9 September, 1999

Anuhea kamakele

9/09/99 Fairbanks, Alaska

Hi! Well I'm in Fairbanks and the weather here is so good I really like it alot. We've actually seen sun probably for the first time in maybe a weak and it just feels so good and there's hardly any wind here but the air is still cold. It's really not to bad.

Back in Barrow we did presentations to 4 high school classes 3 elementary classes and a cultural center. The students there were actually terrific. They weren't rude, they paid attention alot, and they seemed very interested. Me, Michele, Rita, and Dan talked about some of the things that we did in Cold Bay (about the Steller's Eiders) and I talked about some of the things we do in Hawaii nut mostly I talked about the Hawaiian Studies Program. And they were really interested in that. It was really good to tell them some of the culturals we have and how we hunt. I even told them about Hunters Education that we're taking that class for science and learning the proper way to hunt and all the safety that there is about handling guns, what type of different birds thereand about violation. Some of the teachers up there said they would want is, that kind of stuffs there. I also told them about what we do on Thursdays. They said they wished they had that when they were going to school. Michele said that the reporter who was there was really empressed with me which is really good. So he's going to write an arctical about me back in Cold Bay. I even went four wheeling with Robert. He was the guy who took us around and gave us a tour. So he tought he should take us out the North point on four wheelers and give us a tour there. That point is the farthest northern point in all of North America and Michele told me that so she's probably right. We found Baleen which was unusual. Baleen is what the whales catch there food in which are smaller than shrimp it's called Krill. And there's like alot of baleen on a whale usually Bow Head or Hump Back. So I'm really having a food time here in Alaska and I just want to thank the Natural Science Foundation, the North Slope Borough, Arcus, and Fish & Wild Life Servies who made this possible. And also I would like to thank my teaches back at Waianae High School who got together and picked a student out of 67 to go to Alaska and me for being the most fortunate one got to go and I'm really really thankful for them. Because this is probably a once and a life time trip and I usually don't go off the island to much so I'm glad I got to go. There is also so very nice people I met up here and in Cold Bay they are Linda, Ray, Ray, Tracy, Jim, the only teacher Lorie, Mike, Rick, and of course John who really opened hearted. There was also Mike Mahi the chef, his future wife Vallery, and Abe aho were the people from Hawaii. In Barrow there was Rita, Dan, Leslie Boen, some of the teachers and students, Benny, Glenn, and most of all Robert Suydam who took us all over the place and also being the kindest man I met. And the reporters And other people taht came to the cultural center. In Fairbanks Renee who is one of the nicest ladies there is, Tim, Steve who's letting us stay at the B & B, Phil who I haven't met yet and all the people who are involed! I have to go now.

A HUI HOU!!!