Delta Dentistry

Had the great opportunity to meet 2 new dentists out of Kentucky that are also new to Bethel, but I wonder if they realize what they got themselves into. Dental care on the delta is poor to say the least. Most patients would rather have teeth extracted then to try and save them and very rarely consider brushing nonetheless flossing. However, the other day I was observing our pharmacy waiting area and saw a patient flossing his teeth. It rather surprised me at first, but then I realized that wasn't dental floss he was using; nope that was the handle on his plastic shopping bag. I'm sure that had the dentists seen this they might have fallen over on the floor. And while the effort is appreciated, the execution is a failure.

Time

There's an unexplainable phenomenon up here that anything plugged into an outlet with a clock will inevitably run fast. I set the clock on the stove when we arrived and now almost 2 weeks later it's already ~30minutes fast.

And yet the people up here all operate on "Alaska time"- another phenomenon that unless you call someone every day, it's on a super delay and will get done when they feel it's appropriate to get done not dependent on your sense of urgency.

Crash!

Another bit of life wisdom:

New friends don't appreciate it if you borrow their vehicles but then run over their driveway marker on your way out.

It's ok, nothing permanent other than loss of a driveway marker.

A story, as promised...

And to appease the appetites for stories:

Our first Alaskan adventure came upon us last Sunday after an unexpected invitation for a boat tour of the Kwethluk river. Now it wasn't nearly as bad as Gilligan and the Skipper had it, but it was an adventure. The day was overcast and somewhat chilly, but that didn't stop us from packing a cooler and heading out with friends; there was an enclosed nylon cabin on the boat to protect us from the elements. We set out with Kevin, the subsistence teacher at McCann house and soon to be Mr. to Beth another pharmacist. We picked up Beth from the Ponsness's (another pharmacist and his family) boat after they had camped overnight on a gravel bar. We continued our way up river to sight see and eventually were able to see Three-step, a local mountain; not snow-capped or pictursque like Alaska postcards, but a welcome change to the continual tundra scenery. Soon after we got hung up on a gravel bar as the river levels are quite low. Poor Kevin had to change into his muckboots and push us back into deeper waters on his own. Water temp was most likely 40 degrees, so too chilly for us nonprepared folk to offer help. We decided that was far enough up river and to turn around. Soon after alarms started going off. Then we realized that we were out of oil. Kevin, usually prepared thought no big deal. But alas when he went to get his extra oil kept on board he soon realized his boss who had asked to borrow some the day before had in fact cleaned him out. So we floated downriver on the current and with the wid behind us we were cruising at a whooping 2 mph. We only had to float 6 miles to get back to the village of Kwethluk and cell phone service range. We werent too concerned as we didnt have any other plans and the sun came out and turned the day quite nice. After some many hours we had not progressed too far and the wind was starting to stall us. Soon we would have to worry about the tide pushing us back up river too. Time to start usign our McGyver skills. Kevin thinned the oil with gasoline and pushed the boat as far as we could go. Luckily that brought us into cell phone service range and we could call our rescuers. Then it was merely a waiting game and our energies were focused on keeping from running aground on the banks. We also noticed that we had taken on some water and fears of a sinking started mutiny rumors, but was not as it seems; we had merely lost a plug that was quickly reinserted and the bilge pump turned on. Our recuers had arrived with fresh oil and shortly we were on our way. We had about an hours travel time left to get back to Bethel and the boat docked. It was a mostly peaceful ride until we neared Bethel and the alarms started going off again; but we pushed through and arrived at the harbor. It really seemed like a short tour had turned into a day trip, but the nghttime brightness was deceiving. For though it appeared that the sun had just gone down it was 1am. Soon we were home and tucked into bed for a nights sleep before my first day of work. ..... Or so we thought until the smoke detector on our vaulted (and thus out of reach) ceiling started beeping every 30 seconds due to low battery....

Getting Settled

Slowly getting situated and realizing that this isn't just a vacation, this is a new life. Still shocking to run to the grocery store just for a few things and end up spending at least $50. Spent the afternoon touring town and searching out real estate FSBO. After an exhausting search I think we have it down to 3 different houses that we affectionately refer to as the dapper house, the green house, and the cranberry house. We still need to tour the cranberry house to ensure it's spot in the running, otherwise we are down to the pros and cons list of each property before making an offer. It's amazing what the variety is in real estate up here and justhow much your decision is based on curb appeal and location in this town. We drove by a couple listed as for sale, and scoffed at a few more asking prices. Also trying really hard to fight the temptation to buy more house than we really need. It is exciting to be thinking of wall colors for painting, potential layouts, and actually having matching furniture pieces! Say good bye to those college days and hello to the young professional life stage.

Even Longer...

I know it's been quite sometime, almost 4 months to be exact. Here's a quick synopses of the last 4 months: completed interview, accepted job in Alaska bush, finished school, graduated, celebrated graduation, traveled with family to NYC, watched softball games in Madison, packed a household for a cross-country move, said goodbye to friends and family, and then had an arduous ordeal in trying to fly out. Maybe I'll elaborate another time on the whirlwind encompassed in each individual aspect of that.

For now we are settling in to new lives in Bethel, AK. And for those that still don't know where that is, it is halfway between Anchorage and Russia. (Nope still cant see it from here) This includes the shock of cost of living differences and getting to know your way around town (only one paved road but 21 miles of gravel roads to get to know).

Looking forward to having a long weekend as being out of work got me pretty lazy and not ready to be back at 40 hours/week (Im sure many of you will grumble about that). I promise more regular updates (I'm starting a stash of stories to add). I will eventually get back to my daily posting and if not me I'll let Jake guest post when some interesting things come his way.

First Bethel moment for you to ponder: only one paved road yet already delayed by construction.

wow, it's been that long?!

I just realized that it's been a month since updating this. That is far too long. Busy with another rotation! Another trip back to Bethel- was truly a good feeling to be back. Not too happy that they lost a forcefully checked carry-on bag. That resulted in a hilarious story involving underwear..... lots more to do in the coming weeks to reach graduation though.