Helllllo from the Great North

Over a year and no entry. Reprehensible!

I just read over my post from Thailand and realized that goddammit this is a good thing to do and I need to get my act together and get back on the ball. I had forgotten so many of those quirky little stories until my mind was refreshed by well, me.

So another summer in Alaska passed on the Kilkenny...much of the same-same with one glaring exception: another chick on the boat! Two different women (wayyy tougher than I) joined the crew at different points to be scallopers. It was really interesting and I definitely enjoyed indulging in a few estrogen-fueled chats. Both Amanda and Anna were super wonderful and they worked very hard. Honestly, it's not like we had time to sit around and discuss Sex in the City or anything. But it really did change the dynamic on the boat.

The BIG difference is that I brought the car up with me last year. Yep, I can proudly say that I successfully drove to Alaska. And back! I went up the Al-Can, couchsurfing my way through British Columbia. The best hot tip I got from a couple I stayed with in Dawson Creek was to hit Liard Hotsprings, which is where I spent Solstice. For the journey home, my bestie Johnnie flew up and met me in Homer right before my last trip out on the boat. He got to fly into a village and go fishing with a buddy he met at the local dive bar, Kharacters. When I got back in early August, we started our drive south. We made our first stop at Matanuska Glacier which was gorgeous...you can actually walk out on the ice and putz around. Treacherous, thrilling, and tremendous! We camped in Tok, AK before going international and it was one of the coldest nights I've ever spent outdoors. In BC, we spent time in Whitehorse and Lilloet before having the most disgusting pizza ever in Williams Lake. Isn't there a saying about sex and pizza? That they can never be truly bad? Well that saying is wrong. I don't know what the hell is wrong with Canadians but they sure know how to muck up food. For example:
-BUTTER on sandwiches (along with mayo, mustard, etc)
-GRAVY and CHEESE on french fries...oh it sounds fancy: poutin. I say, French for "gross".
And I have never witnessed more A & W hamburger joints in one place at one time so I just had to look it up...Canada is the 11th fattest country in the world in 2010. Being that in 2007 they were #35, my money is on them jumping into the top 3 by 2015.

John left me in Seattle since he had to fly home to get back for work. I opted to take the longer scenic route along the Oregon coast and I'm really glad I did. It was one of the most scenic drives I've ever done.

Ok so Fall 2009 I was back on the drift gillnet fishery in Southern California. Again, same old same old. I even ended up on the Mary Vincent again with my old buddies. On Halloween we anchored up off Pismo Beach to wait out a storm and were going stir crazy staring at the beautiful beach from the harbor. So close, yet so far away! We decided to go for it and called for a water taxi to come pick us up from the boat. The wrinkle was that the last run was in 2 hours. Not enough time to futz around for us. Our other friend Michael drove up from Morro Bay and picked us up. We had lunch and then secured plans for our return trip back to the vessel...at the local Big 5 Sporting Goods. Yep, that's right, John rowed us back in an inflatable raft. At sundown. Amid signs warning you to swim at your own risk due to all the documented shark attacks. It was quite an adventure.

I decided not to go abroad this spring. Instead it was finally time for this gal's Great American Road Trip. I thought I would get to see a lot more than I actually did, but it was still great and I some good quality time with friends and family. I'm gone off the grid in respect to Facebook (gratefully so) and that's where all my pictures are...if I ever transfer them to Picasa web I'll put a link in. Not that anyone is reading this except me HA!

I won't elaborate much except run down a quick-n-dirty list of all my stops. Ok, maybe highlights and unforgettables too....

Prescott AZ
Scottsdale AZ
Bisbee AZ
Las Cruces, NM
Big Bend National Park, TX *****VERRRRRRRRRRRRRY cool. Had lotsa fun here.
Kerrville, TX
Ft. Worth, TX
Kerrville, TX
San Antonio, TX
Kerrville, TX
Ft. Worth, TX (and I actually WASN'T sick of Texas yet!)
Memphis, TN
Fall Creek Falls State Park, TN
Smoky Mt. National Park, TN
Asheville, NC
Raleigh, NC
Washington, DC
Bridgeport, CT
Akron, OH
St. John, IN- went in to Chicago the next day. Have to go back, really liked it.
Council Bluffs, IA
Denver, CO
Moab, UT -- went in to Arches and Canyonlands NP and stayed at the hostel at night. Pretty good hiking and scenery...but wasn't as great as Big Bend!
Las Vegas, NV
Claremont, CA
Angeles Lakes, CA - yearly retreat w/ Mom
Claremont, CA
Fullerton, CA and finalllly wait for it, wait for it, wait for it....
LONG BEACH, CA which is what I was calling "home" for the last 2 years.

So, 7 1/2 weeks, approx 3500 miles, tons of highway and byway viewing, and a whole bunch of postcards later I made it. And felt very rushed.
It WILL happen again...right 'lil Corolla???!

Ten days ago, I drove up to Prince Rupert, BC and caught the ferry across the Gulf of Alaska. It was a great experience. I camped out on the deck along with the other budget travelers which was perfectly fine. The weather was amazing and there were hourly sightings of whales. It was by far the best way I have ever traveled. The ferry made stops in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Yakutat which are all towns in Southeast Alaska only accessible by plane or boat. Honestly these places didn't strike me as beautiful or spectacular as all the cruise ship buildup makes it seem...I'd rather look at Homer/Kodiak/Talkeetna type scenery myself : )

Now I'm killing a bit of time before scallop season begins on July 1st. The boat has changed owners so this year I'll be based out of Kodiak although from what I hear we will be making periodic trips to Homer (yay). Since I've got all this time on my hands along with a very reliable mode of transport, I'm going to finally get up to Fairbanks and spend Solstice up there sightseeing, running a midnight 10k, and hitting the Chena Hot Springs Resort. On the way back down, the plan is to camp couple nights in Denali National Park. Hopefully the weather behaves. Then, before hopping on the ferry to Kodiak island, I'll spend a couple days in Homer seeing all my End of the Road buddies.

I really can't complain about a single thing in my life.
It is just that good.

Playing catch-up

Oh the resistance! I've been avoiding writing because I know I'll have to stretch my memory over the past 6+ weeks of fabulosity (what a quality problem). I've heard through the grapevine that my posts have been missed however...Thanks for the ego boost Aunt Phyllis!

So the last time I wrote I was in KL. Hmmm. My return to the orphanage in Chiang Rai was uneventful save the drama-fest I found when I arrived. I won't go in to details, but I'll just say that we had some "interesting" volunteers who thankfully were asked to leave within the first week I came back. I also came back to a fairly empty house because school was out and most of the kids went back to their villages to visit for the holiday. Only those who had no safe relative to stay with remained at the center (about 13).

We tried to make their vacation as fun as we could, planning morning and afternoon activities for them. One of the highlights was elephant polo. Yes that's right, polo played with pachyderms. It was a tournament held at a really ritzy resort up in the Golden Triangle region of Thailand. The players were all ex-pats, and the entire culture was pretty "high-society". However, it was still Thai mahouts that actually drove the elephants...the white guys just concentrated on trying to hit the ball with their mallet. I have a video of it but I'm not sure how to post it. There's tons of pictures though. The kids had fun for awhile, but I think the highlight was seeing the elephant blessing ceremony before everything started and then feeding them fruit. My own personal favorite part of the day was seeing the super deluxe portapotties. That term doesn't even do these things justice. It was like, a portable luxury suite that had bathroom facilities. I had to take a few pictures. It was that cool.

