Signs that I've probably been up North for a while:
1. It's 'only' -20 outside, and I think, "Gosh, it's awful warm today! I won't even need the hood on my parka!"
2. I can tell, looking out my window in the morning, whether it's blizzarding. Well, mainly that means I can't distinguish the white in the sky from the white on the ground from the white of the sea, and it all just looks white, with the occasional house popping out for flourish.
3. I hang out at NorthMart, just to chat with the neighbours. D'you understand? I'm hanging out in a SUPERMARKET!!! :P (Produce aisle:" Hey Pete! How's it going? Taking your truck out tonight?" Crackers section: "Hey Anita! What time do I need to meet up with you this week?" Pasta: "Elizabeth! How was school this week?" etc etc... sadness... :P
4. I'm used to being told that I look like someone's sister or their aunt or their mother (their MOTHER???) now...
5. I'm used to people saying "Hi Doc!" (Doc? Doc?? What kind of nickname is that???) to me on the streets...
6. I eat meat, whether originally walking, swimming or flying, at every single freaking meal...
7. My boots have been utterly destroyed by the snow out here. Snow 2 Boots 0. We've been trying to hold them together with crazy glue and industrial staples long enough for me to get home and chuck them...
8. I actually want to go out and kill animals and wear their fur (FYI Fur is beautiful and it is warm, much better than any poly-ethyl-vinyl-chlorphyll-ite material despite what the politically correct may say)... although I suspect I would be a pretty pathetic hunter (Oh dear... I think I killed it... do you think I hurt it badly? or, even worse... Oh dear... I think I accidentally pointed the rifle in the wrong direction... do you think they'll be able to salvage that limb?)
9. (A medical one) I wonder, "What the heck is taking so long???" when a woman's in labour for more than 30 minutes. (I've been doing a lot of obstetrics up here, which is great, cause I love it, but it's been less than challenging/educational. The women here are INCREDIBLE! Most women would probably envy them. Obviously, we only have one anaesthetist up here, so it's rare that someone gets an epidural (I actually haven't seen anyone get one, but who needs one when you're in labour for such a short time?). These ladies are able to push their babies out in less than ten minutes! (I know some of you moms are green with envy :P) One woman made one short grunt, looked up at me and asked, "Is the baby out yet?", which it wasn't, but it only took one more short grunt and the baby was out...
The only non-Inuit lady I delivered up here pushed for 1 1/2 hrs (which actually wasn't too bad for a first baby), but I -forgot- that labour usually takes that long, but I remember thinking at about the fifteen minute mark, "What's the hold up, man?" :P I think I'm going to have difficulty getting used to waiting the length of labour with my patients again... :P
And sadly: 10. I am no longer surprised or truly horrified at ghastly stories of domestic violence, incest or assault (actually, just plain old brokenness) within the homes of families up here anymore. I find I am more surprised when I find a functional family, which is truly a sad and lamentable situation. I think that may be one of the parts of my heart that will stay here...
julia
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
Nunavut VIII
So, I've attemped going caribou hunting. I went for a whole day out onto the tundra, looking for the elusive animal, searching over wind-swept plains seeking the furry-deer-with-antlers, all for... nothing.... sigh....
People were so generous! Feeling, I guess, that I was a pretty wimpy city girl, various guys lent me all this gear... and I thought I was the Pillbury boy with my parka... I had a caribou skin face mask, balaklava, goggles, skidoo helmet, seal skin mitts up to my elbows, goosedown ski pants, wool soocks, vests, and boots... I could barely fit on the skidoo after all that, but I must say... I was totally toasty the whole afternoon, though I suppose I was just -that- much more additional deadweight...
I was probably the most useless person on the expedition. I couldn't talk, cause I had too much stuff over my face. They wanted me to have some tea at the halfway point since they were worried that I was getting too cold (how could they tell? I couldn't tell them anything!), but realized the huge effort it would be to get all my stuff off my face to actually have some would not really be worth it... I couldn't hear anything. I could barely hoist my leg over the skidoo b/c of the great weight of my legs in their boots... it was pretty much sadness :) :) :) And, most importantly, if a polar bear did show up, since I couldn't shoot a gun, I'd just waste get-away weight on the skidoo.... sigh... :) :) :)
At any rate, it was fun! It was kind of like riding those zhemi-jahns in Benin, but even more scary... I just had to keep repeating to myself, "It's just like riding a horse, it's just like riding a hose..." ... except for I had no reins, the horse could go 60km/hr over rocky tundra, and it wouldn't stop if you thought it was going too fast! However, I've been having the post-horse-ride gait since then, walking kind of bow-legged since my thighs are killing me! :)
It was gorgeous. The Arctic is terrifyingly beautiful. I can see how easy it would be to die out here alone, not only b/c of the cold, but the disorientation, and the vast distances... no caribou were found, but as I was told, it's been getting harder to find them as they've been heading norther with the encroachment of global warming... oh well. I was kind of looking forward to help hack off caribou head and skin the animal... they figured my surgical skills might've come in handy...
So for the whole expedition, I ended up catching a bit of frostbite on the end of my nose... it just figures; cover my face with a caribou in order to hunt caribou, so the guardian angel of the caribou afflicts me with frostbite for such war-mongering thought....
Love you!
julia
People were so generous! Feeling, I guess, that I was a pretty wimpy city girl, various guys lent me all this gear... and I thought I was the Pillbury boy with my parka... I had a caribou skin face mask, balaklava, goggles, skidoo helmet, seal skin mitts up to my elbows, goosedown ski pants, wool soocks, vests, and boots... I could barely fit on the skidoo after all that, but I must say... I was totally toasty the whole afternoon, though I suppose I was just -that- much more additional deadweight...
I was probably the most useless person on the expedition. I couldn't talk, cause I had too much stuff over my face. They wanted me to have some tea at the halfway point since they were worried that I was getting too cold (how could they tell? I couldn't tell them anything!), but realized the huge effort it would be to get all my stuff off my face to actually have some would not really be worth it... I couldn't hear anything. I could barely hoist my leg over the skidoo b/c of the great weight of my legs in their boots... it was pretty much sadness :) :) :) And, most importantly, if a polar bear did show up, since I couldn't shoot a gun, I'd just waste get-away weight on the skidoo.... sigh... :) :) :)
At any rate, it was fun! It was kind of like riding those zhemi-jahns in Benin, but even more scary... I just had to keep repeating to myself, "It's just like riding a horse, it's just like riding a hose..." ... except for I had no reins, the horse could go 60km/hr over rocky tundra, and it wouldn't stop if you thought it was going too fast! However, I've been having the post-horse-ride gait since then, walking kind of bow-legged since my thighs are killing me! :)
It was gorgeous. The Arctic is terrifyingly beautiful. I can see how easy it would be to die out here alone, not only b/c of the cold, but the disorientation, and the vast distances... no caribou were found, but as I was told, it's been getting harder to find them as they've been heading norther with the encroachment of global warming... oh well. I was kind of looking forward to help hack off caribou head and skin the animal... they figured my surgical skills might've come in handy...
So for the whole expedition, I ended up catching a bit of frostbite on the end of my nose... it just figures; cover my face with a caribou in order to hunt caribou, so the guardian angel of the caribou afflicts me with frostbite for such war-mongering thought....
Love you!
julia
Friday, April 09, 2004
Nunavut VII
Since it's Easter, and a time for renewal and resurrection... it's feeling kind of like spring time here in Iqaluit, if you can believe it! The temperature now is hovering around -18 to -20, and for some incredible reason, some of the snow is starting to melt (I dunno, I always learned in school that the freezing point of water is 0 degrees, but hey, what do I know?)... It's very strange, seeing icicles dripping, and mud puddles, and, for crying out loud, actual dirt pathways for the first time since I've been here, but being bundled up, hood and all, b/c it is still cold out... it's a bit confusing... (however, don't get me wrong: there is still A LOT of snow out here; I've only seen two small mud puddles)
Someone was actually surprised to know that there are taxicabs up here. They thought I was riding around in a sled (:P not to name any names :) )... Well, the very fact that there is enough business to keep two taxicab companies going is probably something, however, there are cabs. Obviously, vehicles are pretty expensive (especially when you figure the transportation costs up here: there are no dealerships up here, per se... people buy their cars down south and then work to transport them up here. The cheapest way is by sealift in the summer time; apparently fleets of cars that people have ordered during the past year finally make it through the bay. If people really really need a car or a skidoo quickly, they either buy it used in town, or, if they've got the cash flow, they fly in the vehicle... that's nutty! Sometimes it costs more than the actually vehicle to fly it in!)... lots of people drive around in skidoos, carrying around their babies in amautis and slinging a few kids in the back. Mostly, people drive trucks and SUVs (probably one of the few places I can imagine it's justifiable to be driving massive vehicles... Tim, you'd have a field day :P ) However, I have seen a Penny lookalike on the streets! I cannot believe that a poor little Toyota Echo survives up here! :)
Anyways, about the taxis. Fares are a flat rate of $5. It doesn't matter where you go in town: $5. One night when it was -70 outside, I took a cab the distance of a block rather than freezing and dying half way. It can get pretty expensive for people who depend on the cabs to help them get their kids to schoo, then to work, then to grocery shopping and home again... that's one reason why people have a hard time to finally get the money together to get their own car, especially if they're spending $40 a day just to get two parents and two kids back and forth from work and school.
