moose meat

(photo credit: Adrienne)

I can't emphasize to you how much I love Alaska so far. Everything about it is beautiful and unique. The air is crisp and fresh. Adrienne and I have walked around Unalakleet a lot so we know where most places are now. We've picked berries out in the open tundra, explored the remains of a crashed plane, petted dirty native dogs, took pictures of very expensive cereal, looked at drying fish, touched the skin of a musk oxe, visited Kira (school counselor in UNK) a million times at her apartment, met our mystery housemate and fellow teacher Willis, tried to lean on the wind, and talked to kids who might have been drinking beer (but we're not sure). We also visited a "baby puppy" that Adrienne was in love with named Dink.

Dink's owner shot a moose this morning around 7 a.m. about 30 miles upriver. He said it was the biggest one he had ever caught. I use the word "caught" specifically because natives say they "catch a bear" or "catch a moose"...the way we would say "catch a fish" or "catch a cab."

He dragged the moose out of his boat, wrapped it up in the blue tarp, and hauled it off with his ATV. He said that he'd hang it up for a few days and let the blood drip. That makes it tender. I asked him how long that meat will last him, and he said it'll last a whole winter. I'm pretty sure that Adrienne and I need to catch a moose for Diomede now.

the first polar bear sighting in Unalakleet

Hiking Up Mount Baldy

 Someone parachuting off of Mount Baldy...flying over Anchorage.

Kira is a school counselor for the BSSD, and Adrienne is my housemate and fellow teacher on Diomede.

 The tundra grass was so soft and spongy. It was great to lie down on. (Photo Credit: Kira)

We had a difficult time crossing the little "river." (Photo Credit: Adrienne)

This video was taken at the top of Mount Baldy in Eagle River, AK. It was breathtakingly beautiful up there.

This is Adrienne and Kira walking down the side of the hill. I felt like I was in The Sound of Music.

guerrilla shopping

When I got to Anchorage, the Welcome Wagon crew picked me up and took me to the UAA dorm. I finally got to meet Adrienne, my housemate in Diomede. It is her first year teaching in Alaska as well, and she is from California. Before we went guerilla shopping, I briefly and barely studied for my Alaska driver's test, but thankfully, I passed. I am officially an Alaskan resident. Whoo-hoo!

 We went to Wal-Mart, and we spent about $300 on food. We bought everything from spices to flour to frozen veggies. Both of us, having never cooked before, were pretty unsure of what to get, how much to get, how long it will last us, and how much it'd cost. The total was not as high as we expected it to be. We went to Lowe's and bought two 60 qt. coolers, and then we went to Mr. Prime Rib, a meat place in Achorage, and spent about $150 on a package deal with 45 lbs. of various kinds of meat and some veggies. The only chicken we bought was a whole fryer, which you can see below. We took our food back to the dorm, and the Welcome Wagon crew (returning BSSD teachers) helped us pack all of our food up into boxes. I cannot emphasize to you how helpful everyone at the BSSD has been. They've been so great. Everyone is generous with their time and resources! I am so happy to be working in this district!

All the food we bought.

45 lbs. of meat, some veggies thrown in.

This is my & Adrienne's whole fryer chicken.

Our stuff, nicely packed up. We took our two boxes to the post office and shipped them to Diomede for about $50. That is a great price. It is significantly cheaper to ship stuff within the state than it is to ship stuff out of state.

We taped down our coolers and took them as checked bags on the plane. When we got to the airport, the check-in guy asked for our current weights, which I thought was strange. It turns out that on little planes, they will put big people up at the front of the plane and smaller people at the back of the plane. Then, they will move everyone around based on their weight so that the plane is balanced. Adrienne and I were moved to the back of the plane, but at least we got to sit next to each other. The clouds were so thick we couldn't see anything the whole way to Unalakleet, so we did a crossword puzzle.

flying over canada

rivers and mountains and clouds

Genevieve Pearl wants to go to Alaska.

Tomorrow I fly to Anchorage at 12:40 p.m. Pray for me, friends! 

"We rise and fall with the bowhead whales."

Parade has a really interesting article about the Inupiat culture and the impact of drilling for oil in the Arctic could potentially have on it. Since the Gulf oil spill, Mayor Edward Itta, an Inupiat Eskimo, is uneasy about the various companies that are attempting to drill in the Arctic. An oil spill could cause the downfall of the subsistence culture.

"Offshore drilling means the risks are great to the marine mammals we depend on for subsistence. We fear it may pollute the water, cause spills, frighten off whales with noise. I'm not trying to stop the oil. But if whales disappear, so will our culture....We were here before oil, and we will be here after it. We rise and fall with the bowhead whales."