Woke up early in Bethel to go for a run as I knew it might be my last opportunity to do so for a few days. Plus, I love running on the boardwalks for some reason. Boardwalks you ask?! Most of the village is on permafrost/ tundra so everything has to be built above ground. Houses and buildings are all on stilts and the sidewalks are all boardwalks. Since Bethel is a village hub it’s bigger and you can actually accumulate some distance whereas other villages there really isn't anywhere to run to.
That's me running on a boardwalk. Last year I was telling my boss about the article in Runner's World magazine that highlights some amazing place or trail to run and how I felt like this place should be one because it's so unique. She insisted that we staged a photo and tried sending it in.... we did the amateur photo....just not the actual sending it in part.
Packed up and hit the airport. It’s not like airports most people know- no security or anything. The pilot just walks in says where he’s flying and you go walk on the plane with him. It was only an 8 seater caravan thing. I like flying. A lot. It’s quite amazing flying in rural alaska too- you really start to get a sense of how big this state really is. It took us about an hour and a half of flying through the middle of nowhere (the plane flys low enough you can always see) and it seems like you have flown so far and then you look at a map and you’ve gone a teeny tiny distance. It’s really hard to understand how big this state really is.
That was our plane. Nice and cozy.
Made it to Chevak safely and had our contact here pick us up in his pickup. It works a bit different in the villages. We pulled our stuff from the plane, tossed it in the pickup and climbed in the back. I love it- only in this job would I ride jump in the back of a pickup to get to work. On our way all the kids in the village smile so big and wave and say Hi to you. They are pretty excited when we get to town. Settled into our new ‘home’- an office in the school building with a teacher’s lounge for a kitchen- and then went for a walk through the village. We chatted with the kids to find out what was going on in town- turns out another kids program and a bible camp is going to be here during our time- so we will have some competition in getting kids. But really I’m ok with it- I’d rather have less girls and really get to know them than to have a bunch and it be crazy all day. As we were walking around I was surprised by all the cute little puppies- they are EVERYWHERE. Apparently this isn't uncommon in villages, there are just dogs all over. At least they are all friendly. I want to adopt them all.
Some of the kids showing me their puppies.
If you walk around a village- you WILL by bombarded by adorable puppies and children.
Had lots of down time in the evening after planning for tomorrow- did some artwork, listened to a book (I’ve been doing the audio thing rather than actual reading- less to carry and I can draw at the same time), hung out with my staff partner, visited with the other group that’s here, found some internet (hooray!), listened to the local radio station (it’s fabulously interesting and I couldn’t help but be a bit giddy when they announced our program is this week), and now, it’s time for bed. Camp in the AM- Yay!
No comments:
Post a Comment