Moving from a village of 600 to Anchorage was definitely a dramatic change. Before, I only ate at home or in a relatives house, suddenly there was a plethora of restaurants to choose from ( I did not know what most of the food was either). In the village, the only option to shop for school clothes was to do so from a catalog, now there were malls, and shops EVERYWHERE.

I grew used to having to go to a public laundromat and paying out the butt to take a shower (not daily either), now I was free to shower whenever and as often as I wanted.

At home I could walk from one end of town to the other in under fifteen minutes, now I had to find some type of transportation for everything I wanted or needed to do, and was often lost.

While this was all new and exciting, I soon began to miss the things that I had spent all of my life doing and eating. I missed walking next door to Gramma’s house and eating her yummy bread. I missed eating fresh whale and fish. I missed the potlatches and the basketball games. I missed all of my cousin’s being there whenever I needed or wanted to see them. I missed listening to the VHF (lol).

With this being said, what are the things you miss most about being in the village? For my reader’s in the village, what do you wish were available that people in the city have easy access to?

I look forward to reading your replies. Quyana tailuten atam tang’rrciqamken! (thank you for coming)

( I would love to see photo’s of your villages or your favorite foods in the village!)