Following Polaris: Fun Weekend

So much has happened in the last few days. First my roommate arrived! So now the house is looking a little more lived in and two of my boxes showed up, so I have some dressier clothing for the in-service. My roommate loves fishing; she had her pole and went to the lagoon on day one. So we had whitefish and Arctic char straight from the ocean to our kitchen. (Whitefish is actually decent as far as fish go.) The next day was Friday – all the teachers go out for prime rib and then tour the island. Since Ann and Deb had never been Leroy decided to take us out to the bone pile. While out there we saw our first polar bears!!! There was a mama bear and two cubs just sitting out on the pile. Here are a couple of pictures.

Saturday was another work day. I made some nifty signs for centers in my room, plus I started one bulletin board. I have five boards in my room plus a big one in the hallway. (Sadly my hallway one is tucked away where it won’t be seen much.) I’ve resolved to try not working on Sunday when I don’t need to, so I didn’t! Ann, Deb, and I walked down to the airport and went wading in the Beaufort Sea (part of the Arctic Ocean). It was so cold! But it was a fairly warm day so it all worked out.

A whale jawbone in someone's yard.

This is the whaling shack. When they catch the whale it gets pulled up here to be cut up and divided.

Looking at the town.

No wind today!

Me and my Walking Woman.

Looking North over the Beaufort Sea.

Barter Island Airport.

Kaktovik Visitor Center.

Wading!

The Vampire Boat.

Right after we got back from our walk Leroy stopped by and offered to take us fishing at his spot! We went out on his boat to a small island in the sea; the only sign of civilization was the weather Doppler station in town. It was like we were the only four people on the planet, so cool. The day before the guys had gotten nine fish out there, we only got two – one for Ann and one for Leroy. Ann had a fish nearly to the shore that got away, and I was reeling in one but it too got away. It was really frustrating because the water was so clear you could see dozens of fish, they just weren’t biting. However, it was an absolutely beautiful day without a breath of wind, the sea was eerily calm.