3533 km

Faster than it changed, life looks up again. Yesterday I accepted a job offer at Rainbow Greenhouses in Chilliwack as Shipping Lead, and will be starting on September 21. This morning (the very DAY after I accepted a new job!) I received a text message from a past Iqaluit lifeguard, informing me that the manager who drove me to quit was no longer employed there. It doesn't change anything for me right now, but it does make me very happy for the Iqaluit Aquatic Centre. 

Some days I feel like my heart is still in Iqaluit, maybe stuck in the permafrost somewhere. I miss the bay and the walk to church. I miss the tiny little church that really understood fellowship and family. And now I'm on to a new chapter in my life: a new job, new industry, new church to find, new city. This time I'll be in southern Canada, only 13 kilometers from the US border, working on the shipping floor of a big greenhouse. Everything has changed. Some part of me really just longs to get on a plane and fly back to Iqaluit, but the North is not what God has for me this time. A new door has opened, and I will walk through in faith that God has provided this opportunity. He is good, and He knows what He is doing. 

A nice little representation of the distance I've moved in the last year (Iqaluit marked 'home', Rainbow marked 'work', Lac La Biche is the dot in the middle)

I begin work in Chilliwack on September 21, and I'm already mostly packed and ready to go. I have 18 boxes, a guitar, and an amp ready to bring, plus one or two boxes to put last minute clothing and other things in. Among my things are four little jars of Mom's salsa that she packed along, two lovely paintings that I bought at the thrift store to decorate my new house, and an assortment of rubber ducks. I've got mostly all of the dishes and cooking things that I need, and I'll buy furniture there- it's easier that carting a bunch of stuff over the Rockies. 

Right now I'm looking for a place to rent while I'm there- hoping for an apartment relatively close to Rainbow so that I can bike to work. There are a bunch of churches around the area where I'm hoping to live, and a few of them look promising. A new hurtle I'm anticipating now is BC's church caps. Alberta is allowing churches of any size to meet with physical distancing, but British Columbia is only allowing church gatherings of 50 or less. Most churches that I looked at are requiring reservations to ensure they stay within legal limits.

Another consideration: I have a class 5-GDL license, and I really do not want to have to switch to a BC novice license (their restrictions are way heavier than Alberta's)... I'm hoping I can transfer directly to a BC class five license and skip a step. 

This time I don't need any new special clothing, so that's one less consideration. This time I'm hoping to bring all of my stuff with me (move everything completely out of my parents' house), and it makes a lot more sense because I'll move in my car, rather than by airplane this time.

Perhaps someday I'll have a chance to visit Iqaluit again. Maybe I'll even live there again someday. But for now I'm going 3533 km southwest, to rain and mountains, yet another 'farthest reach', this time on the completely opposite side of the country. And I'm sure this will be an exciting and wonderful adventure too. 

- Aliya