abaya

I went to eastern Greenland for two weeks in February on an anthropology trip. I was fucking freezing. I bought a hat made of sealskin and dog fur, no second thoughts about it. It was warmer than anything natural or synthetic that I could have brought with me, and kept me from losing my ears during some of the 3-day long blizzards we had.

I met the people who killed the seals, I watched them bring in the hunt and remove the skins and meat the way they have done for thousands of years, and I saw them dress their own children in sealskins. I paid $100 for that hat to keep me warm and to support the local economy, which is otherwise completely dependent on Danish imports and subsidies.

I still very much enjoy and appreciate wearing that hat on every frigid Pennsylvania winter day.

EDIT: While in Greenland, we ate minke whale, dolphin, and caribou. No seal, sorry for those who are curious how to prepare it. I would have eaten it too, though, because what the hell else is there to eat in eastern Greenland? Danish pastries? Just TRY to have sympathy on the cute animals and become vegetarian there. Just try.

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And think not you can direct the course of Love;
for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
--Khalil Gibran