I haven’t written in a while. I’ve been trying to wrap my brain around things and life here. It’s been an interesting transition. I’ll quickly recap parts of my first week here (my birthday, wings night) and a short thing about eating out. More to come, promise. I will make a quick note that many of my rantings are out of chronological order. I’m just writing based on what flows most easily at the time, and what makes most sense to me. I’ve been here for 2 and a half weeks now and there are things that I’ve done that I will update you on (hike on my first Saturday – with pictures, spending time with my supervisor and coworkers, Alianait arts festival meeting, gym things, walking dogs and many others) but it may not be in order, and I know I have a bit to catch up on. So, I apologize in advance with the back and forth, and mish mash of dates and timelines.
Birthday Fun
For the last 3 years I haven’t been home for my birthday. Two years ago I was in Tanzania, last year in Cuba and this year in Nunavut. I’ve been lucky enough in those three years to be have been surrounded by loving and wonderful people to make me feel just at home and of course have a little fun. When I came to work on my birthday my preceptor Jennifer left me a little birthday note with a gift bag. Inside was playing cards with pictures of Nunavut’s beautiful landscape, and seal skin earrings the shape of flowers! I was so delighted with my surprise gift; I didn’t know she knew it was my birthday. Later that day (after many happy birthdays from my co-workers) I was surprised again when everyone piled into my office with cupcakes and cake (made my Lindsay – thank you!) singing “happy birthday”. I blew out my candles and made a wish. Everyone stayed a bit to chat and have some laughs. I felt so lucky to be working with such a great team (and so welcomed considering it was my first Thursday, and technically my second day at work!).
After work I headed to the pub at the Nova Inn with Jennifer, Lindsay, Vess and Janet for a beer, and stayed to have dinner with Marc, Peter, Sarah, Ken and Lindsay. Ordered the fish and chips (may be the best I’ve ever had). Everyone was so nice and really it was a great start to my time here.
Wednesday Wing Night
I live in the 8-storey building, apparently the tallest building in the arctic. You can actually see my entire building from ANYWHERE in town. It also helps that it’s big, brown and ugly lol. Anyways so my building in conveniently attached to the Frobisher Inn, a hotel in town. As such I’m connected to the gym and swimming pool (have to buy a membership to access), a movie theatre and well one of the handful of pubs, the Storehouse. (I’m pretty sure I called it the “Storeroom” for a solid week before I clued in to its real name).
Every Wednesday in town the Storehouse and the Legion (another pub in town) have Wings Night. 10 wings for 6$. Considering the prices of food around here, that’s pretty sweet. My first two Wednesdays my coworkers and I headed to the Storehouse (where the best wings are offered) for my taste of Nunavut’s best wings. You have to get to the door no later than 5pm (most people finish work at 5pm) to make sure you get a seat, no joke. You will be SOL and quite sorry if you get there anytime past 5:30 ‘cuz the house will be full.
My first Wednseday I went with Michelle, Lindsay, Vesselina and Marc, a sweet bunch from work. We ordered wings, and sweet sweet potato fries (may be the best I’ve ever had), and beer, and pay upfront. Like you pay before you get your food, when you order, even though you’re already seated and staying for a while. This is policy for wing night. I guess they’ve had people walk out without paying which has caused them problems in the past. That and likely that it can get quite rowdy and crowded, especially towards the later evening and people can’t be found to pay. Who really knows? So we ordered and paid. Now here’s the catch. Wings are 6$ for 10, but then you order the beer, One can of Keiths at 7$.
I’ve had friends tell me that’s where you lose all your money. Figures. You can’t buy beer or any alcohol anywhere in town other than at the few licensed bars. So when you go out, vendors can get away with charging a fair bit extra for your favorite drink. My tab for 10 wings, a can of beer and half the sweet potato fries came to just about 20$. I realize this may not be much for good company (priceless) and a good time, but if we had stayed longer ordered real food and more drinks my bill could have easily made it to 40$ (as they did the following Wednesday).
The next Wednesday Lindsay, Michelle, Sarah, Ken and I headed over to the Storehouse after work. Ken got there early so he could scope us out a table to seat us all. This day Sarah (another MPH student from U of T in Health Promo) and I decided to try the hyped up Lemon pepper wings. Really not worth it. The first one was good, but they were SOOO tangy and zesty it was a bit hard to eat. People around here seem to like them (everyone I’ve spoken to about wings night has very excitedly recommended lemon pepper wings) but they’re not my favorite.
