This weekend in the grocery store I happened upon a delightful scene in the deli section-- free beer samples! At 4 USD (~20 DKK) per bottle, beer is not cheap here, so this was a real shocker. Ken, who doesn't even drink beer, lamented that he missed it-- "Even I would have had a sample! That's a gold mine!"
A quick aside before continuing to Qoornoq Part 3: The Open Faced Sandwich.
This weekend in the grocery store I happened upon a delightful scene in the deli section-- free beer samples! At 4 USD (~20 DKK) per bottle, beer is not cheap here, so this was a real shocker. Ken, who doesn't even drink beer, lamented that he missed it-- "Even I would have had a sample! That's a gold mine!"
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Despite Nuuk's remoteness, you can find pretty much any kind of food you want here. At left is the produce section in one of Nuuk's two well-stocked supermarkets, where there's everything from an occasional blow-out sale on 1 dollar avocados, to the unwaveringly-priced 7 dollar zucchini. As you might imagine, maintaining our normal American diet here would take a definite toll on our finances... not to mention our carbon footprint. Because of this Ken and I have been exploring what our local food options are. Some of these food options we are prepared for; some not. See pics below. In the foreground, muktuk (whale skin/blubber). Not quite prepared for this, either. I'm not sure about the darker meat in the background, but it may be whale heart. Last night we were out at the bar with an Austrian doctor, who told us that upon visiting the fish market he stared at a certain meat with familiarity and thought, "I know this tissue. I've seen this before." He then realized it was bits and pieces of heart tissue--just on a larger, whale-sized scale. Nuuk definitely has its share of art-- and that's not just in reference to the charming graffiti you see all over town (example at left seen outside the community hall where I went to a yoga class this morning.) Yes, beyond graffiti, Nuuk boasts some architectural gems and art exhibits that satisfy my cultural appetite (which, admittedly, has about a 15-minute attention span.) Most notable of these are found at the Katuaq Cultural Center. Katuaq is a beautiful building--slightly reminiscent, in my opinion, of University of Alaska's Museum of the North. Seems that high latitudes, northern lights, and wide open landscapes have inspired more than one architect in similar ways. Katuaq's cafe area. Katuaq shows movies and hosts performances in its main performance hall, but it also has a cafe with wonderfully lofted ceilings, loads of natural light, and a constantly changing gallery space that wraps from the cafe around the rest of the building. On weekdays, I often come here to observe the mother-barnevogn phenomenon (which you can read about here), revise my resume, and occasionally go through old files so as to appear to be employed. Saturdays and Sundays, the cafe offers a brunch (seen below) that Ken and I have so far resisted. Instead, we like to split a 35 DKK (7 USD) cafe au lait and watch other people eat brunch, then go home to eat some off-brand muesli. One day, one day, we may partake. This week's gallery exhibit at Katuaq was a kids-with-cameras deal featuring young photographers from Paamiut, a small town (population 1619) in southwest Greenland. I've attended exhibits of similar projects while working in Ethiopia and Pakistan, but this exhibit is by far the best I've ever seen. Better subject matter? More inspiring landscape? Nicer cameras? I'm not sure, but there were some great photos. Below, some of my favorites. |