Another Island

I arrived in my new island home (Baffin Island) on August 15. Despite my best intentions I am just getting around to blogging. The trip from Nova Scotia with 4 cats and a dog was much less stressful than I expected. I'd never travelled by air with pets and so I worried a great deal about things like pets escaping in busy airports. I was haunted by a new story about a dog running around the run ways at Halifax airport. However, thanks to my friends at Bayview Animal hospital who provided me with some lovely pills (for the animals, not for me), no catastrophes occurred on the trip which included 3 flights over two days. The overnight stay at a hotel in Ottawa was interesting. I shared the bed with 5 very drugged, very happy critters - not much sleep for me, but a great sense of relief that all was well for them.
I must add that the people at Westjet were incredibly helpful and kind with the animals - unbelievable service.

I was stunned at the view from the window of the plane as we approached Clyde River. Thankfully, I was able to take some pictures because I don't think I could adequately describe it.



I can't believe how quickly time has passed since I've been here. School started on August 18. This was also the first day that it snowed. Not enough to hang around, though. The snow arrived and stayed about three weeks ago. Apparently, I can expect constant snow cover until June. It was very light all the time when I first got here. The sun only set for a very short time around 2 AM. Now it is getting dark more and more rapidly every night. Around the middle of November, it will become completely dark and stay that way for two months or so.
I am teaching in a P-12 school with a student population of about 300 kids. The teaching staff consists of 20 teachers, half of which come from the south - a very fun group of co-workers (most of them are from NFLD, so lots of laughs). The program I am teaching is called Community Occupations. I have a group of non-academic high school kids who will be working on upgrading basic skills and going out into the community for work experience. They are a great group of kids, very funny and kind and willing to do anything that is asked of them.

My Government of Nunavut issue house is large (2 bedrooms) and comfortable. I was amazed at how quickly the pets settled in (same beds, same dish of food ...you get the picture)