Dear Arctic newsletter,
Between June 25 and August 18 2010 I lived in Iqaluit. The decision to
move to Iqaluit for the summer was made on short notice. After all, it
was little over two weeks before that I was volunteering at a booth at
General synod. On the first day at General synod I put my name into a
draw at the Arctic Diocese booth for a ticket to Iqaluit. The draw
forgotten, the week went on until one day, on the bus, I get a call
from Debra Gillis from Yellowknife -she was in Halifax at the time for
General synod. I met Debra at her booth and gave her my name and
number, I still did not realize that I won a plane ticket, in fact I
was probably half a sleep. When Debra told me that I wont a place
ticket to Iqaluit. I jumped in sheer surprise. The ticket could have
gone to anyone, maybe Barack Obama or our primate Fred Hiltz,
thankfully it didn't go to Stephen Harper nor Michael Ignatieff
because they already visit too much. The odd thing is that I did not
feel like I had won a prize, it felt like I had mission to visit St.
Jude's Cathedral and then tell people in the south about it. Thank-you
Arctic Diocese for the plane ticket.
I would not have been able to stay longer than a week or two if not
for the kindness of strangers. From day one Captain Rus and Father
Brian Burrows made sure I was fed and had a place to stay. Members of
the committee for the reconstruction of St. Jude's Cathedral gave
advice on finding a job, and others became friends. At long last I
found employment at Northmart where I worked in the stereo section. I
liked it here because I could chat with folks I had met in Iqaluit and
meet other people. For fun I would walk through the Tundra and
collect flowers and take pictures. I will never forget the sight of
the purple saxifrage blanketing the ground. Sometimes I even went to
the movies, once with my friend Markoosie. I don't know Markoosie's
last name but I wish I could send him a letter, we had fun
conversations at North mart. I also liked to visit the Library. The
library always had nice people to talk to and so many great books. On
Sunday's I went to church and played my violin at the english service.
Sometime's I went to an Inuktitut speaking service at St. Jude's or
St. Simon's where I witnessed the devotion of Inuit in their worship.
Now I should to learn to speak Inuktitut. One time I went fishing and
I had one bite. I was happy about this. Afterwards my friend Tommie
gave me a dried arctic char, extremely tasty!
Now I am living in Halifax where I learn about different religions at
school. Maybe one day I will learn about the old religon of the Inuit.
When I write this letter I am looking over a bay with lots of
sailboats floating in the water. In a couple weeks the owners will
store their boats for winter. Across the bay there alot of trees. I
like to tell everyone about Iqaluit and the building of the Cathedral.
Its nice to be here but I miss Iqaluit. Lastly, maybe my friends like
Jo, Pauloosie, Tommie, Markoosie, Tyler, Lindsay, and Colin, and all
my friends from Northmart, don't read this newsletter so if you see
them please say hello.
Yours sincerely,
Ted “the friendly housesitter” Williams
