qatar bound

This will most likely be my last post on this site, but I wanted to give my new blog address to those of you who have followed my escapades. I am heading for Qatar to teach chemistry at the College of the North Atlantic - Qatar. CNA is a college in St. John's Newfoundland, and they have a satellite campus in Qatar. My friend, Ron Bennett, who was my principal in Kimmirut two years ago, is already there and thinks it is a great place to teach. He is the one who put me onto this position. I will be leaving for Qatar in mid April, if all goes according to plan. I will be posting a new blog at: www.camelridertoo.blogspot.com. I hope that many of you will give it a look, and make comments or e-mail me once in awhile. Cheers

Lights out

Well, we've entered the season of no sun which begins officially for our location tomorrow, but in reality began last week because of the high hills just to the south of the hamlet. So far it is just like before dawn, or just after sunset, not really dark, but just dusk. It is strange when it begins getting dark before noon (we're a quite a ways east for the mountain time zone), and is totally dark by 1:30. By the time school is out at 4:00 it seems like it's time for supper. We've had very cold below -30C weather for approximately a week now, although it has been quite calm. Tonight we are having a quite a storm with high winds whipping the snow around.
Last weekend I accompanied the badminton team to Rankin Inlet for the weekend. It was a good flight down, and I enjoyed seeing a new community. Rankin is about twice as big as Kugaaruk, and you can even get a Pizza Hut pizza at the Northern Store there! We saw some men's hockey being played and it was pretty good. Of course, Rankin is home to Jordin Tootoo, the NHL hockey player. I even met a former student of my good friend Tom Garrity's brother Dave, who taught in Rankin back in the sixties. I'm beginning to get excited about going home for Christmas. I fly out on the 18th, stay overnight in Yellowknife, and get back to Ontario on the 19th. Hope to see many of you at that time.

cross on the hill

I went out for a ski today. The sun was out and the sky clear, but it was still very cold. It is just after sundown now (1:49) and the temp is -28C. I went across the ice to the hills on the north side of the hamlet and skied up a ways, then climbed the rest of the way up to the huge cross that has been erected there. It is quite high and affords a panoramic view of the hamlet and the surrounding land and ocean. Anyway, I thought a couple more pictures were in order. Just about froze my hands taking them though.

Long weekend

Ah, how nice it is to live in a civilized part of the country where Remembrance Day is still a holiday, even if it falls on a weekend. It is so nice not to have to go in to school to teach tomorrow. Mind you I'll be in to do some prep and marking. Sunset is now about 1:15, and it begins to darken soon after, so there is not too much one can do outside in the afternoon anyway. It has been very cold here lately with the temperature not rising above -20C for more than a week. Got out for a snowmobile ride with Linda yesterday, and went about 30 km south of here where the locals go to fish for char. They set nets through the ice and bring home lots of fish. They were nice enough to give Linda and me one each. I'm going to try to post two pictures, one of me with Bartholomey and a komatick (sled) full of char. Apparently they got about this much again after we left. The other is of the sunset this afternoon. The air was full of ice crystals and the sun was just a round ball. Very pretty. I've decided to stretch it a bit and add one more pic, of haircutting day in Kugaaruk.

skating on sea ice

Apparently my posting from last week didn't make it on line. The sea ice was very good on Saturday but it was too cold. On Sunday, although we had some snow Sat. night, some of us went down to the ice where Joanne and I tried the skates. It was pretty good, and we likely won't get another chance to do this. The other pic is of Linda and Jess, grade 6 and grade 5 teachers respectively.

Another weekend almost gone. The weather has been cold, and overcast, but no snow to speak of. The sea is frozen out to the islands now, and is likely to stay frozen unless we get a high wind in the near future. Went to church again this morning, and took a picture of the altar which I will post here. The priest is a really good guy, and I admire the way he has made himself fit into this community. The people really like him, and he is doing a great job among them. I took a picture of myself and Gertrude, my guitar. I've been growing a beard which is now quite noticeable. I don't really like its look or feel, but it does keep the face warm.

Just thought I'd make a new posting to show off the new snowmobile. Managed to get some gas tonight. Took a little bit of turning over to get it started, because it was totally drained of gas for shipping, but it started and seems to be running fine. Now just have to wait for more snow. I don't think I'll be running it on the gravel as some of the locals do, and the sea ice hasn't formed yet. That will probably happen by the end of the month.