The final post...

Hey guys!
I'm sorry I left you hanging....I got to school extra early this morning just so I could finish up my Alaska blog and give you all the closure you deserve. (not really...I just wanted a good parking place)

So, yes, Unalakleet was beautiful and after that, my time in Nome was just full of scavenger hunts with the kids and wrapping up Summercise. We had a fairly minor medical emergency with one of the kids on the playground, which left me feeling woozy but the kid was fine after getting a stitch in his head and a new playmobile toy.

Probably one of the most rewarding and fun days of Summercise was the very last day. We had the evil villain mascot of the CAMP department, Ciggy Butts (giant cigarette butt), come in and steal our beloved assistant, Jon. The kids then had to go on a scavenger hunt around town to find him. One of the clues left said that Ciggy Butts was trying to make Jon do unhealthy things, and when we asked the kids what they though Ciggy might be making Jon do we got the following response...

Kid 1 "He could be making him eat CANDY!!!"
Kid 2 "He could be making him SMOKE!"
Kid 3 (in a really urgent voice) "HE COULD BE MAKING HIM DO DRUGS!"

When the kids finally spotted Jon across the park at Old St. Joe's church, all 30 kids took off running across the field to where Jon was. Unfortunately the pesky Ciggy Butts escaped us, but the kids got a really good little lesson on tobacco when we got back to the rec center. I really felt like we got through to some of them because of the widespread tobacco use in the area. Almost all of them had a parent or knew someone who smoked or used tobacco, and we could really see the looks of concern on their faces.

The end of Summercise was really anticlimactic. Most of us had already begun organizing our “wrap-up” information, and so the last few days of my stay in Nome I felt pretty anxious and ready to go, simply because I didn’t have much to do. It was definitely time to come home, although I absolutely loved my time there. I loved the people and the culture and the work. I was so blessed to be there and to have gotten that internship. I could not recommend the CAMP department enough to nutrition students as a place to apply for an internship. It was wonderful.

And so, I’m afraid this is the end of my blog for now. I don’t suppose you really want to hear about my normal, everyday life, and besides, I would feel a bit narcissistic if I used this page just to say “I woke up, read the Bible, went to class, ate, came home, went to bed.” Thank you to everyone who has followed and supported me in my travels this summer. I love you! God bless.

My new favorite Alaskan memory...

I just got back to Nome from Unalakleet yesterday evening around 6:30, and I was blessed with big excitements during my time there. Unalakleet is the largest of the Norton Sound villages with close to 1000 residents. I had heard that it was the "best" village to visit, that the town was really clean, and the people held their education and health in really high regard. Thursday we hopped on a little 9-passenger bush plane and flew about 35 minutes south to the airport in Unalakleet. That was an experience in itself. Because the airport is so small in Nome, you can check your bags about 1 hour before your flight and then leave the airport until about 15 minutes before your flight. There is no security when flying to the villages, and if you're really sweet, you can usually talk the pilot into letting you sit in the co-pilot seat. I did not do that because I'm still a nervous flier, although I do really enjoy it once we're in the air. Our flight was a bit delayed, but we got to Unk with about an hour to spare.

Shanna, the dietitian who traveled with us had made arrangements for the three of us to stay at her boyfriend's parents house while in Unalakleet, so we went there first to drop our stuff. We were met by Nita, the mom, with open arms and cranberry rhubarb bread (delicious). After chatting, eating a bit, and making plans to picnic later that night, we headed over to the IRA building (a city building) to get set up for Summercise. We had gotten word the night before that Sarah Palin would be in Unalakleet on Friday, and that we would have to move Summercise to the school that day because she would need to IRA building to sign an energy bill.

Anyway...we had summercise that night from 7-8:30. There were about 30 kids there, who were AWESOME. There were two or three 4 year olds and several parents stayed and watched. We played name games, did relay races outside (the weather was BEAUTIFUL that day), talked about the negative health effects of drinking soda, played an exercise-dice game, and the native corporation talked to the kids about safe bodies. (i.e. wearing bike helmets, having adults they trust, what to do if someone makes them feel uncomfortable.) After cleaning up the building we headed back to Sam and Nita's place and almost immediately headed to the river and took their boat a few miles down to their relative's camp. There, we picnicked...they grilled burgers, salmon bellies, we had potato salad, grapes, more cranberry rhubarb bread, etc. I fished a little while we were there, but was unsuccessful. The pink salmon were jumping everywhere, but I guess they weren't hungry. It was frustrating, I would cast, and a fin would come out of the water right under my line...still no luck.

Sam and Nita were telling us how many bears they had in Unalakleet, and Christina mentioned really wanting to see one, so they offered to take us up the coast line to go bear watching. After the picnic, we headed in their little boat out toward the ocean. Before reaching the coast we ran into one of the health aids in town and her husband who were seining for fish. Sam hopped out on the bank of the river to help and I got some good pictures of their catch. They had probably 2-300 pink salmon in their nets and kept maybe 70 of them. After that, we continued out onto the ocean and headed in really close to shore to make our way back down looking for whale, seal, or walrus carcasses that the bears like to feed on. Nita says that when they go greens picking or cranberry picking around there, they'll see 8 or 9 bears per trip sometimes. Sure enough, we spotted one! It was a young one they said...maybe 2 or 3 years old, and a really dark color. I didn't get a picture of it because it ran away too fast, but it was so cool!

