Anchorage, etc.

Driving around Anchorage, it's so gorgeous to see the mountains! On clear days, and if you're looking in the right direction, you can see Mt. McKinley.

Mt Redoubt spouting some smoke.

Mt Redoubt again.

Liane and I went to Target, and found a toy to play with.

Liane and I went to Anchorage to go to a couple doctors and to have a break. I got there on a Wednesday, but Liane got stuck in the village due to weather, so she met me on Thursday. I had rented the car, which they charged me an extra $10 a day because I'm under 25, but at least they gave it to me! I was worried they might not even let me rent it.

We did some shopping, for us and mostly for some of the other teachers. I bought some new winter boots (because my boots had a leak in them, and my feet were always wet and cold - which is a pretty bad combination.

On the flight back to Bethel, I took some pictures from the plane. Mt. Redoubt is the volcano near Anchorage that has started to spout smoke. It was in the news, and they were expecting it to erupt a couple months ago, but it never happened. I will put up a couple pictures of it smoking. I got a couple shots with the sun reflecting off the ice which looked kind of cool.

We are stuck in Bethel overnight - the weather in Kipnuk was bad. We were supposed to go back to Kipnuk tonight, Sunday, and come back to Bethel Monday afternoon for some training on Tuesday through Thursday. The plan now, is to just stay here until the training starts. There's really no point in going back to the village tomorrow afternoon, to just turn around and come right back! It's a little frustrating because we're going to be away from our kids for a little longer - but we left detailed sub plans just in case this happened. We are very glad we did that now!

We are staying at a B&B in Bethel which is right on the river. There is another teacher from our village who is stuck here, so she rented the other room in the B&B. It's pretty nice - basically a small apartment. We have a living room, kitchen, one room with a full bed, another room with two twin beds. It will be perfect for when Voni (my other roommate) comes in to Bethel tomorrow for the training. It's interesting being away from the village - it's hard not to be around the people you're used to seeing everyday! It's nice to have a break every once in awhile though.

On a different note, last week a high school student gave birth to a stillborn baby. She was supposed to go to Bethel the week prior to the birth to wait until the baby came, but wanted to stay in the village for her other daughter's first birthday. The Saturday she went into labor, the weather was terrible and she couldn't get out of the village. Apparently they didn't call the medevac to come get her - but I don't know the whole story. On another day we had some bad weather, and they medevaced out an elderly man and a young boy who has leukemia.

Since there was a body in the village, there was to be no basketball, kickball, etc. They closed school early the day of the funeral and sent everyone home. Usually, all the teachers, and most of the village attend the funeral - but this time it was a closed funeral, so I'm unsure why they let the whole school out early. I'm sure it was a sign of respect, and I'm sure the family appreciated it as well.

When there is a feast, for the anniversary of a family member's death - the person who is hosting it is so grateful when you show up. My roommates and I went to a feast for the 7th grade teacher's mother, and he came around the next morning to shake our hands and thank us for coming - saying that it meant a lot to him. It's nice that such a simple gesture can be such joy. He also mentioned that we were a part of the Kipnuk family, and was glad that we were taking the opportunity to attend everything that we can while here.

Enjoy the pictures, it's time for me to get some sleep!