Where in the world am I now?

If you guessed Sitka or somewhere in Southeast Alaska, you would be wrong. I am now in the bustling metropolis of Anchorage (south central Alaska). Let me tell you, I am having culture shock.

I saw a Starbuck's and a Chili's at the airport and couldn't believe it! One of the malls (yes, one of the THREE malls) even has an ice skating rink in it. There's a multi-lane highway with stoplights, overpasses and everything. It was a tough decision whether to eat at Arby's or TGI Friday's. (I couldn't decide and ended up having gyros and a Greek salad at this Greek place that didn't have Greek salad dressing!) Hey, it's Alaska and you just never know what to expect.

Thanks to your taxpayer dollars, I am attending VISTA training, although I use the term "training" very, very loosely. Because the VISTA program tries to save money by making everyone share a room, I was fortunate enough to get a room mate who gets up at 3:30 a.m. to take a 1 1/2 hour long bath. Thus, I now have a special dispensation to bail out of training this afternoon and go take a nap...which I will be doing shortly!

This past weekend I was in Gustavus. This weekend I head to Seward. Then I go back to Sitka for a week before another trip to Gustavus and then one to Juneau. As soon as I'm back in my home base, I have some outstanding photos of Gustavus, Juneau and Anchorage mountains and more entertaining stories to share. Now, it's NAPTIME!