Less than 48 hours in the North

As the plane was preparing for landing the pilot came over the intercom system and said that the temperature outside was 14 degrees. I half didn’t believe him because I had been staring at frozen water for the past two hours, but he had no good reason to lie. Regardless, I put on a light sweater and pulled out my jacket in anticipation of the air being crisp and cold. It’s a strange thing to see snow and ice, have your brain tell you to bundle up and then to have your body tell you that it’s too warm.

The Whitehorse airport is small and quaint. Security is minimal (I left the airport to have a cigarette and then came back in to claim my luggage without anyone saying a word, weird) and everything had the orange and yellowish colour tones of the 70s. Immediately I felt like I had taken a step back in time and really felt that I was in a little northern town, though Whitehorse is a big town in these parts.

I haven’t quite found my feet, yet. That is to be expected as I have only been here for less than 48 hours. So far, I like it a lot. It is a very different experience from going to Guatemala, there isn’t a language barrier, and the cultural barrier is much less severe. Yesterday, I stopped in at the Boys and Girls Club, where I am working for the next six weeks, just to get a general feel for where I would be spending a good deal of my time. I had intended to get in and out rather quickly and then explore the city, but they were short-staffed and asked if I could start right away – of course I would.

I think the strangest thing for me to get used to is the amount of day-light there is. My body has generally been in-tune with the sun – when it’s dark outside I’m tired and when it’s bright I am awake. But here, right now at least, the sun never goes away. Last night when I returned home, I felt exhausted and had intended on taking a nap. I went into my room and before I knew it, it was 10pm but the sun was still so strong that it looked like 5pm outside. My body is either going to adapt or I am going to become an insomniac. Fingers crossed for adaptability.

The family that I am staying with is exceptionally friendly and interesting. I am grateful to have found them and have them welcome me into their home with their arms wide open. They are tentatively planning a trip to Dawson City (6 hour drive North) and Skagway, Alaska sometime during my time here…very cool!

It’s wonderful to be around mountains again. These ones are very different ones from the ones I lived with in Guatemala, extremely gorgeous but in a pristine sort of way. Well, I don’t have much else to say. I am sitting in a Tim Horton’s using their internet and should probably be productive before the battery on my computer dies.