OKAY. Not having Internet really sucks but praise the lord for data plans – mine has probably reached its limit a long time ago. Why do I feel the need to check how many Air Miles I have at 12am? The answer escapes me as well.
I will fill you in on some details of our last drive from Matagami to Wemindji. Matagami is a sort of transient mining town, lots of mines surround the area and people use it as a last-stop before heading to their destination North or back down South. The parking lot was filled with big trucks and mine vehicles. My hotel room was SO SMALL but very cute and it didn’t matter much because I fell right asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow! After a nice little breakfast (I assumed it would be our last supper after the stories I heard about the roads we were about to encounter, so I ordered bacon), filled up our tanks (the next gas station was 381km away...), got some snacks for the road and were on our way!
At 0KM (the very beginning of the James Bay Highway) there is a security check-in and tourist center. We gave our information, took some French language tourist brochures (useless to me but seemed important at the time) and drove off! IMMEDIATELY my seatbelt broke. Like, seriously? So I plugged it in the one next to me and kept driving! (It works now that I am not longer driving rollercoaster roads go figure.) The 515~ km of the James Bay Highway before you turn for Wemindji were in-cred-i-ble. Incredible for a couple of reasons. One, the landscape is breathtaking. We drove for quite some time alongside scorched earth, remnants of a forest fire which leveled the forests and left behind blackened matchstick tree corpses. Two, there were SO MANY BUMPS – like, major bumps – if you were speeding you could be airborne no joke. We were warned ahead of time by Brandi to take the areas of road marked by TINY orange triangles slow as those triangles represented severely uneven pavement. Now, most of these bumps had been filled in but there were countless major inconsistencies in the pavement all over the highway that were not marked by any sort of warning so I had to watch carefully ahead of me as Carmen took the hits and I tried to slow down according to how high her car jumped. My jaw is actually still hurting from clenching my teeth so tight during this drive. We made a few stops along the way to stretch our legs, use the nasty port-a-potties, and see the incredible sights, rapids!! Pictures will follow ASAP. We stopped for gas at KM381 which was a weird stop-in for miners and other drivers. There was a public bathroom with shower and washing machine as well as a ton of trailers so I think that it’s a camp or something. We ate a lunch of hamburgers (a staple on this trip for some reason – no complaints here) tried to wake ourselves up and then drove on.
SO we made it through the James Bay Highway and I felt like a champ! No popped tires and muffler was still attached! We turned onto the road that took us to Wemindji. This “road” is 94~km of gravel road. Sandy gravel. The dust was insane. My car is filthy! We were advised to pull to the side when large trucks went by because the gravel flung by their tires would definitely (and often does) crack a windshield. Luck was on our side because we didn’t pass any 18 wheelers! We did pull over when we saw oncoming vehicles should the same thing happen though and each time we did the oncoming vehicle pulled over too to make sure we were okay! That was so nice and really reassuring. So we drove like grannies for over an hour on this gravel road until out of the dust emerged Wemindji! Home!
A lot has happened since I last checked in. Where do I start?! Okay so we arrived on Wednesday, had some dinner and crashed. Thursday we went grocery shopping a little, set up the P.O. Box (#308!!) visited the school and saw our classrooms, met another new teacher who lives next door to me, Karen – she’s great and is the female version of Benjamin Button in a good way. Then, we went for a hike with Brandi and her spaniel Jersey (hilariously over-energized) up along the infamous KM6 which has the most amazing trails through the forests and sand dunes, really cool! I did not take any pictures because for once I actually left my phone at home ON PURPOSE as well I was huffing and puffing from being so badly out of shape I don’t think I had enough oxygen in my brain to multi-task. So there’s that. I also decided to wear my brand-new beautiful runners on this hike and for my sins received 2 blisters, one on each heel, the size of a loonie! Not kidding! I looked like a burn victim. I forgot to mention that the moving truck arrived somewhere there in the day and delivered ALL MY STUFF!! I was seriously not expecting them until Friday or later so I was literally ecstatic. As of now (Friday night – I am writing this and posting when I get access to the internet) I have unpacked all 29 boxes (I know..) save for one! I am hoping this box contains all the little things I haven’t seen yet in my unpacking but I am kind of afraid that they won’t be there and are lost forever in the cold white North.
Today (Friday) has mostly just been unpacking, cleaning up, and getting sorted for the upcoming week. I have arranged my living room the way I think looks okay and I got some spare furniture from Carmen’s place. It seems that between the 3 of us, we all have what we need, it’s just some of us (Carmen) had 3 TV cabinets while others (me) had none! Sharing is caring boys and girls! I should also mention that today I fell. Like a fool. We were walking to Brandi’s house to hang out and out of nowhere I fell like a chopped down tree. Literally I went from standing to face-flat on the ground. I believe I shouted a swear word on the way down but it’s all very hazy now. So while trying to catch my breath and regain my dignity (tucking in guts and boobs back in to their place), laughing and reassuring Karen and Carmen that I did not break my ankle and am just top heavy, a man pulls up in his vehicle. I shout to him, “I’m okay!” to which he answers laughing, “Are you drunk??” GREAT! My reputation precedes me!! The only redhead on the reservation and I will now be known as the falling-down drunk new teacher. We had a good laugh about it at the kitchen table but my ankle has swollen up pretty big and I have limited range of motion so we had to nix going to another teacher’s gathering, sorry ladies!
My observations (not meant to be mean or anything but these things just are.)
- It seems like lots of the children are allowed to play unsupervised. This means they play at the park across from my house all day or in the streets or yards. I asked if anything bad ever happens to the kids because of this and apparently not! No child has been snatched or drowned in the river or been hit by a car (although I did witness an almost-hit on Wednesday but this kid is like spiderman or something and avoided death) so this place is pretty safe!
- Dogs are either tied up what seems like permanently outside or wander the streets unattended to. Surprisingly, I have not seen any dog poop on the street. They are all friendly and beautiful.
- People like to drive around – all day – going nowhere. They do this from the morning straight through the night.
- People also like to drive their ATVs around! I kinda want one..
- Carmen’s and my car stick out like sore thumbs!! Carmen drove a silver VW Bug and I, of course, the Green Machine a 97 Tercel. EVERYONE has a truck/SUV/van. After driving the 600+ KM of bumpy, curvy, gravel, crazy roads I can certainly see why!
- The weather is warm in the sunshine, no humidity and cool in the evenings, sometimes foggy. It is the perfect climate!
- People here run on a very relaxed, “casual” schedule. It is going to take a lot to get used to but it doesn’t seem to bother anyone but the non-native folk. Carmen and I went to set up Internet service and had to ask around 2 buildings and lots of people for the guys who install. After we paid for our service we asked when we should expect it. “Probably never!” with a hearty laugh said the woman who took our money. Carmen and I looked at each other, terrified.
- Food, as expected, is EXPENSIVE. I bought a cucumber, a head of iceberg lettuce, a bag of grapes, a bottle of smoothie juice, cream cheese, a loaf of bread, a small container of milk and a stick of butter - $44!!!! Crazy. Luckily since I brought most dry things I need up with me, all I need to get is fruit, veg, and dairy (I stocked up on fish and chicken when a vendor who caters to Northern communities came up yesterday). 5 fresh chicken breasts costs $19.99 at the store!! I bought 5 pears for $4.49 today! Eating healthy is going to be a little tricky but I have some good recipes and its going to have to be down to portion control and exercise (I just spelled exercise wrong which means I am out of shape)
Well that’s pretty much it for now! I will post pictures ASAP when i get internet and you can see my house before and after!! I miss you all and can’t wait to see everyone at Christmas!!
Love Aidan
