin right up. The forehead stays white as it is protected by a hat, and there are a white rings around the eyes from the sunglasses. The face patterns are very interesting.

Although it is warmer out I am still bundled up from head to toe. I am suffereing with another lung infection and am on antibiotics. Not fun at all. Many people are sick in the community. One member of staff is being tested for TB. I just finished reading The Constant Gardener that deals with multinational companies sending poorly developed drugs to Africa to combat TB... and on the news there is the incident in Britian where drug testing went badly wrong. You can imagine what I am thinking every time I swallow my pills.

Yesterday , in class, we did several St. Patrick's Day activities. The first thing we did was make wonderful Irish crowns. It was so much fun. I love dressing the part. Once we were wearing our crowns we were ready to learn all about Ireland. I gave the kids all Irish names. They made a name tag and then after that they only answered to their new name. We did terrible Irish accents. It is the best way to learn. We went to the map of the world to find Ireland, Dublin and the Wicklow Hills. We will be doing video conferencing with The Bray School in Wicklow after the March break. My cousin Julie is on the other end of this adventure.

Usually we do several days on Ireland but with the march break starting we only had one day this year.

We had shocking news in the teaching community last night. One of the longest serving teachers here has been given notice that there is no job for him next year. There has been a reorganization of the school and his job is gone. It has upset us all. It brings home to us that the white teaching staff is here at the pleasure of the community. There is not much point in us thinking too far ahead and making plans for our students. Things must change at times, but this was a real shock. The north is changing and teaching must change but some changes are more difficult than others.

In yesterday's mail I had two wonderful post cards. Jacques, Leslie's youngest boy sent one. His Mum did the writing for him... it was a cute, wonderful and loving note. The other card was from my friends Bob and Marion Greene now living in Calgary. They are visiting New Zealand. A wonderful photo of 40 million sheep. I was their waitress in Lake Louise in the late 60's. We have kept in touch all these years. Bob is an Anglican priest and his long suffering wife Marion is one of the greatest women I have ever met. She helped organize a soup kitchen/food bank in Toronto many many years ago. It was so impressive that Mother Theresa visited it. Bob had his picture taken with the holy mother . No photo of Marion. They are a great funny couple. They want me to visit the family cottage north of Toronto this summer.. a very tempting invite.

I wonder what to-day's mail will bring?

why do they blame me?

The school internet is back up again. I am being blamed for the current meltdown. Not fair at all. I only did what Michael, resident computer whiz, told me to do. He admitts he misinformed me and it was he who did not keep a copy of the pass word to reboot the system. And yet I am blamed. We have been laughing about this for two days.

Besides Michael, I am the only one who knows anything about the internet in this school. So info is pretty thin on the ground if M is not here. He is the greatest guy.. a pal of Aran's.. same age.. same sense of humor. He has the patience of Job when it comes to explaining things to me. It might be better if he curtailed my computer adventures. We always end up laughing and I wonder who is sillier... him for thinking I can do this or me for even thinking I can more on the computer? I should know my abilities by now. At the minute I am setting up a video conference with a school in Ireland. This ought to be good.

We are in the midst of report cards. A scary time for the kids who have not worked as well as they could have. It is a great time for me to meet the parents of my students. There were only two families who have not made it to school for this term. We have Inuktitut speakers in the class with us to aid in translation. I learn so much each time I go thru this. After many years of doing this from a parental point of view it is interesting to do it as a teacher. I will never forget the time I fainted when a teacher told me Aran had failed French one term. The poor teacher.

Most of my parents are very supportive of school work. They are keenly interested in their children and how they are progressing. Some of my students are being raised by grandparents. It must be a difficult job to raise young ones at their age. I know how I feel at the end of the day.

Teachers and students are looking forward to their March Break. I am staying in the North. The weather is so good these days that I like to stay North for this spring break. People are fishing now that the days are warmer and longer. I have planned a few adventures.

Have a great day.
P

A week to go 'till March vacation

Our wonderful weather continues. It is colder again.. minus 20 something this morning. It is clear and very little wind. Sun is very strong. A good thing the weather is better as our spirits are down. We all are tired and not reacting very well to the tension around us. I have been knitting up a storm to ease my mind and to keep from eating the contents of the entire fridge. I have done the most beautiful scarf by mixing several different colours and textures of yarn. I am so modest.. but it is lovely.

Yesterday the weather was glorious and the spirit in the school deadly so I took my students out for a walk. I don't get out in the fresh air all that often in the middle of the day. We had sleds to play with but mostly we just walked and talked. Then a nice deep ditch filled with fluffy snow would present its self and we would start to push and shove each other. Lots of laughter and fun. I was on the sled a few times. The kids are most tender with me, wanting me to participate but of course realizing I am 58 and have the agility of an elephant. ( except when I am scampering in to the back of Marc's truck). I do appreciate having a principal that realizes we have to get out of school at times with the kids. It is not all fractions and adverbs here in the school.

We received yet another huge box from Florida. This one was a biggy. Far too many books for my class in one box, and a huge container of maple syrup. I let the boys help me carry it home. My boys are only 10 or 11 years old and not too heafty. They struggled with the box. Their fpride would not let them entertain the idea of dividing the contents up into several bags. Two boys carried it a fair distance and then two more would take over. I gave them the keys to my house and they love that. They just scampered away to get their first. By the time I got home the box was in the kitchen and they were settled in the living room enjoying the contents of the different candy dishes . They are so cute and they know it.

