Day 5 – Wednesday 14 August
Content by Alex & Paige with contributions from the
Peanut Gallery
After spending over half of a week in Iqaluit, the team has
discussed a number of things that have surprised us about Iqaluit. There are
also many questions we still have that we’ll keep asking around to find answers
for.
10 Surprising Things about Iqaluit
- We haven’t really seen any small cars, only trucks and SUVs. This makes sense when you think of winter conditions here, but it was still interesting to note.
- There is a lot of very interesting architecture in Iqaluit. We learned that many shipping containers have been fashioned into houses and small structures, but besides that, many downtown buildings are built with very intricate details.
- There is only 1 sidewalk in all of Iqaluit, and it is only about 20 feet long. Pedestrians walk along the side of the road, or down the middle and scatter when a car comes along.
- It seems like there is water in any direction you look. There is an abundance of waterfront in Iqaluit!
- There are SWARMS of mosquitoes everywhere you look! You think you’ve seen a lot of mosquitoes? Think again. Whatever you’re picturing, multiply that by 10 and you’re getting there…
- More on the mosquitoes – they don’t really buzz like the ones we are used to. This cuts down on the annoyance factor at least a little bit.
- With the airport so close to the inhabited parts of Iqaluit, airplanes sound like a rocket ship when they take off. You can also hear the take off from wherever you are in Iqaluit! Luckily it doesn’t seem like they do late night flights here.
- Iqaluit is bigger than we expected. There are always many people out and about, and the city sprawls further than we thought it would. Our build is located in Apex which is a small “suburb” just outside of the main part of Iqaluit.
- We were very pleasantly surprised to find how warm it is in Iqaluit at this time of year. We were sure to pack our layers, and these definitely come in handy early in the mornings, but by lunchtime many of us are down to a single layer.
- Iqaluit caters to tourists. For being such a small city, they definitely provide anything a visitor might need. There are at least 3 hotels here, many restaurants and everyone is so friendly and welcoming.
- Communication is very difficult for a capital city.
- Amazon
and Costco ship here for free (free shipping anywhere in
- 60% of the population is youth, and we haven’t seen an over abundance of kids around. This seems a little strange for summer vacation!
- Why are there small red lights on the sides of all of the homes in Iqaluit? Some of these will be turned on, and others off. Some theories include water/sewage servicing.
- Why are the houses heated to such a warm temperature? This is to the point that we all sleep with our windows wide open.
- How
old does your cell phone need to be to work here? It seems like most smart
phones don’t work, but we’ve also been told anything that’s not 3G and is
serviced by
- Why are some stop signs in 3 languages (English, French and Inuktitut), and others are only in 2 languages (English and Inuktitut)? We also think that the Inuktitut writing on the stop signs is different depending on which sign you are reading. Why is this?
- What does it feel like going to school in a building that looks like a giant ice cube with no windows? This is what the school down the street from us looks like.
- Is the RCMP building actually sinking like we have heard rumours of?
- What salary would someone need to be earning to be able to afford the prices here?
- WHERE do all of these mosquitoes come from?????
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