Wonderful Place!

I seem to have fallen into one of the crown jewels of the arctic quite by accident! One of the older teachers talks about how excited she was to get in here after having been in Barrow for a few years. And my principal and his wife were super excited to be coming up here, bringing with them my roommate, all three of whom had heard wonderful things. I'm also excited to meet the people who pass through. Especially the National Geographic photographers! When I was in middle school it was nearly my sole ambition to become a NG photographer, but things changed and here I am. It is still very much on my bucket list to have a picture published in NG, today they have the Your Shot section so perhaps I will get my chance.
Anyway, I walked around the village yesterday with two teachers and several children. Here are some of my newest pictures.

So this lawn flamingo blew into the teachers' yard the other day. No idea where it came from but it has an airline sticker on it that says FREEZE. We think it's hilarious and plan to stand him up when it isn't so swampy. We'll see how long he lasts.

See the ice on the horizon? Brrr. Actually it is chilly here but not downright cold. Which since it is August I'm totally down with.

This is the mess that is the pre-school room.

Alaska Cotton, isn't it pretty?

This shed has moose antlers on top. The two big fan items are bones, probably from a whale.

There's the current airport! They are moving it because the landing strip is just barely above sea level.

 

When we have ribs in Kaktovik it puts the Flintstones to shame.

Someone's fire area.

That long thing on the porch is baleen. It is all over up here from previous whale hunts. Leroy (maintenance at the school) has several pieces with beautiful art etched onto it.

The building in the very center of the picture is one of the two stores. Definitely the one that has more character. The other is a basic general store.

She had to show us her puppy. :)

Sorry, couldn't resist a picture of the post office sign.