We've been here for about 3 weeks now and have done our share of exploring and driving around. We've put no restrictions on where we go or how much we drive, which has resulted in just one trip to the gas station to fill up (when we got the car, the tank was half full). At this rate, we'll be refueling once every two months or so. Remember, the organization pays for the gas for the vehicles they give us. Now I kinda understand how they can afford that.

Last week our walkabouts included an informal tour of the town with my colleague who was born and raised here. This is the kind of tour you really want, when someone can show you the site of the original schoolhouse (that really was painted red) and tell stories about looking for trade beads as a kid on the top of the ancestral sod houses. The houses were formed by digging into the earth and framing the structure with whalebones. There are a couple of key locations in Barrow where you can see the remnants of the whalebones and the mounds of where the houses stood. Usually there is also an ice cellar nearby. Just what it sounds like, a big hole dug deep into the ground with a wooden ladder descending to the bottom. It stays frozen all year and makes a great place to store food.


I've been thinking since we got here that the Iñupiat Dry Cleaners is an unusual business to have smack in the middle of the Arctic. I mean, when there are so many amenities lacking, it just seems a little strange that of all the things that are available in Barrow, a dry cleaners would be one.  Oh ho! You don't know the half of it.
During our tour my friend casually steered us into this building. We were talking about hunting rituals and how some of the jackets, gloves, and hats were made and the kinds of furs and materials used as we entered the door at the top of the stairs. First off, this is a dry cleaning establishment. They will also do your regular laundry as well, if you so desire. However, the treasures inside are much more unusual.
This is the main location in town of the materials available to put together your parkas, mittens, gloves and other traditional outerwear. Now, I've been into my share of JoAnn Fabric stores and New York Fabrics but I've never see anything like this before. I'm telling you, the furs are spectacular and so soft to the touch.
Now, members of PETA may be put off by this, but this is part of a longstanding culture of folks who have been surviving for hundreds of years in one of the harshest climates on Earth. Using all parts of the animals that have been hunted and captured is required of the hunters and serves to show their respect and gratitude to the animals they hunt. So in addition to the outerwear that incorporates fur ruffs (trim around the hood and cuffs to keep out snow and wind), you also see seal skins being stretched along the hulls of the umiaks this time of year as the hunters prepare for the fall hunt.