Caribou Carnival

Last weekend was Caribou Carnival here in Yellowknife. It really isn't too much to brag about, but it was cool enough go out and see a bit of a winter carnival. Winter Carnival in Quebec is a pretty big deal, especially in Quebec City (the capital). I remember as a child going out and doing activities on school trips. I didn't like Bonhomme Carnival all that much, he kind of gave me the creeps, but I very much enjoyed sledding, snowshoeing and skiing.

One thing I regret is never having learned to skate. Not to make excuses, but when you are the only girl in a household of 5 brothers and your parents expect you to use hand-me-down boy skates, well you really have to draw the line somewhere! There was no way I would ever put on boy skates, it was pretty white skates or nothing! So indeed, it turned out to be nothing, but alas, I suppose at some point I could buy myself a pair of skates and go out and try to skate...there is always next winter!

A couple images from Caribou Carnival last week:


This is the start of the dog sled race, all the dogs were tied up to trucks and at the drop of the flag they were off. We only go to watch the dogs take off, the race itself was 3 hours and I have no idea who won. Teams from all over Canada and some parts of the United States came up to race their dogs.


Another picture...if anyone knows how to upload videos, your help would be appreciated (email me at Sumayyah17@gmail.com). I have a video of the dogs, you should have heard the barking and the sounds coming out of them! They were ready to take off!


The Francophone association hosted a classic 'Cabane a Sucre' (Sugaring Off). When I went to buy our sticks from the lady I said "J'aimerais avoir quatre batons sil vous plait", she looked surprised and asked me if I was from Lebanon because I speak French. I said no I am from Quebec (much less exotic but anyway).

In one of the tents there was drumming and some kind of Aboriginal Hand Games going on. I didn't quite get the point of the game or how it was being played, but it was kind of cool nonetheless.


And finally there were some snow sculptures being built. They were nice but I didn't get many pictures because a lot of the teams had just started sculpting.

All in all, the Caribou Carnival was a good time to spend a couple of hours on a nice March afternoon.

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I have still been out running with my friend and co-runner Karen. Last Saturday we did 20km, last night we did 10km and we are probably heading out for a good long one this weekend. The Rock and Ice Ultra is complete, you can see pictures here. Some are pretty cool, I didn't see myself in any of the pictures. They took a lot of pictures at the start of the race, I was there to see my first relay member off to a good start. Karen invited me to come to Scotland with her to run a 24 mile marathon. I don't know if I really want to do that, but I definitely want to do something, since I am all trained up and ready to go! I heard about a bike trip from Toronto to Montreal and that would be super cool, it is in July and it is to raise money for the cure for aids. Perhaps I will try that one out, since I enjoy biking. (Even though I look nerdy wearing a hijab and helmet!)

Blogging was a bit of a chore this week so I didn't do any. My grandmama was ill and anyone who knows me knows how close we are and always have been. So this has made me re-think everything, life, death and family. Thank God, she is out of the hospital and seems to be okay but I want to be there for her. She turns 90 on Sunday. Anyway no decisions are final, but I am starting to re-think about being so far away from my parents and family. The trip back to Montreal put a lot of things into perspective and there comes a time when one needs to make decisions and move on.

So while everyone back home basks in the glory of warm temperatures, we are here in Yellowknife with a mild snowstorm if you can believe it! It wasn't really cold today but I thought we were on the other side of winter, clearly I was wrong. Oh well, I don't actually mind winter, but it would be nice to have a little spring soon...

Peace!