Out on the Tundra and Berry Picking with the Dogs

Today I decided to take all the puppy dogs out on the tundra across the street.  I brought the two little ones out first, and then noticed that there were salmonberries and blueberries, so when I brought them back in and grabbed the big dog I grabbed a ziploc to put berries in.

Walking in tundra is very difficult, especially after it rains.  It's wet and soft and deceiving.  You may think you are stepping on firm ground, but then you sink down a few inches, or step into water!

Little dogs Snickers and Sea Biscuit on the tundra!

:)

The tundra is covered in berry bushes.  Sometimes you have to walk through them as if they were grass.

These are what salmonberries look like.  I haven't found too many of them (just two ripe ones today and one that wasn't ready yet)

Ruffian hanging out in the tundra cotton

Laying down in a field of tundra cotton after running through the tundra with the dogs.  This part wasn't anything special to lay down in because it was firmer than some other parts, but the really spongy, wet mattress stuff is so nice to sit in. 
I didn't get a whole lot of berries because it was kind of swampy where I was.  I'm going to try to go pick soem in the tundra behind the college tomorrow!

Living off the tundra...life is good!  Salmon in the freezer, berries in the fridge, just have to find some stuff to  make tea out of!!

Don't forget...

...to plug your car in.

They have outlets outside of a lot of parking lots.  They're to plus your car into in the winter so that the engine doesn't freeze/so that you can start your car.  All the cars (or at least most of them) have plugs hanging out from under the hood.

Yukon Delta Wildlife Refuge

Today I went to the visitor's center at the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge.  The refuge is 19 million acres, or about 6 times the size of Connecticut (~3.5 million acres).

The visitor's center was really nice.  Here are some pictures that I took:

It means something like "Thank you for coming" in Yup'ik.  Quyana means "thank you".

stuffed stuff and salmons

cross-section of the soil.   On the side it says "Wet soil", "Peat", "Leach layers" and then the gray layer on the bottom is permafrost. 

Topographical map of the area.  It's pretty flat.

There's Bethel!  On the Kuskokwim.

Stories from the Past: Wooden Bowls

A Cup'ik man told me this story today while I was visiting the museum exhibit down the hall:

"I used to have a carved wooden bowl like this one when I was a boy.  Then these outsiders came in.  They came and looked at my bowl, cleaned it out, and then gave me money for it! [laughs]  I haven't seen one like it until now."

Wooden bowls on display in the museum

Reduce, Reuse, Go to Anchorage

Going into town?  You can add "recycling" on your list of things to do.  Bethel no longer has recycling facilities.  When I was throwing out a plastic bottle (don't judge me!), someone stopped me and said "Oh I'll recycle that for you!". 

I was surprised and replied, "I didn't think they had recycling in Bethel."

"They don't, but I'm going into town next week."

Midnight Sun

The sun started setting around 11:30 tonight (although you couldn't really see it because the sky has been covered with clouds for the past week).  This is the darkest I've seen it in Alaska, besides my flight in.

Gutting my First Fish

If you're friends with me on facebook, you got an early preview of this story.

Previously I had posted a picture of a "free fish" sign.  Today I gutted two of those fish.  When counting fish, sometimes the Fish and Game guys net some and then put them into giant coolers with signs that say "free fish" on them.

I went to a quilting retreat (again) today and finished the body of my bag and talked to some more people about my project ("networking").  A member of the Kuskokwim Quilters group from the Virgin Islands took me under her wing and helped me with my machine sewing...AND she's left handed.  But I digress, this is a story about fish.

Another one of the members offered me a ride home.  As we pulled down the street that I live on, we saw another member getting fish out of the huge cooler and when she saw us she waved us over.  The person driving me home picked up two fish, and asked me if I had ever gutted a fish before.  I said no, and she told me how to do it and that I should really come back and pick up a couple of fish.

Five minutes later she was knocking on my door with two chum salmon in a box.  There were a lot of people picking up fish and she didn't want me to miss out.

With her verbal instructions, an about.com article, and my Alaskan roommate's guidance, I gutted, steaked and filleted my first salmon.  I made salmon steaks for dinner (with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and an herb mix) and they came out pretty good!

box o' fish

Fish #1

gutted and sliced. traditional Yup'ik Eskimo Ulu knife in the bottom left hand corner

Tada!  Salmon steaks

Hoping to go picking salmonberries, blueberries and chamomile tomorrow!

Buying Milk in Rural Alaska

Milk is expensive here.  It used to be almost $10, but then they started buying from Kirkland and the prices went down.  During that time someone jokingly told me that he was trying to figure out a way to drink diesel fuel instead since it ws $3 cheaper.

Right now milk is about $6.99 a gallon.

Swanson's is right next to church, so a lot of people stop by there after Mass to buy groceries.  Today I found Milk on sale for $2.99!  That's 42% off!

Why was it on sale?

I was already told by people to look for milk on sale or that was free.  There is a period of time right before and right after it expires that it's on sale (like now).  If they still have some in a couple of days or so it will probably be free.  Some people stock up on milk that goes on sale and freeze it.  They say it's good for at least a week or two after the best buy date.  It makes you wonder what the best buy date actually means, or if people here have just been conditioned to drink less-than-great milk.

