Okpiks, Puppies and Poutin

The environmental class got a lot of work done today, but I am still a little concerned about the progress they are making. They have plenty of time left to finish it, but I'm not sure they realize how much information they are going to need in order to convince the community that recycling is necessary.

In the afternoon, we helped finish up the craft project with the 6th grade class. They are a blast to work with! They were trying to convince me to go to the youth dance this weekend, which is being held in conjunction with the re-opening of the Youth Centre! I am very excited about this weekend; if you have been reading my blog you know that there are few social opportunities for Cambridge Bay youth. Hopefully, the new Youth Centre will fulfill the need for entertainment options in this community.

Liam shows off his okpik (snowy owl)

It's been a hard past few weeks, so some of the staff at the Heritage Society decided to have a group date to celebrate their being over! Renee, Brendan, Cameron (a high-schooler who works in the library), Richard (a 6th-grader who comes to the library every day), and I first went to the Quik Stop (my first time!) for dinner. The Quik Stop is the only fast food joint in town and serves KFC and Pizza Hut, as well as candy and slurpies. I refrained from ordering poutin, the Canadian version of biscuits and gravy. Poutin is a dish of fries with cheese and gravy. It looks a little disgusting, but is actually quite good (in moderation)!

Brendan, Renee, Cameron, me and Richard at the Quik Stop

Brendan has been talking all this week about a litter of puppies he walks by on the way to work, so of course we had to go see them. They were husky puppies and were sooooo cute! : )

This one was my favorite

Our group date ended at the game hall, the late night popular hang-out spot for teens in Cambridge Bay. The game hall has foosball, air hockey, pinball, etc. as well as candy, cookies and soft drinks for sale. Richard led us to a touch-screen thing that had a bunch of video games on it; we must have played for an hour! My favorite was the word find game, which Renee, Richard and I furiously worked on together as the clock counted down. They helped me choose and eat some new Canadian candy bars to try. I ended up with a Wonderbar (peanut butter middle covered in caramel and chocolate...amazing!) and Glossettes (chocolate-covered almonds...also amazing!). After trying them, I spent the next few minutes calculating in my head how much money it would cost me to ship a big box of candy back to North Carolina. : )

I now wish I was not aware of the amazing candy selection at the game hall

It was a most necessary relaxing day. : )