Greenland
Greenland
Ilulissat—Day 1
I am in another world. Chilled. Warm. Subdued. Vivid. Quiet. Loud. Light. Light. Light.
I have finally arrived in Greenland. This place is surreal and this sense is only intensified by my disbelief that I am here. I’ve been working on getting here for three years. By the time I stepped off of the plane, it seemed as if it had been an additional three years since I left home yesterday.
The trip was easy and uneventful, but you can’t help but feel a little like you’re chasing your tail when you fly five and a half hours east so that you can then fly three and a half hours west to get where you are going. The treat was the plane from Reykjavik to Ilulissat—a propellor plane that seated about 50 people. I don’t think that the plane actually flew in the conventional way we think of flying. I think the plane was powered by vibration; we vibrated from Iceland to Greenland. Most of the way the cockpit door was open and one of the pilots was hanging out in the cabin with the flight attendant who one minute gave you her warm smile but then cracked the whip with the tone of an Icelandic drill sergeant.
When we landed, the plane turned around and we were instantly at the terminal. People rushed out like they forgot we were coming. We wandered around on the runway near the plane for a few minutes before deciding to go in; no one was telling us what to do. Our bags were quickly taken from our immediate reach and then placed on a really short baggage carousel that moved at the speed of light. You literally had to lunge at your bags to get them off before they went back in the other side. Out the door to be greeted by the official greeters of Greenland—swarms of big mosquitos! I haven’t been bitten yet; I think that they are a little slow in the cool air. Into the hotel van and five minutes later out at the hotel. My room, my aluminum igloo on the bay!!!, wasn’t ready yet so I ditched my bag and started the one kilometer walk on the side of the road into town. Best not to stop moving with practically no sleep!
The entire time all of this is happening I am, of course, doe-eyed and slack-jawed. In one direction there are massive, dull, rocky, rolling hills and in the other there are towering, jagged, subtle, yet crazily-colored icebergs. This place is all rocks and ice, static and active.
My walk into and around town was fantastic. The houses are all brightly colored and plunked down in every which direction on the boulders and rock that form the hills. The sun was warm, but the air was cool and the breeze chilled. I haven’t yet been able to figure out whether I am warm or cold or just right. The sun is brilliant and I don’t yet understand how it moves. As I am writing, it is 10:00 p.m. and it is still high and blinding.
After I stopped by the travel office to make sure I am all set with the times for my hikes and boat trips, I sat and had coffee and a sandwich—amazing smoked halibut and prawns with asparagus and greens and dressing that I don’t understand, but couldn’t stop trying to figure out. I wondered around town for a bit after that to get the lay of the land and then went back to the hotel to get into my room. The igloo (Greenlandic word) is awesome. It is a great little domed aluminum shelter that feels very Scandinavian on the inside. I laid down for just a minute and passed out for an hour or two, I’m not really sure how long. When I startled awake, I got myself together and I walked into the grocery store to get breakfast food for my room.
Dinner . . . I had a plate of tapas of Greenland specialties in the hotel bar/cafe overlooking the bay. Incredible smoked salmon and halibut. Yummy tiny prawns and grilled scallops. Some caviar mixed with herbs and red onion. A very well preserved little fish that I didn’t go for. And . . . smoked whale. The caviar mixture really helped with that. It wasn’t bad, but it was deep, deep meaty brownish red and it was whale. Having seen enough seal skin coats and hats and bags and paneled walls today, I thought the whale would be a little easier than it was. Right now, I believe in Greenpeace! (I do think that Greenlandic smoked whale has one up on Estonian fried pigs ears, though.)
Tonight, I also believe in sleep, though I want to see what the sun does.
Below is a sequence of image of my flight from Iceland. I love how the propellor photographed. And, while it would be nice if I had been able to shoot without it there, it is a great reminder that we are always seeing things through the lens of our own experience.
That said, it’s also nice to lose that lens sometime. When I was walking up the road this evening on the way back from the store, a beautiful little black and white bird flew in front of me. I watched it go past and turned as it went to my right. Then I turned again as it went behind me. Suddenly I was spinning, practically dancing in the middle of the road. I smiled at the bird, at myself, at this other world.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009