What a few days it’s been! Went to the schools on Friday, and did two presentations yesterday at the Tuzzy Library. Wasn’t expecting any sort of crowd, it being Easter weekend and all… for goodness sakes I was competing with an Easter egg hunt! And yet I’d say there were close to 35 or 40 […]

This isn’t the first time I’ve presented to a mostly first nations audience. You’d think you’d get used to their reservation–pardon the pun (couldn’t resist!). I think it’s because first nations kids are so trained to be respectful to elders that they’re downright afraid to laugh. It’s kind of funny to see the laughs burst […]

Received a bit of an education today. Ever since I heard that the term ‘eskimo’ is a derogatory term I’ve been mostly using the word ‘inuit’ to describe the first nations people up here in the Arctic. And I just found out today that ‘inuit’ just means ‘the people’ in the Inupiat language. And oh, […]

I wonder if you actually do get comfortable with a radio mic in front of you and earphones on your head. I’ve been on radio a few times now. I remember the second or third time was the longest interview till this morning–about forty minutes. Today I spent an hour on radio talking to a […]

The clouds parted and the sun shone down on the sky in valdez! And my flight was able to not be cancelled! Apparently today was the first day back from a two week long spring break. I wasn’t surprised at all that it was a bit chaotic! Luckily a very nice local author drove me […]

and the proof of that is I’m constantly saying things I come to regret later. Last night, after presenting to the librarians at the conference I met with the librarian who’s going to be hosting me, insha Allah, in Barrow.  A charming lady, she asked if there were any dietary restrictions. I said an emphatic, […]

That’s what the snow looks like here in Valdez. Saw a church yard where a snow blower had carved out a path, and the yard was piled about five feet high with snow and yup, it looked like a layer cake. But you’ve got to admit there’s something amazing to be sitting at a restaurant […]

It wasn’t supposed to take 24 hours to get to Valdez! The longest thing was supposed to be the four hour wait in the Anchorage airport for the flight to Valdez! So I got to Anchorage, grabbed some lunch, found a place to pray, and sat down to read The Brothers Karamazov, when I hear […]

Got nothing better to do, so why not? Funny how I get more time to blog when I’m traveling than any other time. I feel so darn frustrated with Obama. I had such high hopes. And yet I kind of get why he had to sell out. He once said something like the Palestinian people […]

Today I had three presentations at a school not far away and one of the teachers told me something that occurred with one of her students that left me momentarily speechless. This teacher was familiarizing the class with my work by reading Silly Chicken. She took out a map and was showing the class where […]