Welcome to the last frontier

Hey y'all! I'm writing this from my couch in my cabin in Wasilla, AK. So I decided to start this blog so you can keep up with my crazy adventures in Alaska. It's my third day here now so I will give you a recap of my adventure so far.. Friday- When I woke up in the morning, I wasn't that nervous which was unusual since I operate at DefCon 5 anxiety on the regular. I got to the airport early..around 9:45 am because Pamdawg is an awesome driver, and there was absolutely no traffic. It was good that I got there early because my flight to Chicago was going to be delayed, and I got put on an earlier flight. Saying goodbye to my family was hard. I did my best not to cry because I knew if I started crying, I wouldn't stop. The flight to Chicago was fine, and I had a 4 hour layover which I spent watching Dexter and eating lunch. The 7 hour flight to Anchorage was not bad at all..mostly because the plane was pretty empty, and no one sat in the 2 seats next to me. I was able to stretch out and sleep as well as watch a couple of movies. After landing in Anchorage, I immediately knew I wasn't in Boston anymore...so many MEN...RUGGED MEN. At baggage claim, I got 3 out of my 4 bags and was waiting for my red suitcase when I noticed there was only 1 red suitcase left on the belt. It was not mine. Someone had accidentally taken my red suitcase instead...my red suitcase filled with my bras and underwear...typical. So to make a long story short, I had a mini breakdown, but United did an amazing job calling the woman who took the wrong suitcase and delivering my suitcase to me later that night. I can't say enough positive things about United...they were amazing. So after driving an hour in the rain to my cabin in Wasilla, I immediately fell asleep because my body was telling me it was 1:30 am. Saturday- I did a ton of unpacking and organizing. I went to Target as well as Walmart, and let me tell you...it is very different up here. People are very rugged and look like they just rolled in from the mountains. My cabin is in an awesome location..5-10 minutes to get to downtown Wasilla, but secluded enough that I feel like I'm really in Alaska. I will post pictures of it tomorrow. Anyways, everyone is super friendly, and the guy at the liquor store wanted to know my whole life story. I hung in Saturday night and fell asleep at 8. Sunday- Shit got real awkward when I strolled into Tailgaters (a local bar) to watch the Pats game at 9 am. Breakfast/drinking at the bar and watching the games is a thing around here, and I did not want to miss a Pats game. Anyways, I wore my Tom Brady shirt, and the whole bar went silent when I walked in. I was also the only single girl my age there...the youngest one there after me had a good 10-15 years on me. There was only 1 other Pats fan, and he hated Brady and was very vocal about it. A couple of the guys at the table next to me chatted with me a little bit, and they were really nice. I'm pretty sure some jaws dropped when I yelled "are you f*cking sh*tting me?!?!" when a bad penalty was called on the Pats. After the bar, I drove by one of the schools I'm going to be working at then spent the rest of the day hanging out and taking it easy. Today- 1st day of work! I had orientation with another traveler (OT) @ the Mat-Su district office, and everyone was super nice. On my drive there, I discovered the Alaska State Troopers station in Palmer..SO EXCITED. I got some phenomenal coffee at the Purple Moose which is this tiny little coffee place. There are a lot of those places in the Valley, and I'm pretty excited to get my coffee from those places vs. Starbucks. After orientation, I went to Teeland Middle School which is going to be one of the schools I'm at. Again, everyone was super nice and commented on the fact that I didn't sound like I was from Boston. I told them that I was modeling good speech/language skills. I can't wait for them to really hear my accent..usually it comes out when I'm talking to my family, when I'm excited, mad, or drunk. Tomorrow I will post some pictures of my cozy cabin in the woods and tell y'all more about the Valley. I miss everyone already!!! -B