Barrow in October

Barrow is the northernmost city in Alaska. It was the first stop on our "vacation" because the Fall Presbytery meeting was held there. When you live in Alaska, you think of Barrow as way out there, but we experienced some culture shock upon landing! They had cars and paved roads, a full-size grocery with fresh produce and city buses! I knew these things before arriving, but it was still an experience to see it first hand right out of Savoonga. We had a nice weekend. A group of native pastors from Taiwan attended the meetings and the boys and I were invited to go sightseeing with them while Jacob stayed for the meetings. I know from talking to people who have lived in Barrow that it can be a hard place to live...issues of alcoholism, abuse, suicides, etc., but it also has a rich cultural identity and a lot of health in different segments of its population. Of the 4000+ people who live there, 40 some ethnic groups are represented. We were able to mesh with some of them. Of course the only photos I captured were at the playground:) Maybe you can see the city in the background.