I like my job as cashier, for now its still very novel, and I assure you that stores up here are the same as down south. Aisles of food, with fresh produce, the bakery and meat department located on the periphery. Bags of charcoal, water containers, and a rug cleaner at the entrance. Its nice to see people who I’ve met in Iqaluit thus far and to socialize with the other cashiers. The corporate experience is also the same, carding in, waiting to see how shifts shift; the different departments are all here and so on. I am not sure how things will play out in the end, but I am worried about running out of material for this travelogue. One of my aims is talk about things in the north to people in the south, however my current occupation doesn’t provide much content after a couple of days; this blog isn’t titled “A day in the life of a cashier”. Nonetheless, things happen.
Last night, I hung out with friends Lindsay and newly arrived Marc. We have driven around town a couple of times. Once we went up drove a road that leads out of town, past the airport, the over filled garbage dump which blends in with the surrounding ridges, the sewage treatment plant, an old weather station being converted by a couple into a home, past Sylivia Grinnel parc where I had camped out, past mysterious telecommunication towers and piles of crushed cars. At the end of the road you are on a piece of land that juts out from the end of Frobisher Bay. Facing towards the bay, the Sylvia Grinnel River has its mouth on the right, and Iqaluit is located on inlet to the right. The land here is flatter than elsewhere but the view of ridges is the same, although the snow I could see in the distance on my arrival has greatly dissipated after three more weeks of sunlight. Nearby there were great humps of rock which you could climb. This time of year is special because some residents of Iqaluit set up their canvas tents in this vicinity where they are near the river. When we climbed up one hump of rock you could see dozens of tent dwellers, or other people, fishing along the shoreline. If you keep on along the shoreline towards the river, you will continue to walk by canvas tents and suddenly you will come across an archeological site. The Thule culture lived Iqaluit between the years 1000-1700, and after them people from the Dorset culture live here (I don’t know what the different is between Thule and Dorset, something to find out). The site in question looked to me like an old foundation of a house, which is what it was essentially. A large but shallow hole surrouned by rocks. These people were nomadic and they lived in different houses throughout the year. Igloos in the winter, but these submerged houses and tents at other times. If I can, I will provide more details on this later on.
Afterwards, Marc, Lindsay and I went to the Human society to walk the dogs. And then following this we chased the sunset. When you try to drive of Iqaluit you quickly realize that the roads do not lead anywhere with the exception of plenty of gravel pits and Apex, 5-10 minute drive away. We did come across the first military base in Iqaluit, where which the old foundations for buildings looked ready to be built upon. There were plenty of clouds spread out evenly and a quarter of the sky was the colour of brightly shining copper.
Once things settle down a little, I will be sure to find adventures for you dear readers.