If you don’t like bananas don’t come to the north!!!

Well I have been here for 4.5 weeks and well settled in to Rankin Inlet.  I have been for some good hikes out on the land.  I was out today with fellow nurse Andrea (from B.C.).  We walked 8 kms and that is on rough terrain.  It was warm today with minimal wind, so summer attire with no jacket today.  The draw back when we have weather like this, there are thousands of black flies.  The result of this is I probably swallowed at less a dozen bugs because I am a mouth breather and have a couple of dozen black fly bites on the exposed skin.  They even got in behind my sun glasses.  When we were off the tundra we looked down at our legs, which were covered with long pants, there were hundreds of flies on us and we had to brush them off.   We saw some interesting things while were out.  We saw lots of caribou skulls and a few rib cages.  There are bones everywhere when you are out on the land.   We saw what we thought were herons.  And we also saw a flock of Canadian Geese…go figure!!!  When Andrea and I were out on the weekend, I collected some interesting rocks.  I wish I knew what they are.  There is such a variety.  Today we picked up a few shells and we took lots of picture.

I now officially have some Inuit art.  I have a carving of a drum dancer that is made of caribou antler.  I have an Ulu, in which the handle is carved from caribou antler.  An Ulu is a woman’s knife. I have a smaller one. It has a 4 inch blade on it and it is sharpened on one side.  It is a great tool to use in the kitchen to cut with and it is also used to skin an animal.   It is also good for me because of my rotator cuff injury, no strength needed for cutting.  The artist is Etwah Noah; He is a 17-year-old young man with great talent.  He learned from his 3 uncles and started at the age of 7.  I have earring carved from caribou bone in the shape of Kamiks.   Kamiks are what you would call Mukluks.  Kamiks are hand made from seal hide with seal skin trim.  I have two zipper pulls one is miniature Kamiks and the other is small crochets toques.

The housing here is very simple and small, probably about 900 sq. feet max. You will see the snowmobiles, cars and ATVs all sitting out side the home.  There are no driveways or garages.  Have seen caribou antlers sitting on the roof of some of the homes. All buildings are built up off the ground…no basements.  This is because of the perma-frost in the ground.  One thing that upset me when I was talking to a young mother with her oldest about 7 years old, what that she had to make a choice between housing and post secondary education.  She had a job with Social Service and would have liked to go to college to be a Social Services Worker. She would have to move to Cambridge Bay for 2 years.  She just got her own house recently and would have to give it up for school.  This would be a difficult situation for anyone. 

Another friend Heidi, is supply teaching at the high school and loving it.  The classes are very small, like about 10 kids.  They are eager to learn.  The building that the high school is in also houses an elementary school and the town library.  I will be checking it out tomorrow.  I am thinking, I would like to volunteer with the elementary school on some of my days off...for something to do and to get to learn from the kids.   After all I do have my Early Childhood Education Diploma along with being a nurse. 

As for work, we have a few inpatients now.  This is nice.  We have tidied and cleaned everything possible on the unit.  And there are only so many games of fish and crazy eights that you can play.  I always make sure that I take a book and/or a craft to work to fill in time too.  The current book that is making it its way through the nursing staff is “Becoming Sister Wives”. LOL!!!!

My next posting I will put up pictures only and I will probably do it tomorrow.

Now to explain the title for those with inquiring minds!!!  Bananas are in abundance at the Northern Store and the Co-op.  I wanted to get berries this week as they were on special.  If you snooze you loose.  Therefore…bananas again this week. Lesson learned…if you see it…need or want it…buy it!!!

Hope all is well!!!

Reality has set in!!!

It has been a while since I added to my blog.  Work, sleep, work, sleep, and work.  Well, you get the picture.   Work is interesting. I am learning to do intra venous, which is a skill I need.  I even have had one doctor and one nurse who have volunteered to practice on.  Real people when I am ready.

