Final Thoughts--Allison

Reflections can sometimes be difficult things to write. The word "reflect" implies that there is a mirror somewhere into which you can look; it implies you are given a clear image. But I think that this reflection is much more like the reflection you find in a vernal pool. It's a mucky trek down to its edge and even when you look into the water the image is still blurry and see-through. And if you touch the water little ripples of movement scatter to the far ends. And if you jump into the water a big splash crashes over the lip of the muddy bowl, dampening the dry dirt around your old footprints.

There are so many things we've learned, so many nuances we've unconsciously absorbed, so many inside jokes and so many memories. But the important part is what we're going to do with them. This hasn't been a nice little trip to the arctic just for kicks. We had chosen months ago to be a part of this and do something more. Whether you call it adventure, field study, or expedition doesn't matter because truth is it a part of a whole experience that extends beyond our little group. We are representatives of our generation in a global issue; we have entered a realm far beyond the walls of a high school and for better or worse we won't be able to blindly rest beyond those walls as the same people.

But that's just one ripple of many in the little splash we made.

-Allison

Goodbye Baffin Island

Well our trip has sadly come to an end. Clyde River has become a second home for me in the last ten days. I'm very sad to leave this amazing place behind. Its not just the great mountains of ice and snow or the icebergs full of great tasting water that I'll miss. I'll also miss its people. The town of Clyde has been great to us. We are outsiders that they let into their family. The town is full of separate families that all act as one. There isn't a family left out of gatherings and feasts and everything is shared. One thing that will stick with me is that in Clyde if someone has a tank of gas outside their house and its gone or empty the next day its not stealing. They assume that whoever took it really needed it, they didn't take it just to take it. This act of trust really made me think how different our cultures really are, and how important both are to this world. The way of life for this town is based in large part on the food and resources they can get from the land they live on. The impact of this really hit home on Friday when we were on our ski-doo trip in front of the of a glacier. We had a guide by the name of Sam who spoke of this glacier, that in his 29 years of life has retreated over 100 feet. We as humans need to step up to the plate and not swing for the fences but make enough contact to get the ball moving in the right direction. We must start to think outside the box to find the ways to solve the global warming problem. It has already been having an effect on the people of the northern climates and is only a matter of time until it strikes in our neck of the woods. Nick Illuaq of Clyde River told me that we have to listen to the land. Mother Nature is telling us that we have made her sick and now she is trying to make herself better. We have hurt our planet and now we must find the medicne to make her better. I was taught many things by the people of Clyde River and for this I am most grateful. With this trip now over I leave the north with a new knowledge that im eager to share with all who will listen.

Final post,
Jeff

Final Reflections by Dalen

The north, the wind, the snow and the people; all of these things I shall remember forever. The people impacted all of our lives and helped me and the other expedition members grow and learn to become more aware individuals. The north taught us patience, the north taught us resilence, hope, strength, and dependence. The communities we visited taught me to become truly part of something, to be an individual but to help the whole. The communities of the north depend on one another and need one another. We, in the states, could learn from their example. The people of the north were warm and generous and were the generally the nicest people I had ever met. I will always remember the smiles and laughter of the children and the adults. They are a strong people who have adapted and changed for years, the climate change issue is merely another hurdle. The issue of climate change is known to all people that I spoke with from the small children to the elders. They all knew that life was changing, the ice was melting, the animals were moving, and the climate was warming. The true question is whether we, in the U.S.,so set in our ways can adapt and change to help protect the planet and save it.



Partnering with the Will Steger Foundation and the Global Warming 101 expedition has taught me to value the connections and support that we have in life and has let me meet some truly amazing individuals. Everyone that is part of the expedition is a vital part, from the tech team to the film crew; they all spread the awareness of the issue and all were generous and kind to us. The expediton members all helped out with collecting stories and sharing contacts. Overall, this has been great and I am honored to be considered part of the expediton and glad to have had the chance to converse with these wonderful people.

Stuck in Clyde!....that's the north!

The original plan was to leave on Saturday and stay one night at the lodge in Iqaluit but alas, the northern weather betrayed us! We had to stay the weekend due to the lack of an airplane! The plane was unable to land because of the foggy weather and high winds. So we, the youth team, spent the weekend with our respective host families and were able to walk the town of Clyde River without all of the excitement over the Steger expedition.

We are extremely grateful to our host families for extending their generosity for an even longer stay!

The weekend passed relatively uneventfully and we were able to catch up on some sleep and homework {Allison}. Finally on Monday we were able to leave Clyde River and connect to Iqaluit. From Iqaluit we ran (literally) to our next flight to Ottawa, where we arrived at about 6 pm. After finding our hostel once again and going out for a good and hearty supper we turned in for the night.

Tomorrow we will be back in MN by 5 pm...our time in the north is almost up...


