New Year, New Post

I am officially moved into my new apartment (I had a shorter term renting/housesitting deal going on through early January.) While this means I have very little in terms of stuff, it also means that I am more settled than I was before in Sitka and will be more inclined to read through the stack of books that I have collected over the past two months (thank you to those of you who have added to this collection…I’m really looking forward to my winter reading binge.)

In terms of life here, I feel like I have work and then everything else. I really like the work that I am doing, particularly because so much of it is still primarily youth based. The vast majority of my work day consists of making phone calls and sending e-mails to coordinate resources and people and attending and facilitating meetings for our various prevention activities. Three of the biggest projects that I am working on right now are planning for Sitka’s spring season of Girls on the Run, a mural project focused on respect (have no fear, I am not the one painting the muralJ), and planning and organizing for future projects and programs related to youth and males in Sitka and the communities of Kake and Angoon.

1. Girls on the Run is so much fun! Girls on the Run is a North Carolina based program for girls ages 8-14, that combines training for a 5K run with self esteem building and empowering activities that help to encourage positive emotional, social, mental, spiritual and physical development for participants. As the project manager for Girls on the Run, I am primarily responsible for ensuring that all of the logistics are taken care of to enable the three teams that Sitka will have are successful. This process started in early November with recruiting fifteen volunteer coaches to lead our teams and will continue through mid-May when we host our season ending 5K run for the girls. In between there has been student recruitment (which the school counselors have been instrumental in assisting with), acquiring adequate time and space for each team, organizing the coaches’ training logistics, and getting all of the materials together for each team. This is arguably our most successful prevention program because there has been such a strong buy in from the community at large and the school district and the participants and coaches all love it. This is a program that could definitely continue to expand to include more participants over time (it includes over 20% of 3rd-5th grade girls right now) and could potentially be offered to boys as well if a program that was started in Charlotte a couple years ago is able to be expanded to Sitka. (www.girlsontherun.org)

2. In early October, Sitka held its annual Health Summit and as part of that, a mural project proposal from Sitka’s Domestic Violence Task Force was selected as one of four community projects that would receive modest financial support and the summit’s backing to be implemented over the course of the next year. As part of this project, the mural’s committee made up of a variety of individuals and community organizations is seeking to turn the mural into a process by which conversations and discussions will be happening community wide surrounding the word respect. The hope is to provide and allow people to have the space to share their thoughts on respect, what it means to them, and why it’s important, amongst other similar topics. The project is still very much in the planning stages but the hope is to engage youth and adults from the community in discussions and to encourage them to use art to express their perspectives and understanding of respect, which itself is a word that has innumerable meanings, particularly across different generations, cultures and genders. My personal hope is that this project serve as a catalyst for the community to not only begin to acknowledge the existence of racism, domestic violence and oppression within Sitka but to also provide an outlet for discussing what a healthy community is and allow the community to take further steps towards becoming a healthier one. (www.sitkarespects.wordpress.com)

3. As a community, there is a lot going on in Sitka with regards to the prevention of intimate partner violence and much of it is surrounding youth. This winter I am going to be co-facilitating a healthy relationship/life skills class at Pacific High School along with providing healthy relationships and domestic violence 101 sessions for Raven’s Way, which is a substance abuse treatment program for teens that is run out of SEARHC (Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium.) The winter is also going to continue to include meetings about bullying prevention at the middle and high schools, developing and implementing programs for youth males, and providing a program for young parents and families that will build both skills and social networks for all involved.

Outside of work, Sitka has been a far cry from the east coast. While you all have been digging out of snowstorm after snowstorm, we have had a fairly dry, cold winter here so far. Not that I am complaining but it’s still very interesting for me that I am in a second Alaskan winter that does not rival winter in the northeast. Since I last updated this, I have had the opportunity to get outside a good amount and I celebrated my first Christmas away from home. In mid-December, Alex and her brother Doug came out to visit (thank you for being the top Alaskan finisher in the Anchorage marathon, Alex), which was awesome! They were able to experience the mayhem and wonder that is the SAFV holiday party for residents and others who we have worked with over the years, went on a bunch of hikes (they also ran all over town), baked tons of cookies/brownies and watched the lunar eclipse on the winter solstice. It was a really fun week for me and it was super fun to be able to show Alex around Sitka, and we had clear weather so she was able to see Mt. Edgecumbe and see Sitka at its best.

