Alaska from the air

We got the most awesome opportunity to go up in a single engine Cessna last Sunday. A girl I live with knows a pilot who works for an arial photography company, and he was cool enough to take 3 of us girls up in his plane. We flew to Talkeetna for pizza, and then came back:

Chugach Mountains outside of Anchorage

Katie and Danielle

Our pilot Nick

View from Danielle's window

Denali (Mt. McKinley)

Welcome to beautiful Talkeetna, AK!

The main drag in Talkeetna

My bird's eye view of the cockpit

Downtown anchorage from above

Anchorage & the bay

Nick did a couple of nosedives so we could feel 0 g's...all the crap and crud floated out of the crevices in the plane and floated around. It was pretty wild. He also gave us a chance to fly the plane. It was amazing.

I got my assignment today. Next Wednesday I'll head out to Dutch Harbor, AK to board the Clipper Endeavor. It's 124 feet and has about 10 crew members. We'll be longlining for sablefish (also known as black cod) out in the far west Bering Sea. It will be a pretty long cruise; up to 50 days but every 2 weeks we'll head back into port to offload.

Hey I'm on Facebook now, which is much easier to use as far as posting pictures, so if anyone else is look me up!

Peace out,
A

I rock

Well, it's official, I made it. I am now qualified to count, sort, sex, identify, and dissect dead fish. I even got nifty little card and a certificate:

We are deep in the midst of Fur Rondy here in Anchorage. The city brought in a ton of snow and dumped it down the middle of our street for the dog teams. It was pretty neat. I didn't see the big race start, but when I was walkinghome today, I caught these guys racing around a track in a nearby park:

I also thought this was funny; check out baby strollers Alaskan style:

Today was a clear, beautiful day. I tried to capture the mountains but it really isn't the same:

I had a chance to head up to Palmer with a new friend today. It was an amazing and gorgeous drive. I'd love to get a rental car and do some travelling before I ship out, which will be sometime next week hopefully. I also want to get a day or two of snowboarding in.

I got an email from Pauline, and it sounds like things are relatively calm and she's doing well. Her and her husband have taken in an orphaned 10 year old boy whose parents were killed in the clashes. She's so awesome.

I'm roasting up here

Anchorage is experiencing quite a heat wave right now; the past few days have all been in the high '30's which is positively stifling:

http://www.weather.com/outlook/homeandgarden/home/local/USAK0012?from=recentsearch

Melting snow all day = tons of ice at night, so for those of us living the pedestrian lifestyle, it's quite challenging. And slicker than dog snot!

Speaking of our furry friends, the big news around here these days is "Fur Rondy" (short for Fur Rendezvous) , a week-long extravaganza that originally coincided with the time that the miners and trappers came to town with their winter's yield. The World Championship Sled Dog Race debuted in 1946 and has become the cornerstone event of the Festival bringing teams of sled dogs and mushers to Anchorage from across Alaska and all over the world. Other events include the Rondy Carnival, the Grand Parade, the uniquely Alaskan Original Men's Snowshoe Softball and the Grand Prix Auto Race. Oh and also snow-carving contest that my very own teacher, Mike Vechter will be entering on behalf of the University of Alaska Observer Training Center! Predictably, there will be fish and crabs involved...if you want the whole low-down, here's the link: http://www.furrondy.net/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

So I passed my fish ID exam today which means I'm one step closer to getting on a boat. This afternoon we all headed over to the UAA pool to do some survival training. Here's some pics of me in my immersion suit (aka, Gumby suit) after we did all the chain formations and life raft drills. It was pretty fun, but I can imagine that doing it under Bering Sea conditions is probably not so enjoyable.

Here's a generic shot of my street...I'm waiting for a clear day to take pictures of the mountains which are really beautiful, but it is usually dark by the time I'm out walking around. Although the days are getting lighter and lighter now.

Home sweet home: yah I KNOW it looks big on the outside, but there's 6 units, each of which have about 6 or 7 people in them. We are thinning out though; we've lost 2 observers so far. One didn't make the midterm, and the other just wanted to go home.

I've been really busy with homework and miscellany but after I (God-willing) pass the final on Thursday, things should really slow down and I'll be able to get out and see the surrounding areas more. I really want to get a day of riding in at the local ski hill, and visit the local native heritage museum. And enjoy not going to school 40 hours a week.

