Kenai Peninsula

alaskas best kept secret

unfortunately, I ride the bus to and from work. The wait is very long, but the ride is short. Friday after work there was the funniest conversation going on.
Bus driver: How was your vacation john smith?
js: It was good, I'm going to Michigan on July 2.
BD: How warm does it get down there?
(omgoodness it's the first time i heard someone refer to michigan in a southern location!)
Random lady sitting: I used to live in Minnesota, its cold down there.
( ah yeah)
rls: Alaska is warmer than Minnesota, can you believe it was -60 degrees one time?
(really)
rls: Yeah we moved up home to alaska to warm up.
FROM the horses mouth-Alaska is warmer than MN. I believe it.

At work my coworker she's trying to convince me to stay and go to grad school here. I am skeptical, the sunless winter would be hard for me I think. Also, I'm so far from my people in the south. Anyway she said,"listen the best kept alaska secret is that the winters arent cold. really we just tell everyone that so they dont move up here, we like our space."

As they days go by, the beauty of Alaska starts to spread. The mountains are now patched with green. Imagine a cloudy day, a mountain filled horizon, the sun creeps through clouds shedding spotlight and patches of green that cover the mountains. I love the air, it has a taste, a smell. A sugary, nectar smell. The wild flowers add character and awe to the open lots of downtown. Watching you behind the bushes are our neighbors the bear or moose, be certain of it.

i have alot more to say about marshall. the kids were amazing. there where alot of little kids running around. they were all so curious about us. our dbe owner had told us that everyone in the village knew we were coming, although, he had told no one. the adults were all just as curious but not as open about it as the kids. our dbe owner had this 5 year old girl, carla and i called her little sailor. she was this strong girl and ultra tomboy. i first met her in the dbe backyard she was taking off the tires of her cousins bike for no apparent reason. her dad is so allowing. she would jump off big pieces of wood and wrestle the little dog. this dog followed her everywhere. its name is flower. carla and i walked along the main road with sailor to this abandoned house. sailor said all the kids said it was haunted, but we went to the back of the house and sat on this pipe overlooking the river. it was an amazing view. sailor walked along the ridge and picked plants for us. we were going down the road again and all these little kids gathered around asking our names and where we were from. i asked these boys where they wanted to live when they grew up and they told me marshall. they said they wanted to be hunters. i really dont know how long villages in marshall can survive.
kaitlyn was a little angle that asked me hundreds of questions about my life in the outside. she is 10 and her family is thinking of moving to fairbanks. this girl really changed my life. her questions revealed to me the simplicity and complexity we live in. she took me to the co-op and showed me around. i remember she asked me first how old i was. then if i was married and then if i was happy. omgoodness. have you ever asked yourself that question-maybe but has anyone ever asked you that question. i was shocked. i didnt know what to say. what a thought-am i happy-so simple yet i couldnt answer. i understood the dynamics of happiness now. i understood she thought about her happiness, i should think of mine. my friends have thier happiness. and some have it, and some dont. what would make me happy ithought. i have income, i eat, im in a family. this question detached me from everything and brought me back to myself. now everything around me is connected to me. not me connected to everything. this ephinay happened in seconds. we do everything for some sort of gain. what are your motives. what type of gains do you pursue. and now this question becomes a check and balance procedure on me. combine your intentions with your actions or with your results. do they calculate into happiness.

long time no see....

