North Slope area penpal wanted

[FrmThNrth]

Open fire is just the term used as the day the crews can began the hunt for whales

[beone]

Originally Posted by aldersonarts

Hi,

Ever since I have been a young child I have yearned to visit Alaska. I'm 43 and married now and still would like to visit. It has become like a part-time hobby learning about a particular area I would like to visit and that is Barrow.
Years ago I wondered what the northern most town in the US was and discovered Barrow. I read about the area, and I even check out the Barrow Ice Observatory web cam to watch the changing seasons. I've got a barrow weather widget and web cam widget on my computer so I can watch the differences in climate from where I am as opposed to where Barrow is. There was a 51 degree difference in temperature the other day!
Maybe someday I will have the privilege to visit, but I doubt if it will be anytime soon. So I was wondering if there is anyone lurking these forums who is a resident of Barrow, or anywhere in Alaska if I can't find someone up their inside the Arctic Circle, that would like to just talk about everything from the weather to understanding native culture.
I'm a scientist at heart and love to learn about people and places. I love to see pictures and video of places far away from me. I guess it is to satisfy a desire I have to travel, which is a desire I can't fulfill due to health issues. So I do the next best thing and try to learn vicariously.
Ideally I would like to get to be friends with a native or long time resident who is interested in starting out with conversations of the differences we have in our respective geographical areas. What is it like to know that you might have an encounter with a Polar bear when you go outside to get in your vehicle to go somewhere? How warm do you keep your house in the winter? Since the water pipes are buried, probably down into Permafrost, how do they keep the public water from freezing as it travels to your house? Oh, I've got plenty of questions like that.
If you are okay with getting to know someone down here in Pennsylvania then email me I'd really like to hear from someone "up there."

OMG. You are SO ridiculous Just like ME! I too look at that webcam, at least twice a day, and I have Barrow in my weather widget in the iPhone. I have looked at that webcam for months. People think I'm weird at work for looking at it, but it's fascinating. And, you're not ridiculous - it was a joke! I love that webcam though.

[beone]

Originally Posted by FrmThNrth

Open fire is just the term used as the day the crews can began the hunt for whales

Can you please email me pictures as well. I am FASCINATED with Barrow and want to know everything I can. I would greatly appreciate it.

[FrmThNrth]

I have sent a few pictures to those who have given their email addresses. Whaling begins on Friday the 5th and once a whale is landed I'll be able to take and send pics later. Now that I have found my camera I will also be going and taking photos around town. We have snow on the ground now so the pictures should be nice.

In addition to whales we also eat walrus. A few have come to shore and have been taken by families as subsistance. Unfortunately I did not get a chance to see butchering so I didn't get any photos. When a family takes a walrus the meat is shared because they are usually quite large. The meat has a nice sweetness to it most likely eaten with pieces of the fat which is quite rubbery and adds a nice texture, we also dip it in seal oil. Because the ice is still hundreds of miles off shore, quite rare, walrus and polar bears have been swimming quite a distance to reach our shores. It is not normal for us to have walrus on shore, they usually stay on the pack ice.

A quick note: A great place to see some photo's of our schools and communities is on the school district's website. Here is the site: www.nsbsd.org