My Christmas, while I really missed being home, was really laid back and enjoyable. I went to a friend’s house for Christmas Eve where we had a big seafood dinner (he’s Italian so he insisted on having seven fish for Christmas) and I woke up super early to skype with my mom and siblings for Christmas morning, which made me really happy. I spent part of my Christmas morning at the JV house playing Buzz Word and drinking hot cocoa with Bailey’s (thank you Liz and coastie Chris!) and had a lovely afternoon at my boss, Vicki’s, house. There was a small group of us there, Meg made some delicious food and we just enjoyed each other’s company. Now, I am anxiously awaiting the weekend so I can get outside and enjoy the beautiful, clear weather we are having…it’s still getting dark far too early to enjoy after work.

Liz and Tango

Tango and Mt. Edgecumbe

The Swis on Mt. Verstovia

Eclipse on the Solstice

Full Moon in the early morning

Peer Pressure Post

This post is coming after many months of not writing and several not so subtle prods from one of my JV housemates, Katie, who I think really wants me to close out the blog from my JV year and comment on life after JVC. Since I am finding this a very odd, almost awkward post to write I think I'll just list some general thoughts that I have.

1. After what seemed like several weeks of goodbyes and closing out my JV year with my community with a solid day of reflection, group sharing and bonding over a bear shaped collage, I officially ended my time as a JV on August 2. I don't think you're ever really done being a JV though...I mean, the organization's motto is Ruined for life, so in reality I guess the hard part is what lies beyond the JV year. Living simply, finding and maintaining some sort of community, having a spiritual life, and engaging in social justice in some capacity is just so much harder when you are not intentional about it. Intentionality is something that I think can be very difficult to maintain when you are not being challenged, taught and engaged each and every day with others who are seeking intentionality in their lives as was present in a JV community. I find myself struggling with certain aspects of life post JVC Northwest but overall I think that my experiences as a JV, with the Sitka community, with my JV community, with other JVs throughout Alaska and with the JVC Northwest staff have prepared me well enough to thrive without the structured support that being a JV provides.

2. I loved being home and being able to spend so much time with my family and catch up with many of my friends who I hadn't seen in a long time. Things like going to the mall were overwhelming experiences after a year in Sitka but for the most part adjusting to life back in the lower 48 went smoothly.

3. After a series of events, it became clear to me that returning to Sitka was a solid option and I applied for and accepted a new position at the shelter that I worked at last year. I am working as the Prevention Specialist under the shelter's DELTA (Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancement and Leadership Through Alliances) Program which is funded by a CDC grant focused on reducing and ending intimate partner violence. Alaska was one of the original 14 states chosen for funding and Sitka is one of four sites in Alaska with a DELTA program. In this position I am going to be playing a role in a lot of programming at the shelter and community wide geared towards reductions in violence in Sitka. So far much of my time has been focused on catching up with all the information about violence prevention and the programming that currently exists in Sitka, statewide and is being planned. I am expecting to be heavily involved with programming for boys and men and with youth curriculum and programming such as Girls on the Run. GOTR is an empowerment program for 3-8th grade girls that uses running to complement positive messaging about the media, body image, self esteem and other topics to prepare young girls for adolescence and adulthood. There is a push statewide to provide some similar, complementary programs for boys, which at the moment are not nationally available and it has been extremely difficult to find community men willing to commit to developing and organizing such programs. So far I am really enjoying the new position at the shelter and am looking forward to being more actively involved in the community and in the prevention aspect of this work. I am sure that I will have more to add in the future.

