Life on the Land

This week we had some amazing experiences out on the land and in the classroom. Now that we are well into the lessons, we are really working to get through all of the topics that we had initially planned to. In our first week we touched on physical health (nutrition, physical fitness and personal/oral hygiene), and then this past week we focused on mental wellness and taught about bullying, communication, and self-esteem. But with the end of the year coming up, several school events (graduation and a career and technology studies unit) may make doing so more difficult! But we are up to the challenge!Teaching the students at Nasivvik has been a blast so far. Our lessons over the last few weeks have been pretty well received by all of the students. Highlights include:

• Watching an egg soaking in coke get disgusting and black
• Seeing students lead others (blindfolded) astray using their awesome communication skills
• Jon beating students at wall squats (amidst groans of pain from students in the class)

However, often times our lessons have been met with giggles and quiet whispers of Inuktitut. But we’ll just assume that they’re discussing extensions of the material that we’ve presented to them…Pond Inlet is an amazing community that has such amazing positive and helpful people. In the short time that we have been here, we have been offered to go on numerous outings to learn about tradition and to see more of the beautiful scenery. We have had an opportunity to snowmobile to icebergs that have frozen close to shore (and climb over them as well!), cheer on a community musher (dog-sled racer) at the end of his weeklong race, participate in a traditional seal hunt, experience life inside an igloo, and so much more. We are so grateful for all of the generosity that people in the community have shown two strangers from Kingston, Ontario. The trips out on the land have taught us so much.This past week we had a Girls Night where Lindsay and some Nasivvik girls had a night of makeovers, bracelet making, and Freaky Friday. It was a great time for the girls to hang out and chat. Here are some pictures!Thanks for checking out our blog and we hope you guys had an awesome long weekend – we definitely did! We'll post back sooner this time we promise!Jon and Lindsay