On another note, as I was earlier complaining about the incredibly poor oral hygiene in children b/c of pop consumption, alcohol consumption actually is not as big of a problem up here. Most of the Nunavut communities have chosen to be completely dry. Here in Iqaluit, there are several bars and restos that sell alcohol (and that's only b/c it's the capital), but no LCBO-type stores at all. This, I think, has helped the communities by at least reducing the number of alcohol-related injuried and problems. I guess it's kind of hard to gauge. On the other hand, I have seen a lot more binge drinkers that totally go on a HUGE bender when someone imports a whole lot to share with their friends. Also, it makes me that much more angry at all the spousal abuse that I see, since there's a LOT of it out here, and the stupid louts don't even have the 'excuse' of alcohol for their behaviour... grrr... grrrr... OK that's another heartache that I've been having to deal with out here that I'm just not going to start on today.... getting off soapbox now...
I've been very confused as to how timing kind of works out here. There's an Arctic Bible Conference that I'm supposed to be volunteering at this coming week, with people coming from all over, from Siberia to Greenland. However, no one can really tell me when things are really starting, or when I need to be anywhere, or what the final date of the conference is. They've told me to just 'show up'... now, seeing as I don't even have a good idea as to what time, let alone what day, I should be showing up, this is a bit confusing... sigh... I suppose it's just my western worldview of time-centredness that's getting in the way... well, at least I know (I think... uh, I hope...) -where- it's taking place... uh, maybe... uh, I guess we'll see if I end up at this conference or not...
Love you!
julia
Someone was actually surprised to know that there are taxicabs up here. They thought I was riding around in a sled (:P not to name any names :) )... Well, the very fact that there is enough business to keep two taxicab companies going is probably something, however, there are cabs. Obviously, vehicles are pretty expensive (especially when you figure the transportation costs up here: there are no dealerships up here, per se... people buy their cars down south and then work to transport them up here. The cheapest way is by sealift in the summer time; apparently fleets of cars that people have ordered during the past year finally make it through the bay. If people really really need a car or a skidoo quickly, they either buy it used in town, or, if they've got the cash flow, they fly in the vehicle... that's nutty! Sometimes it costs more than the actually vehicle to fly it in!)... lots of people drive around in skidoos, carrying around their babies in amautis and slinging a few kids in the back. Mostly, people drive trucks and SUVs (probably one of the few places I can imagine it's justifiable to be driving massive vehicles... Tim, you'd have a field day :P ) However, I have seen a Penny lookalike on the streets! I cannot believe that a poor little Toyota Echo survives up here! :)
Anyways, about the taxis. Fares are a flat rate of $5. It doesn't matter where you go in town: $5. One night when it was -70 outside, I took a cab the distance of a block rather than freezing and dying half way. It can get pretty expensive for people who depend on the cabs to help them get their kids to schoo, then to work, then to grocery shopping and home again... that's one reason why people have a hard time to finally get the money together to get their own car, especially if they're spending $40 a day just to get two parents and two kids back and forth from work and school.
On another note, as I was earlier complaining about the incredibly poor oral hygiene in children b/c of pop consumption, alcohol consumption actually is not as big of a problem up here. Most of the Nunavut communities have chosen to be completely dry. Here in Iqaluit, there are several bars and restos that sell alcohol (and that's only b/c it's the capital), but no LCBO-type stores at all. This, I think, has helped the communities by at least reducing the number of alcohol-related injuried and problems. I guess it's kind of hard to gauge. On the other hand, I have seen a lot more binge drinkers that totally go on a HUGE bender when someone imports a whole lot to share with their friends. Also, it makes me that much more angry at all the spousal abuse that I see, since there's a LOT of it out here, and the stupid louts don't even have the 'excuse' of alcohol for their behaviour... grrr... grrrr... OK that's another heartache that I've been having to deal with out here that I'm just not going to start on today.... getting off soapbox now...
I've been very confused as to how timing kind of works out here. There's an Arctic Bible Conference that I'm supposed to be volunteering at this coming week, with people coming from all over, from Siberia to Greenland. However, no one can really tell me when things are really starting, or when I need to be anywhere, or what the final date of the conference is. They've told me to just 'show up'... now, seeing as I don't even have a good idea as to what time, let alone what day, I should be showing up, this is a bit confusing... sigh... I suppose it's just my western worldview of time-centredness that's getting in the way... well, at least I know (I think... uh, I hope...) -where- it's taking place... uh, maybe... uh, I guess we'll see if I end up at this conference or not...
Love you!
julia
Monday, April 05, 2004
Nunavut VI
Thanks again to all who've sent pictures (thanks for newborn Susanna's pics from the proud Beck grandparents! :) )! Thanks to those who've sent mail; if you're planning on sending anything, I would send it, uh, yesterday, to make sure it gets to me before I leave (or so they tell me)...
A few observations: The only wildlife I've seen so far have been the ravens. There are many Inuit legends of them, none of which I know, except that they are characterized as greedy creatures. They are jet black, in stark contrast to the snow, and are biiig birds. They are sometimes the size of a small toddler! Well, OK, I've seen fish too, but I don't think that really counts...
Due to the fact that the doctors in eastern Nunavut are based out of Iqaluit, they get sent out periodically to the other communities in order to have a physician presence there, at least (ideally) once every 4-6 weeks or so. I've made it out to Pangnirtung (place of the bull caribou) and to Qikiqtarjuaq (I dunno), but, unfortunately, have found out today that I likely won't make it out to any other communities before I leave, either b/c they are too small and don't need two physicians to go, or b/c the doc is going too close to my departure date, and they don't want to risk me missing my flight home. Which is always entirely possible. I was snowed in Pang for an extra 1 1/2 days due to semi-white out conditions. I must say though, coming back to Iqaluit, I was struck at HOW BIG and cosmopolitan (seriously) Iqaluit is... It kinda feels too 'big city' now...
It's amazing at how quickly the sun moves across the horizon. Every day, the sun moves further across the skyline, and sets in a different place, further west, every day. I suppose if I was up early enough, I'd also notice how the sun would rise further east every morning, but I haven't yet :P
I have seen Northern lights! Apparently they are even more beautiful the further north you go, but, unfortunately, I won't be making it out to Arctic Bay or Grise Fjord ... sigh... :( :( :( Just more encouragement to come back up here! :) But they are beautiful; just like you see in cartoons on Sesame Street...
My kids' choir is doing well; I missed the last practice as I was snowed in Pang, but we have one more practice before Easter :)
Love you!
julia
A few observations: The only wildlife I've seen so far have been the ravens. There are many Inuit legends of them, none of which I know, except that they are characterized as greedy creatures. They are jet black, in stark contrast to the snow, and are biiig birds. They are sometimes the size of a small toddler! Well, OK, I've seen fish too, but I don't think that really counts...
Due to the fact that the doctors in eastern Nunavut are based out of Iqaluit, they get sent out periodically to the other communities in order to have a physician presence there, at least (ideally) once every 4-6 weeks or so. I've made it out to Pangnirtung (place of the bull caribou) and to Qikiqtarjuaq (I dunno), but, unfortunately, have found out today that I likely won't make it out to any other communities before I leave, either b/c they are too small and don't need two physicians to go, or b/c the doc is going too close to my departure date, and they don't want to risk me missing my flight home. Which is always entirely possible. I was snowed in Pang for an extra 1 1/2 days due to semi-white out conditions. I must say though, coming back to Iqaluit, I was struck at HOW BIG and cosmopolitan (seriously) Iqaluit is... It kinda feels too 'big city' now...
It's amazing at how quickly the sun moves across the horizon. Every day, the sun moves further across the skyline, and sets in a different place, further west, every day. I suppose if I was up early enough, I'd also notice how the sun would rise further east every morning, but I haven't yet :P
I have seen Northern lights! Apparently they are even more beautiful the further north you go, but, unfortunately, I won't be making it out to Arctic Bay or Grise Fjord ... sigh... :( :( :( Just more encouragement to come back up here! :) But they are beautiful; just like you see in cartoons on Sesame Street...
