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."

meeting people

It's hard to believe the Success for All conference is almost over. I've made three good friends -- Jack, Barbra, and Jenny. Jack, Barbra, and Jenny are super-cool. Jack & Barbra are going to teach in Shishmaref; Jenny lives in Kenai and teaches in Tyonek. I have an open invitation to visit Kenai now -- whoohoo! And Jack and Barbra are going to teach me how to fish! Hopefully they'll come visit me in Diomede too! I may be more remote than they are, but at least I'll have indoor plumbing. Shishmaref still uses the honey bucket system -- hard to believe!

Check out the map of Alaska that we drew on our paper table cloth that the Rusty Scupper in Baltimore, which is probably the most expensive restaurant I've ever been to.

The first shipment.

Today I mailed 74 lbs. of my possessions to Diomede, Alaska. It's becoming more real -- the fact that I am moving to Alaska! Some days I forget.

I used two 20 gal. Sterlite totes which were about $6 each. I packed them full -- dishes, towels, sweaters, the inner-liner of my parka, my Sorel boots, etc. One tote was 32 lbs. which cost about $36. The other tote was 42  lbs. costing about $46. Total cost including confirmation notices for each box = $86.

 Dad used his drill to make six holes on the lid and tote. I used zip ties to keep the lid sealed tight. 

The school address. Everything will be kept at the school until I get there. I hope everything arrives safely. I have heard that the cold can shatter Sterlite totes, but I think they'll be okay in the "heat" of August. I still have two more totes to ship up, but I have to pack them first!

I thought about packing Luke, but I considered the legal implications of such an action and decided against it. I sure will miss him!

On a side note, tomorrow I leave for Baltimore for the Success for All conference. I'm excited that I'll be meeting a lot of BSSD teachers there! Can't wait!