3 Degrees and holding!

Well I'm here and I love it! Apparently this past week has been a real cold snap, even by Alaskan standards (well....Anchorage at least) but I've yet to be truly uncomfortable. I've been doing A LOT of walking which keeps me pretty darn warm. It's been a nice way to get out and about but I also really miss my car. The public bus system here is not so great, but I've still used it a couple times. I use any excuse I can to get out of the house since it's a bit crowded. There are 7 0f us observers in training in a small 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment. *Sigh*. Thankfully, there aren't any truly difficult personalities and we all seem to get along pretty well. But there's a definate lack of privacy and quiet time that I miss. Of course, this is fabulous training for what we'll encounter on vessels; maybe they do this to us on purpose???
The Groundfish Observer training program has been really really cool. I'm totally digging being in school again. My wheels have been turning as to what this may lead to in the future for me career-wise...several of the teachers here and NOAA government officials were former Observers. I'm really getting interested in the fisheries management aspect; it's absolutely fascinating. Alaska has not only the largest fishery in the world, but one the healthiest and most well-managed as well. This is largely in part to the real-time data that's collected by Observers. The amount of data collected is staggering, and it's really cool to see how it's actually used to make major conservation and economic decisions.
I'll try and get some pictures up of Anchorage soon; it's really not all that interesting but hopefully we'll get out this weekend and get a chance to see the Northern Lights up in a smaller town like Wasilla or something. I'm going to wait until next weekend to try and go snowboarding, since fresh snow is forecasted and it's also going to "warm up" to the late 20's.
Most of my free time is spent on homework and going to the gym. Class is from 8-5 every week day so we really don't have much time to mess around. Everything sure takes longer without a car...I'm feeling like a true Southern California gal as I realize how much I depend on my wheels and how much they contribute to my sense of independence and freedom. I mean, the walking is nice and all to a point, but it's so slow! I got things to do and places to be! Not to mention that for some reason, the City of Anchorage doesn't seem concerned with plowing their sidewalks or salting the roads...there's just perm-a-ice everywhere. This doesn't mean people adjust their driving styles accordingly, so I also don't feel real safe walking along the road sometimes. And I have to kinda hobble along so I don't slip and fall.
I got an email from Jeff Ouma who has a lot of hope for the negotiations with Kofi Annan in Kenya. Otherwise, I'm pretty out of the loop. I'm planning on calling Pauline soon and will report back with any news.
Love to all from the Great White North,
Angela

Aurora Borealis Bound

I write this as I'm sitting in the Phoenix airport, waiting to catch my connecting flight to Anchorage, Alaska. I've accepted a position as a marine fisheries observer. Basically I'll be gathering biological data onboard commercial fishing boats operating off the coast, identifying fish species, collecting and recording data on sex & lengths, monitoring regulatory compliance, and documenting location and amount of each species caught. This information is used by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to manage the commercial fisheries in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. After 3 weeks of training in Anchorage, I'll be deployed out of ports along the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea. Most of the work is based in Dutch Harbor, Kodiak, King Cove, and Akutan. Whoa!

The news from Kenya over the past week has been bad. The town of Nakuru was the epicenter of the latest violence, and the neighborhood that the IHF orphanage is in has been completely leveled. Our house mummy Pauline had her house burnt down, and had to flee Nakuru with her family. They hid in a school for a few nights, but are now renting a house in an outlying area in a Kikuyu community where they are safe. The children were moved back to Pokot, where things are calmer but also DRY and hot. This means extremely limited access to food and water, which sets the children up for malnutrition and sickness again. The tribal politics out in this area are also extremely tense and complicated, things I cannot even begin to understand or describe are in jeopardy of undermining the children's health and well-being. I'm so glad Carol is on her way back out to be with the kids. My fellow volunteer Laura is leaving Tanzania next week to go back home to Australia, and Sam and Cassidy have already gone back themselves. That just leaves Juan, and he is volunteering at an orphanage in Usa River. Hopefully he'll be able to join Carol in Pokot soon.

The need to sponsor our kids in Kenya is beyond urgent now. Any financial assistance is greatly needed of course but what is REALLY important is that we get these children sponsors so that we can use any additional money to augment food supplies and rebuild the IHF center. I've personally committed to the "guardianship" of 4 kids that have no sponsor, so if you are interested in doing something wonderful, contact me and I'll tell you all about them! Since I know them, I can even tell you about their personality and show you some of my pictures. One in particular is Patricia, who is one of our older girls. She and her sister Chemariach have been with Carol for a long time, and are some of the most trusted and responsible "children" there. They are also the leaders of song, calling out the verses and then having the younger children echo back to them. Patricia is very beautiful, always smiling and wanting to give me a hug. This picture is of her on Christmas eve. She stayed up ALL night with Pauline cooking so that we could enjoy a feast in the morning!