Suvat? | What's up?

Suvat? = What's up?

I'm glad you asked.

 Skyline was observed.

Walruses and geese were hacked.

Darkness descended. Streetlights were lit.

 Sun peeked out.

John visited.

Whales were caught.

Large pencils were used.

Tundra was explored.

The ocean was entered.

Congrats, John & Chad. You are now members of the Polar Bear Plunge Club.

In case you are wondering, the temperature of the water was 27 degrees. 

The air temp was in the 20s. Not sure what the wind chill was that day though.

Today's Stats:

Temperature: 23 F

Wind Speed: NW 14 mph

Wind Chill: 11 F 

Sunrise: 10:58 A.M.

Sunset: 5:21 P.M.

Quyanaqpak, Father, for...

dog-training shock collars

pumpkin bread

forgiveness 7 x 70 times

Christmas lights year-round

sweet parents in parent-teacher conferences

getting Inuit Day off of school in November

naluksaaq | to plunge into water, or THE POLAR BEAR PLUNGE (dun dun dunnnn)

Guess what? I actually did it. Yep, I was completely covered head to toe in the waters of the Arctic Ocean. I did the Polar Bear Plunge.

Sorry for the shakiness of the camera. It was taken via a friend's iPhone who messaged it to me as a text, but apparently, it had a rough time of it when it went into the Arctic Interwebz Vortex.

Before the plunge. We looked cold even before getting wet. Well, it was 27 degrees with wind chill of 16 degrees. See? 

Thankfully, we did the Polar Bear Plunge before the high surfs come in!

Strippin'.

1, 2, 3, GO!

This is my favorite pic. I love it.

The shock was intense. I fell into some kind of hole, just dropped down, so I was completely soaked. I started feeling my body go numb almost immediately! I wanted to get out ASAP.

Run away, run away, run away!!!

We did. We went to Chad & Melissa's house, which is on the beach, took off all wet clothing, warmed up, and drank hot tea. 

Good day.

pikiaġaq | to jump in and out of water, or how to be completely awesome

A few weeks ago, my college friend Amy visited all the way from Taiwan, where she teaches English. She was returning to the states for the first time in a year and a half, and her first stop was Barrow. So, of course, since she was at the top of the world, she had to do the polar bear plunge!

Let's just say that it was CRAZY cold, and it probably wasn't the wisest idea doing the polar bear plunge without any nearby medical help available.

But hey, now she can say she's done it. :)

More later...

Early September. (I know, it's a clever title.)

September seems to be a time of drastic change for us on the Slope. A few weeks ago, things looked like this:

This is my apartment building in case you were wondering. 

 Beautiful sunny morning as I walked to school...

Every dumpster has something written on it. Maybe one day I'll go around town and snap a shot of each dumpster and create a collection.

For some reason, I really like this building. It looks like it might topple over.

Hey, guys, don't drive into the ocean, okay?

Jellyfish on the beach.

When it's sunny, I go walking on the beach. I was letting Quya off the leash to see if she would stick close to me, but um... yeah, she doesn't. So, she's going to stay on the leash from now on. 

So, most dogs in Barrow, as well as the villages, are chained up to fences, porches, or boats. Needless to say, they are grumpy and often aggressive. Every now and then, I find a chained-up dog who has retained its sweetness.

Unfortunately, our only Mexican restaurant burned down in early September. Not to be mean or anything, but it's not that big of a loss. Too expensive and poor quality of food...in my humble opinion, of course.

Doesn't she look like she's meditating? 

Quya loves walking on the beach, but lately there have been bear sightings... so we have been sticking close to home.

Okay, so that was early September....

Late September looks more like WINTER.

More on that next time.

I'll try to be better about posting.