Unfortunately, when you live in an impoverished rural community and you take an oath of poverty for a year your choices are limited.  I'll be surpised if I buy full-priced milk all that often.

Church and Around Bethel

Walked to Mass this morning.  I think it would make an interesting analysis to go to different Catholic churches all over the country and analyze what the prayers of the faithful are.  Here, they are more focused on the poor, the hungry, and bringing in good (fish and hunting) harvests.  The peace be with you difference was even more so apparent today because there were more people.  People literally get out of the pews and move around.  It is noisy.  The priest(s) shake hands with most of the congragation.  Today I had someone tap me on my back so he could shake my hand.  I don't even know where he was sitting!  Another huge difference was that the Our Father was said in Yup'ik!  I'll have to learn the words. 

Here are some pictures from around Bethel that I took on my walk back:

Bush Lawyers Seving Bush Alaska

Alaska Vocab Lesson: Tundra

I know you're probably saying "I already know what the tundra is", but it is much more than the biome you half-learned about in fifth grade.

Any wildly grown area is tundra.  Kind of like how back home in Connecticut we have woods or fields.  The tundra does not just have permafrost and lichen, it has scrub brush and is full of little flowers like fireweed and tundra grass (what the title picture is on the top of the blog), and berry bushes.  There is tundra outside of the "city limits", in people's backyards, in between buildings and developments, etc.

The tundra is also WET and swampy because of the muskeg.  Hence all the bugs (which have thankfully been low since I got here).  You have to wear boots when you walk through tundra, preferably high ones. 

Muskeg is essentially a bog and is what the tundra is covered with.  According to people on the internet, walking through muskeg is a lot like walking on a wet mattress.  So far, so true.  Between 1 to 2 feet down (maybe even less) is permafrost.


Example:

"I went berry picking on the tundra."

"Did you check the tundra behind the cultural center?"

Bethel Quilting Retreat

Today was pretty boring.  Snickers and I cuddled on the couch and watched some of the Olympics while I ate more pilot bread with PB&J.

This evening I went to another quilting retreat.  They were making bags tonight, and I started mine:

Pilot Bread

Yesterday I went to the AC and bought pilot bread.  I had heard people talking about it and how you can eat anything on pilot bread, it was like a big cracker, etc.  It  is also cheaper than bread (you don't even want to know what that costs).

My first shock was that pilot bread was round and tastes nothing like a cracker.  It is made to last a long time, and is also called "hard tack".  Someone told me that "supposedly pilot bread tastes like a saltine when it goes stale, but I've never seen pilot bread go stale".

Alfred Hitchcock & Dinner

Last night, three of us had girls night over a friends house.  The theme was "local foods" and we had moose burgers, food from the local farm and from the organic food shipments we get, and you guessed it:

Salmon.  Anne brought crackers, greek yogurt, and lox that she had made (Andi provided the basil).  Delish.

We talked about birds a lot (including the Alfred Hitchcock movie) because Andi and her husband have birds of prety, and because we were talking about ravens a lot.  Another friend of theirs is opening up a quilt shop, named "Raven Fabrics".  In September there is an auction called the "Steel Salmon and Raven Auction", where local artisans decorate/paint/sculpt a steel salmon or raven form, and then auction them off to raise money for scholarships.

I got the salmon part, but I could not understand why everyone here was obsessed with ravens.  Weren't they just crows?

No.

Ravens are huge.  And scary.  And I don't have any pictures of them because everytime I see one fly I fall out of my seat.  They are the size of hawks, and like most western Alaskans prefer wilder areas.

I also have to decorate one for the auction, so if anyone has any ideas let me know!

Herbal Healing

Today when I got home I got a call from my friend Anne who asked me if I wanted to go to an herbal healing class at the local farm (I said yes).

The class was really interesting because it taught you how to use plants you can find on the tundra to make teas and such for healing.  It turns out that chamomile grows wild here!

At the end of the class we did a directed meditation where the leader asked us to focus on what was ailing us (my hips, huge surprise), and then use our intuition to pick a base oil and then drops of essential oils.

First I picked callendula infused jojoba oil and added drops of lavender, birch, nerolina, and ravensare oil to it.  Our homework was to go home and see what each essential oil does.

Lavender:  calming and soothing
Birch: stimulates bone growth and heals decalcification and bones spurs
Nerolina:  digestive system tonic
Ravensare: releases tension and pain in muscles

Incase my intuition was off or my concoction doesn't work, Anne is a physical therapist so I have her for backup.

How Big is Alaska?

I think this will be a new reacurring segment.  It's hard to understand how big Alaska is since they always shrink it on maps, so I will try to put it into relatable sizes.  In another post I mentioned that the area that I'm serving in is the size of Illinois (some say it's more like the size of Oregon).

