Liza and Dennis took me to the Freshwater Creek to take the polar plunge! As you can tell from my face, the water is quite cold!
You'll all be pleased to know that I did indeed make it back safely. The four plane flights home lasted from six in the morning to midnight on July 5th, so I was extremely glad that my parents (and my boyfriend!) were there to pick me up. It may have been the exhaustion setting in, but arriving home was quite emotional.
It could be years before I realize all of the ways I have grown because of my time in Cambridge Bay. I could not even begin to describe the way the experience has shaped my views of the world. Perhaps an excerpt of my speech at the potluck will provide some insight into my thoughts:
The thing that I love best about our summer of service is that there are no “rules.” Though they encourage you to immerse yourself in the community and learn as much as possible, there are no guidelines as to what you are supposed to learn or how you should measure your growth. That would be futile, of course, because you can’t predict how one is going to grow. For example, I did not grow in my cooking abilities this summer. However, I did live entirely on my own for the first time, and I loved it! Now, I just have to figure out how to move beyond microwaveable meals. : )
Sure, I learned a lot from just being on my own. But more importantly, I learned a lot about myself, about this community, and about life. I learned that I have a passion for writing, that I am very confident in my opinions but that they are constantly under revision, that I enjoy making a fool out of myself, that my favorite moments are the ones where everyone is laughing, that I have rare gifts, that I have weaknesses and fears that I never knew existed, that I have dreams I never existed…that I am very different now than I was two months ago.
I learned that I would probably not survive here during the winter (summer is hard enough!), that there is a wondrous thrill in being able to see for miles and miles across the land, that nothing is as big as the Arctic sky, that change comes quickly;
that this community’s strength is its people, that it mourns collectively, that it celebrates with passion, that it values life and those that give it…that the danger of falling in love with a place is that when you leave, you suddenly realize that you can’t take that place back with you, that you leave a piece of yourself behind at the same time.
My experiences here have been incredible: I have gone caribou hunting, discovered a new passion for muskox burgers, learned to drum dance, watched some amazing drum dancing, gone ice fishing and gone to the dump, hiked up Mount Pelly, ridden in a komatik, gotten beat up playing soccer, learned how to throat sing and sew mitts (kind of), been in a fire truck, seen daylight at four o’clock in the morning, played with some very cute husky puppies, finally gotten used to the nose wrinkle and eyebrow raising thing [how Inuit say "no" and "yes", respectively], eaten Canadian Oreos (which are better than American Oreos), avoided the swine flu, met incredible people and gained valuable insight into the issues most important to Nunavutsutmiut.
Now, after experiencing so much, I am excited to go home; not because of the weather, but because I am excited to see all the ways I can apply what I have learned here to my life there. I am positive that I will continue to realize the life lessons I received here when I am back in my element. If nothing else, I certainly know how to keep warm during the winter! Seriously, though, each and every one of you has played a role in inspiring me to develop and grow in ways that I have not yet recognized. And as I go through life, I will look back fondly upon the memories I have of Cambridge Bay and smile, knowing that it was one of the highlights of my life.
Thank you to all of my readers for following my adventures in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada! This is the last post that I will write, but I will be writing some essays and creating a slideshow for the scholarship program to document my experience as well. I greatly appreciate your support and your questions throughout the journey. I hope that my ramblings have sparked curiosity about the people of the Arctic and the issues they face.
The price of milk is one thing I will definitely not miss!
