Well, that was officially the longest train ride I have EVER been one. 44 freaking hours. However, it was not as bad as it sounds. Trains you can get up and move around in, and in the 4 or so carriages, there was a grand total of.......8 people. So, we had plenty of room.
The train was delayed before it left, and because it is so freaking cold, they can only travel quite slowly, as the tracks are not in the greatest condition and travelling to fast = disaster. Awesome.
The highlight of the trip was definitely the interesting people that I met on the train. Most people were locals who were going various places, and they told me the most wonderful stories. I met a couple of Inuit women who told me a lot about their history. One woman was really the epitome of feminism. She grew up in one of the last remaining Inuit communities that survived without 'government inteference'. These communities are highly patriachal (makes Dad look left-wing awesome), and women are expected to essentially be domestic. They certainly don't have jobs or, if I understood her correctly, play drums. Essentially, she wanted to do something that is only done by men, and her community initially forbade it, then made a ludicrous offer for her to live like a man for a year, to 'earn' what she wanted. Well, she did it. Lived with several, stinky, completely undomestic men for a year. In the nicest way, she gave patriachy the bird. I was so impressed.
Thankfully, an ingenious guy named Evan helped me arrange the seats so that I essentially had a bed for the two days, which was completely awesome. Because of my train being 8 hours late, I missed my flight, but thankfully because of the lovely people at the Winnipeg airport, I was able to get on another flight to Calgary.
This got me into my hostel at about 11:30pm, and I was exhausted; I had to get up at 6am to catch a shuttle out to see Snuffy Pig, and I just wanted to go to bed. However, I ended up talking to a guy from Quebec City for nearly two hours. He had a lot of interesting stories to share, but he just kept going on and on and on and on.....He put me to shame.
So, anyway, I'm now at Schmakiska, and essentially just doing some work for the next couple of days until I head off to Vancouver to see Sarah! Hurrah!! I can't wait! Look out Sawah!
Hope you're all well and stuff.