I also came back at peak smoke season in Northern Thailand, when farmers burn off the land and crops from last year's season before planting again. The air quality was absolutelyABYSMAL. I have never seen such pollution first-hand. Coming from the pristine island oases in Malaysia to the smoggy humid city of Chiang Rai was a bit of a let-down. Along with the increasing temperature, things got pretty uncomfortable. Strangely enough, the monsoons started in March. Local buzz was that the pollution was so bad that it had actually affected the weather. Thankfully, the storms cleared out the air for the most part. The storms themselves were fantastic...like Arizona monsoons but more, well... authentic! Thunder, crazy lightening, high winds, the whole bit. TORRENTIAL downpours. Then, in about an hour, it just clears up and goes away. Of course, along with the rain came the mosquitoes. Thankfully, Northern Thailand is not an area where malaria is endemic, but the little suckers are still really annoying. Thankfully, homes are infested with barking geckos to keep the population of bugs down. Probably for that reason, house geckos are considered very lucky, and you can even divine your fortune from the number and timing of the barks! Every night before I went to sleep, I had a nighttime ritual of picking all the ants off me and clearing out the mosquito net as I listened to the reptilian symphony of lizards and frogs. LOUD frogs and lizards (I was very thankful for my earplugs) I sort of do NOT miss this part of my experience.

Along with the fun stuff for the kids every day, we also got cracking on a few big projects around the center. Thanks to the encouragement of a few awesome volunteers with experience in the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps, we were able to get organized and get motivated. I helped dig holes and put fence posts in for a fence around the garden. There are pictures. It was an intense and satisfying experience for all of us. We felt like badasses. We also began preparations for a straw mushroom patch which will allow the center to grow and harvest it's own mushrooms. Since bamboo is the building material of choice, we used that to make the posts and poles needed for the frame. It sounds easier than it was. Using machetes and hacksaws, we were trying to cut standard lengths and split the trunks down the middle. It was so hard, and we looked so pathetic doing it that the kids came over to help us out. They schooled us. Big time. Nok, who is 10 years old, was literally doing laps around me. She got in there with the saw, put some elbow grease into it, and made me feel like a total pansy. The boys were in a league of their own...they have been using tools and making things out of bamboo since they were toddlers, so they were naturals.

I had 3 church experiences in Thailand. Once I went to the oldest Christian church in Chiang Rai by myself, but The service was all in Thai but they were very friendly and put a lady next to me who attempted to translate the sermon. Next, we took Nabee our house mummy to her church, an evangelical Calvary Chapel born-again variety. Kate grabbed me halfway through that service to let me know that Nok and Somchai had gone feral (Australian for apeshit) in the street. It all ended well a day later with apology notes and such but for about 20 minutes I hated children more than the IRS. Finally, the best experience was on Palm Sunday when Angela #2 found a Catholic church for me, Nabee, and her to attend. It happened to be my last day in Thailand, so that made it special as well. We didn't understand what was going on (mass was in Thai), but we got to take home these cool palm-frond things which was neat. There were people there that had obviously come in from the villages, piling out of the back of pickup trucks. One lady was all decked out in her traditional Akha dress. That was cool.

Oh I wanted to mention baby-politeness! A wei is the little bow with your hands clasped under your chin that Thai's do to eachother to show respect. The rules and status arrangements are quite complex, and all the cultural sensitivity stuff I read said to not even go there if you don't know what you're doing. You can really look stupid or totally offend people if you just go around bowing indiscriminately. Anyways, this must be one of the absolute first things parents teach their children, because I saw 2 separate babies (before speaking age) do it as they were getting their bottles or toys or whatever. It was adorable.

I left Thailand having made more wonderful friends and with a suitcase and brain packed to the brim of incredible sights, sounds, and tastes. However, it was definitely time to come home. I had an 8 hour layover in Seoul and tried to make a day of it, but the airport is quite far away from the city. It took me almost 2 hours to get in to a touristy shopping district, where I cruised for knicknacks, ate sticky icecream, and watched these guys make this stuff called "Dragon's Beard". They were great salesmen, they had their whole pitch down and it was quite a show to watch them make 64,000 strand confections on the street. I had to buy a box of the stuff (honey and cornstarch threads wrapped around candy nuts). They don't taste as interesting as I had hoped, but the memory is worth it. Seoul was fairly standard from what I saw, other than there were just TONS of MEN everywhere, hardly any women (maybe I was in a business district or something?). They just stood around smoking all over the place.

So I'm back, and enjoying Southern California weather, my civic duty as a juror, and getting back into my meeting schedule. If I can think of other stuff I'll add it...I know I'm leaving out tons but there's just a limit to how much information my brain is capable of holding on to. The older I get the more painfully aware of this I am...
Love to you all,
Angie

2 boats, one taxi, 2 trains, 3 buses, and 2 light rails later...

I made it Kuala Lumpur and am here in my posh hotel (http://www.citrushotelkl.com/) catching up on emails and hoping to get a workout in.

I got here early this morning off the overnight train from Taneh Merah, a small town in the North East Malaysian state of Kelantan. It was pretty uneventful in and of itself, except in the overwhelming number of abandoned cats. Not only were they everywhere, they were the mangiest, ugliest, scrawniest, most decrepit and diseased animals I've ever seen. Truly it was a miracle they were still alive. I even took pity and fed a couple (a testament to the state they were in...y'all know I'm not a cat person). I didn't see a single dog though...maybe they're on the menu here as well?

Malaysia impressed me right off the bat. I crossed over the border on my way down from Bangkok last week along with a very nice family from Barcelona, and the 4 of us were the only Westerners in sight- a welcome change from touristy and crowded Thailand. Another instant perk: the toilet in immigration had RUNNING WATER TO THE TANK. Revolutionary. I don't know why Thailand hasn't figured out this convenience, as all of the toilets have running water NEXT to them.

I made it to the Perhentian Islands as it began to rain. The speedboat hit a bit of rough weather and my fellow passengers seemed slightly nervous. I couldn't help but feel a little smug...I mean, it was nothing compared to the Bering Sea...
My first night on the island was sublime, even with the light rain. I had a lovely dinner and watched the sun set over the ocean. Ahhh I missed the smell of salt water! The island was much more crowded than I anticipated; tourist season hadn't officially started yet but both places I planned on staying were out of rooms for the night. I ended up staying in the dorm at Senja Bay which was absolutely AWESOME and when (yes I said WHEN) I go back, I will definately be staying there:
http://senjabay.com/
It poured cats and dogs all night, and I lost the war with the mosquitoes and woke up with my right eye swollen shut. Ergh. Anyhow, nothing that a little Alavert and caffeine didn't clear up. The weather was iffy all morning, so I took a short hike to the other side of the island, and area called Long Beach (ha so close to home yet SO far away). It was nowhere near as nice as "my" side of the island. The sun ended up coming out and I had a fantastic day of sunbathing and swimming (too fantastic...totally underestimated the tropical sun and got a burn right off the bat).
I was able to get a single room (with a mosquito net thank god) for the remainder of my stay. It was tucked way up on the hill...it reminded me of Swiss Family Robinson...getting to it required taking 5 or 6 flights of rickety wooden stairs up through the jungle, amid HUGE monitor lizards and squawking birds. IT WAS SO FRICKING COOL.
Day 2 was also gorgeous, and those nasty rumours circulating amongst tourists about the rain lasting for 2 weeks was put to bed. I took advantage of the weather to go on a snorkeling trip with a fantastic guide named Matt and 7 other tourists. It was FANTASTIC. We saw sharks, cucumbers, corals, a turtle...it was simply gorgeous. The only minus was falling off the boat (sooo embarassing) and dunking my camera in the South China Sea : ( No pictures for awhile...I'm going to try a distilled water rinse and see if I can salvage it.
Day 3 I was simply fried- a sunburn of epic proportions. Seriously guys, this is a record for me. I literally could do nothing else but lay in bed all day and read, taking Ibuprofin every 3 hours. Anyhow, it was relaxing and still beautiful to look out over the crystal blue cove at the reef over my frenzied bursts of reading "Sophie's Choice" (I know, it wasn't exactly carefree island fodder but it was quite good).
So here I am, back in the city swing of things. I could have stayed for a month. I'm going to go back with Johnny next year and get SCUBA certified there, and backpack through Malaysia. I like it that much. The vibe is so different than Thailand, probably due to the Muslim influence which I am enjoying for the simple fact that I am SICK and TIRED of ground pork (the only meat Thai's seem to put in their food). But also Malay culture is beautiful and intricate and I've received such a warm and genuine welcome. I also enjoyed the lack of hardcore partying; alcohol is quite expensive in Muslim countries and sort of looked down upon. The substitute was milkshakes...they were everywhere on the island (made with the ever-ubiquitous condensed milk, not ice cream).

Before I sign off, I had some random notes about Thailand written down:

• The mannequins here are downright creepy. They don't have those neutral, vacant expressions our mannequins have. They look like clowns on acid with these huge garish smiles and gaping mouths. It's so weird.
• Asians are so obsessed with lightening their skin that it's nearly impossible to find any toiletry item that doesn't have skin bleach in it (even deoderant!). What's so ironic is that the same companies producing all this crap here are the ones that back home are convincing Westerners to buy their fake-tanning products...
• The hot item at the orphanage is the Rubic Cube. Yah, I thought it went out in 1990 too but the kids are dying for them, going so far as to make their own with markers and blocks!
• I woke up one morning to a dead dog in the classroom. It was our pet girl puppy Gaia. It was quite traumatic. We think maybe she was poisoned, and her brother Thor got quite sick and sulked off and died too.
• The Thai calendar is based on a Buddhist one that adds 543 years. So this year is 2552. It's a bit confusing when trying to buy tickets online...
• Retail irony of the day: A chain store called "Freshmart" that only sells frozen processed foods
• Thais are obsessed with fried chicken. So were Kenyans. Juan and I have surmised that fried chicken is a culinary equivalent of the olive branch around the world. So when in doubt, bring KFC!
• Monks in Thailand: smoke cigarettes, have tattoos, wear sunglasses, listen to Ipods, and may even make a pass at you. Yes, this happened to me.
• Speaking of preconceived notions about Buddhism...the absolute disregard for the "life-taking" precept and lack of vegetarianism is really pretty startling. There's a way to justify it that I read in my Thai culture-shock book, but I won't go into it here. It's just a little unsettling though.
• Being a transvestite and/or homosexual in Thai culture is A-OK and it's really fun to see the Thai khakoeys (literally, "lady boys") all dressed up in drag just for a ride on public transportation or whatever.

Okay all, check ya later...I'm back up to Thailand tomorrow morning for my final month in South East Asia. Later-

Malaysia and beyond!

So there are some benefits to poor planning...because Thailand/Myanmar visas are only issued for 15 days, I had to come up with a way to get a 30 day visa since I extended my time here. Perfect excuse for an island trip!

http://wikitravel.org/en/Perhentian_Islands

I'll be headed to Perhentian Kecil after my convention in Bangkok next weekend. First, I'll take the train to the border (which I have to walk across) and then a bus to the small jetty town of Kuala Besut. From there, it's a highspeed ferry boat to the island where I will be "limited to scuba diving, snorkeling, sea-kayaking and sunbathing" according to Wikitravel. Perfect.
It would be a great opportunity to get SCUBA certified, as it's some of the best diving in the world, but I'll have to see how my funding situation is by that point. Staying an extra 6 weeks has definitely tightened up the old budget....
After 3 or 4 days on the island, I'll head by train to Kuala Lumpur to take a flight back to Chiang Mai. This is the famous "Jungle Railway" train that takes you straight through some incredible rainforest. Unfortunately it seems that the daytime trains aren't running right now, so I'll have to catch the scenery at night from my sleeper car.

Things at the center have calmed down considerably now that Caty returned a few days ago. It's nice to be relieved of the pressure of running the show and just settle into administrative tasks.
The kids will be ending school in the next few weeks, so we'll have plenty of opportunity to play around with the ones who stay here in Chiang Rai. The remaining ones are allowed to return home to their villages because it has been determined they have safe places and people to stay with.

The weather is heating up here, and along with the change in temperature comes all kinds of weird and wonderful critters. There are smushed frogs all over the road because they're out en force now, and at night the sky echoes with the chirping from cicadas. There are of course, the ever-present barking geckos all over our volunteer dorm, but hopefully they will help keep the mosquito population down.

Day to day life is just such a treat here. I'm totally "scooter-literate" now, and really enjoy the freedom of zooming around town with the wind in my hair. Always wearing a helmet of course. I FINALLY don't have the sudden and subconcious urge to veer right when I'm startled (Thailand is a left-hand side drive country) which is nice. Especially for any passengers I have on the back ; )

After a few weeks of solidly neglecting my physical fitness, I'm back on track with running and doing a bit of weights. I found out that I'm definately going back to Homer to work on the Kilkenny, and I need my muscles for all those scallops! I'm still planning on driving up to Alaska in June, so when I get back "home" to CA, I've got a lot of catch-up to do. I'm crossing my toes that an income tax refund is a possiblility...

Much love to everyone, I'm really being a toad about taking pictures. As in, I'm not doing it at all. But I'll try, I'll really try.

Angela

I've got a few new pics up on Picasa web but the majority of the good ones were taken by other volunteers, so I'll upload those in a bit:

http://picasaweb.google.com/passionflower24/Thailand#


Laura left home for Australia last night : ( but we got a nice day of sightseeing in before she left. We went to The White Temple...a weird but wonderful place. Here's an interesting article by the artist who designed it:
http://www.tourismchiangrai.com/e-ctmc/index.php?option=rongkhun
My pictures don't really do it too much justice; the work is so intricate and detailed, and there are little bits of mirror stuck in the plaster so the whole thing glitters like crazy. Although it was a touch morbid on the outside (hands and bones representing Hell), the inside was even weirder because the paintings incorporated all these random bits of pop culture into a giant Buddhist spiritual painting...like characters from Star Wars and Keanu Reaves.
After the temple, we hit the world famous Chiang Rai clock tower, which magically lights up and plays music every evening. It's pretty tacky but also spectacular in it's own right.

Earlier in the morning, I took the scooter up to the Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) border to renew my visa. I overstayed by a day and they didn't give me any leeway for being 8 hours late dammit! The fine was about 15$ USD so it's not like it broke the bank but it was rather annoying. I wasn't paying attention with all the stuff going on around here, and Thailand has recently gotten even stricter on their tourist visa limitations. Overland stays are now only 15 days, so if I do end up extending my trip substantially, I'll probably need to make a trip to Malaysia to apply for a 60 day one at the embassy. Again, something that could have been avoided with a bit of forethought but hey YOU LIVE YOU LEARN.

