So Many Firsts!

 I know, I haven't posted in a few days, but that's only because instead of sitting around, I've been out with friends having fun and/or getting wet. 

Let's see-I finished my first week of work on Friday.  Work has been really good and fulfilling and although it's daunting to realize that I'm supposed to be the competent one here, I think my brain is rising to the challenge.  I have my first big memo due a week from Tuesday, but I will probably be done in the next 1-2 days.  I also did my first tech edit this week (editing another clerk's and Bud's opinion before it goes out for voting and eventual publication).  Although I had a crash course in learning some quirky Alaska citations and other technical matters, I churned it out pretty quickly and felt like I was actually contributing to something and making productive comments.  All in all, it was a great week, but I was exhausted by Friday night (this whole "full-time" work week is tiring...who knew?).

Friday night, I learned to drive stick.   That's right, sometime this upcoming week, I'll have my very own car (I have decided to name it "Lester" because it looks like the creepy kind of vehicle where you could kidnap children and throw them in the back).  It is a 1992 Subaru (everyone here drives Subarus because they have all wheel drive and are good on the hills)...it will allegedly be very handy in winter because I can downshift on the hills and stay in control on the snowy mountain.   Anyhow, I'm sure I'll take a picture of the gem at some point.   I actually was amazingly good at driving stick (I was doing fine shifting right away and did not stall much).  After about 30 minutes into my "lesson," I was on the highway, driving myself to my friend's house.  I also made Daniel (the guy giving me the car) teach me about hills and other quirks.  He seemed pretty confident that after 2 days of driving, I'll be a pro.  Yay for new skills!

After a dinner with friends on Friday night, we went out to the bars.  Of course, this meant The Alaskan (which I'm realizing is pretty much the "cool" bar in town).   They had a really good live band playing swing?, jazz?, bluegrass?....some kind of fun dance music.  Obviously, I was busting out some pretty sweet moves.  The neat thing about the bars here is that there will be young people mixed in with older couples and people of all sorts of backgrounds and ages.  However, after a while, my friends and I had to stop dancing because the smell of BO became overwhelming.  (Apparently in Juneau, "dressing up to go out" means showering and people will often go out without even doing that.)

Here's a self-photographed snapshot from that night.  Sam and I were TOTALLY sober:

 

On Saturday, I had my first visit to the town recycling center (yes, you have to bring your recycling here, separate it and throw it into the appropriate piles).  I took this fab pic of the wall:

The sign says "all children must remain in vehicles at all times," but they let ME walk around and wreak havoc.  Sweet.

I also had some friends over for dinner at my place (now that it's set up and I have food).  I made my first soup of the year and although it turned out great, I REALLY miss that immersion blender (shout out to my former roommate Sarah Solomon).  I had to use the real blender and I made a huge mess in the kitchen....several messes, actually.  Eventually, I realized that I have to puree in shifts, not really filling the blender over a 1/4 of the way unless I wanted to cause steaming veggies to fly everywhere.  You live, you learn.  The end result was colorful and delicious:

I'm going hiking in the rain this afternoon (ice caves-woot).    As always, more to come!