(Post 2 of 3)

Maria Nielsen. Artist, teacher, mother, business owner, elected official. I met her in the Arts & Crafts workshop on a break from selling some of the art she has been producing for 45 years.

When her kids were growing up, sometimes she would only sleep for one hour. Now, her son tells her that she should slow down, but “I don’t know how to do nothing. I don’t like it.” My conversation with Maria covered many things from visiting with the queen to childhood memories of watching birds hatch out on the land.

On Greenland now and her life as a self-employed person: “When something happens in the rest of the world, we feel it here. I feel it a lot. Visitors don’t buy as much when they come here.” Maria recommended that I meet Emelia Lennert, whom she met through politics. So Tuku (my friend and translator) and I, headed off to the elder hostel to find her. Read on to the next post.