I work out.......and play basketball

Loyal blog followers,

It is once again time for me to write to you all. So I shall write to you about how we work out here in Barrow.  Running outside is kind of out of the question for fear of being eaten by polar bears- seriously.  So, we head to the Ilisagvik College Gym;  which happens to be an old military garage with a loft.  However, it is fairly well outfitted.  There are 3 treadmills- one works great, one slowly works it's way into the wall as you run on it, and the third is always at a 5% grade (makes you tough real quick.)  The thermostat in the gym is set at 75 degrees and when the 2 huge garage heaters kick on they nearly drown out the music.  This makes for very sweaty running.  They also have 2 ellipticals, 2 stationary bikes, a punching bag, a total gym (some days I get to feel like Chuck Norris), Lifting machines, and free weights.  The three of us usually stick to the treadmills, I get on the dip machine every once in a while just to keep the strength up.

Did I mention the basketball court? Apparently Eskimo's like playing basketball.  So, my buddy Joe kept bugging me to play with him.  So last week, I did it.  I played basketball for the first time since 5th grade, right here in the Ilisagvik College Gym.  I had an illustrious 5th grade season- I took exactly 1 shot and missed.  0 points on the year.  Not surprisingly, I quit.  And I'm not sure I touched a basketball again until last week.

So, first Joe showed me the ropes, gave me some pointers on shooting and dribbling.  Then we played a 2 on 2 game, and all I learned went out the window.  However, I actually took more than 1 shot and I scored multiple times!! (seriously, Joe kept feeding me the rebounds to my bad shots, I had not choice but to keep shooting until I scored)  Then I quickly found out that if I wanted to win I should keep passing to Joe, he apparently never misses.  We laughed, had fun and played a few more games.  I'm a force to be reckoned with on defense...kind of.  Well, I'm better at defense than offense.  Either way I had a new cultural experience- who knew that I'd learn to shoot a basketball the right way from a Eskimo in Barrow, Alaska?

Stay Warm,

Peter

Inupiaq word of the day: Agviq (Aag- vik)- Bowhead whale

5 whales have been harvested by Barrow this year.  The lead (open water between shore-bound ice and polar ice) closed up yesterday, the crews are back in town for now.  As soon as the scouts give word that the lead has opened again, they'll go back out to attempt to fill the limit of 25 whales for the year.  What they don't fill in the spring they will harvest in the fall using more modern boats and equipment.