The trip was quite nice, about 60 kms north of Chiang Rai through some really lovely country. I did not take pictures or even look around much because I was very focused on not crashing but on the way back I did get a few ooohs and ahhhs in.

Tomorrow is a big day at the hospital, as we take another 12 kids for their basic medical checkups. It is turning out to be a bit (more) complicated than I had previously planned, as our truck completely DIED on us over the weekend. We are completely without group transportation, and will have to rely on tuk-tuks and songtaews to do our market runs and any group activities. The center has 3 motorbikes which the older kids can use for school, but that means us volunteers are walking/biking into town during the day. Anyhow, we have a wonderful new volunteer named Kate who is working on Community Outreach to try and obtain a corporate sponsor for a new vehicle.

Time is just flying by...I can't believe it's been a month! Projects begin and somehow the time just disappears...I sometimes don't feel like I've accomplished anything, but other days I have an amazing feeling of just being in the right place at the right time. Last night was a giggle-filled laugh-fest with the kids just messing around and being kids-playing the guitar with funny sunglasses, putting way too much talcum powder on their faces, making me pizza out of green clay.

Hasta la pasta (we might splurge on Italian food tonight)-

Don't feed the Humans!

Argh first case of food poisoning abroad...not so fun. I had an "authentic" experience puking and pooping my guts out in a Lahu village a couple nights ago. I can't be sure what did it, but I was the only one in the group that got sick, and all I really did differently was sample the sugarcane we were feeding our elephant earlier in the day (what?!!).

Prior to the whole clutching-my-stomach-in-agony thing, the trek experience itself was really awesome. We went with a friend of Amanda's named Kit who has a travel business here in Chiang Rai. The day started off with a boat ride up the river to an elephant camp, where we took a little ride through the village. It was bumpy and not so comfortable; the coolest part was touching their trunks and feeding them. I couldn't help but feel sorry for them...having to lug silly falangs around so we could get a photo op. They didn't seem very happy. We had lunch in the elephant camp, and then headed out on foot from there. I don't think any of us (me, Laura, or the three Italian dudes who completed the party) were prepared for the intensity of the hike. It was really beautiful, but pretty steep in parts, and our guide Win was not one to go at a leisurely pace. We got to an Appa village first, and didn't have much time to do anything. I could go into the cultural intimacies of all the tribes here, but I just don't feel like I absorbed all that much (I'll report back once I hit the Hilltribe Museum here in Chiang Rai). We got to the village around 5 or 6 and all had showers (awesome!!!! I was literally, SOAKED in sweat, head to toes) and chilled out on the deck of our bamboo bungalow. The bungalow was built above ground to prevent flooding in the rainy season, and it was so clean and comfy and cozy that Laura and I prompty set about making plans to build one of our own. Win cooked us dinner and passed around a water bottle full of homemade moonshine. We luckily enough showed up on the first night of New Year's celebrations in the village, so everyone was in the mood to party. In the middle of the communal eating area, a tribute was set up with a pig's head and some other food items around it. The dancing centered around this, and was accompanied by drums, chimes, and cheap tinny sounding Thai pop music from speakers a few meters away. It was pretty neat, but us Westerners FAR outnumbered the villagers, so it felt a bit contrived. The foundation working in the village was called the Mirror Foundation, and they had set everything up on solar cell batteries which was pretty neat. In return, I think there was an arrangement that all us whiteys could come and gawk at will...oh well it was still very cool.

The PLAN for the next day was a hike to a waterfall and hot springs. In REALITY I gratefully accepted a jeep ride back to Chiang Rai with Kit and slept the rest of the day. Thankfully Laura was able to report back to me on all the adventures I missed out on, and provide pictures for my viewing pleasure. She also returned with well-wishes from the Italians, which I thought was very sweet.

Exciting stuff is happening every day at the center. Laura is working on an aquaculture project, whereby the swimming pool is slowly being converted into a Tilapia pond. This is a totally exciting advance in IHF's goal of sustainable development, and interesting for me as it brings me back to my days at the Salton Sea (Tilapia are like, the cockroaches of freshwater fish...totally indestructable). Two other volunteers, Adam and Eleanor, have been diligent about finishing a chicken coop so that we can keep chooks here at the center and harvest eggs. Atticus and Dan have been working really hard on the garden, getting it ready for planting this week. BEFORE THEY LEAVE. Everyone's leaving all at once! Of course we'll have new volunteers, but it's sorta sad to see the band break up. We've got a pretty fabulous dynamic going on right now.


The weather is really heating up; it seems like it turned overnight from fairly chilly to downright HOT. But, I don't think it's anywhere near as hot as it will be in a month or so. I keep playing with the idea of extending my trip (again) but we'll see how I hold out with the heat as I am a notorious whiner when the temp exceeds 80 F or so : )

Ahh yes and I finally have a story about dirty cops in a foreign land...Juan and I were riding scooters back from the Internet cafe one night (I'm a total 2 wheel whiz now, and it only took one minor crash) and we got stopped at a checkpoint up the road from a nearby festival. The cops REEKED of booze themselves, and wouldn't stop hassling us for our drivers licenses, which we kept telling them we didn't have on us. They had the gumption to actually start opening our backpacks and rooting around! It was completely cavalier and pissed me off to no end but I realized I probably wasn't in the position to have a full-on hissy fit in the middle of a dark road in a country where I didn't speak the language and was breaking the law. We promised them we'd return with our passports and licenses, and then sped off and never looked back. So there!

I'm trying my best to find time to get pictures up, but the days are so so so full right now. Juan is off to Bangkok tomorrow to do a television interview promoting IHF (yay!), and I've been left in charge. Watch out! I'm having quite a bit of fun getting to know the kids better though. We've embarked on getting them all checked out at the local hospital, so each week I'll be trucking a few more of them down there for a fun-filled Saturday doing things kids love like getting their blood drawn, hanging out in waiting rooms for hours, and being told they can't run, yell, or hit eachother. I'm holding on to my popularity by a thread, people.

Being immersed in an indiginous culture that is so TOTALLY different than my own is really bringing up a lot of personal moral and ethical dilemnas, which I won't get into on a public website. Needless to say, every day brings new experiences that smash all my beloved Western paradigms to pieces.

But overall, I love it. I'm trying to figure out how to move here. Yah, it's really that great!

It's Go Time

So poking around youtube, I found a cool little vignette about Carol and her work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhFpqpYED8c

Check it out and once your interest is sufficiently piqued, hit the IHF website!

http://www.ihfonline.org/

A lot of exciting stuff is happening here in Thailand. Caty and Amanda, (co-director and Director of the center, respectively) have been called off to the Kenya center. They leave Monday evening, leaving all us remaining volunteers to take their places. Juan is going to act as Director, and the rumor is that I'm co-director but I'd rather not think of it that way as the responsibility freaks me out a bit. There are many volunteers here, and many more on the way...we'll be fine!

I've extended my trip one week so that I can go to a convention in Bangkok at the end of February, and I'm playing with staying even longer. It depends how this next month goes, I guess.

