Do Re Mi

The next day we're off to the real reason we made this trip in the first place. It's time to meet up with the rest of the singing group on the other side of town. Actually, the change in abode took us from one end of the metro line to the other end. The map said we could just walk to the hotel, it was only about 1 km. Non problemo...HA! The problem was that there was no walkway to use. We wound up dragging our rolling duffles on the roadway (and part of the time across the highway on ramp). I kept waiting for La Polizia to stop us and cart us off to jail Roma style. However, that didn't happen, and despite the somewhat heart-stopping jaunt, we arrived at the hotel in one piece.

Envision what you think of as a "cater to a large group" hotel and you've got this one down pat. Decor= minimalist. It had some interesting high tech features, though. For instance, you just waved your key in front of the door sensor and you entered...after putting your shoulder into it, that is. The lights work for a little while, then all turn off unless you have inserted your key in the corresponding slot inside the door. This is a pretty cool concept, but would have been more appreciated had we been told that when we checked in. We only found out because we reported that our lights didn't work. So as to keep the rest of the group from experiencing that same DOH moment, we were careful to tell folks as they checked in. The hotel did have a WiFi connection and it cost 7 euros for 24 hours. That's not bad, but we saw a McDonalds next door to the hotel ( this also gives you an idea of the type of hotel we're in) and we figured it would be free there. Well yes, it is free, IF you have an Italian  SIM card in your phone. Otherwise you "non ha fortuna. "

 Check in was like witnessing a family reunion. Some folks had been in and around Europe for several days prior and were just happy to see a friendly face that also,spoke English. Others were fresh off the plane and just happy to have their feet on the ground. All were looking forward to singing.

Though called the Alaskan Featival Singers this group is made up of folks from several different locales. The most folks are currently from Juneau and another handful are formerly from there. Others hail from various cities in Alaska and a few more from Washington, Texas and Colorado. None of these folks have sung this music as an ensemble before the first rehearsal they have on the first day. I know that Husband took advantage of several you tube videos to practice...As did others. Chalk one up for technology! 

We all loaded up on the tour bus to go to rehearsal in a local church. Set in a somewhat downtrodden neighborhood, "la chiesa" was beautiful. The windows were amazing and the acoustics gorgeous. Though there was plenty for the group to work on, they really did sound amazing, more so because they hadn't sung together before. After about an hour and a half, we were released to spend the evening on our own. 

Segway To Go!

Roma is a big city. I state the somewhat obvious so you will know we really don't think we can take it all in, in the traditional way, in just three days. Think about it, there are more people on one subway train in the morning than in all of Barrow at any given time.   It takes us longer to get from the Basilica di St. Pietro to the Trevi Fountain on foot than it takes us to walk across the whole of Barrow. With this in mind, we found a great solution to seeing much in little time...we took a Segway tour. Have you ever seen one? They are cool, but when you look at someone riding one, it's hard to see how it's being steered. It's all in the balance. You lean forward to move forward and lean back to stop, but don't lean back too far or you'll go in reverse!

We got lots of time to practice. Those guys want to make sure you know what you're doing on a Segway before you get out on the streets of Roma. Just walking here can be fatal, imagine the potential danger once you are powered up! As one of our guides put in, "when you want to cross the street, you need to let the drivers know you are serious about crossing, otherwise they won't stop for you!" I wound up using blockers to cross a little ahead of me; like football, someone has to pave the way in order to make yardage!

So off we went on our three hour tour. Our guide has a masters degree in archeology. Out of a full time job because of the economy, we get to benefit from his expertise. Wow, did we get a ton of info on all of the historic sites, from the Coliseo to Circo Massimo...all while zipping along on our Segways. The machine puts you above the crowd as well, a great feature for those of us who are vertically challenged.

We liked that tour so much we decided to also do the night tour. The difference is that the night tour takes in things like Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and the Pantheon (outside views, of course). That night, the weather was a little dicey, so I had my rain pants in my backpack, but when we arrived at the shop, it wasn't raining, so we figured we'd be good to go for the evening. Our guide, Marco, was fabulous, very personable and raring to show us everything. His tour was a little "zippier" in terms of how quick
ly we moved on the Segways, but just as detailed in the information he gave us. About 30 minutes into our two hour tour it began to rain a little, so I put on my rain jacket. About an hour into the tour it started to pour. Did I put on my rain pants? Didn't even think about it. It wasn't cold, but once the rain started dripping down my arms, it was quite uncomfortable. Nonetheless, Marco stayed upbeat and intent on giving us the best possible tour he could. Thank goodness he also gave us a tip at the end on the quickest way to get back to the metro, our abode, and subsequently dry clothes!

