This is Tongass Voices, a series from KTOO sharing weekly perspectives from the homelands of the Áak’w Kwáan and beyond.
Every summer, the docks of downtown Juneau are packed with tourists. Among the visitors are people like Diosdado Valdez, who prepares the onboard entertainment for one of the cruise ship companies. Valdez has been coming to Juneau for over 30 years, and in that time, he’s found another family off the ship.
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This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Diosdado Valdez: Yeah, I am Diosdado, just Diosdado Valdez from the Philippines. Yeah, we are in a cruise ship in Juneau. And, you know, I love Juneau. I’ve been coming here since 1993.
I have a very good friend. He was my friend at home. He asked me if I want to come to work with him, also. So I said, ‘why not?’ At first, I said, ‘only one contract.’ But then when I started, then I realized, this is the job I wanted.
I am a production manager, and I’ve been working for this company for almost 32 years now. We are in charge of the show. If we have a comedian today, so that’s for the night. And on the daytime, there are daytime activities that we need to do.
I go home after each contract in the Philippines. I live in Mindanao, that is in Bukidnon. I work for six months, and then get to go home for two to three months, then back to work again.
When I started here, there is this oriental restaurant there, and the owner of that became my friend. Every time I get to Juneau, I do the dishwashing because I want, I just like to be with them. And he loves that, too. And every time I come back to the ship, I get food. He gave me food because he owns the restaurant. Play billiard, and karaoke. You know, karaoke is the most fun. That’s all I want to have when I’m in Juneau, just to see my friends.
Tasha Elizarde: Can you tell me about the first friend that you made when you started working on the cruise ships?
She is a local. We just met like, walking on the street. They kept asking me to go with them on that tram. I said, ‘Can we do it next time?’ Until this time, we haven’t been there. Yes, for years now. I admit that maybe I’m lazy.
Since then, until this time, we are friends. Her son is my godson. And I love coming back here because of the people in Juneau. Hospitable, nice, friendly. The Juneau family is my family.