Big White One

 

As we were going down one of the staircases that serves as a street in Qaqortoq, we met a local who welcomed us to his town. We asked about snow levels and he told us that there had been much less snow these last few years, and that the stream that ran through the middle of town was very, very low right now. Then he pointed to the big daisies that were growing all over the place.

 = You see those? We call them "Big White Ones", or in our language: "Qaqortoq."

 - The same as the name of the town? Is the town named for these flowers?

 - Yes, the same word, but when the first Inuit arrived here, there were thousands of sea birds everywhere, so they called the place "Big White One." 

We got him to repeat the name a few times, and it sounded like "karaTUK", as best I can remember. Whenever I wear my "Qaqortoq Greenland" souvenir cap (made in China), people say "How do you pronounce that?" and I reply "karaTUK". Wikipedia has a recording of the pronunciation, and that's all I have to say about that..

Qaqortoq, Greenland

I got my cap here
"How do you pronounce that?"

Pieces of sculpture decorate the town

Old sod house in the foreground
The sun shines through an Umiak, a skin-covered boat.
National costume for a little girl.

Inside the new Church
The altar cross is surrounded by tiles of flowers, starting with Qaqortoq.

The new Church has a new ship.
More Qaqortoq.
A couple of psalms to give you a feel for the Greenlandic language.

The old Church is in the valley, along the stream.
The old Church.
We found a workshop where local artisans made jewelry from local materials,

The stream had enough water for this family.
The soil is just a thin layer over rock,

We walked up to the cemeteries.
The old cemetery was overgrown with wild flowers, including Qaqortoq.