AFN - the Alaska Federation of Natives

Whew. AFN is certainly a whirlwind. Lots of fun. Got some work done on all three projects - maybe not as much as I'd like, but I met lots of people. Did some observation. Saw some rellies (relatives). Ate "nigipiaq" (real food or Eskimo food).

Actually, y'all might want to hear what we ate one night: dried salmon, half-dried salmon, smoked salmon, seal oil, sura (willow), crab legs, tugayuq (wild celery), and alluk (salmonberries, blackberries, and raspberries mixed with reindeer fat and seal oil). It was mmm mmm good!!!!!

I think I've been full the whole time I've been here.

Good times, good food, good company, tried to meet other people to interview for one of my projects. That's tough. I'd have to just go up to someone and start talking to them, then introduce the topic, and then ask if I could interview them. Hard work, especially for me since I'm innately shy.

Whew, again. I enjoyed it, though. Saw former professors, saw cousins and aunties, meet other Native scholars and artists and a politician or two.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I love my job!!

On my way home tomorrow. The time was both too long and too short. Too long since Spagedward stayed home but too short because there was so much more I wanted to do!!!

Have a good Sunday everyone.

I'm here in Anchorage!

Hello everyone,
I made it safely to Anchorage and have been running around all over the place. Mom got in a lot of visiting for her birthday and I made some good contacts for my work projects.

Will try to fill folks in on what I'm doing later. Tonight, however, I need to go to SLEEP. I woke up too early this morning so I'm feeling tired.

Have a great day!

Anchorage, Ready or Not, Here I Come!

Whew. What a busy couple of days! Yesterday, Eddie and I and my folks went to Bauman Farms in Gervais - and he had a ball. Then, we had dinner at Heather and Kevin's house - good dinner and good company. (Thanks, guys!)

Today, I had to: get cash, put gas in the car, get Japanese food treats for Eddie's country report, get my chai, drop off a suitcase for mom, pick up a form at Parks & Rec for volleyball, get Cheez-its at the store for Eddie, come back home to get cooked spaghetti for Eddie's science project, and then go to work and gather materials I need for my trip, then I watched Eddie's oral report on Japan, then lunch with a colleague, then back to the office to copy off some forms for my trip and then bring stuff home, then to pick up a friend of Eddie's for a playdate, then I brought him home, took Eddie to K-Mart so my folks could babysit him so I could do qigong. Now, I'm home again and still need to pack and do dishes and take out the garbage.

Whew. Again. Just finished eating dinner (leftovers from my folks) and am watching Field of Dreams while I blog. But I need to pack still. So, signing off!

Tomorrow, I pick up A., R. (two students), and my mom after I drop Eddie off at school. Then, we head to Portland; mom will visit with her cousin and the two students will go to Powell's while I go to the Tribal Museums Conference at the Red Lion Inn Columbia River in Portland. Then, about 3:30 or so, we head to the airport to catch our plane to Anchorage. We land about 8:45pm . . . we are attending the Alaska Federation of Natives convention - I need to do some interviews and also demonstrate the King Island interactive map. I come back home on Sunday.

It'll be a good trip. I'm gonna miss Edward Spagedward, though, as he's staying home so he can do his Jogathon.

Have a good week everyone!

PS I'm feeling better.