the moose, the myth, the legend

common misconceptions or things that i have in fact, not done while living in alaska- not to say that they will not occur in the remaining month and a half:

-live in an igloo: we do not in fact live in a igloo. however, we have stayed in one while housesitting. our neighbors, dorothy and james, have an igloo shaped house- excellent for effective heating- but it's made of wood & insulation- not ice & snow
-have a polar bear or moose for a pet: while both are great, we are not far enough north to enjoy the newest endangered species and moose are far more prolific in anchorage (where we have actually seen moose)
-been to russia: even though bethel is closer to russia than it is to anchorage, it is shockingly difficult to get there- well, it's hard to get there when you have no money, and no boat. and no, you do not need a passport to get into alaska. it's a state. and not even the most recent one. what's up with you, hawaii?
-eaten alaskan king crab: in the land of the deadliest catch, i have actually never seen alaskan crab while in alaska. shocking. refer to early post about complete inability to have my favorite crustacean, even on maryland day. blasphemy.

in contrast, we have been able to do some great things- some of which i have been able to blog about on these hallowed (web)pages. we just finished up with our last retreat with jvc on the kenai peninsula outside the town of seward. 4 days of camping by a lake, good food, and good friends. below a picture with all of the alaska jvs from 07-08 and our area director, sarah, with houses in bethel, anchorage, juneau & sitka.



and another performance of the band with no name in our qaspeqs (traditional yup'ik wear). our admin assistant, lucy, gave me mine that she made in secret during our cultural week.

local flavor

during my last meal in philadelphia (breakfast at delancy street), lauren said to me- why are you eating salmon (referring to my lox) that's all you're going to be eating for the next year! no way, i said, there will be lots of food. well, i was partially wrong- we eat A LOT of salmon- but we're spoiled because it is literally the freshest food ive ever ate- taking it out of the river and having it for dinner that night. oh the joys of subsistence living. after attending russian orthodox service this weekend bridget, chelsea, jesse & i were invited to a feast for first catch. first catch is when a child shoots their first wild animal-traditionally, they have a feast to give all of it away- the family has a feast to celebrate- this feast celebrated two of their kids- one that got a moose in the fall and their younger son that shot his first ptarmigan. as we were eating a spread of entirely native foods (with the exception of jello)i was thinking about all of the "interesting" foods that we've had a chance to enjoy this year...including but not limited to (in alphabetical order):

-akutaq aka eskimo ice cream (crisco, sugar, berries- mix 'em up)
-akutaq II (made with pike eggs instead of crisco)
-ayuq (tundra tea- made with incense like plants from the tundra)
-beaver
-berries picked right from the tundra
-caribou
-dried pike dipped in seal oil
-duck
-fish skins
-fish eggs
-moose
-ptarmigan
-salmon (cooked about a million different ways)
-salmon strips (like, salmon beef jerky)
-seal fat- that hangs out in the seal oil- eaten like you take a tequila shot- lick salt on your hand and down the hatch- but make sure you have a chaser...)
-seal oil
-seal soup
-smelts (small fish- they come before the kings start running)
-stink heads (take a salmon head, bury it in the ground for a few weeks, dig it up, chew & swallow)
-walrus
-whale
-wild goose eggs

going to the grocery store will probably be more of a shock to my system than any of these foods...nancy says that she's going to eat before she comes to visit. where is her sense of adventure??

hanging smelts to dry with our neighbor, martha: