PS- Connections

Oh, I forgot to mention- I met a Willamette alum the other day who had Bill Duval right after he started teaching! We both talked about how great he was for a while on the tour. I also met a lady from Helena, Montana who knows Hilde's dad!! Sometimes the world feels so small...
Love to all of you! Hope your adventures & summers are going well- I love reading about them!

Antarctica?

One of my challenges at this job, since the tour is very much the same every single day, is to learn one new thing or be exposed to one new perspective on the world each day. This usually comes from talking to some of the hundred or so people that come through each day, to the captain or crew I'm working with, or from reading at night when I'm off work.

The other night, I had a crew of friends over to my campsite as a late birthday celebration. I ended up having a really interesting conversation with one of the guys who works on the island where our boat stops every night for dinner. He had just finished working in Antarctica for the winter (their summer) and then traveling around in New Zealand before coming up here. New Zealand! I've always wanted to go there! I had never met anyone who's been to Antarctica before, so I was really interested. If anyone's looking for an adventure for about 6 months, a job down there would be quite a choice of employment. Hey, that sounds like me. Anyways, Kevin was telling me about his time down there and it sounded- well, cold for one thing- sometimes down to 20 below before wind chill, which can be significant- but also amazing. The adventures, experience, people and opportunity to travel sound unreal. It was really neat to spend a whole night talking about a continent I had never even thought twice about before.

I hope all of you are learning or experiencing something new every day too, even if it's something small! I have a day off tomorrow, so I'm going hiking on Fox Island (where the snow is finally juuuust melting on the hilltops and mountains). Can't wait. Days are long but the wildlife has been amazing lately. We've seen at least 3 groups of 4 or so humpbacks cooperatively feeding the last few days, and they've gotten pretty excited about all the food they're finding. They've been tail-slapping, barrel-rolling, doing headstands and waving their pectoral fins at us. Today I saw one breach (jump all the way out of the water) for the first time!

Anya and Michal's Strawberry adventure

Hi friends
Michal and I have made it nearly across the country in the past four weeks - we have just two weeks left before he gets on the plane to Poland.
Our time has been well spent. Because all of our money is spent on gas (4.23 in Cali!!!), we have been dumpster diving and busking and downright begging for food in the last month. Michal is a wonderful travel companion. He's not afraid to talk to anyone. We were driving through the back roads of Arkansas. "U-pick Strawberries" announced a hand-painted sign, but it was after 6 pm, and the road was blocked by a big CLOSED sign. (Note: Michal is a sucker for Strawberries - we dumpster dived two boxes of them in Arizona and he ate so many he was sick the next day.) I wanted to keep driving, but Michal said, "Come on, we might meet life-long friends in this place." So we traipse up the dirt road, and I'm fearing shotguns and hound dogs at any second. This is Arkansas. The lady who met us in her driveway was so delighted to meet a Pole - her husband is a Russian immigrant, and she said Michals' accentwas very similar to his. Then she took us to the field and told us the story of her marriage as we picked four pounds of fruit, and then she called her husband's cell phone so that Michal could use the three Russian words that he knew. Then she gave us an Arkansas shot glass for a souvenier, and a tupperware full of her husband's special chilled brined cucumbers, and said "God blessy'all" about fifty times. And the strawberries were free, ofcourse. Everyday is filled with wonders and miracles, if only we are open with this attitude of meeting a lifelong friend around the corner...
Love to you all from Anya and Michal

Quality Control

Friends,

First off, we hope you are all doing well; your blogs are all rad, and it is great to hear about all the diverse experiences you are having this summer. We can't wait to see you all again, be it at the end of this summer or far into the future, and hear more amazing stories, which we are SURE you will all be dying to share with us. We are of the opinion that stories are, in general, better told in person than via a blog, so what we have to offer is a brief outline of our past and future experiences in Alaska. Remind us when we see you next, and we will certainly have more specific stories, exaggerated and embellished over time not unlike a finely aged wine.

We arrived in Anchorage about three weeks ago with vague plans to search for employment in Valdez. We tied up loose ends in civilization - bank accounts, yellow fever shots, the usual - then drove 300 miles to the fishing town. We found that, contrary to everything everyone had ever told us, Valdez is not the land of opportunity. We spent an entire afternoon seeking out employers (maybe just a couple hours... with a population of 4,000, there wasn't much to seek through), and found just about nothing. So, we decided to head back to Anchorage, where we could do more research before heading out on another wild goose chase.