I cant believe it! I have been really busy, extremely actually. Hence my lack of entries. Ok everyday at DOT is crazy! I'll get up in the morning and have no idea what will happen in the office. Seriously its chaos-and i love it. We meet alot outside the going on DBE outreach meetings. the style we use is really strong and connecting face to face with 'clients.' most dbe owners listen to our speil about support services and we listen to their concerns. I handle the pr marketing aspect of support services. that could mean creating a logo, brochure, name/slogan, scheme, marketing strategy etc etc. its great. at the same time im the acting editor of the office newsletter. basically interviewing alot of people, and creating a template for the newsletter. tehn i have alot of other 'little' projects.
one such 'little' thing is certifying or renewing dbe status. this requires us to make an office visit. one dbe we have is located in a small village along the yukon river on the western side of alaska.
ok i want out tuesday with carla to visit the dbe. such a life changing experience. ive been to poor places. from super rural towns in minne to carolina. In egypt i saw too much everywhere. but nothing could prepare me for this kind of poor. the sad thing was these people have lived here longer than the age of our country and here they are in this isolated village scraping in all ways.
i left the hotel at 5 am and set out to the airport. i had no idea what to pack for our day trip. at work we were told the high on monday was 38 so pack warm for ccold rain. i didnt bring my winter jacket so my boss at work passed along his coat and wool sweater. yeah awkward-but nice. i wore my boots, jeans and sweater. i packed a fleece vest, sneaker (in case we walked alot), jacket and sweater. i took my laptop intending to do some work from the office. i just made it to the plane after security. we rode alaska air. the airline is so laid back and the staff are really open minded. the airport was filled with rubbermaid boxes and igloo coolers. and dogs. i swear it must have had more dogs than the paris airport. and not those big hunting dogs, no those little catlike dogs-what are they called lap dogs. everyone carries these huge boxes and bins filled with food. they are all going out into the "bush". yeah thats what they call rural alaska. they buy bush buying at sams or costco because even in marshall village, their is a co-op and connex box store but the food prices are outrageous. i bought no 3 candy bars and 2 of those little capri sun juice and it was over 6 dollars. really and one can of can of soda is 1.50 yeah 12 oz. you can get 2 liters for under 2. anyway really im not cheap but i am unwilling to pay for something that isnt fairly priced. naturally this is hard for me to say for this case because i know that the trip up to marshall is super expensive and therefore everything is expense. anyway. ok
i know everytime i write i write an essay but this time its really important.
after the airport we rode on a half cargo half people places. it was fine. then we arrived in a 'bigger' town Bethel. we went next door from the main airport-it was tiny really tiny. to the even smaller local airport. this airport reminds me of a train station. a sticker spotted counter with old candy machines and really old soda machine. it was funny becuase to check in we just gave our name and then they asked us how much we weighed. yeah. there was this really old native lady in front of us, and she didnt know her weight so they had her stand on the bag weigh place. walking out omgoodness the plane was this little 4 seater. i was like ahhh what -im not ok with this. wear is the leather seats and tvs! it was freaky. we landed an hour later after taking in amazing sights at the marshall airport. it was a gravel runway. the end.

misc.

Serious amount of work. And its great! I've got a great job! Ok, so here is a quick overview of the things I do in the civil rights office. First of all i travel alot, so far just around anchorage. I visit DBE's which are disadvantaged businesses. DBE is a program set up by the feds and implemented by the municipality. Basically, small businesses -any small business can apply for DBE status as long as the owner is a minority or a women owned. What happens is when the fed gov has a project like to build a highway, they have prime contractors contracted for the job. Since its fed money they require primes to contract parts of the job they cant do like landscaping to DBE. Its great because we have DBEs who graduate from DBE status well on their feet. Another thing thats great is that there is an apprenticeship program for everyone who wants to go to school learn a trade and work at the same time. Its great. Its a good option. The campaign we've been setting up is in ten differant languages. In the Anchorage public school system 92 differant languages are spoken/or dialects.Ok right now we're brainstorming for commercial ideas and logos and webdesign. we have a DBE working on the web design. Plus a contractor for the commercial. we met with him today. It was great we were all artistic left brain users bouncing ideas around. No but wait-theres more. I'm editing the office newsletter-its killing me. also Im redesigning all the brochures. And I;m taking lead on two marketing/pr projects for DBEs. That means redesigning logo, making a logo from scratch, creating brochures , company portfolios, letterheads, etc etc. Its crazy. And theres more but yeah thats enough for now. I have soo much more to say but-im tired :) tschau!

special thanks..

This is crazy, but I need to thank 'outloud,' my professors- not to name names, but the one who made me re-write a hundred articles from the winona daily- guess what- I'm interviewing small business owners and writing articles for the offices newsletter. I'm putting the newsletter together-not putting the headlines next to eachother or forgetting the inverted pyramid I dreaded. Oh yeah, and keeping to your advice-'its the little things.' Thanks also to my prof who taught me the vast world of fonts, logos and consistancy. I'm redesigning brochures and other visuals. Yes and thanks to the grammar wiz. I recognize the gerunds, clauses etc. Always thanks to my parents too. For soo many things I learned to be able to be out here on my own.
Everyone needs to do an internship. Its a time to realize how our homework/studies/life lectures in college reflect off us, into our future world-the job world. By taking on this internship I will go back with a more positive attitude toward the things Im required to do, but dont see the direct value in.
Dont let me forget I said that (when I whine in class next year!).