Arriva Roma

We arrived in Rome around 2:00 pm. Somehow, I wound up with an excruciating stomach ache ( must have been the 4 course meal), but our luggage all arrived so we weren't complaining! It was a 20 minute ride on the metro to the place we were staying. We opted to book rooms via airbnb, a website Husband found with folks who are renting either their entire place or a room or two to individual travelers. This keeps us off the beaten path and keeps us out of the too-touristy hotels which we'll have plenty of once we join up with th rest of the group (more on that later).

We got a little lost walking from the metro to our place and got a little wet as it was raining gatti e cani.  Asking for directions didn't work as our place is so well off the beaten path, no one knew of the street...or maybe it was that my stomach hurt so much I couldn't make my Italian very well understood by those who really speak it! In any case, we finally arrived and were greeted by Carlo, who is a neighbor of our host. Turns out our host is in Milano for the weekend. Carlo spoke no English, but was great at showing us how to work things. At this point, I'm sweating trying to keep from falling over with pain, while smiling and interjecting my share of "bene" and "daccordo" through Carlos's orientation. When he left, I fell on the bed (it was about three in the afternoon Roma time) and slept through until the following morning, at which time I was miraculously feeling fine and starving.

This is when I can begin to appreciate our quarters...what a charming place. It is completely separate from the main house. We have an upstairs and a downstairs terrazzo. The staircase is an interesting affair that winds down into the galley area. We've noticed that if you don't start down with your right foot, you get all messed up and have to re-calibrate your footing in order to continue descent. It gives the place character.

It continued to rain all night and is pouring in the morning as well. This is a bit disconcerting as we have an outdoor activity planned. Being longtime residents of Juneau, however, we have come prepared. So we pack our rain gear and some extra socks and head for the metro (which really is only 5 minutes away when you know where you are going)! 

Grand Tour

Fast forward to end of year two in Barrow. It wasn't that we didn't have lots if insightful adventures, but we were so busy, time just slipped away. I'll get a chance to tell you about a couple of our memorable Barrow ventures later, but right now we are in Roma! At the start of our "grand tour" and I simply must bring you along.

We left Barrow on a sunny night/day. Remember, it's almost 24 hours of light now.  Since the  plane was early and the day was so beautiful, the captain of the plane gave us a "fly-on-the-wall" view of Mt Denali. Those climbers who were struggling to reach the summit that day must have had quite a few interesting words for our plane-ful of flashing cameras and videographers! First time I've seen that many Prudhoe Bay workers jump up at once! We took two tours around the mountain so both sides could get a good view, then on to Anchorage. 

We had the dogs with us, as they are also at their playcation spot (several acres on the river outside of Palmer), so you can imagine the cargo we presented to our (dare I say) saint-like brother and sister-in-law who graciously let us stay for a few nights before our departure.

After a somewhat nondescript day in Anchorage buying last minute "must haves" for our trip, we found ourselves at the airport with enough time ( unusual for us) to have lunch. We had a window table ( which amounts to a table on the breezeway with a view of passengers coming and going on flights). It was easy to tell when the flight from Barrow arrived that day as we greeted no less than 10 of our friends who were on their way to their own adventures for the summer. 

Officially on vacation, we felt obligated to have our picture taken by a random individual who aw shanging out with the bears. Then we were off to our boarding area with Condor air.

Condor has these great prices for flights to Europe in the beginning of the summer. We got all the way from Anchorage to Rome for les than it cost us to fly from Barrow to Anchorage! I somewhat negated that as I opted for "comfort class,"  though it was still a great deal. Husband sat in regular class so did not get the red rose, four course luncheon, unlimited beverages, adjustable footrest, or the snoring guy next to me!

Tour du Nord

This week I was in Wainwright for a few days. I was facilitating training and staying at an administrator’s house, which is really very nice. So I walked to the local store to get something to drink (those small plane rides make me really thirsty).  Not a Diet drink of any kind on any shelf. All full sugar drinks in cans. No plain water, only colored, flavored water. That was a little disconcerting…

The good news was the store was open. On my ride in from the airport I heard they had closed the day before because they were out of food. I know…you probably think I make some of this stuff up. Incidentally, as we were leaving two days later the sign on the local hotel stated, “Closed after 3:00 p.m. No Help.” No one to work, so they close up shop! That’s life in the village.

