My first taste of Alaskan food...

Yesterday at work we got to hear two of our co-workers talk about Eskimo culture. They are both Alaska native and know a lot about the culture of the region. Here is a list of Eskimo cultural values I thought was really beautiful. It is written in Inupiaq first, then translated to English.

Nunakut munaqsrigitkut
We take care of our land

Munaqsrigaqtuut qunignaituamik
We have a caretaker, we cannot see

Ilavut nakliiluit
We take care of each other

Pilguittuat igayalugit
We take care of those who do not do well

Kaanniuqtuat nigipkalugit
We feed the hungry

Utuqanaat Talugilugit
We respect the elderly

...and the list goes on. I've always found learning about other cultures, especially native cultures, fascinating, and Eskimo culture just seems wonderful. Many still try to live a subsistence lifestyle (living solely off the land). It was interesting because right after the cultural talk we had a nutrition talk, and the subsistence lifestyle and diet is incredible for your health! HDL levels (or "good cholesterol" levels) are considered healthy when they are above 40 for men and 50 for women, but some Eskimo patients have HDL levels well into the hundreds.

Another important aspect of Eskimo culture and of Nome, it seems, is sharing, and one of our co-workers was a great example of this for us last night. Moriah, one of the girls who gave us the culture talk, invited us over for a barbecue at her house last night. We got to eat moose meat kabobs and bison-moose burgers, both of which were DELICIOUS. The burgers were my favorite, although I had already filled up on the kabobs and only had a bite of the burger.

Today is clean up Nome day...so I may be helping pick up trash and sprucing up the place this afternoon, but I'm going to see if I can get one of the other interns to go with me. Going along with that, one of the classes in Summercise is called "graffiti class." All around town, you see big metal shipping containers which people have used to ship things up (i.e. cars, etc.) and abandoned. Lance, from the community center will be helping the kids paint murals on the containers to help beautify Nome! I thought that sounded like a fun way to make a difference. I almost wish I could do Summercise!

Oh! And we saw our first sunset last night. It started happening around 1:30 am, and I don't know when complete darkness hit because I went to sleep. It was funny because in less than a week we've started saying "Wow, look it's getting dark! That is so cool!" or "Woah! The MOON!"