There are a few health issues that are very prevalent here.  The first is respiratory issues with both adults and children.  First is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, which comes from smoking.  Asthma is high here too.   As for the children is bronchiolitis.   I have been told that there is a high incidence of SIDS.  And there is obesity with both adults and children and its associated health conditions.  Rankin Inlet is very fortunate to have midwives and a birthing centre.  There are a lot of very young moms.  Mom and midwives walk in about an hour or so before the birth and walk out with baby about 3 hours afterwards.  The way it supposed to be!!!   There are about 50-60 births a year.  I don’t know the statistics with this versus the number of births in the territory.  The other option is to go to Winnipeg at 36 weeks and wait for labour to begin.  There is an Inuit Centre for people to stay to wait for births, for patients who are having treatments or procedures.  Also patients have an escort who travels with them and this is covered by the health system.  In Rankin, we feed them when their family member is hospitalized if they are from another community.  They stay in the housing in Winnipeg.  For the smaller communities like Arviat, Whale Cove and Baker Lake, when people are too sick to be handled in their own community they are medivaced (air transported out) or sent to us by a regular airline and afterwards returned home.  Again the health system covers this.  If they are critically ill, they are medivaced right to Winnipeg.  The health system is set up so that residence can go south for the more complex health issues.

Things that are different at the health centre here.  First, both the doctor and the nurse from the clinic come up to the unit to give report.  If people are from other communities and they are stable enough, they may be fortunate enough to get a pass to leave the hospital to go shopping or visit family in the community.  Post discharge at times they go to a hotel in town for a few days before they travel home.  If blood work needs to go to the lab, you take it to the lab yourself.   Going for x-ray or ultrasound…you take the patient.  As for long-term care, not every community is fortunate enough to have a facility within it.   Long-term care is used as a last resort; most families take care of the elders.  When nurse work the inpatient unit at night we are provided a dinner since we cannot leave the building.  This is great because the food is great and freshly made (even steamed veggies).  Even the snacks are fresh.  There is also a staff member who is responsible for taking care of the staffs’ housing issues if we are transients. Need a Brita filter, call Sarah; have problems with your phone, call Sarah. Get the picture???

Now for the Internet issues…very slow!!!!  Appreciate you high-speed people and the amount of downloading you can do.  I get 1/6 of most southern plans and I had to buy the modem to get this plan…the best or you pay ++++$$$$$$.  Gee, downloading will not happen at home!!!!  Before I leave I will post that I will be selling the modem on the Facebook buy and sell page.  It is a very active site and anything goes.  It is cheaper to sell than to ship or take it home. 

Down south you have door-to-door sales people who will sell you anything.  In Rankin Inlet we get door-to-door soapstone carvers with their artwork.  The pieces are different than I have seen before, so a few will have to come home with me.  I have learned who the good artists are in town.  I have asked someone to make me a parka but I have not heard back yet. 

As for the weather!!!!  Since I arrived, there has been 2 days warm enough for shorts and sleeveless tops.  I need to make that 3 days.  Today is warm and I am heading to bed ( worked the last 3 nights).  I usually have a sweatshirt or fleece jacket on and long pants.  Most days it is windy and it is usually cool.  We actually want some wind because it keeps the bug level down.  I have swallowed a few.  When there is no wind you will see people waving their arms like crazy to get the bugs out of the way when walking.  The one thing I really like is the clean air…no asthma problems for me.  But it is interesting that it can be cool outside and you can be sweating…and it is not a hot flash!!!!!

There are some cultural differences that are prevalent. Inuit people eat things raw…caribou, arctic char, seal and whale. Yuck!!!!  They tend to wear their day clothes to bed, not pajamas.  There is a lot and I mean a lot of adoption here.  I talked to one mother who gave birth to 6 children of which she is raising 3 of them.  Another gave birth to 3 children and is raising 2.  And women are a little too free with giving children away.  One of the nurses has been offered a baby or two in the last year.  Some of this came from the time when they were nomads and if a parent died and could not care for all their children another family related or close friends would take one or some of the children and raise them as their own.  I don’t know what they do from a legal standpoint.  Apparently the children still know who their birth mothers are.  The young mom today I was talking to is 23 and one of her children is about 7.  She told me her cousin is 21 and has no children yet.  Interesting!!!!!

Then there is the food…expensive when bought locally, even though the federal government subsidizes nutritious food.  The choices aren’t that good.  I bought 7 boxes of groceries from a Winnipeg company, having free shipping on the nutritious stuff.  With the combination of fresh and frozen I should be good for quite a while.  It took about 5 days to get here.  Just an example of prices:  24 cans of pop - $35, 4 litres of Chapman Ice Cream - $15, and a tin of crushed tomatoes $5.  But I pay the same for eggs here as you do in the south…. subsidy!!!  Get the picture??   This would be why there is a northern allowance with your pay.

I will post some more pictures soon.

Take care!!!