I know I could never live here. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very lovely little village, but the Internet connection (rather lack of) drives me crazy! I get one little triangle on my wifi status…that’s it.  On the other hand, it could be good for curtailing the amount of work I do at home. On the other hand, how would I shop? I don't know how anyone in rural Alaska survived before the online mall. Come to think of it, I do know...I lived rurally before the Internet was widespread. Causes a disease lovingly referred to as STYD (shop till you drop) every time you get Outside!
Actually, we are victims of this disease right now as we can't get everything by online shopping. Curiously, there are numerous sites that won't ship to Alaska. I think the state is still considered a foreign country in much of the Lower 48 where most of these vendors are located. But, I digress from the Wainwright trip.
My fellow trainer and I were due to leave on the 5:00 p.m. flight and due to arrive back in Barrow before 6:00 p.m. There is but one local airline that flies to the villages. It is notorious for changing the schedule without notifying anyone. Knowing this, we called them at 4:00 to make sure the flight was leaving as scheduled and were assured the schedule was intact. Keep in mind, there is no one locally and that call went to a Barrow agent while the flight was in the air. Another call at 4:30 reversed that information. "What's that you say? The flight already landed and took off for another village and was on it's way back to Barrow? SERIOUSLY?!!!"

You see, the pilots make executive decisions mid-flight sometimes...or according to whim...or according to the color of their shirts...or I really don't know how. It doesn't appear to matter whether or not you have reserved seats on a flight...that doesn't have any bearing on whether or not the flight comes in as scheduled, or stops for a freight drop and takes off in a hurry. This is not the first time I've had this happen to me, nor is it the only story one hears of this as one travels around the North Slope. In any case, it was the last regularly scheduled flight for the day.

That was the bad news. The good news was that a charter was coming in to transport the 15 or so participants from our training back to their home village, so we could get seats on that flight. The corresponding bad news was that the charter was going to make three stops before heading back to Barrow. So, what would have been a 35-40 minute flight turned into a "three hour tour." My colleague and I just settled back with our books to enjoy the ride...no peanuts, no drinks, and no lavatories, the latter of which really was the biggest challenge of all!

The Chosen

The pace of work this year is unbelievable. It causes frequent cries of OMG, or often, SERIOUSLY?! Sometimes I just have to laugh, because what else can you do? This is my excuse and I’m sticking to it to explain why it’s been so long since I’ve had a chance to add to my saga.

We held local elections the first week in October. I’m taking an Iñupiaq conversation course, so we learned how to say, I voted: Naliġaaniktuŋa. (nuh leh wah nek toong ah) It translates more literally to “I have made a choice.” The most cool thing about voting here, (besides the fact that you get to vote, of course) is that your “I voted” sticker is in Iñupiaq! Actually, you get a choice between English and Iñupiaq. I almost didn’t get a sticker, because I couldn’t figure out who had them. But I really wanted one, so I searched around a little. 

Our polling place was unlike any I’d seen before. There was a table to pick up the ballots for the North Slope Borough, another table for the City of Barrow elections, and another table for the School Advisory Council seats. The stickers were on the Borough table in case you were wondering.

It was CROWDED. Really! Hard to find a place to park (though the parking lot is big) and hard to get out in all the traffic when you finished. There was a crowd in the polling place. You had to wait in line to vote, for goodness sakes! I’ve lived in large and small cities and even during a presidential election I don’t recall this kind of fervor for voting. Funnier still, folks were complaining about the small turnout. Let’s put this in perspective…this was a Borough and City election…the mayor was being elected, a few propositions…nothing really controversial. The turnout? A little over 50%. REALLY!

Fun and Games

It is likely at some point you've already seen pictures of the nalukataq (blanket toss). However, you may not have seen this particular take on it. This is a young woman who had a baby son within the past year. When her turn comes on the blanket, the tradition is for her to toss gifts to the crowd, such as furs, candy, food items, and clothing. Only elder women of a certain age are allowed to be the recipients of the gifts. So, they must scramble to catch the items as they are tossed into the air.

The excitement is palpable, the elders move like spry young women, and the crowd is rewarded with lots of stories to later recount.

Once nalukataq is over, the crowd takes a break to prepare for the final events. Many folks go home to change into traditional dress in preparation for the dancing that will take place in the school gym that evening.

The festivities do not begin until the drummers take their place in the chairs set up for them on the gym floor. Stevie is a member of the drummers and explains that the dances are specific to the family of the members performing the dance. Families are called in order from the member who is eldest in the community to youngest.

As the clock approaches 11:00 p.m., the dancing is finished. The drummers have played for over three hours without a break!



The last event of the celebration is the distribution of quaq. This is highly anticipated. This is frozen meat and fish that has been stored in the siġluaqs (the ice cellars). This is highly prized as the meat and fish take on a special flavor while it is stored in these underground caches.

We all leave with yet more ziploc bags full of goodies. It has been quite a day...long, tiring, and memorable!