tricia ward. photographer. dillingham, alaska.
i just got back from getting coffee at bristol. driving back up the hill, i looked at the scenery. the lush green tundra and mountains on the horizon. the breeze dancing with the leaves. families and fishermen walking on the bike path by the boat harbor. such a perfect morning.
work is chilled out this morning. nels and dorothy found me and i’m going to dinner with them this evening. ulu came and showered, i haven’t seen her in so long because i’ve been so busy at work! i should start thinking about my return flight, i need to be back in seattle august 2nd by the latest. and hopefully i can afford a new macbook with my pay raise before germany.
all in all, a good day so far.
into the world
connie has a blog. she’s in taiwan teaching english to kids for a year. good stuff.
i got a raise today. because i’m cool like that.
it’s strange. i used to update my blog pretty much every day. but not having my normal tools at hand (good computer, photo editing and organizing capabilities, a decent internet connection) leaves me with only my thoughts.
hmmm. so the past few days. where should i start? well, corey’s been here. i just took him to bristol bay air, he’s catching a ride with john to ekuk and will be back in a week or so. he’s going to have such an amazing journey, hitching rides with various boats. he’s basically taking pictures of the fishing life here. he took norm’s portrait this morning, terry and the gypsy corner boy’s last night. those were all for outside magazine and it sounds like he has most of that assignment done. the rest of the time he’s taking photos for his own collection and also looking for a set net site because he wants to start fishing in bristol bay. it’s been so inspiring being around him, being around a real photographer. he’s so down to earth and cool too. i’m glad we’re friends.
the lame part is that i’ve been sick. i wanted so badly to hang around him as he was working, but the dust from driving back and forth on wood river has killed my throat and nose. i’m finally starting to feel better, even good enough to drink cheap beer out of a can as i type.
i was struck by inspiration this morning. i was pondering my future after germany and i realized that i should just go learn arabic in egypt. i’ve looked into it before a few years ago and found some decent schools in cairo. arabic would be such a great language to learn too with the current state of the world. plus i’m obsessed with war photography and i would love to just take pictures in the middle east.
all my columbians and ukrainians started working and i miss them. it’s lonely having people either working or sleeping. juan told me that he’s working at leader creek in naknek processing fish. he’s doing 24 hour shifts! that’s insane! at least he’s making money though, poor boy needs it.
so that’s basically what’s been running through my head lately. this sickness has really sucked, i’ve had no energy to take pictures and i’m feeling so not like myself. i think i’ll break out the camera tomorrow if i’m feeling better. hopefully so, this morning was the least sick i’ve felt all week.
alright. ulu and aria just pulled up. adios.
we finally got wireless internet at bingman’s and ulu loaned me her old ibook so i could have a computer. i have spent the majority of the past two days waiting for safari to unfreeze while checking my email. corey arnold (of deadliest catch fame) is crashing with me thursday. he’s coming to take pictures for outside magazine. he’s one of my favorite photographers ever. i hope he takes my portrait. tumblr looks awful on this computer. everything is screwed up. i have a cool new pair of glasses that we randomly found at ulu’s house. some random guy from columbia just called for one of the kids and i couldn’t understand a word he was saying. same thing happened last night. today has been kind of a daze because i took a bunch of dayquil for my cold. aria made me a blt this afternoon. alright, that’s enough ramblings for tonight.
ulu and i got ahold of him in anchorage. we called every hostel and finally found the one he was staying at. he wasn’t there, but we left a message and he called ulu back after i left her house. we’re hooking him up with
cristy and
matt crimp (who’s been in south america all winter and is so excited to meet him), so hopefully he can find a job in alaska to earn some cash before heading back to columbia. i’m so happy we were able to help him out, poor kid……
my wonderful friend juan camillo was thrown in jail yesterday because he bought beer for two ukrainian boys who are 20 years old. he was busted by an undercover police officer who lied to him, he told juan that if he ratted out the ukrainians, juan would be let free. so juan told him but was still arrested. we found out today that juan is lucky because his visa is not being affected, but he does have to leave dillingham.
this is such a ridiculous situation. why is the united states drinking age 21? everywhere else in the world it’s 18. these guys are not crazy drinkers, all they do is drink a little, chainsmoke and play soccer. they’re responsible but still have fun because that’s how their culture is. it’s the dillinghamers who get crazy and beat people up or rape women in the boat harbor when they’re drunk. juan is an incredible person, he’s kind and helpful and full of life and love. and worst of all, he came to dillingham to work! but none of them can because the fish aren’t here yet.
at this point, there’s nothing i can do and that makes me sad. i’m so frusterated by small town police who have nothing better to do than harass good, responsible people. i respect the law, so do all the people i’m living with, and so does juan who accepted his consequences. it’s just a really sad situation and i am extremely fed up with american culture.
my life is so surreal right now. people ask me what i’m doing and where i’ve been and where i’m going, i tell them snopac, seattle and germany and they’re just kind of dumbfounded. i met the new bay times editor, she’s hanging out with me and the columbians tonight. she wants to do a story on the international students who come here to work in the canneries. last night we packed 30 people into the tiny apartments and had an awesome dance party. yesterday afternoon learned how to drive a school bus. all these random things i’ve been experiencing is mind boggling. it’s overwhelming and exciting and hilarious. i’m so happy i left seattle, it was bad for my soul. i’m young and i have nothing to tie me down, why should i settle for a life of monotony? i wake up smiling nowadays instead of dreading the daily grind.
ahhhhhh, but tonight i need to sleep. i’m too tired today, woozy from all the colors and sounds and smells of the world. adios.
i haven’t been updating because i’m back in alaska with not much internet. i’m living with 80 ukrainians, columbians and thais at the moment. i head to germany august 3rd. i’ve been taking a few pictures, but haven’t been able to do anything with them because i’m computerless at the moment. other than that, i think i’m getting a cold and that sucks the big one. dillingham is crazy and awesome as usual and it’s trippy knowing the summer has only just begun. hopefully i’ll get a chance to upload some stuff or post some pictures soon, but i make no promises. adios.