My kids' choir is doing well; I missed the last practice as I was snowed in Pang, but we have one more practice before Easter :)
Love you!
julia
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Nunavut V
There is, to my great disappointment, no indication that I'm going to see a polar bear while I'm up here at all. I've seen a bunch of them as rugs with their heads still on them in various bars and stuff in town, but that's about it. I'm told they are quite big and quite dangerous, and they are, without a doubt, one of the few animals left on earth that considers humans to be fair game as prey. In January, there were apparently a mom bear and two cubs that were hanging around the outskirts of Iqaluit that wouldn't go away, so the city had to shoot them, b/c they would've started hunting humans. Also, I've heard many stories of polar bears: easily reaching 10 to 12 feet in height on their hind legs (holy crap!!!), able to look into second story windows... guys having to stay underneath their trucks for six or seven hours until the polar bear got tired of them and went away... the sheer stupidity to go travelling outside of towns without very strong and big guns, b/c then you're just asking for trouble from polar bears... pretty scary! There was another story that I was told about one guy who saw a polar bear coming towards him, started shooting at him from 20 feet away, but the bear finally didn't die until 2 feet in front of him! Scary!
On the other hand, in my never-ending saga of getting a huge kick out of visiting Chinese restaurants in the most unlikely places... there are about 30 Chinese people living up here. However, most of the time they pass for Inuk, so it kinda doesn't matter, but they do sell bok choy, oyster sauce, a whole range of Lee Kum Kee sauces (ha ha ha, Hary...) and even dried straw mushrooms in the supermarket (!). I'm supposed to be going out for Chinese food in the next few days at the only Chinese resto in town, so we'll see how that goes... :P
Hope all is well!!!
WARNING: The rest of this postcard will only really be applicable to the medicine people in the crowd... sorry... so potentially boring stuff ahead... You can skip the rest if you'd like :)
I must say, sometimes it's quite discouraging to be working in these environments, even though the locales themselves might be quite exotic. However, to see active TB, SIDS, ++++ ODs, STDs++++, tons of bilat. perf'd TMs, bottle caries etc etc etc in CANADA, of all places... it kind of wears down on you after a while... I think also it doesn't help a lot that I feel like a bit of a walk-in doc, so I only see them come in, but I don't necessarily see how they turn out.. part of it has to do with the fact that preventative care doesn't really register with this culture, and secondly, since the consultants only come up once or twice a year, the consult note doesn't come back for a year or so... like on little girl I just saw who's got bilat perf'd TMs with chronic d/c: there's no audiology up here, we're not going to fly her down for audiology, ENT's not coming for another five months, and there are hundreds of little kids with hearing loss/perf TMs/ chronic OM to be seen as well... what the heck to do with that? Do the tympanoplasties myself???
On the plus side, I suppose, I haven't really seen that much in the way of acute internal stuff. No AMIs, CVAs, well, at least not a lot (we've got one CHFer on the floor, but that's about it). Actually, there haven't been that many MVAs either, but with the speed limit being 30, I guess it's kinda hard to do, though there are lots of skidoo trauma... I dunno, it's just kinda frustrating with the lack of continuity of care and the lack of resources here... Actually, I think it's the lack of continuity that's the big problem... like the one woman I had to cut off her codeine cause I was the only one who bothered to look back in her chart and realized that she'd been getting about 800-900 codeine tabs a year for the past three years! (Well, besides the fact that I'm not big on prescription narcotics for non-CA pain...)... I dunno, gripe gripe gripe... :P ... thanks for the ASCM-like debriefing, guys... :P
Love you!
julia
On the other hand, in my never-ending saga of getting a huge kick out of visiting Chinese restaurants in the most unlikely places... there are about 30 Chinese people living up here. However, most of the time they pass for Inuk, so it kinda doesn't matter, but they do sell bok choy, oyster sauce, a whole range of Lee Kum Kee sauces (ha ha ha, Hary...) and even dried straw mushrooms in the supermarket (!). I'm supposed to be going out for Chinese food in the next few days at the only Chinese resto in town, so we'll see how that goes... :P
Hope all is well!!!
WARNING: The rest of this postcard will only really be applicable to the medicine people in the crowd... sorry... so potentially boring stuff ahead... You can skip the rest if you'd like :)
I must say, sometimes it's quite discouraging to be working in these environments, even though the locales themselves might be quite exotic. However, to see active TB, SIDS, ++++ ODs, STDs++++, tons of bilat. perf'd TMs, bottle caries etc etc etc in CANADA, of all places... it kind of wears down on you after a while... I think also it doesn't help a lot that I feel like a bit of a walk-in doc, so I only see them come in, but I don't necessarily see how they turn out.. part of it has to do with the fact that preventative care doesn't really register with this culture, and secondly, since the consultants only come up once or twice a year, the consult note doesn't come back for a year or so... like on little girl I just saw who's got bilat perf'd TMs with chronic d/c: there's no audiology up here, we're not going to fly her down for audiology, ENT's not coming for another five months, and there are hundreds of little kids with hearing loss/perf TMs/ chronic OM to be seen as well... what the heck to do with that? Do the tympanoplasties myself???
On the plus side, I suppose, I haven't really seen that much in the way of acute internal stuff. No AMIs, CVAs, well, at least not a lot (we've got one CHFer on the floor, but that's about it). Actually, there haven't been that many MVAs either, but with the speed limit being 30, I guess it's kinda hard to do, though there are lots of skidoo trauma... I dunno, it's just kinda frustrating with the lack of continuity of care and the lack of resources here... Actually, I think it's the lack of continuity that's the big problem... like the one woman I had to cut off her codeine cause I was the only one who bothered to look back in her chart and realized that she'd been getting about 800-900 codeine tabs a year for the past three years! (Well, besides the fact that I'm not big on prescription narcotics for non-CA pain...)... I dunno, gripe gripe gripe... :P ... thanks for the ASCM-like debriefing, guys... :P
Love you!
julia
Saturday, March 20, 2004
Nunavut IV
OK, so really, to be completely honest, the main reason why I wanted to come up here is because the babies are soooooo freaking cute!!! Also, there are tons and tons of them; I'm delivering one every two days or so, although this hospital averages about 1.5 per day or so. They are sooo round and soft (I mean, I've been told that I'm pretty soft myself, but these kids feel like goose down or something :) )! I'm trying to remember to take some pics of the kids, cause frankly they're funny in their fur hats and their kamiks :)...
Some of you have been asking what the heck I've been eating out here: caribou? Polar bear? walrus?? etc etc... good question! :P Actually, they are incredibly gracious to me here and provide my meals in the hospital caf, which is actually totally not as bad as it sounds. A lot of town comes here to eat for their meals actually; today I had striploin steak for lunch... I think that's nutty! :) It's quite nice as you get to meet a bunch of folks from town over lunch... However, I have had arctic char a lot (which is apparently a cousin of the salmon, and they do taste quite similar), I've tried caribou too (I dunno; tastes like chicken?? Maybe a musky beef? I dunno... everything tastes like chicken, doesn't it?). Muktuk is another story... (that's seal blubber)... apparently I will get a chance to try it (so the guys in the caf promise me), as long as I'm prepared to chew for a couple of hours... apparently it's like licorice, but you can't really chew through it, you just kind gotta let it slide down.... uhhh, that doesn't sound terribly appetizing nor nutritious, for that matter...
At any rate, the guys in the kitchen are great here, and incredible gentlemen, which is just as well, since food prices here are extravagant at best... part of it is b/c there's really only one store to buy your food at, so being a monopoly helps at jacking up prices, as well as transportation costs to bring fresh produce etc up here. Most food costs about 2-3 times more than it would down south. I went for a tour of the store (it's the biggest store in Iqaluit, possibly all of Nunavut... I can't believe I was a tourist in a supermarket in Canada, now that's sad and pathetic, possibly comparable to visiting IKEA, right??? ... :P ) the other day: Bananas cost about $1 each, my precioussss Vector cereal costs $15 a box, a loaf of Wonder bread costs $7, a ten piece bucket of KFC is $30... crazy crazy... one of my friends up here says that buying $600-700 worth of groceries a week for a small family is not surprising...
Pop and chips, however, are only marginally more expensive than they are down south, which makes me think conspiracy theory all over the place. The Inuit have notoriously high rates of obesity, diabetes and realllllly bad dental problems (Nathan, Steve... they could use you up here!), which I KNOW the pop and chips are not helping to prevent... sadly, for some reason, babies start getting pop in their bottles when they hit about 5 or six months, which I totally don't understand... So they're still really really really cute... just that their teeth start rotting before they've even come up... ewwwww....
Hope you're all well! Love you!
julia
Some of you have been asking what the heck I've been eating out here: caribou? Polar bear? walrus?? etc etc... good question! :P Actually, they are incredibly gracious to me here and provide my meals in the hospital caf, which is actually totally not as bad as it sounds. A lot of town comes here to eat for their meals actually; today I had striploin steak for lunch... I think that's nutty! :) It's quite nice as you get to meet a bunch of folks from town over lunch... However, I have had arctic char a lot (which is apparently a cousin of the salmon, and they do taste quite similar), I've tried caribou too (I dunno; tastes like chicken?? Maybe a musky beef? I dunno... everything tastes like chicken, doesn't it?). Muktuk is another story... (that's seal blubber)... apparently I will get a chance to try it (so the guys in the caf promise me), as long as I'm prepared to chew for a couple of hours... apparently it's like licorice, but you can't really chew through it, you just kind gotta let it slide down.... uhhh, that doesn't sound terribly appetizing nor nutritious, for that matter...
