Guyana has this lovely tradition here where people go liming at the Seawall on Sunday evenings. Friends and families and lovers hang out over a couple of drinks at the long stretch of sea wall that the Dutch had built to keep out the Atlantic Ocean. Vendors sell beer, nuts and other snacks, and there are fun activities to keep kids entertained too, including trampolines and a guy in what looks like a really hot Mickey Mouse costume that you can get your photo taken with for a fee. I can't imagine wearing that in this weather.
It provides a lovely view of the sun setting into the ocean, but folks
hang out long after sunset, especially to snuggle with their loved ones.
It's not always the safest place for foreigners, especially after dark, but it was fun for us to check out while there was still some daylight. Also, to awkwardly pose for those stereotypical beach photos that North Americans always expect from the Caribbean.
Portland! We had finally arrived in Portland, one of my favourite American cities. Portland, the city where people in their twenties go to retire. Portland, where the dream of the 90s is still alive.
This is what I'm talking about.
Or maybe we're talking about the 1890s
Contrary to the impression I've probably given so far, I have actually visited Portland before and know stuff about it beyond the TV show Portlandia. I remember visiting family friends there as a teen, and posing beside the giant Nike icon on the Nike campus, and five years ago, I took the train down from Vancouver to explore the City of Coolness. I was happy to be back here again.
Portland is so cool. I feel like everything that is cool to us now started in Portland: the organic local farm food movement, food trucks, coffee, microbrewery beers, hipster beards, craft fairs, silkscreened baby onesies, certain fonts and graphic design styles. Maybe not all the cool trends started in Portland, but they certainly all thrive there.
Take this as an example. When our taxi pulled up to the curb at our hotel the Sentinel, there was loud club music coming out of the hotel, as well as a lineup wrapped around the block behind a velvet rope. Turns out the bar at our hotel, Jackknife, happened to be one of the most happening hotspot on a Saturday night in the city. Unlike the places where I usually spend my time, we were in the centre of coolness.
The lovely Sentinel Hotel
Look at all the cute kitschy things the hotel has, just in the lobby alone
food trucks!
KEEP PORTLAND BIRD
When I woke up, I was so excited to be in the city that I decided to go for a run, taking in the sights of the city along the way.
RUGS
South Park
Tree art
Tom McCall Waterfront Park
As I jogged along the river, I was so enthralled with the waterfront scenery that I didn't notice my hotel key card had fallen out of my pocket. A gentleman passerby saw it drop and tried to get my attention. "Miss!" he called out.
I kept jogging down the path.
He began to run after me. "Miss! Miss!"
I pulled out a camera and began to take photos, composing a love poem to Portland in my mind. It wasn't that I was ignoring him or running away from him because I thought he was creepy. I was just lost in thought.
"Miss!"
Eventually I tuned back in to realize that he had followed me down the whole path just to return my hotel card. I thanked him but he was too out of breath to respond.
People are really nice in Portland.
Portland is also ready to meet your spiritual needs
Then I found palm trees!
Portland palm trees
Back at the hotel, we decided to properly start the day off with the three dollar mimosas offered at Jake's Grill.
the price is right
I love the old-timey look of this bar
We were looking forward to checking out the famous brunch scene in Portland, but for that morning, we thought we'd check out the Saturday Market and eat there. It was actually Sunday, but luckily the Saturday Market is not actually restricted to just Saturdays.
There was all sorts of food available, including nepalese, Polish, Thai...I ended up buying a Mexican pupusa which was delicious with homemade pineapple juice. Fruit! How I missed fresh fruit.
When people in Nunavut visit Portland...
We passed by the famous Voodoo Donuts, which also had a lineup around the block. That seems to be the theme for Portland: "Waiting In Line For An Hour For Food". We didn't, though.
Instead, for the evening, we decided to check out the Portland City Grill, located in a tall skyscraper with tasty dishes which were luckily cheap during happy hour.
I love that Portland is all about the happy hour. The idea, I guess, is to offer food and drinks at a cheap price during the slow hours of the restaurants and bars. Because I am not that cool (and maybe not cool enough for Portland), I am more than happy to munch away at the unhip hour of 5PM in the afternoon if it means the plates are at half price. Then I can order everything off the menu (and end up spending more money than if I ate during Unhappy Hour instead).
But really, we were here for the spectacular view.
It was so lovely to have a drink and watch the sun go down over the whole city.
Well, 2015 started out with a huge bang in Cambridge Bay, and by bang, of course I mean two big blizzards in one week. Luckily the weather's settled down since, resting at a fierce temperature of -55 with the windchill on average. It's cold, folks. The kind of cold where you look up and admire the pretty moon in the sky, and then rush on because it's too cold to linger outside for more than a few minutes, and if you stop to take a photo, your hands will get frostbitten. The kind of cold where if you grip the doorknob with bare hands, you'll instantly feel freeze burn. Even the snowmobiles are frozen and having trouble starting.
It's that time of year where you stay indoors, warm. Until you get driven out of your house because your roof vents are blocked and your house is slowly filling with the smell of sewage. Then you send your most unfortunate household member to climb up to the roof and clear the snow from the vents. My friend and I sat at her living room window, with binoculars, spying on her neighbours doing this, because sometimes that is what counts as entertainment for us.
Wait....how do I get in?
It's also that time of year where it's so cold that the vehicles often refuse to start. The automotive garage has been busy this week, with calls from truck owners who all need a jump start.
To make sure that our vehicle continues running smoothly, I went for a little drive out of town. Not very far out of town, of course, since I didn't want to get the truck stuck in the snow, but far enough to get out of town and lose sight of all "city" life.
I'm glad I went out. It's been a while since I've wandered out of town and been able to appreciate the tundra view.
the Distant Early Warning Station
Construction equipment waiting in the snow
The Canadian High Arctic Research Station, under construction
Beautiful Cambridge Bay
I love Nunavut. I love that I only need to walk a few steps out of town and then suddenly I am all alone in the tundra, lost in the beautiful wilderness that stretches on forever.
What I am especially grateful for, despite the astonishing cold, is that the sun has begun to rise again, painting the skies with long extended sun rises and sun sets. The sun still doesn't get very high in the sky, but it's lovely to see, since we missed it. And soon enough the days will grow drastically longer, until it stops setting in May.
a sunrise/sunset over the frozen Arctic ocean
We've also been getting some gorgeous northern lights at night, right outside my living room window. I still haven't developed the knack for capturing them on film yet, so you'll just have to take my word for it.
Hey! I'm still here. I have been busy writing other things (like this article on Iqaluit Pride!) and also, randomly enough, a couple of remixes. Mainly, though, I've been enjoying life in Cambridge Bay.
There's a polar bear hanging around just outside of town this week. He just seems to be hanging out around the cabins. I don't have any photos of him because I am too scared to go out looking for him. But other people have seen him. Somebody in town asked, if the bear attacks, can I shoot the bear? YOLO, someone replied. Stand your ground.
It's interesting. I was reading a fascinating journal article discussing the polar bear as a metaphor for the traditional gender ambiguity that was prevalent in historical Inuit culture. And then this polar bear appeared. So, maybe it means something.
Today, I managed to catch the sunrise and the sunset.
sunrise, over a frozen arctic ocean
sunset, over a developing tundra
However, this photo wins as the most Nunavut photo. All-terrain vehicle. Truck. Husky dog. Beautiful sunrise over a frozen ocean.