I'm trying like mad to think of what to say...days have just been mixing together, it's hard to believe I've been up in Chiang Rai over a week. It's amazing how safe it is here; apparently that's a side-effect of the Buddhist influence. I got abysmally lost on bicycle a few nights ago, and not once did I ever feel weird or at risk or anything. No one locks up anything here- houses, bikes, backpacks...it's just a given that no one steals which is quite amazing given the (relatively) low standard of living.

The food is absolutely fantastic, and even our meals at the center are prepared with tons of fresh herbs and spices. Mali and Nabee, the house mummies, have apparently toned down the chilis quite a bit for us falongs (white people), but there's still a fair amount of kick. We go to the market twice a week to buy groceries for the center, and it's been a really fun and interesting experience. They eat pretty much everything here...frogs, crickets, turtles, catfish, chicken legs, snails, jellied pig blood...you name it and I'm sure it's in some Thai dish somewhere. We go to this little neighborhood market almost daily and pick up lunch for around 40 cents, and I'm trying to expand my comfort zone to try new things (but the papaya salad is tried and true and just SO GOOD).

My projects over the next month will probably shift slightly from administrative stuff to more hands-on logistical projects, so I'm trying to plow through the rest of the website editing as well as making a volunteer manual and medical & dental logs for the children. Later this week, we'll bring them all in for medical checkups and vaccinations.

Until next time,
A

Pictures, kids, and itchiness

I'm at the center in Chiang Rai, and really really loving it. The kids aren't quite as cuddly as the Pokot children, but that's okay. I think they'll warm up in time as we learn their names and such.
I've got a few pictures up and posted:

http://picasaweb.google.com/passionflower24/Thailand

When I arrived in Chiang Rai I was picked up by Juan at the bus station. It was great to see him again, and a little strange...a year later, a different continent...a lot to catch up on. I went with the director of the center, Amanda to pick up some of the children from school but many had the day off for a National Holiday (they have a National Holiday for Children. Children's Day!). Back at the center, I was shown around and met the other volunteers. There's so many of us here right now...besides Amanda and the co-director Caty, theres Juan from the UK, Eleanor from France, Adam from Australia, Dennis-Michael from the US, and Laura & Phil from Australia. The center itself is beautiful and quite modern. There's several working toilets and showers (one is even western and there's even hot water). It's very comfortable. We're located in a quiet sorta bucolic setting on the outskirts of town, there's a lot of countryside and stray dogs and such. I was stoked that it was safe enough to go on a run, and I got to see a lot of the city which is MUCH larger than I had expected-62,000 people according to Wiki!
http://wikitravel.org/en/Chiang_Rai

My first night in I was super excited to try the Thai cuisine but for dinner, Caty treated 4 of the birthday kids to KFC (as in Kentucky Fried Chicken) and a toy at the supermarket. Surprisingly, even KFC inThailand was pretty good...I got tuna salad. Still not impressed enough to purchase a KFC handbag or anything (I saw one for sale at the market-unbeleivable!).

Saturday was actually Children's Day, and tons of festivities were taking place. We took the children down to Chiang Rai beach where there was a celebration complete with games, food, and music. The kids made out like bandits with tons of free food and I tried my favorite dish thus far-papaya salad. It's made with unripe papaya strips, chilis, dried shrimp, roasted peanuts, and lime juice & vinegar. It's sublime.

Sunday was super-relaxed. There were a few house meetings where we were introduced to the kids via a translator. The children are all from the hilltribes of Northern Thailand, mostly Lahu and Akha. They speak their tribal language mostly, and Amanda and Caty have just gotten a teacher to give them Thai lessons daily after they come home from school. These groups endure a lot of prejeduce and discrimination from Thai's, and aren't even treated as full citizens. They aren't even given passports, so they can never leave their tribal province. Carol (founder of International Humanity Foundation) established this center as a preventative measure against human trafficking and sexual slavery; the fate of many unwanted hilltribe children. Once again, I feel quite affirmed that IHF is truly doing work with the most marginalized and poverty-stricken populations. Here's links to more info:
http://www.thaifreedomhouse.org/hill_tribes.php
http://www.hrsolidarity.net/mainfile.php/2004vol14no06/2384/

The task I've been given is comprehensive review and edit of the website text. Not very romantic, I know, but I'm actually very happy that I can be doing something useful that utilizes my skills. Other projects are ongoing painting and cleaning at the center, and various miscellaneous administrative tasks involving sponsorship and fundraising. I know it sounds weird to travel halfway around the world just to sit at a computer much of the day, but it's some of the most important and neccesary work to be done.

As for me, I'm doing great despite being covered in mosquito bites (well not covered but they're especially itchy. Especially the ones on the bottom of my feet and forehead.) The food is awesome and cheap and plentiful, I'm in good company, and it's not humid. I have absolutely no complaints...life is extremely extremely good :)

Far East and Loving It

Here I am in Chiang Mai, Thailand...pecking away at an internet cafe halfway around the world. I wish I had pics to upload for y'all but I am still in wary-tourist mode and self-concious about it. They'll come, I promise.

My trip to Bangkok was smooth and uneventful, aside from some jet-lagged-induced resentment at the DAMN RUSSIANS that were drunk and loud and pushy in Seoul. Room for spiritual growth on my part I suppose : ). I got to my hotel around 2 am, and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the room for how cheap it was:
http://www.thongtaresort.com/

The next morning, I took a cab into central Bangkok and dropped my stuff off at the main train station. The information desk lady TOTALLY tourist-trapped me into buying a ticket for the overnight bus to Chiang Mai, versus the train. And she was soooooo polite when she explained that I would be more comfortable since I wasn't Asian (pantomiming big thighs at the same time). Anyways, I decided not to fret since she guaranteed me I'd have a great night's rest. I rationalized that the cost was worth it (about 30$ US) and it wasn't going to be the "QueasyCoach" experience I had from Nakuru to Bungoma in Kenya. NO bus ride on the planet could equal that one.

I took the Bangkok metro subway to a neighborhood called Sukumvit and attended a great meeting there. Everything is so clean and orderly and easy here! I met some great people (fellow travellers mostly), had a good lunch and did some shopping before I headed to another meeting in another area.

I spoke at length with a journalist about the political situation, and surprise surprise we weren't getting the whole picture from MSM. The group that caused all the problems at the airport and such weren't rallying for the little guys at all (even though they claimed to be a people's party); there's all sorts of complicated political alliances class elitism going on. But the bottom line is that everyone has been sated for the moment and the country is safe for the time being.

SOOO the bus. The first sign that my serenity was compromised: 1) Not a window seat but a MIRROR seat. Who wants to spend 9 hours looking at oneself while you're passing through an exotic and interesting countryside?? But it gets better...
2) The bus was full of.....RUSSIANS
3) Cockroaches were swarming in the tray table
4) My OCD plans to change into my pj's in the "toilet" and brush my teeth were foiled AND THIS WAS THE LAST STRAW-
5) Apparently there was not enough room for luggage underneath so it was all piled in the isle. My brain was swirling with fiery death scenes and being trapped in a bus dying. With Russians.

Okay enough negative Nancying...they pulled into another bus station and re-arranged the luggage. I got out and brushed my teeth and changed in the worlds funkiest outhouse, so I was a bit more calm. I decided I needed a real attitude change and got one when I pulled my meditation card for the night out...and the character defect of the day is: "I COME FIRST". Oh shit.

I actually calmed down and got a good nights' rest after all. About 6 this morning we pulled into Chiang Mai and I went on a pretty long walk that was really uninteresting (cuz I mostly stuck to highways and main roads not to get lost). Now I'm onto another bus for 3 hours to Chiang Rai and I'm VERY VERY excited to reunite with Juan who has been at the center for a few weeks now.