At any rate, the guys in the kitchen are great here, and incredible gentlemen, which is just as well, since food prices here are extravagant at best... part of it is b/c there's really only one store to buy your food at, so being a monopoly helps at jacking up prices, as well as transportation costs to bring fresh produce etc up here. Most food costs about 2-3 times more than it would down south. I went for a tour of the store (it's the biggest store in Iqaluit, possibly all of Nunavut... I can't believe I was a tourist in a supermarket in Canada, now that's sad and pathetic, possibly comparable to visiting IKEA, right??? ... :P ) the other day: Bananas cost about $1 each, my precioussss Vector cereal costs $15 a box, a loaf of Wonder bread costs $7, a ten piece bucket of KFC is $30... crazy crazy... one of my friends up here says that buying $600-700 worth of groceries a week for a small family is not surprising...
Pop and chips, however, are only marginally more expensive than they are down south, which makes me think conspiracy theory all over the place. The Inuit have notoriously high rates of obesity, diabetes and realllllly bad dental problems (Nathan, Steve... they could use you up here!), which I KNOW the pop and chips are not helping to prevent... sadly, for some reason, babies start getting pop in their bottles when they hit about 5 or six months, which I totally don't understand... So they're still really really really cute... just that their teeth start rotting before they've even come up... ewwwww....
Hope you're all well! Love you!
julia
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Nunavut III
The snow here isn't as 'snowy' as all that, really. I wouldn't really describe it as 'snowy'. "Snowy" is kind of like how it was last winter in Ottawa, or how it was during the TO storm of '99. Yes, there's a lot of snow here, but it just kind of is brushed onto the rocks. So you kinda see the rocks jutting out here and there in the snow, or, at least, the snowbanks look kind of jaggedy, but there's not really a lot of snow, per se. The locals have told me that there's actually not that much snow up here at all (?What??? But everything's white!). This is problematic for me, as it hurts just that much more when you slip and fall. It's a good thing I'm not a little old lady, otherwise, I'm pretty sure I might've broken something by now...
A few facts about Iqaluit and Nunavut, as I've noticed sommmmme people (not to mention any names... :) ) thought I was going to the Yukon, or Yellowknife or close to Alaska... I thought most of us took Gr. 9 geography, right? though someone here reminded me that Nunavut didn't exactly exist when most of us went through Gr. 9...
The territory of Nunavut was created on April 1, 1999, after years of negotiation with the feds. With the creation of this territory, the Inuit have forever relinquished the right for any further land claims with the Canadian gov't. Which is not too bad, really, as the Inuit had negotiated land development claims, etc, giving them the lion's share of diamond, gold and silver development in the north. (Which, as a side note, d/t some gov't funding changes, etc etc, the price of Canadian diamonds mayyyyy shoot wayyyy up in 2005 (maybe, maybe), so if you were thinking about getting one, 2004 might be a better idea to purchase one... just FYI...) Nunavut takes up a grand total of 20% of Canada's land mass, but only has about 28,000 people in the territory, approximately 85% of which are Inuit (or Inuk), the rest, I'm presuming, being gov't workers.. :P Although really, most of the jobs requiring an education do belong to those from outside of the territory, as there aren't that many Inuit who have enough education to hold the higher-ranking jobs (there are a lot of social and political issues here wrt how they're planning on being able to deal with that now and in the future, but that's not primary to this discussion today). There is a total of 20km of highway in the entire territory, which is not even in Iqaluit... it's actually up north from a small community that leads up to an abandoned mine... (Don't ask me why. I betcha nobody really knows why either... it's not a terribly useful highway). And, I've also learned, very few to no Inuit actually lives on the land 100% of the time at all; mostly everyone lives in one of the housing communities built and stretched out over Nunavut. So no iglus, unless someone's got a hankering to go hunting far far out... Iqaluit itself has about 6000 people in it, of which only about 60% are Inuit. There are two gas stations, three banks, one post office, one KFC and one Pizza Hut. There's other things too, but I just thought I would give you the general idea :P So there you go, a bit of Canadiana for y'all...
On a 'cool!' kind of note: I'm going to be helping lead a children's choir for an Easter service out here, which I find terribly exciting! (So see, guys, kind of in a REALLY oblique way, I AM kind of doing the Messiah, kind of, uhh, yeah.... :P )
Hope you are well!
julia
A few facts about Iqaluit and Nunavut, as I've noticed sommmmme people (not to mention any names... :) ) thought I was going to the Yukon, or Yellowknife or close to Alaska... I thought most of us took Gr. 9 geography, right? though someone here reminded me that Nunavut didn't exactly exist when most of us went through Gr. 9...
The territory of Nunavut was created on April 1, 1999, after years of negotiation with the feds. With the creation of this territory, the Inuit have forever relinquished the right for any further land claims with the Canadian gov't. Which is not too bad, really, as the Inuit had negotiated land development claims, etc, giving them the lion's share of diamond, gold and silver development in the north. (Which, as a side note, d/t some gov't funding changes, etc etc, the price of Canadian diamonds mayyyyy shoot wayyyy up in 2005 (maybe, maybe), so if you were thinking about getting one, 2004 might be a better idea to purchase one... just FYI...) Nunavut takes up a grand total of 20% of Canada's land mass, but only has about 28,000 people in the territory, approximately 85% of which are Inuit (or Inuk), the rest, I'm presuming, being gov't workers.. :P Although really, most of the jobs requiring an education do belong to those from outside of the territory, as there aren't that many Inuit who have enough education to hold the higher-ranking jobs (there are a lot of social and political issues here wrt how they're planning on being able to deal with that now and in the future, but that's not primary to this discussion today). There is a total of 20km of highway in the entire territory, which is not even in Iqaluit... it's actually up north from a small community that leads up to an abandoned mine... (Don't ask me why. I betcha nobody really knows why either... it's not a terribly useful highway). And, I've also learned, very few to no Inuit actually lives on the land 100% of the time at all; mostly everyone lives in one of the housing communities built and stretched out over Nunavut. So no iglus, unless someone's got a hankering to go hunting far far out... Iqaluit itself has about 6000 people in it, of which only about 60% are Inuit. There are two gas stations, three banks, one post office, one KFC and one Pizza Hut. There's other things too, but I just thought I would give you the general idea :P So there you go, a bit of Canadiana for y'all...
On a 'cool!' kind of note: I'm going to be helping lead a children's choir for an Easter service out here, which I find terribly exciting! (So see, guys, kind of in a REALLY oblique way, I AM kind of doing the Messiah, kind of, uhh, yeah.... :P )
Hope you are well!
julia
Saturday, March 13, 2004
Nunavut II
As some of you know, it went down to -60/-70 with the windchill yesterday. I had no idea people would even live in those kinds of temperatures. I must say, that's either great ingenuity or great stupidity on the part of the Inuit to have traversed the Russian/Alaskan divide to come north... I would've just stayed in nice, warm (though, admittedly humid) China/Korea... I cannot believe that humanity was able to live, and survive, for thousands of years up here in this barren, cold desert! It's an absolutely incredible feat, I must say.
It's also uncanny the resemblance between the Inuit and the Koreans (if I do say so myself... :P )... some of the elders have called me 'granddaughter' since I remind them so much of their own, which is kind of nice. On the other hand, if I really was once of their own, I probably would've had five or six children, two or three abortions and about ten bouts of STDs by now... I also went on a couple of home visits, and I could've sworn I was looking at my own grandmother in one of the houses (Gloria, it was uncanny)... I should've taken a picture...
At any rate, I am now capable of doing all this b/c I finally got my lent parka! Those things are amazing! I can't see or hear anything once I've got it on properly, so if someone's gonna run me down with an ATV, at least I'd be puffy, fluffy and warm doing it :) My first two days without it though, I must say were quite, uh, chilly, to say the least... so I'm quite thankful that it was finally found for me... which is also a good thing, not just for the warmth but for another (embarassing) reason, but that's for another time...
Thanks to those of you who've sent pictures, they are GREATLY appreciated! and I would always be glad for more!
Also, for those of you asking for a mailing address so you can mail me fun stuff (please don't send anything after mid-April, cause I may not get it in time), just send it to the hospital, addressed to me, Dr. Julia.
Baffin Regional Hospital
Box 1000
Stn 1036
Iqaluit, NU
X0A 0H0
Later!! Love you!
julia
It's also uncanny the resemblance between the Inuit and the Koreans (if I do say so myself... :P )... some of the elders have called me 'granddaughter' since I remind them so much of their own, which is kind of nice. On the other hand, if I really was once of their own, I probably would've had five or six children, two or three abortions and about ten bouts of STDs by now... I also went on a couple of home visits, and I could've sworn I was looking at my own grandmother in one of the houses (Gloria, it was uncanny)... I should've taken a picture...
