Qaqortoq, Greenland

We arrived here at 7 am but didn’t tender off until after 9. The excursions available here are very limited. Most focused in seeing icebergs up close. Not something we were interested in spending money on. Since almost all of the food was imported, we didn’t have much interest in eating at a local restaurant. A walk around town would suffice today.

This city has a population 3 times larger than Nanortalik. Roughly 3,000 people call this home. Almost all of the locals are descendants of the Inuit people. They were easy to identify because of a shared look and the only other people in town were ship people. Even easier to identify.

We had a list of things to see in town. The list is provided by the ship. We went to the first one and we knew it would be a short day here.

The fountain in the center of town. A meeting place for locals. No other description needed.

We walked around and took note of all of the surroundings.

Obviously a bipartisan infrastructure bill is needed here.

We stopped in a local shop that catered to tourists. Obviously the ship is the only way for tourists to get here. Terri purchased some local spices. The young lady at the counter was a surprise to me. 20 something, very pretty, well dressed, very good shape. Terri commented on her English. She said she was self taught. Obviously well educated and obviously a local Inuit.

We stopped in a clothing store a bit later. Terri purchased a handmade scarf here. The young lady here was also very pretty, well dressed, very polite, spoke English like it was her native language. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised by this but I am. Would I see this back home at a local store?, I thought. The answer was yes but 50 years ago, not today. Today it would be someone overweight, green hair, sloppy dress, poor English. This is the biggest surprise to me at our stop in Greenland. I expected more of what I saw outside of the store. Locals selling crafts on makeshift tables. An old woman showing signs of age with deep wrinkled skin and many missing teeth. Dragging on a cigarette like it was her final breath. The kind where the cigarette nearly ignites because of all of the oxygen being pulled through it. Hand rolled with an ash of 2 inches or more.

A 10 year primary education is compulsory here. Danish is taught as a second language beginning in second grade. After primary school, Greenlanders can choose a gymnasium (high school) or vocational education. Many Greenlanders choose to leave Greenland for Denmark to attend a university. Greenlanders hold the same rights as any Danish citizen. They can also attend the University of Greenland in the capital city of Nuuk.

We took the tender back to the ship after a few hours in town.

Trivia

Which color belt follows the black belt in Judo? Red and white belt

What color is the jacket awarded to the winner of the Masters in PGA? Green

Which letter of the alphabet has the fewest entries in the Webster dictionary? X

What is the passage called at the southern tip of South America? Straits of Magellan

What crime was Nelson Mandela given a life sentence for? Sabotage

What is the capital of British Columbia? Victoria

What is the only song not song in English in the 500 greatest hits of rock and roll? La Bamba

What element is used to create stainless steel? Chromium

Which country is home to the 1300 mile long Orange River? South Africa

Which country has the largest population of the black rhino? Namibia

Which planet in our solar system has the largest moon? Jupiter

Which cells in the human body are more abundant, red or white? Red

What procedure was adopted after an Olympic cyclist dies in 1960 summer games? Drug testing

What IQ is the beginning of genius? 140

What other name did the duo Caesar and Cleo use? Sonny and Cher

Glossectomy is the removal of which part of the body? The tongue

Our team scored an 11. How did you do?

We listened to the string trio practice. It was no different from their performance.

The evening entertainment was vocalist Helen Wilding. She has a very diverse vocal background. She concentrated on her musical theater background for tonight’s performance. I like vocal selections during a musical. It advances the story and is very entertaining. I’m not a fan of these numbers outside of that. She really could have sung some powerful hits instead of tunes like The Lady is a Tramp. She did a nice rendition of Ave Maria and had an audience participation on Hallelujah. Good show. I gave her an 8 and Terri gave a 6.