A reality

It's a weird sensation to be in a part of our country, OUR Canada, and not feel like you are anywhere you've ever been before.  I've had that feeling since I landed in Nunavut on March 9th, everything has been surreal, has been new, wonderful, beautiful fun and although that feeling of excitement is great to experience (almost euphoric), I wondered if my whole trip would be a blur because of it and if I would get a chance to experience my new "here" as it really is with it's beauty but also it's honesty.

Yesterday I was sick. I think being sick brought my head back down to the ground and I felt at I got a glimpse into the the real here, not the tourist here. I looked around the school, I looked at my students, I looked around the town and it was familiar to me.  Not familiar because I could relate it to where I come from, but because this community has a special way of making you feel part of it very quickly.  I saw faces I knew and whose faces I knew the faces of their parents of grandparents. I saw some of the sadness that can happen in a community, I saw the joys that can be shared, I saw the talent that could be lost here way in the North, and I saw some of the struggles of the North.

I still love it here. I love that community means what it is suppose to mean. I love the classroom, the school, and the ability of this place to keep going despite what happens elsewhere. I love that a can of pop costs 1.99$ but fruit and veggies are comparable to home, and I love that you can actually knock on your neighbours door and ask for a cup of sugar, but will probably get invited for tea as well.

I'm still sick today, but I can't wait to go to the classroom and see my students again and see what we can learn today.  We've been working on understanding the scientific method and we're going to try to hypothesize some solutions to some problems with snowmobiles.