At any rate, I am now capable of doing all this b/c I finally got my lent parka! Those things are amazing! I can't see or hear anything once I've got it on properly, so if someone's gonna run me down with an ATV, at least I'd be puffy, fluffy and warm doing it :) My first two days without it though, I must say were quite, uh, chilly, to say the least... so I'm quite thankful that it was finally found for me... which is also a good thing, not just for the warmth but for another (embarassing) reason, but that's for another time...
Thanks to those of you who've sent pictures, they are GREATLY appreciated! and I would always be glad for more!
Also, for those of you asking for a mailing address so you can mail me fun stuff (please don't send anything after mid-April, cause I may not get it in time), just send it to the hospital, addressed to me, Dr. Julia.
Baffin Regional Hospital
Box 1000
Stn 1036
Iqaluit, NU
X0A 0H0
Later!! Love you!
julia
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
Nunavut I
Welcome to yet another bunch of Postcards from the Edge. To those of you new to the series, every time Julia goes on a little adventure, I send out mass e-postcards just letting ppl know how things are going...
Someone correct me here, but I think I'm on Part XIII, but I'm totally not sure... does anyone know what Benin was?? XII? XI?
At any rate, for those of you who remember my first reaction when I stepped off the plane in Niger... this was totally the opposite reaction... when we landed, the snow was blowing all over the place, but I ASSUMED it was b/c the plan was landing and making lots of air and blowing the snow all over the place... well, stepping out of the plane, I nearly got blown off the staircase b/c of the wind!!! :) So I crouched down real low and crawled down the stairs and then semi-ran to the terminal... although, it's cold!!!! Despite my valiant efforts of dressing warmly, I walked about half a block and then couldn't feel my nose...
Admittedly, I didn't land until 7pm (yes Hary, 7pm!!! Twelve hours after you dropped me off!!!!).... I'm not quite sure what happened, but this confirms my adage of: Never get to the airport more than an hour before a domestic flight. For some reason, my flight was delayed by about four hours, and then, instead of directly flying to Iqaluit, we went through Montreal (?!?!) and Kuujjuaq before finally heading to Iqaluit... the sad thing is, (which is what I was thinking as I was being blown off the stairs) I realized I could've been in Paris in the time that I was on a Canadian plane... or at least to Vancouver and back.... and it would be a good 20 or 30 degrees warmer...
On the plus side, watching the sunset from the airplane was gor-ge-ous! It was all blue and green and red and yellow and purple-y and all rainbow-y and beautiful... however, b/c of my point and click, and the airplane windows were dirty, I didn't take a pic.
Which brings me to another point (boy, I'm being particularly wordy!!!): I would really love having some photos of ppl up here with me... if anyone's got some handy dig photos and wants to forward them to me, so at least I can have a photo album on my computer up here, I'd appreciate it :)
That's all for now!!! Love you all!!!
julia
Someone correct me here, but I think I'm on Part XIII, but I'm totally not sure... does anyone know what Benin was?? XII? XI?
At any rate, for those of you who remember my first reaction when I stepped off the plane in Niger... this was totally the opposite reaction... when we landed, the snow was blowing all over the place, but I ASSUMED it was b/c the plan was landing and making lots of air and blowing the snow all over the place... well, stepping out of the plane, I nearly got blown off the staircase b/c of the wind!!! :) So I crouched down real low and crawled down the stairs and then semi-ran to the terminal... although, it's cold!!!! Despite my valiant efforts of dressing warmly, I walked about half a block and then couldn't feel my nose...
Admittedly, I didn't land until 7pm (yes Hary, 7pm!!! Twelve hours after you dropped me off!!!!).... I'm not quite sure what happened, but this confirms my adage of: Never get to the airport more than an hour before a domestic flight. For some reason, my flight was delayed by about four hours, and then, instead of directly flying to Iqaluit, we went through Montreal (?!?!) and Kuujjuaq before finally heading to Iqaluit... the sad thing is, (which is what I was thinking as I was being blown off the stairs) I realized I could've been in Paris in the time that I was on a Canadian plane... or at least to Vancouver and back.... and it would be a good 20 or 30 degrees warmer...
On the plus side, watching the sunset from the airplane was gor-ge-ous! It was all blue and green and red and yellow and purple-y and all rainbow-y and beautiful... however, b/c of my point and click, and the airplane windows were dirty, I didn't take a pic.
Which brings me to another point (boy, I'm being particularly wordy!!!): I would really love having some photos of ppl up here with me... if anyone's got some handy dig photos and wants to forward them to me, so at least I can have a photo album on my computer up here, I'd appreciate it :)
That's all for now!!! Love you all!!!
julia
Monday, November 24, 2003
Benin V
PFTE Part VIII Episode V
I’ll have to mention it again: the pineapples melt in your mouth here! I think I was still partially delirious with the last email I sent out, and I realize it probably didn’t make a heck of a lot of sense, so I thought I’d clarify; I was, I think, talking about the Chinese restaurant that I had just eaten at, mainly cause it was also the first food that I had eaten in three days! I was actually rather ill for a while there, so I think with the first taste of food and stuff, I think my poor brain got a bit over-stimulated.
Also, a couple of other notes of apparently being “Chinese” over here (cause clearly, I either really am, or else a very ignorant one, or else make a pretty good imitation ;) )
1. People find it very hard to believe that I can be Canadian. I guess it also doesn’t help that the rest of my team is white. I’m kind of like the pet monkey, that they bring around to show off. People here have actually been astonished that I speak French. Actually, English, even…
2. One guy was so surprised that I was actually from Canada, and not from China, he pulled aside one of the other team members and asked whether China was within walking distance of Canada… because clearly, I must’ve walked over and joined them for the flight…
3. Another guy we’ve met here is actually a ping-pong champion in Benin, like, on the national team. We had lunch with him, and, turning to me, wondered if I would like to “sponsor” him to come to Canada since I’d obviously be very good at ping-pong (right, Swong?)… right… I think he thought that that would be appropriate, hooking up with a “Chinese” ping-pong girl who happens to live in Canada… What a sweet deal for a ping-pong player in the developing world… ;) (biiiiiig rolling of the eyes…)
Otherwise, some notes on food (obviously I have a lot of time banked today…): They eat a lot of fish here. Well, it is on the coast… we’ve been eating a lot of it, though sometimes, I look into the waters and wonder what the heck I think I’m doing… maybe that can also explain a bit of the brain fog… They also eat a surprisingly large amount of rice here… the black market has connections to Thailand or something, and that’s how they get their rice supply….
Voodoo is huge here… it’s the inherent religion here, though a good proportion of the population are Muslim or Christian, though apparently most folks practice a bit of voodoo somewhere along the line… yeah, slavery and voodoo… those are the two big thematics of Benin culture… I think to try and describe it in a witty manner isn’t really doing it justice, particularly as slavery isn’t a funny subject at all, and well, neither is voodoo….
Anyways, that’s about it for now…
julia
I’ll have to mention it again: the pineapples melt in your mouth here! I think I was still partially delirious with the last email I sent out, and I realize it probably didn’t make a heck of a lot of sense, so I thought I’d clarify; I was, I think, talking about the Chinese restaurant that I had just eaten at, mainly cause it was also the first food that I had eaten in three days! I was actually rather ill for a while there, so I think with the first taste of food and stuff, I think my poor brain got a bit over-stimulated.
Also, a couple of other notes of apparently being “Chinese” over here (cause clearly, I either really am, or else a very ignorant one, or else make a pretty good imitation ;) )
1. People find it very hard to believe that I can be Canadian. I guess it also doesn’t help that the rest of my team is white. I’m kind of like the pet monkey, that they bring around to show off. People here have actually been astonished that I speak French. Actually, English, even…
2. One guy was so surprised that I was actually from Canada, and not from China, he pulled aside one of the other team members and asked whether China was within walking distance of Canada… because clearly, I must’ve walked over and joined them for the flight…
3. Another guy we’ve met here is actually a ping-pong champion in Benin, like, on the national team. We had lunch with him, and, turning to me, wondered if I would like to “sponsor” him to come to Canada since I’d obviously be very good at ping-pong (right, Swong?)… right… I think he thought that that would be appropriate, hooking up with a “Chinese” ping-pong girl who happens to live in Canada… What a sweet deal for a ping-pong player in the developing world… ;) (biiiiiig rolling of the eyes…)
Otherwise, some notes on food (obviously I have a lot of time banked today…): They eat a lot of fish here. Well, it is on the coast… we’ve been eating a lot of it, though sometimes, I look into the waters and wonder what the heck I think I’m doing… maybe that can also explain a bit of the brain fog… They also eat a surprisingly large amount of rice here… the black market has connections to Thailand or something, and that’s how they get their rice supply….
