DAY FIVE Friday the 13th!

After another good night’s sleep, we headed over to the clinic by noon to start our work day. While several of the teams were doing surgery, Barb and Christine headed over to a home where we had noticed a very, very badly matted small dog a couple of days earlier. They wanted to ask the owners if they would be able to shave the dog to relieve him of his pounds of matted hair. They successfully convinced the owner to let them take “Mindy” to the clinic to receive his haircut. We had no idea what type of dog Mindy was, thinking perhaps a Lhasa Apso type breed. But once Mindy was shaved, we saw how wrong we were. Barb and Christine sedated Mindy and started the daunting task of shaving. One and a half hours later they were finished and we saw that Mindy is perhaps a cross between a poodle and a schnauzer or terrier, we think. Liz ran across to the Northern Store and bought a little baby t-shirt to put on Mindy so he could keep relatively warm. We gave him a bath and dried him off, and put his new t-shirt on him. When he awoke from his sedation, he must have felt like a new man. No more dread locks and the hippy look for Mindy. It was such a rewarding experience to do this for him. Chris carried him home to his owners. She thanked us and promised to keep him indoors for a few days during the night. Closing up the clinic at 8 p.m, we then walked back to our places of residence and handed out flyers along the way. The majority of the team members then walked up to the top of a hill overlooking the town and the water where the cemetery is. During the warmer times of the year, such as now, the Inuit people pre-dig shallow graves and then after a death occurs, the body is placed in the graves and covered with piles of rocks. All of the gravestones and crosses face toward the town and the bay. The view is breathtaking. On the way back home, Brigitte was stopped by one of the men and asked if she was interested in a stone carving. He brought it out and it was a polar bear carving. She was extremely happy to be able to purchase that. Apparently Friday evenings are party nights and the doorbell rang the remainder of the evening practically non-stop with craftsmen and artisans wanting to show us there crafts, hoping we will buy something from them so they could have money for the night. Several team members purchased different carvings and crafts. We headed to bed about midnight. We are beginning to get used to Northern time, even though it is hard to think it is time for bed when it feels like 5 p.m. instead. The lighting at midnight is very beautiful with long shadows. The sun is still very bright and the sky so clear a brilliant blue. Quite wonderful!