Ciao!

Back on land and Eastward ho

Alas, the drift gillnet season has come to an end for me this year. Some boats may still fish after the holiday, but the market price is terrible. Luckily for me, I wrapped up on a wonderful boat with a great captain (who rescued birds and blow-dried them so they could safely fly away) and crew (who I played Scrabble with ad naseum). To celebrate, I made swordfish cheesecake (sans fish extract of any type):

FYI, this isn't the final version...a major edit was required prior to me bringing it out. I didn't feel like a successful "observer" when I realized I had put 2 dorsal fins on a fish that only has one. There's an astute biologist for ya. Anyhow, I corrected it in time and saved face with the guys. Oh and I also must qualify, this cheesecake came out of the box and no baking was required...I don't do Betty Crocker on the high seas : )

The last week on the boat was amazing. The weather was great, and it was such a blessing to admire the historically full (http://living.oneindia.in/insync/2008/brightest-full-moon-2008-121208.html) moon out on the quiet and serene waters. I didn't know it at the time but I couldn't help but think I was witnessing something spectacular and awesome and beautiful. I just thought I hadn't been taking the time to notice before.

Along with the beautiful silver light, the full moon brings all sorts of interesting beasties up and out in the ocean. During our last haul, I saw worms and some other sort of "thingy" swarming in the water that was clear and leaf-shaped with a big pink dot at one end. By the time I had a bucket together to try and capture some, the sun had started to rise : ( This brought me back to my research days at the Salton Sea, when I would drive out on full moon nights to capture swarming nerieid worms to take back to the lab at school. Good times.

Yah, I DO think they're kinda cute

Thanksgiving came and went and I had a lovely time connecting with my extended family in Claremont, CA. Almost everyone flew out from Texas which was pretty neat. Hopefully the family doesn't mind being blogged on:

I especially had a good time connecting with my grandparents. And look how cute we all are:

Travel plans to Thailand are still on. I leave January 6th after a whirlwind tour of the parent's homes in AZ and TX (this is a surprise for my grandma so anyone reading...hush hush!). Juan, who I met in Kenya last year has already arrived and says the political situation is totally calmed down. I'll reunite with him and Laura at the IHF center in Chiang Rai, Thailand:

http://www.ihfonline.org/locations/thailand.php

It sounds like I'll have fairly regular internet access, so I'll try to keep the blog updated as much as I can. Love to all!

"Swordfish like Obama"

I'm back observing...this time it's in sunny Southern California, which is a real perk. The down side is that this fishery is a lot smaller and confidentiality is an issue so I had to sign a waiver stating I wouldn't bring a personal camera on-board with me. I may be able to finagle (?) this a little later on, but so far I don't have recent pictures. Hopefully my illustrious narratives will suffice : )

I have been on 2 boats so far, each of which were quite nice. I'm working on drift gillnetters targeting swordfish. Each evening, they put a huge vertical mesh net in the water thats over a mile long. Early in the morning, the net is retrieved and the fish are pulled on board. In addition to swordfish, we catch blue, mako, and thresher sharks, ocean sunfish, albacore, and occasionally (and definately not intentionally) marine mammals. My last trip consisted of 9 fishing days and there was one dolphin in the net. My duties required me to dissect it and collect certain specimens for the scientists at the National Marine Fisheries Service Science Center in La Jolla-goodies like the adrenal glands, gonads, the stomach, a biopsy/blubber sample, and the entire head. It wasn't as difficult as I feared it might be; we had good weather that day which really helped of course. Although it is rather strange to root around in the guts of an animal that's still warm (you don't get this experience with fish)...

Speaking of being elbow-deep in blood and guts, I've decided that I'm ready to tackle the idea of learning to hunt and fish (this is coming from a gal that a year ago was vegan). The deckhand of the last boat and I fished for squid at night which was a lot of fun and gave me a real sense of sufficency in a weird way. I wonder if this is what outdoorsman get so worked up about. It felt good to know I could accquire my own food, and take responsibility for purposefully ending another creature's life. Now the calamari steaks are in the freezer, and I'm just waiting for my roomie Laurie to whip up a fabulous dish with it!

As I just alluded to, I have yet again moved out of my ex-boyfriend/business partner/co-dependant lifemate/best buddy Johnnie's house in Huntington Beach. I'm living with my good friend Laurie at her home in Long Beach, along with a gal named Nuala (a standard poodle). I love Long Beach, which is far more cosmopolitan and sophisticated than Orange County, and Laurie has a wonderful beautiful home that is full of love and peace. So far, SO good!

My next big plans are for a trip to the Thailand IHF center in January. I've already got the ticket, but haven't firmed up the itenerary. I'll definately keep you all posted.

Much love, and hopefully more soon!

"Home" safe & sound

I'm wrapping up my requisite "acclimation" week on the couch in my pj's as I adjust to my terribly hard Southern California lifestyle. I arrived home Monday evening, and have watched more television since then that I have in the entire year.

I have a lot to ponder as I resume my normal routines. At Costco yesterday I wandered by the fresh (?) seafood display...halibut at $7.99/lb! Unreal! Cheaper than right off the boat! Who are these people??? The scallops looked sad and slimy and discolored. I couldn't help but wonder where they came from and how long they traveled to get to our tables.

Today I finally succumbed to a semi-normal level of self-grooming and got my first manicure and pedicure in 3 months. Heavenly. It's nice to be rough and ready and tough and all, but what girl doesn't like pretty hands and feet? Besides, I've got a busy couple weeks of pool parties and beach time.

Me, hard at work

My last week on the boat was excellent, although unfortunately for the guys, a big storm came up and the fishing got pretty bad. We anchored up in a bay, where I took this adorable picture of them all working on the dredge:

We stayed there overnight because the weather forcast predicted winds of 70 mph. Not so nice. It was pretty nasty, but more than anything just sorta boring. We did a lot of sleeping, and I eventually got a game of Scrabble out of Malcolm and Jeff (I lost miserably). It was a full moon, and I remembered the last harvest moon that Tom pointed out on the boat exactly a month before. As we pulled out of the bay 24 hours later, there was some brief discussion over the radio as to whether we should trade some scallops for salmon with a small seiner boat a few hundred yards away. I thought that was pretty cool; trading on the high seas just like the old days.

I ended up seeing the neatest thing on my last haul. What is it? Well I don't really know. Some sort of nudibranch which are the coolest little guys. I was just thrilled.

Jeff sorts the world's crappiest haul

I put a few more pictures up on the website, and also some short videos. They're pretty basic, just me saying the same thing over and over ("It's my last day on the Kilkenny. *sigh*") and showing you my little reading nook in the fos'c'le as well as my knee, boot, book, etc. I admit, I'm not the most exciting filmmaker.

I've been accepted as an observer for the California/Oregon drift gillnet fishery targeting swordfish. The training starts on the 22nd, and I'll be based out of Long Beach. There's more shoreside work required of me, but I will be on boats out of local ports ranging from San Diego to Northern Cal. I think it will be cool to live close to home where I can hopefully pick up some contract work so that I can start saving up for Thailand! God willing, I want to try and spend Christmas there with the kids and have a reunion with my good friends Juan and Laura that I met in Kenya. We'll see...

Gonna be famous!