4. Since I've been back in Alaska I have attended a teen leadership conference, Lead-On!, in Anchorage where I got to engage in conversation with and meet a number of teens and adults heavily involved in prevention efforts around the state and I arrived back in time for Alaska Day. Alaska Day was just as I had remembered it: fun, ridiculous and a community wide celebration. The weather held out enough to keep everyone dry for the parade and Coast Guard Search and Rescue demonstration and the Seattle Fire Dept. Pipe and Drums band was once again in town. Liz, one of the new JVs, and I had an absurdly long conversation with one of the drummers who enlightened us to the fact that Vanilla Ice is the greatest rapper of all time and that New Kids on the Block is the greatest band of all time.

That's all for now...I'll attempt to keep updating this more frequently.

Super Long Overdue Post

Whooooops...it seems like the longer days and nice weather have kept me from updating this in a really, really long time. Rather than try to remember/write about everything that has happened in the past 2 months or so, I am going to take a page from ESPN and David Letterman and run a top 10 list of the time since my last update. (Note: This list isn't really a ranking with the exception of numbers 1 and 2.)

10. Children's Program Activities. In April, which is Child Abuse Prevention Month, we sponsored a poster contest with the theme "If Kids Ruled the World..." and held a Family Fun Fair at Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School. We had over thirty wonderful poster entrees from elementary school children and more than seventy children and adults attended the Fair which included lots of fun family activities such as bowling, an obstacle course, art projects and face painting. Along with the Fun Fair, I also helped out with our shelter's 5k run for its Girls on the Run program. Girls on the Run is a national organization that focuses on building self-esteem for elementary and middle school aged girls as well as introducing them to issues relating to teamwork, media literacy, healthy boundaries and relationships and a myriad of other topics that are meant to inspire and educate them.

9. Camping at Pirate's Cove. In early May, my housemates and I spent a night camping on one of the small islands off the coast of Sitka. It was a really nice getaway and community building trip and included lots of exploring, sitting by the fire and s'mores! The highlight of the trip for me though was sleeping out under the stars in a giant hammock with Katie and Greg.

8. Fishing with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Yesterday I volunteered to serve as a Big Brother for the day and joined them on a fishing trip that the local charter association offers to the program each year. I got to spend the afternoon on a boat called Triple Play with a really cool 8 year old, a Big Brother volunteer and Katie's boss' partner. We all caught a king salmon (Yay!!!) and we got to see gray whales and lots of eagles. Also, I had my first puffin sighting!!! Coupled with the fact that I filleted both of the king salmon that Katie and I caught when we got home, it was an epic day in Alaska.

7. Eagles. They are everywhere. I never get tired of seeing them or watching them fly, soar and even swim! I'm including pictures here because they work better than words.






6. Weather and daylight. The weather has been amazing! It has been mostly sunny for the better part of the past month and it's looking like we could have a repeat of last summer which I've heard was gorgeous. I also have to admit that I am a huge fan of the extended daylight that we receive here in Alaska. Last night it was not completely dark at 11:30pm and on Saturday night, the sky was starting to show signs of lighting up at around 2am. So, there is lots of light and added time to do fun things outside basically until it's time to fall asleep.

5. People here are awesome! From my co-workers who help me get through the day to my housemates who make community life so crazy, light and unpredictable and to the group of friends I've found here who are capable of being hilarious, serious and sassy at the drop of a hat. The start of tourist season last month has also brought with it the added bonus of charter captains from around the country and visitors from places such as England, Australia and New Zealand. Basically, when those people are around, I could listen to them talk all day long.

4. Hiking, and lots of it. With the longer days and nicer weather I have gotten out on the trails a lot more than I was able to in winter. Since I last posted, I finally made it up to Picnic Rock on Mt. Verstovia with Meg and some of the Juneau JVs, have gotten out on Herring Cove and Mosquito Cove several times and went up the infamous Gavan Hill Trail last weekend.

