FOOOOOOOD

As many of you know, fresh anything is hard to come by out here unless you've either just killed it or picked it from the tundra. That's right - there's a lot of hunting and berry picking going on right now. The blueberries are now out of season which is a huge disappointment. I promise you I had never tasted anything so delicious as a blueberry picked straight from the tundra. On Thursday afternoon at culture camp, the kids and I were berry picking and I was more like 'berry eatin.' It was a fabulous afternoon to say the least. Now there are cranberries everywhere, and while I didn't really think that I liked cranberries all that much... I was wrong. These are delicious! 

The problem with food here is that everything is expensive. Everything. That's a Gatorade for over $4. ONE GATORADE! And cereal for over 7... and this isn't even in my village - it's in the happening town of Kotzebue, the first place I was. Out here things are even more expensive! I recently bought a small bottle of French Vanilla creamer for $4.75 and thought I was getting a deal. I also got three bananas for just over $3... and I thought that was a steal because they were actually yellow! Anything that is cold or bulky is crazy expensive, but we don't really have a choice out here... eggs will set you back 6.45 a dozen, yogurt is $1.35/container, a Dijourno's pizza - $18!!! Chips are anywhere from $7-9. I still can't believe the prices, but it all makes sense. It has to come from far, far away and it's costly to ship bulky and/or cold items. I have provided a few pictures for your viewing pleasure though....

So note the fruit tray. Yes, it says $41.26. Insane! And AC's - the store where I took that picture... they had that tray out for us on an inservice day - and get this - I grabbed a piece of pineapple and it was so gross. I was telling my friend about it later that night and she said... "Cristina, that wasn't pineapple you goof - it was yellow watermelon." Yellow watermelon! Who has ever heard of such a thing. No wonder it tasted weird...

So what have I eaten that's taken some guts? Well at Culture Camp we had some caribou soup that so beyond delicious and moose meat and rice. We also got to have some delicacies - fresh from the guts fish eggs (left -apparently it was initiation) and eskimo pudding (I think that's what it's called-above) fish eggs with smashed cranberries. yummm delicious. It really was delicious though. I've provided a few pictures for your viewing pleasure. 

And big news! Tiffany, Chuck's wife (Chuck and Tiffany are around my age with two little boys - Tiffany's an aid and Chuck's the PE dude around here), just asked if Jenny and I would like some caribou meat because Darren and Chuck killed a moose this weekend! wooohooo! Apparently they saw a bear, but didn't shoot it which was kind of bummer. But moose. delish. Looks like my birthday dinner is coming together. I can't wait for those boys to get back tonight and share with us the stories of the weekend. 

What else have I had? I had some incredible salmon the other day - and there's more in the freezer. And of course moose meat soup and a moose meat burger. Yum. And it should be noted that I'm always shocked by everyone's kindness here - Happy, my principal, and his wife gave us the salmon to cook up and Tiffany just offered us the caribou meat. Who does that in the lower 48? Love it!

So all are invited anytime to come out and eat some delicious fish eggs with smashed cranberries or caribou stew. Just hop on a plane... it'll only take you about two days to get here :)