Addictive Alaska

I think I always knew I would come back to Alaska. This is my third summer here and each time I become more addicted to living here. I'm back in Seward at the Windsong Lodge working in the restaurant. Although I often miss the rewards of being a teacher, I'm really enjoying this break from teaching. It's been fun playing in the forest again, and I apologize I've been so bad at keeping up my blog.
Each morning I stumble over to the restaurant at 5:30am and serve breakfast to tourists (mostly those coming off or getting on cruise ships). The view from the restaurant makes up for any complaints about cold coffee or expensive prices on the menu.
Memorial Day weekend I had a special visit from my brother Jed and his wife Lisa. This year is their 15 year anniversary and I invited them up to come stay at the lodge with my employee discount. We had lots of fun hiking, seeing the glaciers, and going on the boat tour to Kenai Fjords National Park.

Every 4th of July tens of thousands of people pour into Seward to watch crazy people run up a mountain. Back in the 1800's some drunk guy at the Yukon bar made a bet that his buddy couldn't run up Mt. Marathon in under an hour. The guy made it back in just over an hour but it started a yearly tradition. Now the record is 43 minutes.
I found the women's race more interesting because there were two girls neck and neck the whole way and they were both Olympian cross-country skiers. This is the mountain they run up - 3000 feet of forest, mudslide trail, and rocky shale.Later in July a friend that I met at church invited me to go salmon fishing on the Russian River. They call it "combat fishing" because you stand shoulder to shoulder with other expert fisherman and pull out giant salmon left and right as they fight their way upriver to spawn.
The first time we went I didn't really know what I was doing and didn't catch anything. Luckily we went back out again later and at the end of the day I caught 3 nice tasty salmon. There's no way I could eat it all up here so I shipped it home in a frozen box. Merry Christmas, family!Every week we have been getting together with all the singles in the branch at the missionary couple's house. The Poulsons have become my family away from family and have opened their arms up to all of us singles working for the summer.
One week I requested a Saturday off work so some of us could take a trip up to the Anchorage temple. It was a nice experience and afterwards we went to see the final Harry Potter and do some shopping since it's much cheaper than touristy Seward.
One of my favorite times is when the Alaska wildflowers come out in full bloom. My favorite is the fireweed because it takes over the sides of all the highways. It's the first plant to break down soil after a glacier recedes or a forest fire and it's edible.
Coming in a close second are the dainty little Forget-Me-Nots, Alaska's state flower.
I have a thing for blueberries. After getting a tip-off from the Relief Society president I finally found a place to go picking wild blueberries (actually it was in her front yard).
My friend Jolyn (another single girl who lives in Seward) and I also picked wild strawberries, fireweed petals and clovers. We tried to make fireweed clover honey after learning how at a Relief Society activity but something went wrong and it didn't turn out. (Maybe because we were trying to make it at 11:00 at night and laughing too much.) The wild strawberry jam was amazing, though. We still have to go back for more blueberries before we make jam out of those.

That night we also cooked up some of the salmon I had caught. It was delicious!The next morning we went out on the Kenai Fjords tour boat and saw lots of wildlife. There were quite a few pods of Orca around the bay.
We also saw a bald . . . . . um . . . . . eagle. (in the tree)
And of course, the mighty glacier.
I'm trying to soak in all the glaciers, rain, ferns, flowers, and wildlife that I can because I've just made the decision to teach English in Saudi Arabia for a year once I finish here. The dry desert and strange culture will be quite different from what I'm experiencing here but I'm excited for the next adventure!

The Inca Trilogy and Other Critters

In the culture of the Incas, there were three levels of existence that are represented by animals. First, the condor represents the heavens. Second, the puma represents the earth; and third, the serpent represents the world below the earth. This is called the Inca Trilogy. I always found the symbolism of the three levels fascinating. In our travels around Peru we were able to see all three of these animals, plus some more.