3. Indian River. Two weeks ago, when it was sunny and in the 70s, I went hiking with a few friends along the Indian River trail and we jumped in! When I tell you that the water was both frigid and refreshing I am not lying. It was by far the coldest water I have ever been in and it was super invigorating to jump in from just off the trail.

2. Folk Fest. JVs got together in Juneau and hilarity ensued. There was lots of music, dancing, great conversations, barefoot soccer on the beach, and fun had by all.

1. Top Gun Party. Flightsuits, aviators, windmill high fives. Need I say more? JVs from Juneau, future and former JVs from all over and current and former Americorps volunteers reported for duty decked out and gave Maverick and Ice Man a run for their money.

Basically, the past 2 months have been a whirlwind and I am looking forward to our upcoming retreat focused on Ignatian Spirituality to slow down and hang out with my fellow JVs from around Alaska. Three of my housemates and I will be joined by Paddy from Juneau for several days of hiking and exploring in Denali National Park after our retreat. Until then, peace out.

Herring Season and Visitors

The past couple of weeks in Sitka have been really fun! For starters, the Herring fishery, which is a multi-million dollar fishery, opened up a total of four times over the past two weeks and I was lucky enough to be able to watch one of them open up from the beach. It was really cool to watch dozens and dozens of fishing boats dropping their nets all at once and competing to catch as many fish as they could catch during the allotted duration of the opening. The herring fishery has also brought with it the return of the sea lions, eagles and humpback whales! I have seen these wonderful animals on a pretty consistent basis over the past few weeks but have to say that I am still continually amazed at how majestic the eagles look and are when they're flying and there is nothing like watching, and sometimes hearing, the puff of the humpback whale's blowhole.

The past few weeks also brought with it my first kayaking experience which was a lot of fun. While the actual motion of paddling in a kayak felt really, really awkward at first, being out on the water more than made up for those feelings of the awkward motion. The mountains seemed so much bigger, steeper and closer when I was out on the water than while walking around town or along the beach and watching the birds, otters and sea lions from the kayak was so different than seeing them on land. Being on the water gave me such a different perspective of my surroundings and the things that I see on a daily basis; it was a pretty exhilarating experience.

My cousin Matt and his friend Frank also paid myself and Sitka a visit and I have to say that they arrived at the perfect time to spot wildlife and had some of the best weather we have had over the past month or so during their time here. It was really fun for me to catch up with Matt and be able to show the two of them around and let them see what my life is actually like here, because unfortunately words truly can't do justice to this experience or the landscape of Sitka. We were able to go kayaking a bit, did a whole bunch of hiking and they were able to see a mama humpback and her calf (which I heard is one of the earliest sightings of a mother and calf in Sitka.) Matt and Frank were able to go out fishing and caught some rockfish and a king salmon! Aside from a little seasickness brought on by the rough waters, they did really well on their first Alaskan fishing excursion. It was a great week and I was really happy to have some visitors, so if anyone's interested in coming up, you'll have a place to stay and lots of fun outdoor things to do!

Aside from all of my outdoor fun, I still love my job and am doing my best to reflect on this experience, the JVC values, what comes next and life outside of Alaska. While my day to day activities in the children's program are kind of on the quiet side because of the small number of children we are working with right now, I have been fairly active in facilitating a men's focus group to bring men together who are interested in reducing and preventing violence in Sitka. The hope for this group is to bring the men together and see what kinds of actions or activities the men are interested in working on and leading in order to engage other men and young adults/children and promote a culture of non-violence and positive communication in Sitka. My biggest hope for this group is that it becomes entirely self sufficient so that it continues to meet and work towards a safer and less violent Sitka after August. Another project that I was working on, prepping and teaching a healthy relationships class for boys at the alternative high school, isn't going to work out because of some miscommunication between the school and our prevention coordinator that resulted in no boys signing up for the class. I'm a little disappointed that this class isn't going to happen because I think it's a class that the boys could benefit from and because I put a lot of time into preparing a curriculum but at the same time, the next person who tries to teach this class won't have to put a whole lot of time into preparing for the class.

