We come in Peace!

It’s been a couple of good days here in Gambell, Alaska. Warmth is now reaching its way up onto this tiny island, and I’m hoping it’s going to make its home here for a while. Well, at least until I leave tomorrow! It’s been very clear, which is making the view of Russia better and better each day. Yesterday was the clearest it has ever been. It was also a great day for whale watching. We saw over 15 humpback whales passing by the island. Luckily, whale hunting season has passed, and we were able to watch them without the distraction of the natives on their boats. The whales were absolutely amazing, and you could hear them even before you spotted them. The noise they made from their blowholes made it sound like some alien language, to which I jokingly said, “We come in peace.” And of course, someone was videotaping around me, and they got it on video. It was pretty funny to watch though. We were quickly entertained by throwing rocks to this small iceberg in hopes that if we put enough on it that it would sink. Well… it didn’t work, but we did get a new game started :)

Most of the teachers have left the island already. I think there is only 2 more left besides my sister and her friend, Ashley. But because we have to mail all our stuff back to the lower 48 and we have to check out like a day before, we have to get rid of a lot of food and stuff we need. So we have been eating some strange stuff lately. Ok, well, it’s not strange food; it is just strange combinations of foods. As of now I have not tried any of the local food, such as whale, walrus, and polar bear. I guess the whale my sister got wasn’t a good “batch” and they had to throw some of it out. So it looks like I will not be trying any of that.

Right now we are just finishing packing and laying around because there isn’t much for us to do when you don’t have anything in your apartment, and you’ve explored the island multiple times already. Less than 24 hours until I will be on a plane headed to Nome, and headed to Anchorage! Let the adventures restart!!

P.S. I just figured out that I can upload my pictures using my memory card on my computer, so pictures will be added hopefully sometime this week!