Voodoo is huge here… it’s the inherent religion here, though a good proportion of the population are Muslim or Christian, though apparently most folks practice a bit of voodoo somewhere along the line… yeah, slavery and voodoo… those are the two big thematics of Benin culture… I think to try and describe it in a witty manner isn’t really doing it justice, particularly as slavery isn’t a funny subject at all, and well, neither is voodoo….
Anyways, that’s about it for now…
julia
Saturday, November 22, 2003
Benin IV
PFTE Part VIII Episode IV
Thx to all who’ve written; I’m sorry that I haven’t had the time to respond to you (thx ems, big A, Mic, Joy, Nance… yes I agree that’s a good reason to return…) individually… but your emails are all very much appreciated… Did you know (I think it’s Steve Wonder-boy who told me this one…) there are no Chinese restos in Iran, but there are everywhere else in the world? I just went to one this evening… owned by a Chinese guy… I tell ya, the Chinese are everywhere…. ☺
Why? Cause it’s funny, for one thing. Secondly; there is only so much pili-pili a girl can eat before she starts thinking of even considering chicken feet… no; wait; that would be chicken head, wouldn’t it? ;)
Anyways, my time is quickly running out, and I may get logged off soon, so I’m gonna go. I promise to have something wittier next time, promise… love you!
julia
Thx to all who’ve written; I’m sorry that I haven’t had the time to respond to you (thx ems, big A, Mic, Joy, Nance… yes I agree that’s a good reason to return…) individually… but your emails are all very much appreciated… Did you know (I think it’s Steve Wonder-boy who told me this one…) there are no Chinese restos in Iran, but there are everywhere else in the world? I just went to one this evening… owned by a Chinese guy… I tell ya, the Chinese are everywhere…. ☺
Why? Cause it’s funny, for one thing. Secondly; there is only so much pili-pili a girl can eat before she starts thinking of even considering chicken feet… no; wait; that would be chicken head, wouldn’t it? ;)
Anyways, my time is quickly running out, and I may get logged off soon, so I’m gonna go. I promise to have something wittier next time, promise… love you!
julia
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Benin III
PFTE Part VIII Episode III
Did I mention how the pineapple melts in your mouth here?
Anyways, I haven’t learned that much Fon since I’ve been here, which is the dominant language in this part of Benin (the south end of the country). But the one sentence I have learned (fun with Fon!!!) has been: Un no nyi Yovo ahhh, which basically means, “My name is not ‘Whitey’”. That’s been about it so far. So nothing else particularly useful in terms of language.
I was at the most amazing place on the weekend, a town called Ganvie. It’s a village entirely built on a lake, established in 1717 by people who were trying to escape from the slave traders ( A LOT of Benin’s history is tied up in the slave trade, as they were some of the biggest traders of their own peoples, as well as their captives, to the Europeans and Americans). Anyways, but the slave trade is another story as well as other places, and pictures.
It’s pretty amazing.
At any rate, Ganvie is this town built on stilts in the middle of this lake. I dunno how it occurred to them three hundred years ago to just paddle into the middle of a lake and start building houses. I guess if it’s that or be transported to the Americans to be a slave, I think I’d opt for drowning in my home country… and I took lots of photos there, which, as some of you know, I’m not that terribly trigger happy with the camera usually… It was a totally –other- type experience, if that makes sense.
julia
Did I mention how the pineapple melts in your mouth here?
Anyways, I haven’t learned that much Fon since I’ve been here, which is the dominant language in this part of Benin (the south end of the country). But the one sentence I have learned (fun with Fon!!!) has been: Un no nyi Yovo ahhh, which basically means, “My name is not ‘Whitey’”. That’s been about it so far. So nothing else particularly useful in terms of language.
I was at the most amazing place on the weekend, a town called Ganvie. It’s a village entirely built on a lake, established in 1717 by people who were trying to escape from the slave traders ( A LOT of Benin’s history is tied up in the slave trade, as they were some of the biggest traders of their own peoples, as well as their captives, to the Europeans and Americans). Anyways, but the slave trade is another story as well as other places, and pictures.
It’s pretty amazing.
At any rate, Ganvie is this town built on stilts in the middle of this lake. I dunno how it occurred to them three hundred years ago to just paddle into the middle of a lake and start building houses. I guess if it’s that or be transported to the Americans to be a slave, I think I’d opt for drowning in my home country… and I took lots of photos there, which, as some of you know, I’m not that terribly trigger happy with the camera usually… It was a totally –other- type experience, if that makes sense.
julia
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Benin II
PFTE Part VIII Episode II
Oh my goodness!!!! I have soooo many stories to tell already but I can’t cause I don’t have the time or space for it yet, but there’s bunches already. One observation: Cotonou lies very close to the Nigerian border (about 30 km) and a lot of its economy is based on the black market. At any rate, this has to do with the air quality, which will all make sense once I come home and explain it to you, if you care to hear.
The air here is blue. Like, grey-blue. Like, during rush hour, if I breathe too much, my lungs start to hurt. Most of the zemijhans (or zem-zems) use illegally imported petrol from Nigeria to run. However, this means totally unrefined and nasty fuel into the vehicles, hence leading to ++++ dirty exhaust and air. It actually gets hard to see here because of it. That’s kinda gross, I must say… so for those of you envying my skin take note: it really has taken quite a beating here, and is becoming quite frightful…
However, it is rather interesting as there are ‘petrol stops’ every few blocks that are just jars of illegal petrol that you can buy for half the price of the gas station’s stuff… weird…
julia
Oh my goodness!!!! I have soooo many stories to tell already but I can’t cause I don’t have the time or space for it yet, but there’s bunches already. One observation: Cotonou lies very close to the Nigerian border (about 30 km) and a lot of its economy is based on the black market. At any rate, this has to do with the air quality, which will all make sense once I come home and explain it to you, if you care to hear.
The air here is blue. Like, grey-blue. Like, during rush hour, if I breathe too much, my lungs start to hurt. Most of the zemijhans (or zem-zems) use illegally imported petrol from Nigeria to run. However, this means totally unrefined and nasty fuel into the vehicles, hence leading to ++++ dirty exhaust and air. It actually gets hard to see here because of it. That’s kinda gross, I must say… so for those of you envying my skin take note: it really has taken quite a beating here, and is becoming quite frightful…
However, it is rather interesting as there are ‘petrol stops’ every few blocks that are just jars of illegal petrol that you can buy for half the price of the gas station’s stuff… weird…
julia
Monday, November 10, 2003
Benin I
Postcards from the edge Part VIII Episode I
So here I am, back in the wilds of West Africa (oh no some groan, julia’s off on some other silly trip again), so yet another installment of the ever-thrilling PFTE…
This time I’m in Cotonou, Benin (that’s Benin, Andrew, not Ghana): it’s kind of like the Toronto equivalent of Canada… I’ve eaten so much fried plantain since I’ve been here, it’s silly… and some of the yummiest pineapple ever… For those of you who remember my moaning and groaning about how hot it was in Niger… it’s hot here… although admittedly not even remotely possibly close to how hot it was in Niger… for those of you freezing in Canada, it’s about 32C out here and humid, since the rainy season is coming to a close… which means I missed mango season, big time… out here, in mango season, you can get mangoes almost the size of my head (ok, maybe not my head, maybe Tim’s ;) )
Otherwise, not much to say so far… I’ll write about my first impressions later… it’s always kind of strange, the feelings one gets when one walks off an airplane… also: I have a limited amt of time on this machine and it’s ticking away so I will speak to you all later!!!
Love you all!
julia
So here I am, back in the wilds of West Africa (oh no some groan, julia’s off on some other silly trip again), so yet another installment of the ever-thrilling PFTE…
This time I’m in Cotonou, Benin (that’s Benin, Andrew, not Ghana): it’s kind of like the Toronto equivalent of Canada… I’ve eaten so much fried plantain since I’ve been here, it’s silly… and some of the yummiest pineapple ever… For those of you who remember my moaning and groaning about how hot it was in Niger… it’s hot here… although admittedly not even remotely possibly close to how hot it was in Niger… for those of you freezing in Canada, it’s about 32C out here and humid, since the rainy season is coming to a close… which means I missed mango season, big time… out here, in mango season, you can get mangoes almost the size of my head (ok, maybe not my head, maybe Tim’s ;) )
Otherwise, not much to say so far… I’ll write about my first impressions later… it’s always kind of strange, the feelings one gets when one walks off an airplane… also: I have a limited amt of time on this machine and it’s ticking away so I will speak to you all later!!!
Love you all!
julia
Saturday, June 07, 2003
Pembroke IV
Y'know, I think I may have West Nile with all the bites that I've been getting. One staff was quite horrified with the red polka-dots all over my legs.. almost looked like chicken-pox, they thought... ?jokingly...? It's been awful.. if I don't down at least 50mg of benadryl, I can't sleep through the night...
