Labrador eatin'

I should have had a conversation about what people eat here 4 weeks ago.  Who knew there was such a bounty of Labrador (& Newfoundland) specific food.   It started with the hospital serving fish and brewis ("brews") for dinner.  Right?  Does anyone know what this is?  They take salt fish and soak it in water overnight then take hard tack (rock hard bread that sailors used/use), soak that overnight too. The next day they boil each separately and then serve it together.  Traditionally it is served with scrunchions - salted pork fat cut into small pieces and fried. Both the rendered fat and liquid fat are drizzled over the salty fish and empty carbohydrates.  Wow.  I took a few bites of the hospital version and it was bland, white on white on white and I haven't yet found the appeal. 

Bakeapple (aka cloudberries) apparently have a distinct honey/apricot flavor.  Partridge berries (aka lingon berries) are a relative to the cranberry.  Someone brought me in homemade jam.  Yes!

 

 

Speaking of partridge, I saw one of them on a little hike I did.  And I use the term "hike" loosely.  I followed the cross country ski trail in a 6km circuit. There isn't much hiking to speak of here.  It's very flat which is part of it, and most of the trails are ATV/Ski doo trails.  I've walked them a few times, but ATV'ing is huge here and the people on the ATV's wonder what the hell I'm doing walking and it's noisy and frankly ruins my serenity.  These partridge are apparently fairly stupid, there is not much to catching them.  You can pull over on the side of the road and grab them.

The lack of the thrill of the hunt makes me feel only slightly guilty.....eating them. Someone brought me a plate of partridge, heart and gizzard in all. Hey, when in Rome.   It was delicious.

 

The break room was truly astonished I had never heard of, let alone tried a "Jigg's dinner".  It's a Sunday night staple here.  They asked how the beef comes in Vancouver if it doesn't come salted. Does anyone else notice a theme here?  I guess it is or at least was all about preserving during the winter months so everything, and I mean everything is salted here.  They asked what we have for Christmas dinner, I explained, and they said, "but you mean it's all cooked separately in different pots?"  "Ummmm.... yes...."  Their Jigg's dinner (aka boiled dinner) has, you guessed it, salted beef, carrot, turnip, turnip greens, potato, figgy duff (soft bread), and pease pudding (basically solid pea soup).  Someone brought me a plate to my house.  It was good, but holy god they aren't kidding about that salted beef.  I am so thirsty now!  I keep drinking beer, but it's not helping ;-)

 

 

 

It looks like I'm coming back here for another month.  Coming to the same place twice wasn't my intention for my big adventure but the dates of this next contract work out well and I have a big house to myself and they give me a car.  It could be worse.  The people I'm working with are amazing.  I am usually crying I'm laughing so hard at least once during my shift and you can't beat that.  They are so expressive and such characters - they talk SO fast.  I'll be home August 30th till September 16th and then back here for another month before I figure out where my journey takes me next.  If not Alberta, I'm going to pursue my Northwest Territory/Nunavut licence and head to the Arctic for contracts through the winter.  Never thought those words would come out of my mouth.

 

If you get a chance, vote for my photos of "Northwest River, Labrador" from my previous post at







http://www.travelnurse.ca/employee_photo.html    and help me win a camera.  They are the shots of the boat floating in the water and the teepee skeleton.  Thanks!

Half way!

I'm half way though my first adventure.  This is a small town alright and it takes some getting used to.  No Starbucks & no sushi which are the main staples in my diet back home.  I haven't eaten out yet hence have never cooked so much for myself in all my life.  There have been some frozen pizzas in the mix, not going to lie.  It takes a lot of work and planning when take-out isn't an option.  The liquor store is enormous so there have been a few merlot Monday's. 

I sure stick out like a sore thumb.  On my first day here I was in the grocery store and an older man started talking to me.  He asked if I was the new obstetric nurse in town.  Huh?  He is the town OB/GYN.  I was at a canoe regatta and someone came up to me asking the same thing.  When I'm at work patients ask too.  It could be my lack of accent or the fact I'm always looking for something that gives me away but they always ask where I'm from.  I met a couple that spent 6 years living at 4th and Lonsdale.  Wait, what?!  This is such a small world.

                                                  
The staff I work with are just amazing.  So much so that I am thinking of coming back for another month mid September.  They are hard working, resilient and very welcoming.  I'm THE obstetric nurse so when there are two women in labour, I'm IT.  There are a lot of foreign trained doctors that  look to me for advice and more often than not I'm happy to give it. It's daunting to think I'M the expert in the room.  Yikes.