Here's one that I think is easier to comprehend:

Distance between Bethel and Anchorage: 403.1 miles

Distance between Hartford and Washington DC:  348.1 miles

Now to pretend that you were living in Bethel (instead of the Hartford area) and to understand how remote it is, you'd have to pretend that Washington DC had the next closest hospital, as well as the closest Wal-Mart, Costco, REI, Best Buy, etc to you.

Scary Noise

So I'm sitting in the house and there's this crazy noise that consists of scraping and banging and quite honestly I don't want to get up because I really don't want to know if a bear is going to eat me or if there's a moose on the rampage or something.  I just don't. 

So I just sit in my comfy bed and pretend that I don't hear it.

But I do hear it and the more I listen to it I realize what is going on:  water is being delivered.

Only in Alaska.

Berry Picking and Slides

On my way home from work I decided to stop by the Girl Scout camp because I had told them earlier this week that I'd like to help them out.  I also figured it'd help me get to know more kids (and their parents) in the community.  We ended up going blueberry picking out on the tundra.

I had met one of the moms and her daughter earlier in the week when one of my supervisors was bringing me around town to meet people.  She asked me what I was doing, and when I said nothing really she invited me to go to dinner over her house (and to go running, which I tried to decline as politely as I could.  I don't run on roads, on tracks, on treadmills, on the beach, or on the tundra.  At least I'm consistent?). 

The Klejka family is very nice.  Beyond nice.  They are also a dog mushing family, and two of their (7) kids have WON the Junior Iditorod.  We got pizza, and afterwards Father Chuck and Father Juan Pablo came over to do some house visits.

This is how I left their house:

They have two slides coming off of their deck.  Coolest family ever.

Walk to Blueberry

Today was pretty random.  I took a walk to Blueberry (a subdivision in town that is by the airport) to go over to someone's house, but they weren't there.  Should have called first!  It was fine because I needed to mail some letters and the post office is by Blueberry, as is the GCI store (the cell phone service provider). 

I did not get a cellphone, and it's kind of a sore subject.

This, however, was my walk to Blueberry from the Cultural Center:

This is a mural on the cultural center



And this is where I'm headed!  To Blueberry which is across the bridge and down the road a little bit from the hospital.  That bridge connects and is a shortcut between the college and hospital.



Fist you have to go past the college and the dorm (pictured)





Now we're on the bridge.  Better hold on because it sways a little in the tundra wind.

This is a view from the bridge of City Sub(division)

The hospital!  It used to be called the Yellow Submarine when it was painted yellow.  Some people still call it that.

The post office!

A street in Blueberry!

Alaska Vocab Lesson: Bug Dope

Bug dope is bug spray.  Hopefully bug spray that was made with a lot of deet.  Even though it's cold here, there are a lot of bugs because there is a lot of standing water.  I haven't seen anything too crazy yet, but then again I haven't gone out on a boat or trekking through the tundra yet.

I was told by someone who lives in the Interior to not even try bringing stuff that doesn't have deet in it.


example: "Be sure to put on bug dope before you go out on the tundra!"

Celebrity Sitting

I'm supposed to be living in a dorm room for my year of service, but the dorm is currently going under renovations so they thought I'd be more comfortable if I wasn't there.  I lived with my supervisor for a while, and then I got asked to house and dogsit for a local professor.  The professor and dogs went viral last year during the Occupy Wallstreet protests. 




The dogs are all adopted rescues.  The black one (Seabiscuit) acts more like a cat than a dog.  The big one is Ruffian and is the son of sleddogs.  The grey schnauzer is Snickers and is my best friend.  He feels more like an expensive teddy bear than a dog.

A guy from Anchorage is also staying here but I don't see him much.  They thought it would be good for me to stay with people my age so I can get to know more people in the area.  Knowing people here makes or breaks you:  if you know people and build strong relationships you have a chance of retaining your sanity and surviving.  Everyone helps everyone.  If you don't get to know people, you are le screwed. 

I can't really say anything bad about him because he made me coffee yesterday morning and last night made me dinner (see "Thanks for All the Fish").

Last night I took the hounds for a walk around the neighborhood, and honestly having to take care of dogs is making the transition a million times better.  I hung around for a little bit and then someone who works next door to me picked me up and brought me to one of the softball games.  A  lot of people my age play softball in a local league, so it was a good place to meet some people.

The view from behind the softball fields

Today I need to get some stuff done in the office, then I need to go do some things around town for my project.  I'm also going to try and stop by my supervisors house to borrow a pair of boots so I can go walking through the tundra.  The tundra is very wet and swampy so you need tall boots and lots of bug dope.

Thanks for All the Fish

Salmon, it's what's for....every meal.

Rice, Salmon, Brocoli and Salmon

Posting Comments

Hey guys, I just played around with some of the set up stuff and made it easier for you to post comments.

i.e. please post comments.


-m.e.b.t

Around Bethel

Here are just some pictures from around Bethel:

They have boardwalks that go to different places.  This is one of the longer ones that goes from the college to the hospital.

Saw this sign while going for a walk

boardwalks

One of the dumpsters that's in the YP Cultural Center parking lot

The seal on the government building

A dumpster that is painted about family planning and birth control.

Rush hour traffic.

The cemetary