Malcolm took this picture of Jim holding an absolutely humongous scallop:

I thought it was a great shot, so I sent it off to National Fishermen (http://www.nationalfisherman.com/index.asp) and asked them if they would use it for their monthly "Crew Shot" feature. I also asked if they'd be interested in a short article about Alaskan scallopers and they said yes! Anyone out there who would be willing to help me edit a preliminary draft is my hero-email me!!!! I'm freakin out man!

Running out of titles but still loving life on the Kilkenny

I'm staying on the boat this time instead of schlepping all my stuff back and forth to the hostel...I'm really missing the highspeed right about now...Check out the usual link for even more fantastic pictures, it takes TOO DAMN LONG to upload them here but scroll down and check out the ones I was able to put in. They're pretty cute.

Contrary to my entry below (I didn't want to change content to protect my journalistic integrity ha), it looks like I get one more trip on the Kilkenny. Fishing this last trip was good enough to do it all over again; hopefully we'll get the same lovely weather but the forecast looks more like typical Gulf of Alaska winds and seas. Oh well. I'm just glad I get some more time in with this crew, all of whom I'm really growing to like. And just really enjoying my time reading, curled up on the bow of the boat in the sunshine. I finished the Kite Runner this week, BLECH not what I expected but still an ok read I guess (I'm right at the beginning here which is wht I look happy).

Random notes I made:
-I don't really like to eat scallops, which is ironic cuz they look exactly like my favorite food of all time, giagantic marshmallows.
-There was the most aesthetically pleasing balance of cotton-candy colors during the sunset the other night. The blue and pink/purple crests on the waves matched in perfect proportion the colors in the sky. Of course, I SHOULD have taken a picture to show you what I'm talking about...
-Caught the CUTEST durn snailfish in a tow. Should have taken a picture.
-I went to a really cool little film festival in Homer right before I left last trip. A short (or series of them, rather) definately worth checking out:
http://thepatternstrilogy.com/


8/6/08
As we near the end of what may be our final trip, I feel like I haven't documented all the extraordinary experiences I've had here on the Kilkenny. Nearly every tow has brought up an new and wonderful creature for me to ooh and ahh over...

"OOOH"

"AHHH"

Today we got a very large octopus on deck...I poked at him for a bit before tossing him back in the sea. It was cool to hear his suckers attach and reattach to the deck as he squirmed his way around.
The sheer magnitude of our catch overwhelms me when I stop to think about it...the amount of biomass out there in the ocean continually reminds me of what a big big world this is, and that I am only a small part. It helps me to alleviate fear I have about issues of LACK, that there won't be ENOUGH...enough gas, enough food, enough time...God's world is huge and there is plenty for all. The ocean is a constant reminder of abundance.
Today started off rather gloomy, and I didn't want much to do with observing at all. It was super hard for me to drag myself away from the bench in the galley where I had glued my feet to the stove (our only source of heat). After being on deck for a few minutes however, the SUN came out and life was good again. I really took for granted all the nice weather on our first few trips. All day yesterday was dreary and cold with a slight drizzle. Today was a definate improvement, but still damp as we were encased in fog all day. It was an interesting sensation, to have the sun shining on my face but besurrounded in mist...very ethereal. There was hardly any visibility because of the fog, so it felt like we were on a ghost ship, with nothing but the searoiling around us, the only thing in the universe. So romantic!
I'm reading an EXCELLENT book about fishing in Alaska, highly recommended for anyone who wants a taste of what it's like. It's a novel, but the fictionalchapters are interspersed with factual essays about various aspects of Alaskan history and fishing information. It's really well written. It's called "Highliners" and it's by William B. McCloskey, Jr:
http://www.amazon.com/Highliners-Classic-Commercial-Fishermen-Alaska/dp/1585740284/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218421033&sr=1-1
I hear there's a sequel which I'm very excited to find. I also read a book on the boat called "Trawler" by a Scottish dude named Redmond O'Hanlon which was a funny if not somewhat exaggerated (and very British) read about life on a commmercial fishing vessel: http://www.amazon.com/Trawler-Redmond-OHanlon/dp/1400042755
This wholeworld is just so fascinating. I also got a book at the Homer bookstore about women who commercially fish in Alaska. Unbelievable! I am just so curiousand awestruck by people who live this lifestyle. It truly has to be the most difficult, exciting, dangerous, thrilling, satisfying, dirty, uncomfortable,amazing way to make a living. I am absolutely in love with life and feel so so blessed to be experiencing this with my eyes open.
My typical day is to wake up about 7 or 8 (I get to set my own schedule with this sampling protocol-NICE) and eat some oatmeal while I finish up mypaperwork from the day before. The crew bounds out of bed around 4 or 5 to start working-on empty stomachs. They are so tough. Not I. I sample my first haul around 9, and then come in and have a hot breakfast with everyone at 10. I have to sample a total of 5 hauls per day, and the boat does on average about 10; one every 1.5 hours or so. Now that I have the routine down, it seems extremely easy and I often have a lot of time in between sets toread or stare at the sea. I love all the solitude and time I have to just think and talk to myself; I've yet to had a day where I've been truly lonely.The district we're fishing in now has a sandy bottom, so there's no mud to deal with which is a really nice improvement and makes for a lot less clean-uptime. As far as the actual sampling, it's really basic. I wait until the crew has sorted through the pile of scallops that the dredge has brought up,and then collect the leftover scallops. Here's some shots Malcolm took of me hard at work:These are then sorted into broken and unbroken baskets, weighed, counted, and measured. I also collect any crab bycatch and measure, sex, and age them as well. Once per day I do a haul composition where I weigh everything that comes up on deck. I talked to Fish & Game about counting starfish though since there can be up to 600 lbs/haul and I was breaking my ass trying to weigh them all. Yikes. This haul compis a lot of work, but also really neat, almost every one has been different. The diversity of animals here is just staggering. And hardly any dead fish,yay! I take a lunch break around 3, and try to get a jump on paperwork. We eat dinner around 9, and I clean up the dishes and the galley before my showerless cleanup routine (which involves baby wipes and cornstarch in my hair). I usually go to bed at 10 or 11. I'm so spoiled; the crew doesn't make it in until at least midnight, a lot of times later. They try and get 4 hours of sleep at night, and then go down for 2 hour naps during the day. These guys really are heads and tails above the rest, really truly genuinely nice men. All of them are married and totally respectful and cool and interesting.There are only 3 deckhands, the captain, and myself this trip, so it's a nice tight little team. I'm off to finish up my book and hit the hay.

Vacation!

After a fairly successful week scalloping, the guys have decided that they wanted to spend some time with their families. So I've got 3 days in Homer with absolutely no agenda!

I put a few more pictures up on the same link above. Note this especially cute one Captain Malcolm took of me and my Chionecterian friend:

There are a bunch of pics of our deckhand Ryan who left to go back to Maine last night. I decided to be the designated picture-taker (I AM my mother's daughter...) and document his summer experience for him.

So this was the record for no bathing...9 days! It wasn't THAT bad since we moved out of the district with all the mud but by the end of the trip I was starting to get a bit itchy. Literally. And my craving for attention and affection was this time directed at the crabs...yes I know they don't LOOK cuddly or cute but they sort of have the same reaction a dog does when you blow in it's nose so that's kind of fun.
On this trip I saw whales nearly every day, but of course I thought that would be a boring picture so I didn't take any. One morning, Nick (a member of the crew) told me to come out on deck and see the Pacific Dolphins frolicking around the boat. It was a HUGE pod, must have been 30-50 of them in the water. Those of you who know me well know that I generally snub my nose at elitist animals such as marine mammals but even grumpy old me was moved by the sheer number of these guys. They were just laughing and playing all over the place, it reminded me of looking at a schoolyard at recess.

