Thursday 5 August 2010

Itilleq In The Sunshine

Itilleq in the sunshine is a rainbow of colourful houses.   Purple, blue, torquoise, green, chartreuse, yellow, orange, pink, and red houses arc across the hillside.  It is cheery relief from the stark, largely monochromatic landscape.  I imagine the settlement in the winter and how the colours must stand out against the snow. Perhaps the bright colours provide a margin of safety in the case of white out, or near white out conditions making it easier to find your way home.  Or maybe it's an answer to living in a world devoid of a large colour palette. Or, perhaps Greenlanders just love colour.
Regardless I love it.  It's beautiful.
Itilleq is a very tidy well looked after settlement.  It is obvious that the people here take pride in their homes and community.
Shortly after 13:00 we loaded into the Polar Cirkle boats for a short ride to the pier.  We were all issued tickets to partake in a kaffemik.  Several people in Itilleq opened their homes to us and offered coffee, cakes and in some cases a broader selection of local foods.
The highlight of the day was the soccer match:  Fram vs Itilleq.  On a sandy, gravel field where not a blade of grass could possibly survive, we engaged Itilleq in a raucous game of soccer.  As the score will attest, our team was better than it usually is. We have rarely beaten Itilleq and we did not win today. The final score was 5 - 5.  Or perhaps both teams won.