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.