This past Wednesday also marked a big step in Gov. Parnell's statewide campaign to eliminate domestic and sexual violence in Alaska, as Sitka joined 17 other towns across the state that held marches and speak out events. The shelter staff was joined by over 100 community members, including personnel from the Sitka Tribe, the mayor, and the Sitka Police Department and a number of people shared personal stories, thought and feelings on the subject of violence, abuse, the importance of working to prevent future violence, and the governor's plans. The event was encouraging in that there was such a large turnout from the community at large and it was inspiring to hear the words of others and add my own to the movement going on statewide.

Since this weekend was Easter, Meg and I put together a little party for the children and families that we work with that included an egg hunt, egg coloring, face painting and a carrot cake in the shape of a bunny! On Sunday, one of my least favorite days of the year, it was really nice to share a brunch with my roommates (even though I wasn't quite fully awake yet) and Greg and I went on a really good walk at Totem Park at low tide. While down there we saw a heron and what must have been 6 or 7 whales just hanging out (our theory is because the tide was out so they were stuck.) So we spent about an hour or so just sitting on the rocks watching the whales surface and dive and watching brave (or slightly nuts) kayakers and boaters approach. I was able to talk to most of my family and a couple friends which was really nice and I closed out the day by watching the Red Sox beat the Yankees in the opening game of the season and playing some cards with my housemates.

Winter has Arrived...in March

Remember that time I wrote about spring being right around the corner? I spoke far too soon. We have finally started to have some winter weather in Alaska and have had snow (which we haven’t had since November) almost every day for the past week and a half! This has been both a bane and a boon to my life; on one hand everything looks really awesome and I have thoroughly enjoyed playing in the snow. On the other hand, the twenty minute walk to and from the elementary school is made much more challenging and I spend much of my walk to and from anywhere ensuring that I don’t slip and fall.

Aside from the weather, work has started to move towards more action oriented prevention work that has come out of all of the planning and preparing that I’ve been doing over the past several weeks. This past week, I co-facilitated a two hour healthy relationships and domestic violence 101 session for Raven’s Way, which is a substance abuse treatment program for teens that is run out of SEARHC (Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium) and participated in the Mt. Edgecumbe High School (public boarding school in Sitka that primarily educates Native Alaskan students from throughout Alaska) Health Fair. During both of these activities I realized the power and importance of both prevention work and early intervention. Without going into great detail, I had several teens ask me some pretty specific questions about what to do because they or their friends are presently in an unhealthy or abusive relationship. It was really powerful for me to be able to help empower these teens and provide them with resources and ideas about people in their lives that they could talk to, where to look for support in Sitka and beyond, and help to educate them about what an unhealthy or abusive relationship looks like because many of them had never received any education on that before. At the same time, it was also a very positive experience for me to talk to the teens and discuss what a healthy relationship looks like and certain key ingredients such as trust, respect and communication. I think that my favorite question of the day came from a junior boy at Mt. Edgecumbe who asked me if I thought there were any couples out there who never argued. I really enjoyed both his question and then our discussion about having respectful disagreements or arguments which are healthy for a relationship because neither partner is put down, controlled or overpowered and both are able to share their thoughts and perspectives safely and without fear. Coming up this week I am facilitating a men’s focus group that will hopefully bring a group of committed men from the community together and lead to some good discussions about the issue and prevalence of violence in Sitka as well as some ideas for actions that these men can involve themselves in. I’m hopeful that we might be able to get something like the White Ribbon Campaign or a similar campaign going in town, so if you have any ideas please let me know.

