Brings New Meaning To The Term "Googly Eyes"

Hey there,

Before I begin today, I want to warn people that the pictures contained in today's post might be a little... disturbing for our more squeamish visitors. For those of you with 22" monitors and T1 connections, it might already be too late. Then again, if you own a 22" monitor and have a T1 connection, then I don't feel that bad for you.

Last week was a little more eventful than usual as we got not one, but two fun surprises at school. The first wasn't as tragic as it could have been. A water truck driver decided to take a shot at the local 0-60mph speed record while exiting the school yard. Apparently this isn't the best thing to do over rough and snowy terrain since tons of water sloshing around in your tank might cause this to happen:

I'm pretty sure there's something in the manual about NOT doing this.

That's right, the water tank might tear right off the back of the truck. Now, I did mention before that this could have been a lot worse than it was, and the reason I said that is because sewage trucks make the exact same stop every morning. As I'm sure you can imaging, having one of them split open on the playground would have made for a less than ideal working and learning environment in the school.

All in all this event gave everyone at the school a little bit of excitement, but it can't compare to the treat that the grade 4 students got on Friday. One of the local hunters brought in a seal he had caught the day before and with masterful precision that only years of practice can bring, he skinned and dissected the seal in front of all the kids.

During a math lesson, the expression on the children's and the teacher's faces are reversed.

Not only did he show them exactly how each piece could be used, but he also encouraged the children to touch, play and even taste things to their hearts content. Unlike the supervising teacher, the children were far from squeamish and some even had a sense of humour about it all.

Awwww. He's so cute!

Taking Valentine's Day a little too literally.

What? Do I have something on my face?

I've got some more pictures of the actual slicing and dicing, but I thought I'd just link them so that you could have the option to view them. I'm not posting these to disturb people, this is simply the Inuit's way of life. If blood and dead animals disturb you, don't view these pictures!

In this one the hunter is pointing out various parts of the seal's digestive tract.

This is the most gruesome picture, but it also shows just how good the hunters are at making sure that nothing is wasted.

I find events like this fascinating because it shows just how in-tune some of the Inuit still are with their former way of life. It never ceases to amaze me that people were able to live in these kind of winter conditions with the meager resources that the land up here provides. When I think of some of the elders in this community and the difference between how they lived life 70 years ago and how we live now, it reminds me to complain a little less about the small "inconveniences" that I think of as challenges in my own life.

In any case, I should go and make some dinner, although, I think I might have pizza instead of seal tonight.

Take it easy,

Markus

A little fun in the "Sun"

Hey there,

Word on the street is that you Southern Ontario Kids have been enjoying many a snow-day. Mean while we've been partying it up Luau Style. We went to a Hawaiian party last night which meant wearing snow pants over top of my capris. It was totally worth it because I won the Pineapple!



Cheers,
Colleen

ps: Markus' Note: chickpeas + 3 cloves of garlic + oil = great humus + Baaad garlic breath

Happy Birthday Grandma!

This is a special post from the entire Wolski clan in Canada to wish Grandma a very Happy Birthday from all of us. We might not be able to fly to Germany to celebrate with you, but we thought that showing you we're all thinking of you here on the Blog might be the next best thing.

We hope you have a fantastic time!

Here's Collen and Me thinking of you.

This is the family in Dryden wishing you all a happy birthday.

Here's a closeup of the cake that mom made especially for you.

Happy Birthday!

A Walk On The Wild Side

Hello Everybody,

The good news is that everything is going well up here. The bad news is that the internet has slowed to the point where I can barely check my email anymore. I'm almost pining for the days of dial-up. In fact, I'm seriously considering trying out a dial up service or two just to compare the speeds. It's very sad.

In any case, we had a small break in the weather last weekend and I decided to jump at the chance of wandering out without spontaneously freezing and seeing what the village looks like from a distance. As an extra added bonus, I was able to do it from the aptly named "beacon hill" which is nice and high. The walk was a welcome break to the constant indoor life I've been leading and after warming up the camera and salvaging a few precious seconds of battery life, I snapped these pictures in a record 8 seconds or so.

The pictures don't do the view justice. The sun glints off the snow for miles and miles and the effect is simply jaw dropping.

Here's the Beacon with a view of Inukjuak off in the distance. You'd almost miss it if you didn't know it was there.

Since I was spinning around in a circle taking quick pictures in the meagre few seconds of battery life that I had, I was fortunate enough to get these three pictures which I spliced into a nice 180 degree view. Inukjuak can be seen in the right picture.

Since my little excursion the temperature has slipped back down to -40, but I'm still determined to keep up these explorations when the weather permits.

Keep warm everyone,

Markus