Arthur T. Specht

I'm on tour with AVS right now, just finished at a show in Edmonton, AB.

I haven't updated this blog since October 4th, as that was technically the last day that I was in Nunavut. I do feel proud that I was able to keep the blog updated every day that I was there, but now that I'm back in the 'south', I'm not as diligent!

Regardless, I'm on the road, and will be updating it more readily!

Northern lights and fires

I've really gotten attached to being up here in Iqaluit. I'm going to be quite sad when I leave on Sunday afternoon. Sure I'll be glad to be back home with everyone I know well and care for, but still, there's something about being up here.

Last night and the night before were the first nights that I've seen northern lights since I've been up here. Mostly because the skies have been cloudy ever since I arrived. The other night they caught me by surprise: I just looked up wondering if they'd be there, and sure enough, they were. Nothing fantastic, and actually quite difficult to view, since they were DIRECTLY overhead. Wearing a large parka and trying to look above you (while walking on a road) makes things substantially more difficult. I also had to keep holding up my mitts to block the street lights, since they were preventing my view. Something else obstructing my view: the various emergency vehicles passing me on the road towards a location across from the residence (already extinguished).

I found out the next day that a courier/delivery service called Arctic Express had it's warehouse burn down. I took photos the next morning, as it was still smouldering, and I'm curious to hear more details, as there was a young woman there who went to the edge of the wreckage (as close as the police would let her) and dropped off some flowers. Apparently because of slow business, Arctic Express had been renting out parts of the warehouse for people needing a place to stay (remember, the housing shortage ongoing in the north).

However, last night, I witnessed the northern lights again, and I'm going to have to write another blog about that experience, because there's so much thinking and writing to be put into that.

'Til then!

The people you meet...

I've been so lucky to have met so many great people up here in Iqaluit.

But what's even more interesting is the different characters, and their connections. Now as most of you know, I'm also a musician, and as such, I tend to seek out people involved in the music community. That being said, an earlier post of mine mentioned meeting one of the founders of Pop Montreal, which really shows how small Canada really is.

Then today, I found out that one of the individuals that I've been working with fairly closely is related to a Canadian music icon: Fred Eaglesmith, or "Fred J Elgersma"! I even got a free CD!

Of course, you also get the small-town feel, for example, last night I attended a community choir practice, and was graciously given a lift by a nice gentleman named Frank, who as it turns out had a meeting at the research institute today. That, and running into all of the people that you've met over the course of your stay in various locations, like grocery stores and movie theatres.

I was in the movie theatre tonight for my first Iqaluit movie experience. I even lucked out as it was cheap night! I saw "Ce qu'il faut pour vivre" [The Necessities of Life]. It's in Inuktitut and French with English subtitles, so it definitely caught the full demographic range of this city. A great film, one of the young actors is related to one of the people working in this office (NRI), so that reconnects everything yet again! Being in a small theatre, without previews, sharing many laughs (and even tears) with the audience was something you just don't get in a extremely large movie theatre in the south. I attended a movie night at a house a while back, and with about 15 people there, that was a similar experience, but tonight's was far more multicultural.

The world is a tiny place, and getting smaller by the second.

Safety first

Safety is an important consideration everywhere, whether crossing the street, walking with sharp utensils, and even washing your hands.

However, up here in Iqaluit certain cautions are thrown to the wind. For example: seatbelts? No way. Who uses those anymore? I didn't want to wear one anymore after I got my thumb stuck in the hole of the buckle when I was 5 years old, that's for sure. But in my adult life, especially after having been in an accident where a vehicle was flipped, they sure become important.

But certainly not to people driving in Iqaluit. I feel like a fool when jumping into a vehicle and instinctively reaching for the buckle while the driver laughs and comments on how I'm clearly from out of town, since No One wheres seat belts. Other issues of safety and caution that are missing are locking doors. Car doors are rarely locked, unless items of great value are left inside. I've also seen a surprising number of vehicles missing door handles. Also...many vehicles that are damaged altogether.

I've only ridden in a taxi twice since I've been here, but I've been in about 5 different vehicles (some official business vehicles too), and the local conventions still apply. For those driving, the speed limits are posted (usually around 40), traveling at least 20 km above the limit is the norm.

I've even talked to some youth here, and in ONE sitting with 3 different kids in casual conversation, all of them had been hit by a vehicle in their lifetime (13-17 years). Unreal.