Weird and fascinating facts about Barrow

Since I haven't had a lot to report on due to a string of rainy, cold weather, I thought I would give you some interesting Barrow tidbits that I've picked up along the way.

Whenever a UPS or FedEx package arrives, it will be delivered to your house by a member of a family of Tongans who will drive it over as soon as it gets off the plane... this means it could be 10pm.

If you want a pizza delivered, East Coast Pizza has fabulous pies but you'll have to pay the $5 delivery fee for it to be delivered. Why? Because they call a cab and the cab delivers your pizza. Cab fare is $5 anywhere in town. :)

We attend the Presbyterian Church, which is the oldest church in Barrow. Unlike any other place I know, Alaska was split up by the different denominations by an agreement and Barrow was in the Presbyterian area. Only Presbyterian missionaries were sent up here initially. It is also interesting to note, that the scripture is read in Inupiat as well as English.

All the police officers are not originally from Barrow. The reason is that nobody in the native community is interested in taking the job because they are related to everybody else and don't want to arrest their relatives.

For summer fun, the kids find pieces of plywood or old table tops that float and sticks that they use as oars and go punting on the tiny, shallow ponds that are all around town.

Dinner with the people who love Barrow

Tonight we went to the rotary meeting. One of Ian's colleagues is from Tuscaloosa and had been home to help out with tornado relief and was giving a speech on his trip. I find it both funny and bizarre that here we are something like 4000 miles away from Alabama and I run across a rival. It's like we can't get rid of alabama fans no matter where we go! :) It was a good speech, though, and he and his wife are extremely nice. It looks like we'll be getting together for bbq in the future. The great thing about the meeting was that it was full of the people who love living in Barrow. So we came away feeling really positive. The alabama fan's wife is originally from South Africa and had so many interesting stories to tell. They've been up here for 17 years and have even lived in some of the small villages like Anaktuvuk Pass and Wainwright... and they loved living there too! It sounds like I have a lot of interesting experiences ahead of me from polar bears and walrus to the whale hunts.

The woman who sat next to us was a probation officer. She has been up here for a while as well. One of her funny stories involved a drunk man approaching her while she was taking a walk and suggesting he should be her boyfriend. When she said no, he invited her to a party. He tried to tempt her by telling her there would be marijuana and alcohol. So she asked if she could invite her friends so it could be a real party. He was really disappointed when her friends turned out to be the cops! That just cracks me up! Word to the wise: if you're on probation, do not approach a probation officer and invite her to your illegal party!