Thursday, July 19, 2012

Whew where to start?

Ive been very busy with work which hasnt really allowed me to update this as much as Id like but hey Im making money so I cant complain right? Right. Well lately I have been hanging out with a friend/coworker named Eileen, and we have been trying to do things on our day off to get to know more of Anchorage and Alaska. We drove out to Girdwood to see the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center which was really exciting, they have animals like, Brown bears, black bears, caribou, elk, moose, owls, bald eagles, baby orphaned mooses, lynx, buffalo, and musk ox. It was a lot of fun and probably would have been even better if we were not freezing in the cold wind and the rain. That is one thing I have gotten used to is that the weather around here changes so fast. Before we left the weather was chill but somewhat sunny and overcast off and on but driving out to Girdwood it started to get more and more cold and rainy and windy...needless to say we were unprepared, but we had fun none the less. We also decided to go see Portage Glacier since we were so close. Here are some photos of both








 


We have also gone to a place called Bear Tooth Theater that is also a pub and grill, you go and get ticketsfor the movie they are showing at either 5:30 or 7:40 because different movies play at each time since there is only one screen. So you kind of have to plan a head for what movie is playing what day and what time you want to go then once you get your tickets you can order something to eat and drink and they give you a cone. When they let you into the theater you place your cone on a bench table in front of you and about 5 minutes before the movie arrives they bring you the food, and you can eat dinner and watch the movie. Its super awesome! there is a upstairs balcony area which I prefer and the normal downstairs area where you can reserve booths for a group if you are planning on drinking beer, all alcohol has to stay on the lower level for obvious reasons. But it is sooo much fun and I wish they had more places like this in other areas. There is also a normal restaurant area where you can just go for dinner because the food they have is amazingly delicious!

Well thats it for now, I'll try to update soon!

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Highland Games


                Yesterday I went to the Alaska Scottish Highland Games and it was SO MUCH FUN!! I went with my friend Nazario, and coworker friend Karyn and her husband Alec who is native Eskimo. Before the games when we were having breakfast he was telling us all about living in a small part of Alaska and how he comes from a town where they live off of the land and whale hunt. I know what you might be thinking oh whale hunting is so horrible and yes those vicious whaling boats are awful. But for the natives of Alaska that is how they survive, they use every part of the whale and other animals that they hunt nothing goes to waste and everything is respected.
                For the people who live in the small rural parts of Alaska they don’t have groceries stores everything is flown in and one onion can cost about $8 just because its been shipped in on seaplanes. So trust me when I saw nothing goes to waste and Alec told us a lot of great stories, even one about someone he knew I think it was a cousin who had hunted a whale and as he was going to kill it he fell off the boat into the water (waters up here are so cold that you can die within minutes of being exposed if you are not wearing a survival suit) when he fell into the water the whale pushed him up back into the boat with his nose. Talk about amazing…how could you have nothing but respect and admiration for an animal that not only feeds you and your entire village, but saves your life even though it knows you are going to hunt it for food. Amazing if you ask me.  So anyway after breakfast Alec took us to their place where he had some Muktuk in the freezer for us to try if we wanted. Muktuk is the Eskimo word for whale blubber, which they eat. Of course I was a little leery of trying it but what the heck when was I going to get another chance to eat whale blubber!? So he took some out and sliced it up and what you do is sprinkle a little salt on it and then chew it. I have to admit it was very interesting, chewy a bit oily but not gross it was pretty good. I also tried a piece of cooked whale meat which was salty and fishy tasting I didn’t really like that very much. But it was an interesting experience and it was nice of Alec to share that with us.  Here is a photo of the Muktuk this part was a piece of flipper which Alec said are more chewy than the rest of the blubber parts which are more tender when cooked and eaten.

                Then we were off to the Highland Games! It was in this place called Eagle River which is a cute little town tucked away among beautiful mountains. The weather was perfect it was sunny with some clouds but mostly sunny as evident by the sunburn I got even though I thought I was being careful and put on sunscreen. There were lots of men in kilts and I do have to admit if I saw a guy wearing a kilt I might think it was a little odd, but at the highland games its highly attractive haha they really wear them well.



Here are some photos from the games:

All in all it was a great day I had fun going with my friend/coworker Karyn and her husband Alec.