Most of them play hockey and also do the timekeeping for other games. Some are water boys too. When they are not at the rink they are on the river ice playing hockey. They write about their accomplishments in their journals. If there is one thing I have been able to instill in them is the value of all that they do and their journaling is important in helping them remember what they do. Often is like being a mother to 18 kids. Oh you're so smart... oh what a good job... you must be proud of yourself. Miss P has a different word for beautiful each week. She must pour over the dictionary. She carefully writes the new word's meaning to me incase I don't know.

The girls are playing hockey as well these days. The Salluit men's team won the gold medal in the Northern games. Salluit had a hockey school with former NHL'ers a month or so ago. The hockey school really helped the players improve. Hockey is big here. I havn't watched this much hockey since I was a teen-ager in Digby.

Today is my outside duty day. I have two cameras with me to catch the action. I have been letting Miss P and Trudy use my still camera. We have gone thru a bit of film since the weather has improved. And our class bulbs have burst into bloom so we are taking pictures daily in the classroom. I have the girls note the numbers of the photos they have taken so we can look at them later to see how well the shots were framed ect. For the first while they were pointing and shooting with very little success. The digital camera was good for teaching as they could see the results and then the shots could be deleted.

I must go layer the ole snow pants, scarf, hat, coat, boots and seal skin mitts. I wore hoop earring this am which I will regret. The cold gathers on the metal and makes my ears so cold.. from the inside out. Then the sunglasses make my nose cold. It is just not pleasant. I am such a baby....
Hope this finds you all well.
P

changing weather

The past few days have been beautiful in Salluit. On Monday we were one of the warmest places in Canada. All the warm weather combined with the sun being back has energized us. On Monday we had a longer afternoon recess to enable the teachers to play outside with the kids. Me on a sled is a sight to be seen. I really didn't want to slide with the kids... I was happy taking pictures but when little Victor asked so nicely I couldn't refuse. Then I did not want to seem like I was favouring one child over another so I made many trips down that hill. Scared out of my witts. I was concerned about hurting myself or even hurting a child if I landed on one or two. I remembered similar fears when the gang in Digby would go on the golf course in Digby. Going down #2 with Peter Crofts legs wrapped around me... why wasn't I smart enough to make Peter sit in front so he 'd be injured?

The 30 minutes out with the kids was so much fun. Some of the little scamps would race to catch up with a speeding sled, jump on it and stay standing up while going down the hill. It is futile to spit into the wind but to yell at Aloupa to sit down is also futile. They would just look back and laugh. Charlie O was tearing down the hill when his tire flipped up into the air and he was thrown off. My heart was in my mouth. Then Abigail and Johnny's tire flipped over so that they were buried in a snow bank. Their faces were covered in snow. It was a magical 30 minutes. ( With the spring weather we have alot more snow... soft fluffy snow.)

This morning I was laying in bed loving all the sun streaming in my window by 7 am. I wasn't even annoyed when the phone rang at that ungodly hour. We all seem to hav e so much more energy now that the sun is back. It has been daylight for most of Feb but now the sun has real strenght. The Inuit are going to the mussel hole to pick mussels off the ocean floor when the tide is out. The tides are much like NS: very high, very low. Right now the spring tides are very extreme so it is perfect for mussle picking. We will be eating mussels with wine, mussels with butter, mussles in pasta dishes, mussels pickled, mussels baked...mussels , mussels,mussles.

I was going to head out to the shops...all two of them, this morning. My kids go to Culture class at 11 am and are not back until 2 pm. If I am in need of grocery items before the weekend I go during that time. But the wind has come up. Just as I started this blog it looked like a blizzard out there. But now it is just windy. The weather determins everything up here. Elisapie Issac, a young Inuk woman from Salluit, made a National Film Board documentary; "If Weather Permits". The weather determins if plans come in, if we get food, if we can walk to get the food, if we can go fishing, if we can go out of our homes... it determins everything. One thing I have learned is not to plan long term. I never even count on flying home when we are supposed to. It is too painful when the plans are changed. It is easier to take a more relaxed attitude... my friends who will read this will die laughing.... Pearl relaxed, Pearl not upset if the planes are cancelled...yah! Right! her brain must be frozen! I am better... but then I had a long way to go.

I can still scamper up and into the back of a half ton truck with no help. At age 58,while wearing huge northern boots and a heavy coat, this is something to be proud of. Balancing on the trailer hitch with one foot is not so easy. But the real difficult part is slinging that other foot up over the back of the truck, so I can plop in . Not exactly a graceful movement but I can do it and I am most proud of myself. Perhaps the heavy coat keeps me from truly hurting myself.

I had phone calls last night from both Dawn MacNutt and Cecile Doiron. These calls make my stay up here so much easier. Dawn is so funny, so kind. I miss her special insight into life. Cecile is still a major character. We have been running the roads together since we were 13. I often think of her mother scolding us but never telling the fathers what trouble we brewed up. The day she pierced my ears was a real adventure. There was blood over that entire bathroom. It's a wonder I didn't need a transfusion. But if Dr. Doiron ever did find out, all Cecile had to do was say: "Daddy do you want to go smelting?" That man loved to smelt and loved his baby daughter.

It is back to a blizzard again so I don't think I am going for my midweek walk. So difficult to get real exercise here.
Hope this finds you all well.
P