So until tomorrow,

Dalen out

Day 11: Anna, Ida, Sarahmee and Elisapee

We met the girls (Anna, Ida, Sarahmee, Elisapee) coming down to Minnesota for lunch a few days ago and since then we've had a couple chances to get to know them better. They are all amazingly sweet and we can't wait for them to come down.

Here's Anna:



Here's Ida!

Here's Sarahmee!<

Here's Elisapee!
Our hamburger lunch was quite tasty and was a good ice breaker for all of us. Even though Joe and Jeff are far beyond shy, the girls were a bit quiet at first. But they warmed up to us after a while (the boys' charms must have kicked in) and before they left we were all chit-chatting away and taking pictures. We talked about each of our schools, what we like to do for fun and why the girls want to come to Minnesota. Jokingly (well, maybe) Sarahmee has continously said she wants to go to the mall. Anna and Elisapee said they thought it would be interesting to be in a place that is so big and so much warmer than Clyde River. But Ida's quiet exclamation of "trees!" was quite appreciated. So the girls have a lot to look forward to. Here's us right before the bell rang for afternoon classes.


Last night at the community feast we met up again. Anna and her family helped me get in line and told me some history about how their ancestors used to catch char and hunt caribou. After dinner, Anna and some of her friends invited the boys and I out to go snow mobiling with them. We stopped at a big hill and had a few wrestling matches and quite a few games of tag. It was a lot of fun!!

I met up with Ida, Sarahmee and Elisapee this morning at the Global Warming 101 send-off. We stood off to the side talking and sharing stories. I have to admit it was great to finally have some female peers to talk with! They even offered to teach me how to throat sing. They taught me a few sounds (you try to make that deep guttural sound when you say boo! to scare someone) but I'm still an extreme novice. Then again I have until Saturday, so I'll keep trying!


-Allison and Dalen out

Thoughts from the boy perspective:

The girls are cool and are excited to come to Minnesota. So other then that, we will be eating some country food tonight and we will talk to you later!

-baffin boys out

Day 10: Community Activities

Our arrival in Clyde River was welcomed with warm smiles and gracious greetings. This community which is so small greeted us like a town ten times its size. All this past week there have been community activities ranging from traditional Inuit games to cake decorating contests to hip hop to ice sculptors to dog races to a giant community feast. We have tried to attend as many as we can. They have really brought out the cheery and unified feeling of Clyde River.

Here's Jeff and a few local kids at the school presentation with the Global Warming 101 team. The students wrote a proclamation stating 101 different ways to help change our lifestyles for the better. They presented it after Simon's Inuktitut presentation and John Stetson's English presentation about the expedition. To see the full proclamation, which will be traveling with the expedition members to Washington D.C. as testimony before the U.S. Senate, visit the Global Warming 101 website.

Jeff and the kids get along great. They are very high energy and love to play games. But they are immensely clever, too! One of the girls JoAnn figured out Joe's camera quicker than he did! Another girl Laura, the younger sister of Anna (one of the exchange girls coming to Minnesota) gave Allison a beautiful beaded bracelet and matching earrings. And Joe has been emptying out his suitcase full of candy and hackey sacks. Needless to say, the kids love him!

The kids even like playing rock, paper, scissors with Allison! They were playing after the cake judging contest at the community hall which is the second biggest building in town. The hip hop group had their own event here Monday night. They are amazingly talented. You should see the head spins!

Even only being here a week we have been able to see that community is an important part of the culture up here. Tonight we're going to the community feast. We are quite honored for the great experiences we've had so far and are looking forward to the time ahead!

Day 9: Dog Sleds

Hello and sorry that there hasn't been a post lately. We've been very busy with our other projects and with the school full of kids its been hard to get time in the computer lab to write. We have been doing lots of exciting things lately from going to the GW101 team meetings to hanging out with the local kids. Yesterday Simon was nice enough to let us tag along with him when he took his dogs to stretch their legs. Simon runs a team of 11 dogs using the fan hitch technique.

This means that each dogs has its own line that pulls the sled. Each line has a different length and the lead dog has the center line which is the longest. Simon and Lukie both run their team this way and have also made each dog harness and line out of seal which they have caught. The fan hitch is used in the north because the terrain they run on is mostly ice and if one dog falls through the ice or into a crack in theory the others won't be pulled in. John Stetson and Will Steger's dog teams are run using the tandom hitch method. This is where each dog is connected to one central line. The dogs are put in pairs starting with the closest two to the sled, the wheel dogs. These dogs are normally the bigger and sometimes slower dogs but they are used to control the movement of the sled. These dogs are running behind many sets of middle dogs, with the front pair being the lead dogs. The middle dogs are the work horses of the team and are very important to a strong team. The lead dogs are the ones who the musher can trust to find their way. They lead the team in bright sunny days and in snow storms. These dogs are very smart and are a musher's best friend when they are lost. The two styles work great if you know how to use them. The dogs love to run no matter how they are hooked up and to see them in action is a wonder to see.

From Clyde River on Baffin Island

Dalen and Jeff