The paperwork and charting is my biggest obstacle.  It's a challenge for me not to try and reinvent the wheel.    Their system is insanely inefficient, taking me up to an hour to complete a chart after a delivery. That can't be right.  It's hard for me to bite my tongue and not criticize.  It's not my job here. The unit clerks who are being vastly underutilized don't enter any orders, the nurses do.  The nurses write out all their own MAR's then need another RN to co-sign.  Nurses mix up all our own medications.  We need to call the lab in from home on the weekend.  It's back to basics.  I don't have access to their computer system because they didn't want to train me as I'm only here for a month so I'm dependent on other RN's to enter my work and check my lab results.  For those of you that work with me and know how neurotic and methodical I am, you can appreciate how frustrating this is for me.  It's all part of the learning curve and letting go on this big adventure.  It's something I need to work on. 

Clinically I am learning a lot.  I've learned a few tricks already which I'm excited to use at some point.  There are no epidurals, no elective caesarian sections.  Women in labour get triaged in the emergency room and only come to me in active labour.  They frequently are told to go labour at home and then come back.  Love it!

I'm still struggling with the accent.  I'm learning people from Black Tickle (!) have some of the thickest.  I'm not sure what people from Dildo (ahem) sound like yet. 

• Purr = pure
• mudder/faddur = mother/father
• tree = three
• hempt = empty
• ayEE boie or nayEE boie = not sure yet but they add it to the end of most sentences

Goose Bay, Labrador

Goose Bay, Labrador (the mainland) is a town of about 7,500 people, the largest town in Labrador.  St. John's, the capital of Newfoundland (the island) is a 2 day drive and ferry ride away.  The nearest Walmart is in Labrador City, a 525km drive from Goose Bay on mostly a gravel road. The population here is 35% Aboriginal, a mix of Innu and Inuit.  The Filipino population is growing as the Tim Horton's has sponsored almost their entire staff from overseas to help them gain their Canadian citizenship. 

Handmade moccasins

 

 

$400 seal skin (!!) boots (not clubbed baby seals I hope)

The climate here is described as subarctic.  July and August are usually the only months it doesn't snow.  For me the nights have been cool and the days mostly humid and warm.  I was warned of the black flies but I haven't seen a bug yet and hope to keep it that way.  It is not unusual in the winter for it to average 40-50 below zero Celsius and for the town to get up to 10 feet of snow.  I think I chose a good month to visit. 

The town started with the development of the Goose Bay Air force base during the Second World War.  It has the longest runway in North America (11,000ft) and is able to accommodate the largest aircraft in the world.  In 1983 the town gained international attention when a 747 carrying the space shuttle landed for refueling. During 9/11 the town accommodated overseas commercial flights that were being rerouted as U.S. airspace was closed.  The airfield remains a refueling stop for overseas flights and a stop for overseas emergencies.  We had a flight from Ireland that was enroute to JFK/NY land as a woman, 29 weeks pregnant had her water break mid flight.  She came into our hospital, we ensured mom and baby were ok and then had her medivac'd to St. John's.  She wasn't in labour (phew!), will be missing her brother's wedding in New York and having a Canadian baby whether she likes it or not.

The town is desperate for nurses.  Many that I work with tell me they are working with contractual signing incentives of $6,000 per year they stay and $4,000 reimbursement of student loans per year they work.  The facility has been more than generous with me.  They have given me a car to use during my month here and a 3 bedroom house to myself.  The hardwood floors and stairs have an oddly comforting sound and feel that remind me of my grandparents house in New Hampshire.  I never would have thought such a thing would trigger memories but its reassuring to me nonetheless. I'm struggling with the lack of recycling at the hospital or otherwise.  Stores are confused when I bring my own bags. 

This first week has been a bit of an awakening for me.  Vancouver was action packed and my pace has slowed right down.  I was nervous at first but have settled in to a nice routine.  I'm working mostly day shifts which is nice and working a lot which will keep me busy. I've found a u-pick farm where I can get my greens and herbs.  Eating well was my biggest concern. I have to space out the dozen or so things to do and check out here.  I'm hoping to get to the gym everyday on my days off, eat well, drink less and just get back to basics a little.   It feels good.