Stuck in Dutch Harbor and eating lunch

 Ralph and I made it to Dutch Harbor and looks like all flights this evening are going to be cancelled. All checked in to the Grand Aleutian Hotel.

We are sitting in the resturant and our neighboting table is the Sig Hansen (from the F/V Northwestern and Deadliest Catch) family and some boat crew members. 

But guess what folks, they are doing the same things you and I do at a family lunch. Eating, laughing, joking, and enjoying each other. They all are cordial and friendly and deep down just people.

As professional courtesy I introduced myself, I thought introducing Ralph might be a stretch. I told him who I was and what I was doing in Dutch. Since he is currently filming for Deadliest Catch, we wanted him to see what we were going to post to verify we would not be doing anything contrary to his contractual obligations. He approved the text and offered to get a family member to take our picture.

Ralph and I are sharing this to remind all of ya’ll that they are “just folks”.

Special thanks to the Hansen family and crew.

Follow them on Deadliest Catch!

Remember, take care of yourself and each other.

T and Ralph

Continuing to learn about different cultures everyday

 Good morning!

Ralph and I are nearing the end of this evolution in Alaska. You have read, and hopefully learned, about our interaction with a multitude of cultures as we work in rural and remote places. Each day is a welcomed cultural learning opportunity for us. At our current assignment, we are blessed to be learning and interacting with plant staff from 15 different cultures and backgrounds. This morning Ralph and I had blintz for breakfast. We heard some of you say: "a what?". So let's take this opportunity to learn about cultural things. 

First off, what is a blintz and where do they come from. Well, blintz are a large component in the Jewish culture. A cheese blintz (Hebrew: חֲבִיתִית; Yiddish: בלינצע) is a rolled filled pancake in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine, in essence a wrap based on a crepe or Russian blini. Traditional blintzes are filled with sweetened cheese, sometimes with the addition of raisins, or fruit preserves and then slightly sautéed.  Blintzes represent foods that are now considered typically Jewish, and exemplify the changes in foods that Jews adopted from their Christian neighbors. If the blintzes are served at Passover, matzo meal is used instead of flour.

While we are at it, do any of the non Jewish readers know the major Jewish holidays? Most Jewish holidays are religious holidays observed in Judaism based on the biblical mitzvot and rabbinic mandates. The major Jewish holidays in order from the start of the Hebrew calendar are:

• Rosh Hashanah
• Yom Kippur
• Sukkot
• Shemini Atzeret
• Simchat Torah
• Chanukah (Hanukkah)
• Purim
• Pesach
• Shavuot
• Tish-a B’Av

For the Jewish people around the world, these are 10 of the most important Jewish holidays. Shabbat, which is a day of rest celebrated on the seventh day of the week, is also given the status of a holiday. Rosh Chodesh is a minor observance, occurring on the first day of  each month of the Jewish calendar.

Link to explanation of the Jewish calendar.

Ralph and I get asked all the time: "how do you get so much information about so many things?" The answer to that is simple: we interact with individuals and groups from all over the world, we are naturally curious, we actually talk to people and ask questions, and we definitely are not bashful.

We hope ya'll have a very blessed day.

Till next blog,

T and Ralph