I still love the boat and the crew more than ever and am a bit sad that this will be our last trip most likely. After that, I might try and do a short contract on Kodiak island before heading back down to sunny southern CA, where I think I've got another observing job in the swordfish gill-seine fishery that starts at the end of September. Hopefully since that's closer to home I can pick up some more contract work and start saving money like mad. I am bound and determined to make it to Thailand (SOMEHOW, by jove!) to meet up with my friends Laura and Juan and see another IHF center. Part of me just wants to buy lottery tickets but I know there's a plan for me somewhere if it's meant to be.

Scallop queen (and so modest!)

I've got some down-time in Kodiak so here's some pics I was able to post:

http://picasaweb.google.com/passionflower24/Kilkenny

Fishing has been great. The first week we started out in an area closer to Homer called the Shelikof strait. That Sunday, we came back and sold scallops directly to the public off the boat. It was so cool; very grass-roots and authentic and neat to witness a resource being harvested, processed, and then sold direct to the consumer. There's something very fulfilling about seeing the process.
The Shelikof area closed due to crab bycatch (based on numbers I and other observers were collecting) so we had to move further out this last week, closer to Kodiak. Selling scallops here hasn't been quite as successful, but it was really nice to get a break and a shower and visit with other observers at the bunkhouse. We're headed out tonight to fish and will be back in Homer next weekend.
Au revior!

Homer-bound

Well, tomorrow is the day I head off to Homer, AK. I'll spend a couple nights at a local hostel http://www.homerhostel.com/ before boarding my boat on Sunday and heading off to the Shelikof strait to dredge for scallops. Wahoo!

Yesterday I spent all day at the Alaska Native Heritage Center, which was really really cool:

http://www.alaskanative.net/

I first showed up and caught some of the young people demonstrating traditional native games. They were non-team strength based exercises. Here, they're trying to kick a target with one foot while holding their other foot. It was pretty amazing.

Me by a Tlingit totem pole

A scaled-down Tlingit lodge house

As usual, I had a grand old time at the museum. I could spend another day there as I didn't get a chance to see everything.

I made it! Again! But no cute pic of me with a certificate this time....

After a long and harrowing week of being tossed around by my employer I'm right back where I started. On the Kilkenny, out of Homer, starting fishing on the 6th. Whew!
The test went well, so now I just have to prove my skills as a Shellfish Observer to Alaska Department of Fish & Game so that I can get fully certified. They require a couple trips before granting full certification (which also comes with a nifty patch) which means that technically I'm still a trainee. I'm hoping I'll get enough experience over the summer to earn this so that I don't have to do the training course again.
I'm trying to decide how best to spend my remaining time in Anchorage over the coming week. It's cooled down, but still beautiful hiking weather. The problem is just getting around...rental cars in tourist season are hard to come by and really pricey. July 4th is supposed to be really fun in Homer, so hopefully I can find accomodations down there for a few days before my trip.
Life is good, I'm having a great time networking with other observers and friends I've made in Anchorage.
This job is so cool. Here's what "training" consists of:

Hiking in Girdwood, AK

Saturday, a few fellow observers and I headed out for the town of Girdwood, which is about 30 miles south of Anchorage to do some hiking. Girdwood is known for being an interesting mix between ski snobbery and funky old hippies...this is where the world-class ski resort Alyeska is located. Look, there's actually pictures of me! As you can see, it's gorgeous. I didn't take pictures of all the greenery, but it was like being in Jurassic park. In fact, we gathered the tender shoots of ferns (called "fiddleheads") with grandiose plans to fry them up for dinner. Instead, we opted for pizza and beer at the local pub : )

Fellow hikers and observers Laura, Andy, and Natura

Me and Laura get in the hand-tram

Away we go!

Back we come!

Today was the first day of training and while the material was interesting as usual, I'm a bit nervous about what I've gotten myself into this time. I saw actual pictures of the boat I'll be on. IT'S MINIATURE. The bunks are around the table! There's only one room that quadruples as a stateroom, galley, kitchen, and washroom (no toilet, just sink)! No faucets, just HAND PUMPS. Aaah! I've emailed another observer to ask her more about her experience on the Kilkenny because she really had positive things to say. I hope I can have as good of an attitude as last time.

I also went and saw a very moving documentary this evening called "At the Death House Door". http://www.ifc.com/atthedeathhousedoor. I found out about it at the Quaker meeting on Sunday-it was hosted by the group Alaskans Against the Death Penalty. I'd recommend it to anyone but it's definately not a "feel-gooder".

Back in the land of the midnight sun

After a short 6 week respite in sunny Southern California, I'm back up in Anchorage to train for another stint as an observer. Leaving home was harder this time, but now that I'm here I'm getting pretty excited. There's a great group of prior observers in the apartment and I'm having a lot of fun catching up on everyone's war stories. It's also cool to see the Anchorage that was hiding under the thick layer of snow and ice that I remember from February. The weather is beautiful, and I went on a hike at 10 pm yesterday which was fabulous! So far my sleeping hasn't been affected by the light, but it's certainly harder to make myself go to bed with so much fun stuff to do and broad daylight to enjoy it in.

Most of you know that this time I'll be working in the scallop fishery, which is managed by Alaska Department of Fish and Game. I start training on Monday here in Anchorage, and will probably leave for Homer, AK around the 30th so I can catch the start of the season on July 1st. That's if I pass my certification class of course : ). I'll be working on a smallish wooden boat called the Kilkenny, and it sounds like I'll have at least one day a week on land. From what I hear scallop observing is a lot harder than groundfish for a few different reasons. The scallops are collected by dredging the bottom, and a lot of teeny tiny invertebrates come up with the catch. It's my job to sort and ID these little guys, which can be pretty time consuming. But I'm very excited since all of my prior research and schooling has been with marine invertebrates. I personally think they are much cuter than fish or whales, both of which get way too much credit.
The other reason it's supposed to be harder is the physical aspect of the job. The sampling protocol is a bit more vigorous, and baskets are heavier. I'm looking forward to being superbuff by the time my contract is up.

I plan on doing A LOT more hiking, so I'll make sure to take pictures of the amazing views. No other big plans as of yet...I'm thinking of heading up to Fairbanks next weekend to float the Chena river. Yah it gets hot enough to get in the water!

The Endeavor is en route to Dutch Harbor to start fishing for Greenland Turbot. I talked to my buddy Marq on Wednesday and man am I gonna miss those guys. I know I'll keep meeting wonderful people wherever I go, but I still have such a hard time saying goodbye and moving on. And thinking that a new observer will come along and steal their hearts and they'll forget all about me...OHHH snap, the truth comes out!

And VERY exciting news from Kenya today. The children competed in a music festival and won in 2 categories, "sacred" and "folk". This is an amazing achievement. They have now qualified to move on to the next level of competition to be held in Kericho. If this speaks to anyone's heart, Carol and IHF is trying to raise money to get them new costumes and also get a recording of them up on the web. I'll keep you posted, it's so worth it, these kids can sing! I'm getting goosebumps remembering their voices.

Love to all,
Angela