To keep myself accountable, I am going to share the things I have yet to accomplish on my to-do list with you:
1. Go ice skating
2. Meet the mayor
3. Learn to sew mittens (halfway there!)
4. Learn to make bannock
5. Show recycling video to the community
6. Finish the recycling project
7. Make documentary about Cambridge Bay and its youth
8. Take the "polar plunge"
9. Make dried char
10. Eat maktaaq
When I am through with my summer, I will share with you my entire to-do list, which has more meaningful tasks on it. For now, I will share with you the exciting progress that I am making regarding #5 and #6!
Today I made a phone call to Canadian North (an airline) to work out the details of the recycling program. I knew from Pia that the cargo crew agreed to transport the recyclables from Cambridge Bay to Yellowknife for free if we could provide the labor to count and sort them, as well as a place for temporary storage. I was concerned that it would be difficult to convince someone to volunteer to sort the recyclables regularly, but the guy with Canadian North assured me that we would receive the profit from the Beverage Refund Program, which returns 10c for every can and bottle. This is fantastic, because it means we could pay students for their work. Perhaps the community would make more of an effort to recycle if it knew that it was supporting a young person in addition to the benefits of recycling.
All of this means that the recycling program will be in place before I leave! Though I am hesitant to celebrate at this point, I am excited that all of the students' hard work will be recognized in such a short period of time. The Heritage Society is responsible for planning the events associated with several upcoming holidays, so Renee has agreed to incorporate a "green" event for Aboriginal Day (June 21st)! We are going to try to organize a video screening and cultural ceremony that incorporates Inuit traditions that celebrate the special relationship between people and the land. I really enjoy working with Renee and Brendan; they always try to buy the most environmentally-friendly products available...no styrofoam cups for us!
The high school awards ceremony was this morning, and to be honest, the majority of it was uncomfortable. The majority of the awards were awarded to the minority of white students or higher-class Inuit students. In addition, most of the students who received awards received more than one! Perhaps those students were the most deserving of the awards, but what kind of message was sent to the other students?
Renee invited me to eat dinner with her and Tahner, her boyfriend, at the house of their friend Al, the Medevac dispatcher. A man in his mid-60s, Al has a great sense of humor and was a real pleasure to laugh with. He fed us a great dinner that included chicken, mashed potatoes and sauerkraut, with chocolate-covered cranberries for dessert! Tahner contributed a sugar-free cake for dessert. It actually tasted good! You see, Tahner is what some would call a "health freak." He does not eat sugar, white flour, grease, processed meat, dairy or anything else that tastes good. One of my favorite memories of Cambridge Bay will be my conversation with Renee on the day of Tahner's birthday, which began with my asking her what kind of dinner she was going to make.
"Well, I don't know," she responded. "I don't have that much time to make anything special."
"Pasta is quick and easy," I suggested.
"Oh, but Tahner doesn't eat anything with white flour," she replied.
"Hmm...I guess that rules out pancakes too, huh? And pizza...and grilled cheese...and stew...and casserole...geez, Renee! What are you going to do for his birthday cake!?"
"I'm not sure," she said. "I don't really have time to make a no sugar, no flour, no dairy cake!"
We laughed, and I wished her luck with her grocery shopping.
The next morning, I asked her what she ended up doing for a birthday cake. She laughed, saying, "Well, I bought a watermelon, cut it in half and stuck a candle in it!!" : )
SWINE FLU UPDATE: Unfortunately, Tahner was called in the middle of dinner to fly the jet to Medevac someone out of a nearby community. He's been making a lot of flights to Gjoa Haven, Talloyoak and Kugaruuk (see map below) lately to fly out suspected swine flu cases (mostly small children). Yay. This means I was incorrect in my earlier post when I said that there were no cases of swine flu in the Kitikmeot region. In fact, I learned today that about 100 cases have been diagnosed in Nunavut. Yay. However, there have not been any cases yet in Cambridge Bay. If there were, however, I have no doubt that it would spread rapidly, as it has in other Northern communities, because everyone shops and works in the same areas. Yay.
Click on the map to enlarge it
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