few things

So many things have happened. I'm learning alot about the civil rights office. it makes me really proud to be working here, they have some amazing programs. I'll tell you about them later.
A few people have asked me questions about life here. Are there cars and houses. Yeah, there are. I think this city has its dangers like any other, and its hidden treasures. One thing I dont like at all is the time zone differance. I call my friends from DC and MN after work and find them getting ready for the night. I wake up at 7 am to know that my parents are eating lunch. All the news is old by the time it reaches my tv. Its annoying because I like to be on top of things.
I usually feel like Im in a sub America. Eventhough we call you guys down there the lower 48. One of my coworkers was talking about how some people have suggested to him to make the whole state a national park. He was appalled because its a home and means of living for alot of people. But thats what I think alot of people feel Alaska is, a beautiful possestion or frameable object. Its more so a land to be used and enriched. There are soo many natural resources here, and soo much diversity to learn from. In Minnesota we have nice farm land and trees and, other things I dont know about, but it cant compare. The breadbasket is just a breadbasket its not the feast like Alaska is.
It finally rained today. Im not happy because its wet everywhere Im happy because the sun is faded. It is something I havent gotten used to yet. At my homtel I keep the blinds pulled and a blanket over my bedroom window. Still, when I go to bed and the light is seeping through the fabric my brain alerts me with, "what are you doing sleeping during the day."

first day

Yesterday was my first day of work. My hotel is about a half hour to 45 min walk from my office so I was offered a ride by my coworkers for the week until I get settled in.
I stayed up late the night before thinking-what do I wear, what should I bring, when would I eat.
I kept going back to my experiences from DC. Everyone in suites with briefcases, highheels and blackberries. I really would not be prepared for what would be next.
Gulping down milk, quick brushing my teeth and turning out the lights-I ran out the door. In the lobby my coworker was waiting for me. She was all smiles and welcome, it was 8am. All the way to work she asked about my trip here. She thought I had adventure in my blood, "...everyone dreams about coming here-just the adventurous actually make it." Yeah, something like that I replied. Driving through the streets it looks normal. Homeless people, shops, buildings, stop lights-normal. We drove by the U of Alaska, its huge. Across the street is a really nice, new youth center. Next to that is a private college-which is really nice. Next to everything is a huge hospital owned by the natives. Its big, and I'm told its really top notch.
We arrived at this building with a red roof. It looks like one of those rest stops you see on the highway. A big green sign on the front labels it Department of Transporation. My office, the Civil Rights Office-is all women, except for the director, but he was out of office. They are all sweet. My office space had a sign posted : Welcome to Anchorage, AK Amira! Everyone wants to help. Do you need a coffee mug for coffee? How do youlike your pens? Can I get yousome lunch? Its great. They really treat me like their responsiblity. Everyone bombarded me with hellos and theirs names. I cant remember but a few.
The first day is always boring. Paperwork up the wall, this is the government. I had a long conferance call in the morning with TWC it was well put together. I really apprecitate the work Danielle does, its amazing. There are interns like me all over the US.
My office is nothing like that in DC. For example I have a mouse trap under my desk. Yeah scary. And in the bathroom we have fake flowers everywhere and little signs hung up saying things like; "your a rainbow," I cant remember-but they are totally random. I remember in DC at the EPA, a lady put lotion and flowers in the womens bathroom-we were all happy. Then a few days later the whole floor got an email sternly saying we are not to put things in the bathroom-so remove the stuff. Life and people are really differant here. Everything is sooo slow. Its painful. Their are too many hours in the day. And the sun is annoying. Its always out. Always. It makes the day feel longer.
The neatest thing ever happened at the end of the day. I walked in my mentors office. All the computers, fax machine, microwace, fans etc where covered in a plastic bag. I thought they were going to paint the walls or something. I asked the adm assitant (shes the best by the way) what was going on she said-your not going to believe it. "We cover the electronics because their is a warning issued by the state about the volcanoe. The ash could come throught the ventilation system and ruin the machines, so we cover them until the warning is pulled." WHAT. We have a volcanoe warning, how awesome. Not awesome in that we could all get rained with ash, but wow I live by a volcanoe. So I covered my computer before I left.