Outside of work, last weekend was Evie’s birthday and we had a nice taco dinner, hung out at the Larkspur (a local café), and then had a delicious chocolate chip cake that Katie had baked. On Sunday, I hiked up Gavan Hill with a slew of FJVs and had a ton of fun! It was one of those typical Sitka weather days where it was clear when we left, then got cloudy and snowy and then cleared up by the time we reached the ridgeline only to start snowing again for our entire hike down. Eileen, an FJV from last year, was generous enough to let me borrow her snowshoes for the hike and I have to admit that snowshoeing has become my favorite outdoor activity. It was a little weird walking in them at first but I gradually got used to it and I really enjoyed jumping off a mound in them and watching Meg and Emily ‘mountain sumo’ wrestle.

The highlight of the past couple weeks for me was a project that we did with the children in after school group where Sharon (our rural outreach coordinator) taught us how to make tiny replica native drums. Using elk hides, tough twine and the rims of jam jars we weaved our drums together, allowed them to dry for a few days and later put designs on them (pictures to follow.) The children, Sharon, Meg and I had a blast putting the drums together and the finished products turned out really well. Peace out from snowy, snowy, Sitka.

It's Starfish Hunting Season

So the weather here has been absolutely gorgeous once again for the past week or so (sorry East Coasters.) As a result, I have spent a good chunk of time outside this week exploring the beach at low tide near Totem Park in search of starfish, crabs and any other little creatures that found homes in the tidal pools. Early on in the week, I found tons of starfish and was hanging out on the beach as the fog started to roll in, which was one of the coolest experiences I have had so far in Sitka because everything just started to disappear around me. While the fog was coming in, I also found myself engaged in a lengthy staring contest with a bald eagle...which the eagle clearly won.

My week at work was fairly low key once again. I finished up preparations for a healthy relationships class that I am teaching at the alternative high school in town, had some pretty successful lunch groups with the second and third graders and spent a lot of time hanging out and coloring with a two year old who recently entered shelter. Life in community continues to move forward, I feel like I am gradually learning more about my housemates, I enjoy spending time with them and I am still finding ways to get my "me" time. Lately, much of this time has been spent working on my Lenten challenge for myself (originally thought up by Greg), which is to write a letter per day. I like the intentionality of this particular challenge and know that it will help to strengthen relationships and provide an outlet for personal reflection as well.

On Friday, Katie and I walked along the beach in search of starfish, tried to walk to a buoy that we thought was on land (it was not even close to being on shore in case you were wondering), and watched an incredible sunset with a number of other people who had the same idea. On Saturday, I awoke to a phone call from my dad asking me if Sitka has a tsunami warning and responded that yes we do indeed have a tsunami warning system and that they tested a couple weeks ago. He asked me if it was going off right now and I was super confused, said no and he told me about the large earthquake in Chile. My first thought was about my friend who's doing JVI in Peru (she's safe and doing well) and then Katie and I started checking up on the tsunami threat to Sitka. Basically, the entire Pacific Rim received an advisory about a potential tsunami due to the warning to Hawaii and Latin America. I think the "wave" that arrived here was about a foot high (if that.)

I spent Saturday night hanging out with Greg and a couple other guys from town which was really fun. We just hung out talking about politics and religion which was really cool. On Sunday, I started my day by giving a presentation about social justice to the Unitarian Fellowship in town which was quite the experience. It was really good for me to think about the role social justice has played in my life so far and I had a lot of fun engaging the fellowship members and responding to their many questions. After the fellowship, it was time for the Gold Medal game between the US and Canada in Men's Ice Hockey. I have to say that I don't think I have ever seen a better hockey game or been more devastated by a loss as I was when Sidney Crosby, the Canadian Panda, scored to win the gold medal. Overall I was very impressed by the performance of the US team in Vancouver, particularly Ryan Miller in net, Brian Rafalski, Chris Drury aka Captain America, Zach Parise, Ryan Kesler and Jack Johnson. This team is going to be scary good in Russia if Bettman does the right thing and lets the NHL players back to the olympics. That's all for now! Have a wonderful week!

