Taxis, Breakfasts and the Arctic Elmo

I arrived in Iqaluit on Monday. It’s a small town (approx 6,000) with a ton of taxis. To taxi anywhere is six bucks. Just down the street? Six bucks. All the way across town? Six bucks. But that fee is per passenger. You can’t split the fare if you are going to the same place. Taxis will also pickup additional passengers going to different locations while you are still in the cab and you might not be dropped off first anymore. Its quite an interesting system. I like it.

I’m staying at By the Bay B & B run by Evelyn Chemko. Evelyn is very friendly and welcoming. By the Bay is a small B & B – only two rooms for rent – and currently I’m the only guest. Home is lovely and Evelyn answered all my questions before I spoke them.

I am working at IBC (Inuit Broadcasting Corporation) on their children’s show, Takuginai, which I think means something like “Ta-daa!” or “Look here!” but I will try to find out for sure. Everyone at IBC is laid back, friendly, and interested in making good programming for the people of the North.

One of the stars of the show is Johnny the Lemming (see picture) who is a big star up here, and best described as the “Arctic Elmo.”