Week 1 of Camp Q

Week 1 of Camp Q

Discovering Greenland and meeting its people

Arriving in Greenland

On Wednesday the 16th, the village of Qaanaaq welcomed 20 volunteers from all around the world. Needless to say that all of them were taken away with the breathtaking views and the peacefulness of Greenland. All of us spent countless nights looking at the glaciers, the icebergs and the sky which all seemed to be painting a different picture for us to witness every night. Camera on hand, we have been walking the streets and the beach each day in search of a photo opportunity, a cute puppy to cuddle or people to meet. Qaanaaq has a different pace from backhome which we have all been enjoying immensly. It has been nice to leave the cell phones, the internet, the crowded quick paced cities behind in order to enjoy all that nature and this small community has to offer us. Our moto is to take it day by day, what a nice refreshing change.

Cultural night

On Saturday the 19th, the volunteers finally met the villagers. Tables were laid in the gym in order to accommodate stations from each country participating in this project. Each volunteer had prepared a flag, some pictures or informations on their home country as well as some food samples for the villagers to enjoy. The night began with some words from camp leader Bebbie followed by a dance performed by a Swedish and Danish volunteer (Sarah and Josephine). Then, a volunteer from Greece (Emily) lead us into som Greek traditionnal dancing. Following that, the villagers were welcome to float from table to table to discover a little bit about the countries represented and their ambassadors. Present were Ellen from Finland, Laurie and Tracy from France, France-Emmanuel from Belgium, Orkan and Emre from Turkey, Chris from America, Ena from Italy, Isabelle from Canada, Adriana from Spain, Sarah from Denmark, Josephine from Sweden, Shien from Taiwan, Emily from Greece, Dominique from Germany. Also present were the master minds behind the whole project; camp leaders,Nadja and Gunver from Denmark. Unfortunately, Jens from Greenland, our fourth leader, had to miss out on all the fun for he had been stuck in Illulusat for nearly a weak making daily attemps to reach the camp, but in vain never succeeding because of weather. The volunteers kept hearing about Jens but he would never materialise. We were all starting to think that he was a figment of Gunver's imagination. Surprise weren't we all to see a new face in the living room on Sunday morning, the legendary Jens had finally arrived in Qaanaaq.

Hiking to the Glacier

On Sunday the 20th, a local and a policeman took us on a hike to a nearby glacier. All of us were really excited to go explore the surroundings. We were thrilled about the idea of taking in some new scenery, getting new pictures opportunities and drinking water from the galcier. The group was tossed between wanting to come across a polar bear or not. There were the ones (like me) who made sure they stuck close to the gunmen and the ones who kept an eye out, camera ready in hopes of spotting the great animal. The whole trip was quite scenic and we all came home with both our heads and cameras full of beautiful panoramas. 

written by Bella

(Newspaper article with pictures: http://sermitsiaq.ag/fantastiske-billeder-sommercamp-i-qaanaaq and )