I took the train up to Machu Picchu to meet Clay and Trista who were coming in from the Sun Gate after completing the Inca Trail. We were supposed to meet for the sunrise, but it wasn't until hours later that we saw the mist-rise. That's what happens when you go in the rainy season.
Eventually the mist rose enough for some awesome views of the ruins.
When we eventually got back to Cusco that night we were all so tired that we had to take a day to rest. The next night we boarded a night bus to Arequipa. Even though we picked a nice company with plush fold down seats we didn't get much sleep. When we arrived we booked a tour to Colca Canyon - which used to be known as the deepest canyon in the world (until they found the one next to it was about a hundred meters deeper). It was interesting to learn about the different cultures that have inhabited the canyon.
This is also one of the best places to see condors. We sat and waited and sat and waited and finally, as if on cue, one huge condor flew by the viewpoint. It looks small but the condor has the longest wingspan of any bird - up to 11 feet. It also has one of the longest lifespans - some living up to 100 years old.
The next morning we took a flight up to Iquitos - the largest city in the world that is only accessible by boat or plane. It was fun to fly over the Amazon rain forest and imagine what we would do if the plane crashed in the middle of the jungle.
We had reservations for the Amazon Rainforest Lodge and on the way out to the lodge we stopped at an animal reserve. This little guy eats leaves that drug him so that he moves really slow. I don't see what's so wrong with being slothful - he looks pretty happy to me.
Of course it wouldn't be a trip to the rain forest without an anaconda trying to strangle you at some point.
When I was young I used to look through the animal encyclopedia and try to decide what animal I wanted to be. I loved cats so I always picked the Ocelot. I finally got to see one in real life.
We got to the lodge and had fun swimming in the pool and going down the waterslide. There was a lookout tower to bird-watch and take pictures from.
One of the days we got to go piranha fishing. I caught a little one that I had to throw back, Trista caught a big one that the chef fried up for her to eat, and Clay, the fisherman in the family, didn't catch any. :-(
We got to visit some tribal villages and see how they used to live. After painting our faces, they sang a song for us and invited us to dance with them.
Then we got to try a different kind of dart game - with blow darts. Whoever got the bulls-eye got to be the new chief. (Nobody got it.)
One afternoon we went out hiking in the jungle to see if we could find any wildlife. Although it was interesting learning about the different plants, the only wildlife I saw were millions of mosquitos feasting on my flesh. Clay found thousands of baby spiders on his arm after climbing this tree.
The last day we went to "Monkey Island" which was one of my favorite stops. There were lots of different animals roaming free (including many different species of monkeys) and if you happened to have bananas in your hand you were their best friend.
Then I had a sudden craving for Fruit Loops. I don't know why.
Later that day we stopped at a Manatee Reserve. The Amazon manatee does not have any natural enemies except for humans. Now they have been hunted almost to extinction. It was fun petting this 'water-elephant.'
We also saw other typical animals of the jungle that I was happy we didn't run into on our trek.

