Pictures-- worth a thousand words.

On Wednesday, everyone took a break from our conferences. Our Alakanuk teachers hopped into the big white Dodge van on a trip to the DMV to get ID cards. We ended up lacking sufficient necessary documentation, so we went on to Costco to make the best out of our trip. I decided I had enough food to last me a lifetime (or more likely a couple months). For some reason, I was being very frugal and literally had 1/8 of a cart full until I realized how crazy I was being. Food for the year is not going to come from 1/8th of a cart at Wal-mart! Finally I started going around grabbing things like tomatoes and mushrooms and pineapples and pasta and rice... things I'd eat for at least a few months. When we were done, the Alakanuk group and I went back to the hotel for lunch.

After lunch, I was more than ready to escape the confining walls of the hotel and/or shopping centers. So, instead of taking a nap I've been needing for weeks, I had the opportunity to go hiking with some of the staff of the district! Please enjoy pictures. I've got plenty of new things to share about my training, my fellow staff, and my experiences so far in Anchorage, but that will have to wait until I have more down time- AKA the village (at the rate I'm going)!











One interesting tidbit of information is the price of Moose tags. If I wanted to go out and shoot a moose this year, it'd be $5000. That is word on the streets (or Hilton hallways). I spotted this moose on our way back down from Flat Top. She didn't have a baby with her, but I got this picture through the lens of binoculars.
I'll hold off on the hunting, since I didn't grow up with any hunters in the family. (Sorry, Dad. I know you're excited to come up to hunt and fish and I'm sure you're very good at it. We just didn't ever do it while I was growing up!) I'll stick to shooting moose with my camera. Once I get residency, I'll be able to buy a fishing license for $24!
More training tomorrow. I want to sleep in this weekend, but how many times am I in a place like Anchorage? I'll probably go to the DMV, shopping for gear still, and hopefully some tourist attractions!