Well, we struck gold. Not literally - but we DO hope to do some prospecting later in the summer. We applied for work on the slime line in Naknek, AK. That means gutting fish for sixteen hours a day, seven days a week, throughout the four or five week peak season for Red Salmon. The interviewer, after setting eyes upon our legible handwriting and noting our basic computing skills, put our applications into the Quality Control department. Basically, we got promoted before getting hired. So we leave tomorrow morning at 7am on a tiny plane to Naknek, where we will read manuals and learn how to... control quality, I suppose... for about two weeks. After that, we will work SEVENteen hours a day, every day through the peak season. This also means that it will be essentially impossible to get in touch with us until the beginning of August. However, we would encourage y'alls to send us snail mail at Ians home address -

2911 Captain Cook Estates Circle
Anchorage, AK, 99517

We truly hope you enjoy your summers - if you're ever feeling down, just think of us, and rejoice in the fact that you aren't working 100+ hour weeks.



It's been real, civilization.

i-town and timmrobb

Farm and Wilderness Camp

To friends,

I am off to work at a Farm and Wilderness camp in Plymouth, Vermont. My job: teach girls ages 9-14 “outdoor living skills”, such as… how to use an ax, build a fierce fire, and use a compass! Confession: I have done none of these things before. New experiences….

Along with teaching outdoor living skills during the afternoons, I will be a full time counselor to a cabin of 8 girls. This is another new experience for me. I have never been challenged to be “on” so to speak for a full 24-hours a day, every day. But I figure it is possible to adjust to anything.

 

Fun facts about Farm and Wilderness camp: 1) my mom worked there when she was 19, and at the time the camp was clothing optional. Wahoo! (today they make occasional exceptions for skinny dipping) and 2) the camp was originally founded by a Quaker. As a result the camp continues to uphold the Quaker ideals of living simply and building strong community. One strong Quaker tradition that they do at camp is the “silent circle” which takes place every morning before activities start. This consists of standing/hopefully sitting quietly in a circle to "reflect and meditate" for 15-20 minutes before the day starts.  AND 3) There is an organic farm at the camp where all of the camp food comes from. The kids are able to participate in the farming process and learn about where there food comes from.

Soooo….I will be at camp from June 5^th to August 18^th. I plan to stick around for a while afterwards and explore the east coast, so if anyone is in the area, let’s play.

Hugs and lots of knife skills, (.. something else I will to be teaching at camp)

AND (Address at camp)

Hayley Weed

Indian Brooks

263 Farm & Wilderness Rd.

Plymouth, VT 05056-9434

 

Perseverance Pays Part Time!

Does that subject line make any sense? Basically, after applying to what seems like every small business in the Portland Metro Area, somebody wants me! I will be working at the Industrial Cafe and Saloon, which is this chic yet industrial small restaurant and bar in NW Portland (26th and Vaughn).

The position is only part time, 3-5 hours a day, but I can choose to work 7 days a week. I am trying to figure out my work schedule and I am very open to suggestions. I have to work weekends, but I can choose what weekdays I want to work. If I do not choose to work them all, my employer will hire someone else and we could potentially pick up each other's shifts. This way, I could have a couple of days off at a time and I could be more open to supplementary employment. However, the job market in PDX is terrible right now, and I could foresee myself not being able to find any other work, so do I want to give up the opportunity to be working every day?

Ideally, I want to be working 40+ hour weeks, but I also want some free days to visit Salem and the coast and maybe even the bustling metropolis of Medford...and Eugene! So...should I commit to 7-day weeks with very short shifts each day or should I optimistically save a couple of days for more hours somewhere else (and a couple short road trips)? BEARCATZ, what should I doooOOooOoOo?!1!1

Yours in the City of Roses,

Sars

Valley Life

Dear friends,

I have been in Davis for the past few weeks workin’ hard for the money. I work at Ink Money Wearable Graphics as the production assistant. I wash squeegees, tape screens, mix ink and just do whatever the printers tell me to do. I rise a 5 am to get to work at 6 am and work until 2 pm Monday through Friday. I always smell like artificial orange cleanser and I am always covered in ink. It is the good life.

Davis is pleasant this time of year. It has been 75 degrees with a light breeze and the cherry trees are ripe (and it never rains in the summer). Davis is located in the California Central Valley (think Steinbeck and Cesar Chavez) and has amazing local fruit and vegetables. The neighborhood that I live in was designed with built in orchards and fruit plants that ripen at all times of the year. If you are interested in sustainable development, this is a very good place to start. Although the weather is pleasant now, it will not last, as the temperature will quickly climb into the 80s and 90s.

I have been listening to Fairport Convention non-stop. If you like 60’s folk rock I suggest you check them out. I highly recommend their self-titled album. I have also been listening to the music of Philip Glass. If you are going on some epic adventure and need a sound track, this is it. I have been attempting to do some reading about the Beat Generation and Beat Galleries in San Francisco, but have not made much progress. A gallery owner in Davis gave me a book about them when I asked him if I could work at the gallery. He told me that I could possibly be an intern, but I would have to read the book and come back. I do not have time to be an intern, but I have been enjoying the book. It has made me want to open an underground art gallery for amateurs, someday perhaps.

Yours,
Claire