4th of July in Bethel

So it's back to work I go. Out to the villages.  First stop- Bethel for the Fourth of July.

Arrived at the office yesterday to pack up food and program supplies, got on our little caravan plane (held 14 passengers I think which is bigger than we usually fly) and arrived in the evening.  Staying in a dormitory of sorts so we actually have showers, beds and a kitchen.  Too bad it's only for a couple days.

Anyways, today was the Fourth of July, and in the YK Delta, Bethel is the place to be.  It's quite the party.  Well, not any sort of party folks back home would have any idea about, but for the villages, it's something else.

We borrowed a truck from a guy in town (we were told we could use it....as long as we could find it in the village and knew the hiding spot of the keys).  Spent last night and this morning decorating it and drove it in the parade.  This is a TINY town, but BIG village, if that makes any sense.  Anyways, the parade is quite the event.  I don't think anyone misses it.  My favorite float last year was the truck they put in neutral and had the sled dogs pull.  Unfortunately it wasn't in the parade this year.

This picture was from last year, but it was too good not to share.  It was to represent the Kuskokwim 300, a sled dog race that is, to my understanding, comparable to the Iditarod.

We drove through the town (only one is paved and none connect to anywhere else) throwing out little packets of cookies which people of all ages just loved.  And for the elders, we gave them full boxes of cookies. I wish you could all see their reactions and big smiles.  It's really a treat for them out here.  After the parade wrapped up and we gave away all the balloons off our truck and our extra cookies, we got to hang out a bit.  The 'festival' only takes a whopping 10-15 minutes to wander around but boy is it exciting- I mean you can get fried bread (one of my faves), aguruk (eskimo ice cream), guspuks (traditional yupik style shirt), food of all sorts (well, maybe not all, but as much as you'll ever see in a village), oh, and tons of useless crap (oriental trading style).  Oh, and I can't forget the silly string.  I'm pretty sure every kid goes through a minimum of 5 cans of the stuff!

See what I mean!

And the activities. Can't forget those.  There's the cup game in which there are all sorts of random cups stacked up and you throw tokens into them to win them.  Of course I had to waste a couple bucks at that.

 I think the Sandwich Fair back home should adopt this game! 

Notice the shirt the workers are wearing-  I had to giggle a bit when I saw a Yupik elder wearing one.  Ohhhhh the influence of Western culture.

Playing the cup game and rocking my guspuk I had custom sewn for me last summer.

I was sad that this year they didn't have the 'grease pole' ....  a giant cement pole is greased and a hundred dollar bill stuck to the top.... whatever kid makes it all the way up gets the moola....  Ok, I only think it was cool because it is so absurd... I mean really, that would only ever happen in a village out here.  It's so nerve racking to watch because it's so dangerous... the pole is really high!  Other activities include pull tabs, a kind of lottery ticket thing, a sad sort of situation really as the gambling and alcohol addicitons out here are really bad.  Then there's the raffles, which is the biggest thing of the day.  I mean, I entered a drawing in which first prize was a brand spanking new boat.  Thats right.  A fishing boat that costs a fortune out here.  There were tons of other raffles and prizes too and everyone waits the entire day to see who wins them. I had my fingers crossed for the roundtrip Alaska Airlines ticket but it wasn't my lucky day. Meanwhile, there's a stage (on a flat bed truck) in which local bands and musicians play.  My favorite of the day was "Frozen White Fish"- kind of sounded Jack Johnson-ish but in Yupik.  The Yupik gospel singing is pretty entertaining as well.... sort of.  After having our fill of the days activities, we took over a picnic table and invited kids over for face painting and a fourth of july hair tie craft.  Kids love it and we don't charge a penny so they can all partake.  We just put in our plugs for our organization... after all this is our biggest publicity event for the YK delta.  Feels good to be working with kids again, especially little Yupik ones.  As I was painting, I quickly remembered how sweet they are.  So shy to you at first, not saying anything (really, anything...they say yes by opening their eyes really wide and that is often the only respose you'll get out of them for the first couple minutes).  But they are kids and by the end of any week program they are so comfortable with you that you can't get them to be quiet. Or to stop giggling.  Humor is really valued in their culture.

My Alaskan flag face paint.  I'm 10 yrs old at heart.

Hello Kitty!  But really what I love are those sewn in earrings.  I totally want some.

There was also a 'throwing party' for the women.  I guess it has some history/tradition to it but I didn't really figure it out.  Anyways, during the throwing party they throw out free stuff into the crowd.  You catch it and it's yours- I scored some gloves. 

We wrapped up the day and for an evening activity went out to the river to watch them unload the barge for about an hour.  Yep, that's how exciting this place is.  Watching them slowly unload a gigantic barge.  Quite fascinating really.  I wanted to see them get that dump truck off the top so bad but we had to get ready to fly out.

Tomorrow me and another staff member are heading to the village of Chevak.  Originally I was supposed to go to Toksook Bay and I'm sad I won't see all the girls I worked with there last summer but am excited that I get to go to a new village.