Why I Don't Shop At Wal-Mart.Com (The Alaska Surcharge)

Nope. I'll stick with Amazon Prime.

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...

In the snow

Supreme Court Live! - Climate Change

TRUST Alaska from Our Children's Trust on Vimeo.

Barrow High School was privileged to have this young Y'upik Eskimo man, Nelson Kanuk, from Kipnuk, Alaska, come to Barrow. The high school students had the opportunity to watch a legitimate court case in their auditorium, which was judged by the Supreme Court of Alaska. Not only did the students get to hear Nelson speak about the gravity of climate change, they also were able to ask questions to the judges (not about the case itself, of course), the lawyers, and the appellants.

Here's a NPR story about Nelson's court case.

Supreme Court Live is an educational outreach program for high school students, enabling them to see court cases in their own schools. The program started in 2010. Read more about Supreme Court Live here.

puuvruktuq | to plow through deep, soft snow

The snow is finally here...

This is the van that belongs to the Church of God in town.

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. 

It's a sunshiny day at the top of the world!

I love the lagoons in Barrow. There are two that separate the town into two sections: Barrow side and Browerville. I used to live in Browerville, but I moved to a new apartment last May and now live "downtown," I guess you could say. Hah.

And now for the ocean...

The above picture is a little misleading. The beach is a straight line, not curved. I think I went too fast when I did the panorama shot. Still, awesome picture.

Friday's sunshine was gorgeous. I let Quya off the leash and let her run on the beach. She was happy as a clam.