We got back to the city and took a little boat through 'Belen - the Venice of the Amazon.' All the houses are either floating or they move all their belongings up to the second floor in the rainy season. As a real estate agent Clay was interested to know that there are no property rights - if you can get the materials to build your own floating house, you can live there. As such, this is one of the poorest areas around the city.
From Iquitos we flew down to Puno (or rather up to Puno becausewe went from 150 ft. to 12,400 ft. in altitude). We took a boat out to the floating islands where they make everything out of grass reeds. We even took a little ride on a boat made out of grass.
We got to try on the local clothes with Maria who welcomed us into her hut on the island.
As we were about to leave we happened to spot the missionaries. I learned earlier that each island has been proselytized to by different religions. So there is an LDS island, a Catholic island, and a Seventh-Day Adventist island. It was interesting to see the Elders preaching on the Seventh-Day Adventist island and meet some of the investigators.
When we got back to Cusco we had a day of shopping and relaxing before I said goodbye to Clay and Trista. Later that afternoon they came back knocking on my door saying the flight had been canceled due to fog in Lima. After many hours on the phone and at the ticket office they were on their way and I was left alone in Cusco once again. In order to not succumb to loneliness and boredom I wandered up to a language school and signed up for Quechua classes. I was the only other student with my teacher Janett, because all the other students were studying Spanish.
It was interesting to learn about the linguistic culture of the Incas. It was also interesting as an English teacher because some aspects of the grammar are similar to English. One day we watched one of the few films that exists in Quechua and I was able to pick out a few words (with help from the Spanish subtitles). Then the last day we went to the market and I got to practice with the old ladies who sell medicinal plants from the mountains. It was nice to stretch my mind and be in the student's seat again. It is also fun to practice with my friends who were surprised at my interest in the language. In the past Quechua was forbidden in school and speakers felt a sense of shame when they used it but now the attitude has changed and it is a requirement in school here. So now I have just over a week left and I've been spending time with friends and trying various street foods.
I've also made appointments with doctors and dentists to get everything taken care of since I don't have health insurance in the U.S. The last time I went to the dentist was in Guatemala where it was much cheaper and still good quality. The only other thing I have left to do is explore the markets and do some more shopping. I'll be sad to leave Cusco again but now I know that if I want to come back I will find a way.

The Mysterious Nazca Lines and Other Fun Things

Long before the Incas conquered the southern desert of Peru, there were other ancient cultures digging in the sand. No one knew much about them until airplanes were invented and suddenly people saw giant figures of plants and animals drawn in the rocky sand. These figures were of such precise geometric measurement that to this day some people believe they must have been drawn by aliens. This is a tree (it's upside down).
So I took a bus from Lima to Nazca with Ruben and his father to see what the big deal was. The best way to see the lines is by airplane, but hiring a private plane was out of our price range so we were happy to use the lookout tower.
Although they were mysterious and interesting to see, I'm not sure they were worth an 8-hour bus ride each way. On the way back we passed through the town of Ica, where there are giant sand dunes right in the middle of the city. I wanted to grab a board and slide down one, but we didn't have time to stop.
We stopped back in Lima just long enough to go to church, which happened to be right around the corner from our hotel.
Then we took a bus down the coast to the best beach near Lima. Peru isn't known for its beaches, so I was actually impressed by how nice it was - especially at sunset.
Then we went back to Lima so Ruben could have his interview with the U.S. embassy to try to get a visa to study at the BYU language center. He was happy to report that he passed his interview and will start studying in April - which means he will be in Utah even before I get there!

Ruben wanted his father to experience a 3D movie at a nice movie theater in Lima, but since the only 3D movie playing was a horror film I decided to eat some non-Peruvian food at Chili's. Yay for green salads!
A couple of days after getting back to Cusco the day finally arrived that I had been waiting for. Clay and Trista arrived! I let them sleep a couple hours but then we were off to the clinic to get Yellow Fever shots (since we'll be going to the Amazon later on) and then we took a city tour.
It was fun seeing the sites even though I had seen them 4 years ago when I was here. However, as the evening wore on I could feel myself getting sick. That night I was the sickest I had ever been. I felt like a bad tour guide for Clay and Trista, but it was nice not being alone and having someone to go out and buy Gatorade for me. It must have been food poisoning of some kind because the next morning (after purging my body of everything) I felt well enough to do the tour to the Sacred Valley. It was beautiful and green and the flowers were out. This picture reminded me of "Giggling Ferns" with Trista in Olympic National Park. (see earlier post)
We saw the Inca fortress of Pisac high on the mountain. Notice the terraces for growing food. That's why they still call it the "Sacred Valley" because it was the source of a lot of the food for the empire.
At the end of the tour we stopped at a village known for their hand woven textiles. It was fun to see how they make the dye and how they weave the wool into beautiful blankets and clothing.
I didn't buy anything but Clay and Trista bought some knit hats for their trek on the Inca Trail.
On Tuesday I'll take the train up to Aguas Calientes and meet them early Wednesday morning to see the sunrise over Machu Picchu together. Then we're off to see more places in Peru!