Page 207 - WDT INTERACTIVE

boots and wool sweaters). She told us a bit about her
life via the interpreter. Widowed three years, she has
three adult children who also live in town. She was
curious to know where all of us were from.
As we sampled the assortment of goodies and
sipped coffee, we chatted with others and took photos
of the house—as well as posing with our smiling
hostess.
After 90 minutes, we bid thank you (“Qujanaq”) to
her, gathered our jackets, sat in the small enclosed
front porch to put our shoes back on, and walked
downhill back to the town center.
Near the pier a few locals sold handmade items,
spread out on a table, including crafts and jewelry.
Several tourists, intrigued with the 40 “Stone & Man”
rock and boulder carvings around town—which
feature faces, whales, and fish, carved by various
Scandinavian artists—took photos of this open-air art
gallery. I entered one of the few souvenir shops I could
find, where I was dying to purchase a “Greenland”
T-shirt—but didn't, since, if I could find one for sale,
they cost $55! (The currency here is Danish krone.)
After browsing in a couple of shops, we stumbled

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The dining table was loaded with a half-dozen of the
most delicious-looking home-made desserts, which
the hostess passed around for everyone to sample
as she poured coffee. Normally I don't indulge in
dessert (Carl, who loved the pineapple upside-down
cake, thinks I'm strange) but I had two helpings of
the best-ever carrot cake! (You must also sample the
traditional Kalaalit Kaagiat—Greenland coffee cake.
A Kaffemik can also include meals of reindeer, seal,
whale, fish soup and other local specialties.)
Our hostess later changed into a native costume-
-which she explained, with its intricate bead work,
took two years to make!--and wore seal-skin boots (a
traditional costume may also include long, white furry

PHOTO BY SHARON WHITLEY LARSEN
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