That night Lindsay, Sarah and I stayed later, into the start of the hockey game. As the staff were preparing, behind our table a large projector screen came down across the back wall, and the pre-game commercials came on. It’s no wonder so many people come here. The screen is so big that you can practically see it from every side of bar! The crowd started to get riled up a few minutes into the game, and we had to shout a little to make conversation so we decided to grab a real meal at the Frobisher dining room.
Eating Out
I’ve mentioned the food prices here. But last Wednesday (second Wednesday in Iqaluit) I had a real shocker. After wings and beer I was really craving a salad (weird, I know). After taking my time through the Frob’s menu I consulted the waiter on the two salad options I was decided on: a salad with crab meat and smoked salmon (17.99) and a salmon and avocado salad (18.99). The waiter really recommended the crab meat salad, and it was the cheaper price so I ordered just that. Lindsay ordered the salmon avocado salad, so I thought I could also compare for the future dinning out. Now, when our salads came, I was not impressed! My salad was smaller than half my fist! It looked very fancy, but it was essentially crab meat minced with leeks, and topped with salmon. There were no leafy greens… there were no greens at all. Hmph… I didn’t have the nerve to ask the waiter for another salad knowing that this would likely get thrown out, so I ate it anyways. It was suppperrrr rich, and my stomach was not happy with me afterwards to say the least.
Lindsay’s salad was full of greens, and vegetables, and salmon. She was kind enough (seeing my utter disappointment) to give me taste of her salad. It would have been totally worth the extra dollar and a few more questions for the waiter so that I would have ordered the same meal.
Another sweet place to eat out in town in a place called Yummy Shawarma. [Note: I ate a lot for my first week or so. I really hadn’t wrapped my head around where to buy stuff, what to make (plus the frustration with the grocery store prices had me avoiding the stores in general) but also I figured I could get by not buying and making my own food. Honestly, this week I did a sweet grocery run, bought a ton of vegetables and fruit – oh how I missed them – and am now making my own meals at home… I’m hoping this will help me eat better and prove to be more economical at the end of the day. Studying nutrition I’ve really felt some guilt by overanalyzing what I eat or don’t eat, and really frustration with my perceived inability to cook. I’m trying learn how to make creative meals, or at least ones that are tasty enough to eat. I’m getting some inspiration (and encouragement) from my friends Rob and Lindsay who cook all the time and make some delicious meals. A personal goal this summer: to learn how to cook, and make more time/be more organized to do so.].
As for Yummy Shawarma, it’s a Lebanese food joint that recently opened up in town. It’s run by a Lebanese family here from Ottawa. They have pretty much all that you can ask for with respect to a small-scale/fastfood Middle Eastern joint: Shawarma of all kinds, fettoush and tabouli salad, grape leaves, kebeh, potatos, hummus, and baklava, and the food is delicious. It’s a tab overpriced, as I’ve mentioned numerous times already with respect to all food here, but I wanted to share some of the prices so that friends at home have a greater appreciation for the sharwarma prices in the GTA, but also the luxury of home cooked food. A shawarma in a 6in pita 8.99+tax, with a 12in pita 11.99, my favourite fettoush salad (LOVE this salad, if you haven’t tried it, take your cute self over to an middle eastern restaurant right now, and indulge… seriously, you’re missing out if you haven’t tried this salad), small size is close to 7$ (that’s 1 cup of salad) and here’s the thing that got me the most, ONE meatless grape leave (one wareh enab) is 1$. Now if you were to have grape leaves at my family dinner you would know that you can’t have just one. You could easily have 10-15, 20, 25… okay maybe not that many. But you could have a lot. The nice guy at the shop offered me one for free (score!) when I ordered my first shawarma, but I really don’t think I’ll be coming back for more. It just seems crazy to me to spend that much on one meatless stuffed grape leave (http://www.foodpeoplewant.com/turkish-stuffed-grape-leaves/) . I jokingly asked the man where he got the leaves and he said Lebanon… then he admitted they were shipped to Ottawa first and brought up here. I might have to order some leaves on my own (online or something) and make them myself (with meat).
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