Guns, Fun and Missed Mikigaq

I have been in Barrow for only two weeks, but it feels like a whole month. Time here is like taffy, it keeps stretching and bending and you don't know where it all ends. The days and nights seem to meld into one another, and we work eat sleep work. I have enjoyed every minute of it though. I have also had time to relax and revel in other activities. I received a good book from Michi two days ago, and have enjoyed reading it every night, I've already went through almost 100 pages.

Several nights ago, our battle took the form of a three on three match in the gym. It was melee of epic proportion, a clash of the titans. Elbows flew, people fell and slid across the floor. Adrian, Alex and I had some good plays and defended valiantly, but woe, we were defeated by our foes: Dave, Paulo and Rob. Dave says the score was: Rookies and Adrain Lost, Old Men Won. Actually, we were pummeled, but the next match I played with Paulo and we won :) It's been great touching the ball again, but I realize how out of shape I am and my left quad is sore. We will continue to play every time we don't go in the field, but Alex did both.

We all got wind of a function the locals were having yesterday (the 6th) over the radio, and Rob and I jumped in the truck and headed down the road to see the commotion. A whaling crew was throwing some kind of shindig, and there were lots of people lined up on the road. I was handed a bowl of goose soup, and it was actually pretty good. I wanted to try the mikigaq, which is fermented whale (a delicacy here in Barrow). Four Inupiat women carried it out in large green buckets. I got a good noseful as they passed, it smelled like....fermented fish (bet you didn't see that one coming). A bunch of elders closed in on it like a pack of wolves, and it was gone before Rob or I could get a sample. We never had a chance the way those people moved. Oh well, to be honest I was worried I might throw up, but I am always game for trying new foods. As soon as we arrived back at the research station I got to see a lemming! They are tiny little things, and move fast; I didn't even get a chance to grab my camera. It was the highlight of my day.

I have enjoyed seeing the landcape continually shift. All of the water everywhere catches the light and plays with it. (I wonder what light frequencies are absorbed up here, I think its different everywhere and depends on the sunlight, etc.) The group going into the field tells me it continues to melt out there really fast. I dropped them off by the site and a lake had pushed its way up to the road, just where I was sitting eating goose soup yesterday. It's incredible. The ice that we walked on over the sea is now water with ice chunks floating around. I couldn't believe it. The tundra is starting to take shape out of the snow, and everyday another species of bird migrates into Barrow. I saw some interesting ducks and geese on the newly materialized lake.

Dave and I have been staying in the lab working on spreadsheets and data, but I got to finally go out in the field again yesterday. Dave and I went out to the CDML sight (don't ask me because I forgot what it stands for) and put together some chambers for the ITEX project (International Tundra Experiment). There are several of them scattered about, and we had to walk on platforms to avoid damaging the study site. Each chamber heats the tundra about 1-2 degrees and several measurements are taken and added into the database. This project has been going on since 1994 in an effort to understand what will occur if the tundra is warmed. It is said that the permafrost contains 1/3 of the world's total organic carbon, and that if is thawed out and released, a huge rise in temperature could occur which would be self perpetuating. This experiment is perfomed all over the tundra, even in Greenland and Russia. Near the site is DEW, the Distant Early Warning site, a vestige of the Cold War. The buildings are huge white orbs that loom in the distance over the tundra. Huge satellites direct themselves like giant ears detecting whispers in land afar. The building we sleep in was once used for the Navy staff that manned the research station here (the N.A.R.L. hotel stands for Naval Arctic Research Laboratory).

It was difficult to walk through the tundra after the snow melted away. The ground is uneven and very squishy. In some places your foot sinks down into the remaining snow up to your knees, and it takes a bit of energy to hike around. Sandra and Alex have to go out to take more measurements at the wier we built, and they sink in past their knees in some places. We don't use vehicles out on the field since it would ruin the tundra. There are so many different kinds of birds that have come here. Several types of shorebirds in particular. Some of them are quite beatiful and graceful; it is peaceful to be out on the tundra.

On the 9th I had gun training. I was taught to load and unload a shotgun, and tomorrow we will be going to shoot live ammo. A really nice police officer, Kelly, came to the research station and gave the class. I received a free keychain for my efforts, and it wasn't too bad. There was some girl there who is a strict vegetarian, and animal activist it seems, looked really nervous and somewhat disturbed. Especially when they mentioned that you'd better shoot to kill the attacking animal. I think she was the only one at the class who didn't want to go shoot the gun tomorrow. I am definitely going to, though; who knows what might happen, and I want to know how to use the thing. There are several predators we could encounter in the tundra: grizzlies, polar bears, and rabid arctic foxes. I haven't heard anything about the wolverines, however. I thought it was a little foolish of her not to go shoot; we are going to be carrying a gun everywhere we go, and something could happen to whoever is carrying it. It's not like were going hunting.

I was told that the teacher last year was named George Bush, and that he was an excellent instructor. We all joked that maybe Dick Cheney would have been a better one (hehe). All I know is that I may not particularly like or care for guns, but in this situation, it reassuring to have it.

Anyway, Craig told us we were all doing a great job, and that we are a good group this year. I was pleased to hear it. We get to sleep in tomorrow, and will have the whole day to play. Perry went and checked out the climbing wall at the main gym in town. I was hoping to go tomorrow, however, Dave, Paulo, Rob, Steve and I will all be running the equipment we brought up to measure gas flux. I hope everything runs smoothly. Tonight is movie night, we will all fix ourselves a drink and watch a movie in the conference room to relax. Perry brought an external hardrive completely filled with movies.