Other quaint snapshots of living in a small town:
1. There are more than two asian docs here. There are, in fact, at least six who work here at the hospital (plus me). The newest one is a young female surgeon, who, when it was noted that she was moving here a year ago, made the front page headline in the local paper apparently. She was stopped for speeding soon after that, and even though the officer, when stopping her car said, "Good evening, Dr. Huang", still gave her a ticket. Too bad she wasn't driving anywhere remotely towards the hospital...
2. I've already gotten my first "Hello, Doctor!" on the streets of Pembroke by some random passer-by. And, I've only been here three weeks...
3. I've hung out at the local Canadian Legion with the community band...
4. Had my first intact lobster. Had to wrestle it to the ground, as I couldn't for the life of me open the sucker. Gave the head with the green goopy stuff to one of the wives of one of the Chinese docs. Eventually just put it on the table and started whacking at it with that nut-cracker thing... and you guys thought I had a hard time with shrimp at that restaurant... :)
That's about all! Still have yet to encounter a bear. I'm told you can see them from time to time...
Other quaint snapshots of living in a small town:
1. There are more than two asian docs here. There are, in fact, at least six who work here at the hospital (plus me). The newest one is a young female surgeon, who, when it was noted that she was moving here a year ago, made the front page headline in the local paper apparently. She was stopped for speeding soon after that, and even though the officer, when stopping her car said, "Good evening, Dr. Huang", still gave her a ticket. Too bad she wasn't driving anywhere remotely towards the hospital...
2. I've already gotten my first "Hello, Doctor!" on the streets of Pembroke by some random passer-by. And, I've only been here three weeks...
3. I've hung out at the local Canadian Legion with the community band...
4. Had my first intact lobster. Had to wrestle it to the ground, as I couldn't for the life of me open the sucker. Gave the head with the green goopy stuff to one of the wives of one of the Chinese docs. Eventually just put it on the table and started whacking at it with that nut-cracker thing... and you guys thought I had a hard time with shrimp at that restaurant... :)
That's about all! Still have yet to encounter a bear. I'm told you can see them from time to time...
Thursday, June 05, 2003
Pembroke III
OK, well, back to my stunning and amazing adventures... :)
One thing of note: It's amazing at how people know people in small towns. They sit and they chat to each other if they bump into each other in the emergency department, or in the doctor's waiting rooms, instead of studiously avoiding each other's gazes, reading four year old issues of Reader's Digest. There's no such thing as six degrees of separation here. Try more like three. "Oh well, Moira did the flowers for my best friend's cousin's wedding. And boy, she makes a mean apple pie"... that kind of thing.
But, I think, that helps make things a little bit more community-minded. Yesterday afternoon, we went out to ride the "Big Bike" for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, which involves 30 (36?) people all riding this big honking machine that kind of looks like a bicycle... kinda... kind of like a bicycle on steroids, maybe... or maybe like a deformed Tonka truck.. or maybe like an engineering experiment gone wrong... well anyways, we had our little hats made out of coffee filters, windmills and heart-shaped stickers, and our team shirts, and went along our merry little way through town to "It's a Small World after all" and "Itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow-polka-dot bikini" and yelling all the way along. That wasn't the scary part. The scary part was that people on the bike were yelling hello to specific people through downtown and vice versa. That was scary.
What the heck? I don't go bicycling through downtown TO (well, I don't like deliberately dying, maybe that has something to do with it), yelling hello to people... on the other hand, why would I? I wouldn't know their name from a hole in the ground... :) On the other hand, I don't think I usually look that ridiculous either... (I hope...)
Hope you're all having a wonderful day!
julia
One thing of note: It's amazing at how people know people in small towns. They sit and they chat to each other if they bump into each other in the emergency department, or in the doctor's waiting rooms, instead of studiously avoiding each other's gazes, reading four year old issues of Reader's Digest. There's no such thing as six degrees of separation here. Try more like three. "Oh well, Moira did the flowers for my best friend's cousin's wedding. And boy, she makes a mean apple pie"... that kind of thing.
But, I think, that helps make things a little bit more community-minded. Yesterday afternoon, we went out to ride the "Big Bike" for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, which involves 30 (36?) people all riding this big honking machine that kind of looks like a bicycle... kinda... kind of like a bicycle on steroids, maybe... or maybe like a deformed Tonka truck.. or maybe like an engineering experiment gone wrong... well anyways, we had our little hats made out of coffee filters, windmills and heart-shaped stickers, and our team shirts, and went along our merry little way through town to "It's a Small World after all" and "Itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow-polka-dot bikini" and yelling all the way along. That wasn't the scary part. The scary part was that people on the bike were yelling hello to specific people through downtown and vice versa. That was scary.
What the heck? I don't go bicycling through downtown TO (well, I don't like deliberately dying, maybe that has something to do with it), yelling hello to people... on the other hand, why would I? I wouldn't know their name from a hole in the ground... :) On the other hand, I don't think I usually look that ridiculous either... (I hope...)
Hope you're all having a wonderful day!
julia
Tuesday, June 03, 2003
Pembroke II
Well, speaking to some of you, you've come to the realization that, really, I haven't done a heck of a lot up here except for work... on the other hand, in a town whose idea of find dining is East Side Mario's, I'm not fully convinced that there would be much more to do anyways. OK, that's not true. Lots of ppl have boats here, as it sits right on the Ottawa River, and there are ATVs and other semi-outdoor 'sports' (well, and real sports too, however, with my co-ordination skills being what they are, I doubt very much that I'd be up to par with the great A...)
Being very struck by the shortage of docs here (but hey, where isn't there one?). Besides my daily (well, about six-ten times a day) question of "Hey, are you related to Dr. Li? Like maybe his niece or something?", I get a lot more of, "Hey, are you going to come and set up practice here, cause we could really use a few more good doctors...?" That's definitely a problem. Anyways, this isn't going to be a political forum about medicare cause more than half of you don't care... Otherwise, not that much to say... I mean, I have been to TO and Ottawa in the time that I've been up here, so it's not like I've been hanging with the locals... :) (My goodness folks, this has GOT to be the most BORING series ever... snorzzzzzzz) The most exciting thing I've seen, clinically, is a 700-lb person and their 700-lb mother. That's just wrong. They're both in hospital. What a surprise.
OK, this is really pathetic... I'm going to sign off this postcard cause if the best thing I can come up with is a once-upon-a-time circus freaks, then I really have nothing interesting to say...
julia
Being very struck by the shortage of docs here (but hey, where isn't there one?). Besides my daily (well, about six-ten times a day) question of "Hey, are you related to Dr. Li? Like maybe his niece or something?", I get a lot more of, "Hey, are you going to come and set up practice here, cause we could really use a few more good doctors...?" That's definitely a problem. Anyways, this isn't going to be a political forum about medicare cause more than half of you don't care... Otherwise, not that much to say... I mean, I have been to TO and Ottawa in the time that I've been up here, so it's not like I've been hanging with the locals... :) (My goodness folks, this has GOT to be the most BORING series ever... snorzzzzzzz) The most exciting thing I've seen, clinically, is a 700-lb person and their 700-lb mother. That's just wrong. They're both in hospital. What a surprise.
OK, this is really pathetic... I'm going to sign off this postcard cause if the best thing I can come up with is a once-upon-a-time circus freaks, then I really have nothing interesting to say...
julia
Pembroke I
Well hello, and here's yet another (interminable) edition of Julia's exploits in far lands (well, OK, admittedly this is probably the most pathetic series since I didn't even leave the province, but stil...), and I wasn't entirely sure if this counts as Part V, of if Ottawa stories count, or if I even wrote anything whilst in Spain (I don't think I did), cause if so, then I might even be up to Part VII...
At any rate, this time I'm not in that strange of a land... Pembroke ON, really, for a month, on a rural rotation, to encourage the good family doctors of the land to move out to Green Acres so that the specialists don't have to (hey! says the peanut gallery, and then re-considers when they realize that's true har de har har :) ).
And, I'm not that far... just about 150km from Ottawa, which takes me that much further from Toronto, so I guess it's far... (not that it's -that- big of deal to ppl, say, like Tracy :) ) For those of you who are new to this series, welcome! And to those of you who are groaning, "Oh man, why does she still keep me on her friggin' list??", well, too bad. :) Hopefully, I'll be able to regale you with tales of strange customs and exotic peoples... right... sorry, no more Swedish OR stories, no camels, no accordions, no baby offerings, no Stampede stories... nothing like that in this series, I'm afraid... this one is unfortunately completely self indulgent, since I have nothing better to do out here :) So, surprisingly, I'm finding myself in a town of 10,000 ppl. It has a hospital, which is currently undergoing a $36 million re-construction with the works. Family docs do most, if not all, the work here (of course). They just got their first CT scanner, which is great, cause they don't have to send cerebellar stroke pts down to Ottawa noe (well, as long as strokes happen during business hours... they have yet to have the techs to run it full time.. plus it's broken down twice in the 48 hours I've been here... weird...) Other than that, I've seen a couple of cows, and two East Asian docs(!).. one of whom is a Dr. Li... you can imagine how many jokes I've gotten about how I'm probably related to Dr. Li.... :) of course, cause that would be logical...
