Day 3 – Monday 12 August
Content by joanne
Another beautiful day here in Iqaluit. The sun is shining
(since very early this morning), the sky is blue, and we are all keen to get
back to the build site.
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| Ready and Raring To Go! | |
The work tasks today pretty-much continued from yesterday,
with high-altitude siding, deck railings, the cutting tables, and the crawl
space. We also moved on to another space-constrained job of putting insulation
under the house.
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| Collin and Paul discussing the relative merits | of varying architectural styles |
I an not sure how much the pictures convey the small spaces
involved in the crawl space, but try this: climb up a short ladder (about 5
feet) to a wide hole about the height of your kitchen cupboards. Then crawl
back about 20 feet, through another small opening (it’s getting dark now), set
yourself in a comfortable position (and I use that term loosely) and wrangle a
piece of plywood that is 37 5/8 inches wide by 90 inches long (I know this
because I cut them), and hammer them in place. You can do this on your knees or
on your behind, but both get very uncomfortable after a while.
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| Our fearless leader - looking for yet more insulation! | | | |
Or if you prefer, there is the insulation under the house.
Once again in crawling position, you have pretty-much the same height to deal
with. Although you do have light and fresh air for this position, you have to
stuff insulation in over your head, crawl on stones, and hope that the wind
blows, because when it stops the mosquitoes find you. There were definitely
some sore knees and cramped bodies emerging from these areas.
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| Marrissa showing us the proper technique. |
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| Caroline and Maggie-Bridget - our high-altitude workers. |
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We also met Tommy today. Tommy is a 12-year-old local boy
who cycles to the build site on his bike and ‘helps’ Collin the site
supervisor. He is a very engaging boy with a big smile with goals of becoming a
carpenter some day ‘just like Collin’.
After lunch of soup and sandwiches supplied by a local
restaurant, the group takes a hike up the hill between the build site and the
bay, and were rewarded with an incredible view of the whole bay – sparkling
water, snow in the nearby hills, and colourful houses dotting the waterfront.
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| Tommy and his new friends on the hill-top | |
After work, there was the requisite internet-fix where we
were eventually kicked out (due to closure) from the library, and then kicked
out (due to closure) from the visitor center. The tech guy from the library was
very helpful, though, and told us that the best signal was from around the side
of the building, by the stairs, so it must have been an amusing sight (or
perhaps ‘normal’ – who knows) to see six or more obvious visitors clustering on
the stairs, by the door, and on the ground. It was a good view, though, for
skyping.
The blog post yesterday was uploaded
from the dirt outside the library (but close to the door) in Iqaluit.
And then there is the artwork. You see artisans on the
street, inside buildings, outside building, almost anwhere but not all the time
– selling their paintings, sculptures, and creations. They are beautiful. The
paintings we have seen so far are either just black on white, or else with
these amazing greens, blues, yellow, and greys. There are owls made from
seal-skin with big white eyes. The sculptures are either white, or green, or
grey, or black – with stone from various areas that is clear, marbled, veined,
or with what looks like crystals. It also makes it a very personal experience
to buy directly from the artist – who has most likely just finished (or will be
finished soon). The problem is that the artisan may be there now, but may (or
may not) be there the next day. This makes shopping a bit difficult.
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| A stone-carver out by our build site. |
As an example, on the way back from the library we saw a
stone-carver out in the street. He was making a rather large bear from clear
black rock that was going to have a green fish in his mouth. At that point he
was just cutting the larger outline of the bear and the fish was just a piece
of rock – rough on one side and smooth on the other. The price was going to be
$400 and we ere told to come back at around 7:30. No takers yet. After supper,
we went out for a walk and saw the same guy who was polishing the fish – about
4 inches long and curved. The bear was inside being polished. No-one committed
yet, but definitely some interest.
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| Putting the finishing touches on the fish... |
On the way back from the market, the piece
was finished and looked amazing. Marrissa, who has a keen interest in the
North, and actually wants to come back to live here, was definitely interested.
Alex, Paige, and Paul were interested - but perhaps a smaller size. Marrissa
was contemplating how much was in the bank account, and if she could get there
now, when a reduced price of $380 was made (unbidden) from the artist. There
were offers of financial assistance, purses and wallets were opened, and
Marrissa was committed. She was so thrilled with her ‘first piece of big-girl
art’. When we arrived back at the townhouse we learned that Johanna (who had
not seen the final piece) was also interested and had just decided to go back
out and buy it. Too late.
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| Marrissa and her first 'Big-Girl Art' |
Supper was spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread – which was
very tasty, and we all went to bed – tired and perhaps a bit sore, but happy.
