Thursday, June 30, 2005

and I thought Chicago was windy!

So I'm sitting in the office at work scrunching my face up and trying to figure out how I possible got what feels like sunburn. The sun barely came out today. I guess it could be windburn from the massive winds that hit the dock I worked at today for fourteen hours. Yes, fourteen hours! I told you guys, I'm up here to work and that's pretty much what I've done since I got up here a week and a half ago. Basically what my days consist of are waking up early, going to work, coming home, eating, and going to bed. Sounds depressing, but really it isn't. Plus I live with people who are doing the exact same thing as me so it's kind of a team effort.

Since I still haven't gotten over the mountains and glaciers surrounding this tiny town that I'm in work hasn't bothered me too much yet. My job seriously consists of me sitting on a dock all day and watching that no one goes with ten feet of the cruise ship I'm assigned to. Really. People always ask me what I'm doing when they notice I've been standing around all day and I'm embarassed to admit to them how simplistic my job is. So in the mean time at work I screw around with my camera and ask the guys who stand around in animal costumes outside the ships to take pictures with me. I got to guard three Canadian Naval ships for two days this week and talking to many boys helped pass the time too.

So yeah back to the whole "it's beautiful here" thing. Skagway has mountains, glaciers, and hills surrounding it. And of course, the ocean is right there too. But like the mountains are right there, not miles away, they prevent thetown from expanding I guess you could say. Skagway has only 800 year-round residents and is super tiny so I get to ride my bike everywhere I go (the bike which Allison bought and painted for me by the way). There are quite a few little shops for all the tourists that come off the cruise ships and in that sense it sort of reminds me of downtown Galena.

I've had two days off since I got here and hiked both days. Allison, Walker, and I ventured up to Lower Dewey Lake last Friday and I nearly died because I'm so out of shape. We plan to hike even farther up the mountian to Upper Dewey Lake tomorrow and although I know I'm going to collapse, I can't wait. I was the only one off of work on Sunday so I went out to Smuggler's Cove and sat up on a rock for a couple of hours writing, it was awesome.

Ha and my big news is that I got stung by a bee on Monday. Really it's not that big of a deal, hence why when it happened I just bitched out loud and did nothing about it. But on Tuesday my forearm was all swollen so after Allison jumped back in disgust at the look of my arm she insisted I take some antihistamine. So I did. And an hour later I was out on the dock passing out. I was literally falling asleep on my feet and could barely walk without tripping. Sooo they let me go home. To make a long story short my arm is still swollen and I'm so sick of people scrapping away at it, convinced they can get the stinger out.

Allison has been awesome since I got here. She greeted me with a huge "I heart Annie" chalk writing when I flew into Skagway. Then she threw me a welcome party, buying three cases of beer with money she found on the dock. And on top of that she and Walker cook nearly every meal for me, I try to help. In turn, I'm pretty much on a vegan diet, but I really don't mind. As I put it, I'd rather eat a full vegan meal than eat nothing at all.

Everything here in Alaska is so simplistic and I love it. I love riding my bike to work at 5 am in the morning while wearing the same pair of khakis I've worn for the last four days. And barely ever washing my hair, that's really cool too. I get excited about our "family dinners" every night that Allison, Walker, and I share when we're all off work, which is usually around 9 pm. I love getting home from work, throwing down my bookbag, and drinking a beer. I love sitting on the couch with Allison and taking picture after picture of ourselves together and never getting sick of it. And get this, I'm even getting into the weekly sales at the local grocery store...Allison is proud.

I miss everyone, especially my girls, and I appreciate phonecalls, or I guess voicemails since my phone rarely works up here. Drunken phone calls are always awesome too, especially when they're from Kari Winter. Ooo and email me guys because I check my email every day or so. Oookkaay, I promise you that this is the longest entry I will write while in Alaska. Seriously.

Much love!

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Less than 2o days till Alaska! Allison called me the other day to see if Walker and her could live in the same trailer as me this summer while up north. So yeah, I'll be living with my sis for the first time in the last how-ever many years. My plane ticket is on the fridge at home waiting for me.

In other news, I got all the courses I wanted for Semester at Sea!

The RA job is almost over, the girls are moving out of the dorms and to their first apartment tonight, and I'm getting a little sentimental.

But shit, I'm going Alaska and around the world soon enough, so I think I'll be okay...

Ahh yeah.