THE ‘GOOD’ PART OF THE YEAR
One of the first statements everyone makes when they hear that I habitually spend part of the year in Greenland is, ‘I hope it’s the good part of the year, during summer!’
Well, in fact, I am not such a fair-weathered friend, I tell them. Take this year, for example. I was actually in Greenland mostly during cold and snowy periods:
January in Ilulissat, where it was typically -25*C / -13*F, snowing daily, and there were still only a few hours of light, but increasing each day. This was me on my 28th birthday walking around town 🙂
March in Sisimiut, where it was in the -20*C to -25*C / -4*F to -13*F range. But that didn’t stop us – we still went snowmobiling for several hours in the Arctic Circle backcountry.
March in Ilulissat, where it was still around -20*C / -4*F, but with plenty of sunshine. Weather so good it’s impossible to resist an afternoon walk on the sea ice of Disko Bay!
April in Nuuk, where there was quite a thaw at the beginning of the month, followed by unusually cold temperatures (for Nuuk) of -15*C to -20*C / 5*F to -4*F and a snowstorm just before I left on the 16th.
And now, October in Nuuk, where it’s not particularly cold (0*C / 32*F) but the weather is strong – windy and now rainy/snowy. But it’s not the first snow of the year.
GREENLANDER AT HEART
Snow and sub-zero temperatures are a world away from the heat and humidity of South America. So how is it, that an Amazonian by birth ( from Paraguay) can be so wildly glad for the Arctic?
I’ve written before about my love affair with Greenland to pinpoint what exactly it is that draws me to this country. I’ve come to realize, though, that this is still just an attempt to find concrete reasoning, and it almost sounds trite now.
I’ve accepted that not everything in the world has to be concrete – there are some things that should remain unseen, unknown, and unexplainable. Therefore, I’m stopping with trying to find an explanation and just going with my gut feeling:
I do believe I was a Greenlander in another life. I believe one piece of my soul remains from that time and, like a magnet, it eventually pulled me back to Greenland. It can only be!
Adventures of a Polarphile 