¡Hola Alaska!

 A new TV show to discover Alaska’s Latinos

by GRACE ANDERSON

Living in Alaska, for me, has always been a challenge: the cold, the snow, the ice, the long winters and the short summer, and the mosquitos the size of airplanes, and even so, I chose to continue to live here. Why is that? Every time I go to the store, and I see people who are obviously from a different country, or who are speaking strange languages, I always ask myself the same thing, what is it that brought them to Alaska? Why did they decide to leave their country to come to this place so far away and so isolated? And more importantly, why did they stay?

My story is a little different. My father is Alaska Native, born on the island of Kodiak, but at the age of 12 his mother took him to live in Spain and there he met my mother, a Spaniard, and that is where my story begins. I was born in Barcelona, and during my childhood I lived between Spain and Alaska. I was literally raised between two very different cultures.
As a child I realized that I was not that unique, that there were a lot of people that were like me, that lived with two cultures at home and that spoke two languages and I always wanted to know what it was that brought them here to Alaska.

Now I am fortunate enough to host a television show here in Alaska called TV Hola Alaska. My goal is to give all Spanish speaking people who have chosen to live in Alaska the opportunity to share their stories, their adventures, their recipes, and their photos. I want to share their happenings, events, and experiences from all our countries so that we can see that, even though we speak the same language, we continue to be individuals with unique traditions and habits. I still want to know why people chose to live in this state that is so exotic and far away from the rest of the world. I also want to learn, enjoy, and share news, ideas, and information with our Hispanic community in Alaska.

I would love it if you would join me on this journey through Alaska and share with me your stories, adventures, and happenings.

TV Hola Alaska airs on Saturdays at 5pm on Telemundo.