Retreat in Juneau, Spring in Sitka

So last weekend we had our second JVC Alaska retreat in Juneau, aka the capital city. We boarded our plane at 6 am for our less than 40 minute flight to Juneau and were met at the airport by Paddy (one of the Juneau JVs) and welcomed into their home a few minutes later by Avanti and funfetti waffles!! The Juneau JVs slowly woke up at relatively normal hours and after catching up for a while, my housemates and I went out to explore downtown Juneau, had some lunch and met up with the Anchorage JVs who arrived a few hours after us. Avanti led us all on a walking tour of Juneau where we saw the capitol building, some other government offices, the downtown area (which was really shut down for the season until the tourists start arriving again), and the governor's mansion. After our walking tour we met up with the JVs from Bethel and took a tour of the Alaskan Brewery that basically consisted of this really cool guy talking to us about how the brewery started, how they made the beer in the early days and about how the owners are trying to keep the brewery at a manageable size and not expand too much. It was a pretty sweet way to start the weekend because it was really laid back and almost all the JVs were there to catch up and chat before heading out for retreat.

Our retreat was held at the Shrine of St. Therese, which was absolutely beautiful and full of awesome wildlife, focused on social justice and was led by the executive director and volunteer coordinator of the AWARE shelter (a bigger shelter than SAFV) in Juneau. Personally, this retreat came at the perfect time for me and I got a ton out of the activities, reflection, and discussion that occurred throughout the weekend. I came back from retreat feeling refreshed, refocused and with some new thoughts, perspectives and ideas about social justice. I again had a lot of really good conversations with my fellow JVs about work, JV life, what comes next, and was really glad/excited to reconnect with Alex and Avanti and get some solid quality time in with them at points throughout the weekend and at lunch on Monday afternoon.

On Monday, after saying goodbye to the Bethel JVs and spending some of the afternoon exploring and hanging out in Juneau, the rest of us went to Bishop Burns' house in Douglas for a lasagna dinner. It was a really nice way to close out the weekend, Bishop Burns is a great man and a great support and friend of the JVs in Southeast Alaska, and we were able to watch some of the Olympics (several hours after it happened even though Vancouver is only one timezone away.) I now know what people mean when they talk about East Coast bias. It is truly frustrating to know the result of every event before I could even possibly watch it happen on TV.

I had Tuesday off because it was Elizabeth Peratrovich Day in Alaska and I enjoyed the relaxation time and attended the parade and event held in honor of Elizabeth Peratrovich at the Alaskan Native Brotherhood Hall. Elizabeth Peratrovich Day honors the life and efforts of this woman in the passage of the anti-discrimination bill in Alaska in 1945. It was a truly powerful event to be a part of and included a partial recreation of the senate hearing that preceded the vote and dancing from several student groups from Mt. Edgecumbe High School.

Since then, Sitka has had absolutely beautiful weather that definitely has most of town thinking that spring is on the way. It has been clear and sunny for most of the week and I have taken full advantage of the opportunity to explore the beaches at low tide and just sit outside reading and letter writing in the sun. On Saturday, SAFV had its Family Fun Fiesta, our big fundraiser, which consisted of a wonderful Mexican meal and a dessert auction that was a lot of fun! It was great to watch the community come together and raise money for the shelter, a lot of fun for my housemates and I to help with the auction and it was really nice to see several former resident families in attendance. A few of the children asked me if I remembered them and when I told them that of course I did their faces lit up. I could definitely tell that it meant a lot to them and seeing them again meant a ton to me and serves as another example of why I love the work I do and am able to be excited about going into work every day.

I had a relatively low key day on Sunday, going to mass early and then exploring along the beach some more. On Sunday afternoon Greg and I watched the USA vs. Canada game, which was amazing! I really miss playing/watching hockey and seeing how hard the US team played was awesome! It's so great to see NHL players playing hard, blocking shots and giving 110% because they aren't getting paid to be here and are truly inspired by playing for their countries. That is all for now but I will definitely work on updating more often.