That's about it for now!
Later! Love you all!
julia
At any rate, this time I'm not in that strange of a land... Pembroke ON, really, for a month, on a rural rotation, to encourage the good family doctors of the land to move out to Green Acres so that the specialists don't have to (hey! says the peanut gallery, and then re-considers when they realize that's true har de har har :) ).
And, I'm not that far... just about 150km from Ottawa, which takes me that much further from Toronto, so I guess it's far... (not that it's -that- big of deal to ppl, say, like Tracy :) ) For those of you who are new to this series, welcome! And to those of you who are groaning, "Oh man, why does she still keep me on her friggin' list??", well, too bad. :) Hopefully, I'll be able to regale you with tales of strange customs and exotic peoples... right... sorry, no more Swedish OR stories, no camels, no accordions, no baby offerings, no Stampede stories... nothing like that in this series, I'm afraid... this one is unfortunately completely self indulgent, since I have nothing better to do out here :) So, surprisingly, I'm finding myself in a town of 10,000 ppl. It has a hospital, which is currently undergoing a $36 million re-construction with the works. Family docs do most, if not all, the work here (of course). They just got their first CT scanner, which is great, cause they don't have to send cerebellar stroke pts down to Ottawa noe (well, as long as strokes happen during business hours... they have yet to have the techs to run it full time.. plus it's broken down twice in the 48 hours I've been here... weird...) Other than that, I've seen a couple of cows, and two East Asian docs(!).. one of whom is a Dr. Li... you can imagine how many jokes I've gotten about how I'm probably related to Dr. Li.... :) of course, cause that would be logical...
That's about it for now!
Later! Love you all!
julia
Sunday, January 05, 2003
Hmmm, group therapy....
It's probably just b/c of the hour, or maybe I just miss y'all, but I think I just needed to share this story with you.
I just admitted a lady who is, of course, in her 80s (cause who else would you admit?). Looks obviously copus mentus, well-groomed, non-neglected. Comes in cause she's confused, forgetful. Totally not like her, as she's not demented.
Neighbour called 911 for her.
Short story to the point: She had a massive R-sided cranial bleed. More blood than brain.
Can you imagine? The lady cannot remember what has happened to her for the past few days, cannot remember where she is, how she got there, or the fact that she saw the ER doc before me who also explained to her what happened to her today.
Can't remember what medications she's taking, can't remember if she has family in the Ottawa area, can't remember anything. It's like her life was wiped out, and all she's left with is her name, cause that's basically all she can remember. Yes, and she's got hemi-neglect, and motor and sensory changes too, and massive visual field losses too. But it's the whole memory thing that bothers me this evening. The whole idea that she won't ever be going home, and that she won't even remember that she once lived there. The fact that we'll probably place her in some nursing home, and she will need to be re-reminded every day as to where she is and why she's there and re-live the horror every day. The fact that in this nursing home, she won't even have the pleasure and the pain of reliving and ruminating through her memories, cause they won't even be there to comfort her.
I think this is the closest that I've felt to feeling bad and wanting to cry on behalf of a patient since residency's begun. I dunno if that's a good thing or a bad thing that it took this long to feel that way for a patient. I think THAT'S the main reason why I'm writing this tonight, that I haven't felt that way for a long time, and I'm wondering why THIS patient on THIS night particularly is getting to me. I'm wondering what happened such that it's not that hard NOT to be affected by people's plights anymore (groan! Another COPDers, another UA, another UGIB, another MI, another anxious patient.... and on and on and on....). Do you guys notice that change too? Do you remember me talking about that in first year? Tim, I know for sure I talked to you about that at length.... about needing to become 'harder' for the sake of our own personal psyches. And I know that I have become much 'harder' in many ways. But maybe it's just that I wasn't that struck hard by just how 'hard' I've become...
Anyways, I'm sorry about rambling. I'm going to try to go to bed before the ER tries to page me again. Sorry about the verbal vomit too...
I just admitted a lady who is, of course, in her 80s (cause who else would you admit?). Looks obviously copus mentus, well-groomed, non-neglected. Comes in cause she's confused, forgetful. Totally not like her, as she's not demented.
Neighbour called 911 for her.
Short story to the point: She had a massive R-sided cranial bleed. More blood than brain.
Can you imagine? The lady cannot remember what has happened to her for the past few days, cannot remember where she is, how she got there, or the fact that she saw the ER doc before me who also explained to her what happened to her today.
Can't remember what medications she's taking, can't remember if she has family in the Ottawa area, can't remember anything. It's like her life was wiped out, and all she's left with is her name, cause that's basically all she can remember. Yes, and she's got hemi-neglect, and motor and sensory changes too, and massive visual field losses too. But it's the whole memory thing that bothers me this evening. The whole idea that she won't ever be going home, and that she won't even remember that she once lived there. The fact that we'll probably place her in some nursing home, and she will need to be re-reminded every day as to where she is and why she's there and re-live the horror every day. The fact that in this nursing home, she won't even have the pleasure and the pain of reliving and ruminating through her memories, cause they won't even be there to comfort her.
I think this is the closest that I've felt to feeling bad and wanting to cry on behalf of a patient since residency's begun. I dunno if that's a good thing or a bad thing that it took this long to feel that way for a patient. I think THAT'S the main reason why I'm writing this tonight, that I haven't felt that way for a long time, and I'm wondering why THIS patient on THIS night particularly is getting to me. I'm wondering what happened such that it's not that hard NOT to be affected by people's plights anymore (groan! Another COPDers, another UA, another UGIB, another MI, another anxious patient.... and on and on and on....). Do you guys notice that change too? Do you remember me talking about that in first year? Tim, I know for sure I talked to you about that at length.... about needing to become 'harder' for the sake of our own personal psyches. And I know that I have become much 'harder' in many ways. But maybe it's just that I wasn't that struck hard by just how 'hard' I've become...
Anyways, I'm sorry about rambling. I'm going to try to go to bed before the ER tries to page me again. Sorry about the verbal vomit too...
Sunday, August 04, 2002
La belle vie in cafes
Well kids, definitely one of the perks of being out here is that we're only 1 1/2 hours from Montreal. Yes, my hard life in Psychiatry is running me down; I think each of us who went to Montreal plunked down several hundred dollars apiece on Rue St-Catherine (manic symptomatology?), as well as going tete-a-tete with various musiciens quebecois till 2 in the morning... sigh... walking through the streets of Vieux Montreal is -really- stressful :) , especially trying to break the stereotype of the Torontonian who Never goes to Montreal unless they absolutely HAVE to...
But really, I think psychiatry is filled with weirdos (sorry Steph), with the most likely candidate being the guy who was my staff last week. The poor OCD man is also psychotic, thinking it's a good thing to come into work (and his residents too!) at 7:30 am and not leaving the psych ward till about 7 or 8 at night... I would never have imagined actually having to be on Psych service twelve hours a day! That's nutso! Anyways, so the trainees have been busy psycho-analyzing the staff, while learning about psychiatry... I think the poor man derives personal satisfaction from his work alone, to the detriment of every other facet of life... He's an INCREDIBLY great psychiatrist, and even over the four days I was working with him, I could totally see the benefit he imparts to patients, but twelve+ hours a day?!?!?
I think this has taught me that we need to work hard to be excellent, in fact, I think if we don't put in the time, we actually cannot be as excellent as our other colleagues who do work hard. On the other hand, if you put in tons of work, and are an excellent excellent excellent doctor, then who is really the sick one? It makes me wonder...
But really, I think psychiatry is filled with weirdos (sorry Steph), with the most likely candidate being the guy who was my staff last week. The poor OCD man is also psychotic, thinking it's a good thing to come into work (and his residents too!) at 7:30 am and not leaving the psych ward till about 7 or 8 at night... I would never have imagined actually having to be on Psych service twelve hours a day! That's nutso! Anyways, so the trainees have been busy psycho-analyzing the staff, while learning about psychiatry... I think the poor man derives personal satisfaction from his work alone, to the detriment of every other facet of life... He's an INCREDIBLY great psychiatrist, and even over the four days I was working with him, I could totally see the benefit he imparts to patients, but twelve+ hours a day?!?!?
I think this has taught me that we need to work hard to be excellent, in fact, I think if we don't put in the time, we actually cannot be as excellent as our other colleagues who do work hard. On the other hand, if you put in tons of work, and are an excellent excellent excellent doctor, then who is really the sick one? It makes me wonder...
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