No pictures today I'm sorry to say but there will be more tomorrow, I promise! My alarm rang at 7:30am today and I hauled myself out of bed, flung open my curtains and greeted...total darkness. I cannot stress this enough people, the sun rises miiiighty late around here. But we were treated to a rather magnificent view once the sun made its appearance and we actually got to see blue sky almost all day! Admittedly, it also snowed and hailed lightly, on-and-off, all day long as well and was really cold...but at least it was bright out!
Classes are held in the Haida Heritage Centre, just west of Skidegate, which is a beautiful set of five or six connected longhouse-style buildings that house a museum, classrooms, a performance hall, a cafe and the offices of the Haida Gwaii Higher Education Society (the folks responsible for this program) and a number of other organizations. All of the water-facing walls of the building are completely glass, making for a breath-taking view of the bay and the small islands that dot the inlet. Somewhere across the water is Prince Rupert, but far too far away to see.
Our first day of classes was good, if a bit overwhelming. There are twenty students in the class, mostly doing some kind of forestry/geography/conservation program. They are mostly undergrads but generally older so I fit in well age-wise but not so much academic background-wise :) It's very interesting to be up here and talking about resource management in the midst of the Enbridge shakedown. We were welcomed by the chief of one Haida clans and his niece this morning and he had to zip out quickly after the prayer to meet with some of the other chiefs about an upcoming Enbridge meeting.
And now my friends, the sun has set and I have homework to do!
That heritage center is amazing! What a view, and all the old carvings and tools. I spent hours rummaging through those drawers.
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