We were victorious on Tuesday! Pretty impressive considering we made the line-up 2 seconds before the game started.

Since then, I have been working at the Center during the day and at the hotel at night. We hired some new people, whom I am helping train (very amuzing considering I just started myself). Wednesday afternoon I drove around Small Boat Harbor and stopped at all the shops, resturants, and charter boats to replenish our rack cards and give out tickets. It was a cool way to explore and network. I saw a sea otter doing the backstroke as I drove out to Miller's Landing.

Thursday was an interesting day though. I started off shadowing in the Mammals dept. We have sea lions and harbor seals that are used for research. The Mammals people care for them. I helped prep food and clean. I was also able to observe several training sessions. After that, my boss let me assist on a sea otter necropsy! It was so cool. I have never done a sea otter before. This was a ~12 yo male who weighed over 100 pounds. A real big guy! There has been a die-off over the past few years with otters in the Homer area, so scientists are trying to figure out why. We took what seemed to be a million tissue samples and photographs. There are many agencies and universities working together on this mystery, so everybody needs different information.

The necropsy area is in quarentine. That means I have to go home and shower before returning to work. I needed a lunch break anyways. After lunch, I headed back to the office, where I was finally able to sit down with Amy, my boss, and have my entrance interview. A little late I know, but it was good to get on the same page regarding my goals and her expectations.

Tonight I am back at the hotel. I work there tomorrow 12-8pm. But then.... I have Sunday off!! My roommate, Nicole, and I are trying to go out on a whale watch. It started raining again though and even snowed on Mt. Marathon. Booo!

black bear. check!



(it was in the yard across the street from my apartment)

As promised, pix from kareoke.

Friday night we went out and played pool. We also saw a wicked barfight at the Alehouse. Barstools were in the air and a girl got punched! I also bought "mystery shots" for everyone because they were cheap. They were also gross (Jaeger is not what I was expecting when the shot was yellow). We did some dancing, and then I headed home. I worked Saturday and Sunday at the hotel. It finally stopped raining on Sunday! Sarah and I went for a bike ride down to small boat harbor after work. We also gathered everyone up and had a campfire at my boss Tim's campsite. We had another one last night. However, it rained Monday morning so all the wood was wet. Tim even bought us dry wood, and Travis worked on the fire for over an hour. It was just too windy and cold to get a good flame going. :( I did enjoy s'mores both nights though! Yippee!

As I mentioned before, my first softball game is tonight. Thanks to Trips, I have my mitt and cleats. I'll give you a play-by-play tomorrow.

Last Wednesday night, Tyler from Louisiana made us all gumbo. He used "row", chicken, sausage, white rice, Tony's Creole magic, and some file' (or "file" as Kayla called it). I even had a piece of chicken and a piece of sausage in order to appreciate the experience! On the whole, the gumbo was really good! I didn't like or particularly dislike the meat. Everyone, except me, had seconds. I then ran off to softball practice (first game is tonight!). When I got back, everyone headed off to the Yukon Bar for kareoke. Tyler and Travis sang a million songs! My roommate Nicole and I sang "The Shoop Shoop Song." We also requested "Let's Given Them Something to Talk About" but they never played it. As a group, all us interns sang "Friends in Low Places!" It was so much fun! The Yukon has dollar bills signed in permanent marker all over the walls and the ceilings. A few weekends ago, a bunch of us signed one. At kareoke, we got everyone else to sign it too. I'll have to post pix from kareoke separate....

Good morning! Here are some pictures of the interns on orientation day. We went to Exit Glacier with some of the staff and hiked around. It was a sunny day- how I miss those! There is one shot of me with my roommates, Kady, Nicole, and Sarah. The other small group is Mareth, Genni, Jen, and Jenny.

Well, I have some pix to post from my first few days in Seward, but blogger is being picky. I think the files are too big, so I will play with them tonight. I also have pix from Gumbo night and kareoke. Stories will follow soon....

My cell phone surpised me with 6 messages today. I missed all the calls yesterday, but there was no indication of missed calls or messages. Plus the time difference makes it tricky to return calls. So if I don't call you back right away, I am working on it!