I arrived in Anchorage on Wednesday and met up with Bill, Damon, and six kids from the Bering Strait School District. They are here broadcasting the Native Youth Olympics – an event of traditional games which represent survival skills of the Alaskan Natives in the past. There are some very interesting events… like this one – the wrist carry. The participant hangs on to the wooden stick with her wrist for as long as she can. No gripping, just the bare wrist. This event represents “bringing home dinner”.
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The six students come from Unalakleet, Stebbins, Savoonga, and Shishmaref. For one of the students, it’s the first trip into “the city” since they were too young to remember being here. The sights and sounds of Anchorage are a lot to take in after leaving the village. All the kids are doing great handling their ordering, money, and the responsibilities of broadcasting.
Visiting KTUU (Anchorage’s NBC news studio) was definitely a highlight, as we were there to watch the 6:00 news LIVE – as in right in the room they reported from. I really enjoyed the tour – a perk of being a chaperone. 🙂
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The guys and the kids will leave tonight, and I’ll stay in town for a night of visiting with Tiff. Yea!
man i wish i was there… it would be sooooooo much fun!!!