We watched the sunset out on the ocean and then went back to Nita and Sam's. Nita shared some sour dock (a green they pick) and wild rhubarb with us. We went to bed around 2 am and slept late the next day. We went back to the IRA building to move all of our stuff over to the school right when the crowd was gathering to see Sarah Palin. Just as we were finishing loading our stuff into the Jeep, she pulled up. We were the first people she came across, so she stopped and shook our hands. Shanna made me explain to her what Summercise was...so yes, I did see Sarah Palin and spoke with her for a few minutes. Unfortunately I did not get a picture WITH her, because she was being pulled away, but I did get some really stalker-like pictures of her talking to other people. ;) I didn't really realize what a big deal that was to get to meet her until we were on the plane heading home. I talked to the ex-vice presidential candidate and possible presidential candidate for 2012. How cool.

We had Summercise with about 40 kids this time, and the kids seemed to really love it again. One girl, Jill was so incredibly smart. She knew so much about nutrition and diabetes already, and I think she wanted to be a chef. KNOM, the radio station in Nome was in Unk. to cover the Palin visit, and stopped by to interview some of the kids, which I think was a big thrill for them.

Once we got done there, we went back to Sam and Nita's, where we had delicious salmon spread, more bread, potato salad again, sour dock and blueberries, and some other snacks. We had about an hour before we had to be at the airport, so we quickly dropped our bags off and ran some diabetes supplies over to the clinic there. I cannot tell you how beautiful their clinic is in Unalakleet. It looks much nicer and cleaner than the hospital in Nome, and you can tell the health aids and staff there are very proud of it. It looks brand new, although they built it over 5 years ago. The health aid we had seen seining the night before gave us a tour of the clinic before we left.

At this point we had about 30 minutes left, but Nita and Shanna were determined to get me to catch a fish. We ran back to the house where Nita was waiting with one of their fishing rods and an ulu. We all hopped in the truck and drove down to the mouth of the river. I cast a few times, and sure enough, I hooked a humpy (a pink salmon). I pulled it in and with maybe 10 minutes left to spare, Nita cut it up on the rocky river bank, put it in a zip lock bag, and drove us to the airport where I carried my cut fish on to the little 9 passenger plane back to Nome along with a home-made gift she gave both Christina and me. I have to keep that one a secret though until I get home and share it with Bobby and my parents.

It was such a surreal and busy trip...I'm so glad Unalakleet was the village I visited, I'm so thankful that Shanna introduced us to Nita and Sam (two of the most generous people I've met), and I am so thankful that God provided such beautiful adventures during our short time there.

all my love,
em

Waiting...

I'm in the CAMP office right now waiting on our plane to get to the airport so we can go to Unalakleet. There are three of us going from CAMP and two from the native corporation in town. Two of us interns will be doing Summercise there while the dietician from our office sees patients. Since I have some time to kill, I thought I would tell you about a conversation I had with one of my five and six year olds the other day on the bus from the pool. Such a cool kid! (as background...this child has diabetes) Our chat went something like this:

Kid: "So are you in highschool or what?"
Me: "I'm actually in college"
Kid: "oh, so what kind of job do you want to have?"
Me: "I want to be a dietician...you know somebody who tells you how to eat properly and stuff?"
Kid: "Oh well if I get to be a diabetes doctor, maybe we could work in the same hospital and work together! When I was in the hospital, I had a dietician and she was really nice! I'm sure you'll be a nice one too!"
Me: "Well thanks! I'd love to work with you!"
Kid: "So are you going to work in Anchorage or in Nome?"
Me: "Well I'm from the other side of the country, so I'm not really sure where I'll end up, but that would be really cool if we could work in the same place!"
Kid: "yea! Let's pick some days we don't want to work ok?"
Me: "ok...like what days?"
Kid: "ummmmm how about saturdays and sundays? We could not work on those days...unless there's an ambulence. If there's an ambulence, I'm there."
Me: "That sounds like a really good plan...I could use saturdays and sundays off."
Kid: "Yea...unless there's an ambulence."
Me: "Definitely."
Kid: "Ok well if you ever get to go to the Anchorage hospital when I'm a diabetes doctor, I'll be in the part that says D."
Me: "Why D? D for diabetes? or D for doctor?"
Kid: "No...you can just park your car in the parking lot...that's where my car will be, then you just follow the signs that say D. That's where I'll be...in the D part of the hospital. That's where I stayed when I was in Anchorage."
Me: "Ohhhh like the D wing of the hospital. I definitely will."
Kid: "ok."
Me: "ok."

Such an awesome kid. I know she'll make a great doctor. :)

Pictures from Dorothy Falls and other...

hey guys! I don't have time to write about this now, but we hiked to Dorothy Falls last night, so here is a link to the pictures. There are also some more pics from around Nome in there too.

love!
em

http://picasaweb.google.com/emilye9/Nome1#

Karaoke in a ghost town?

Friday night was one of those times I can honestly say I really wish I had taken my camera. I don't know if I can fully describe the hilarity of the evening, but I will do my best.

Our friends Jeremy and Seiji invited us last minute-style to the "Spaghetti Feed" saying it was about 12 miles out on West Beach, and that we would have to get ready pronto because "they" stop serving spaghetti at a certain point after which you get really dirty "why are you here?" looks. So the three of us interns and Jeremy piled in the back of Seiji's beat-up pick up truck and took off down the beach. I didn’t really know any more details than that, and I was expecting to see a bonfire on the beach, eat spaghetti, hang out for a bit and then come home.

We bounced our way down the beach for about 6 or 8 miles and all of a sudden we realized the truck was smoking a LOT. We came to a stop, and all hopped out. Seiji looked down under the truck where there was liquid spewing out of the bottom of the cab. We thought it was the oil. Luckily there was a fairly big mining operation a few hundred yards up ahead. We drove the leaking truck on up and came to a stop in front of the mining camp where there were two miners out working on their dredge boats. We explained the situation to them, and one of them brought out his tools to look at the truck. He diagnosed it as having leaked just about all the transmission fluid in addition to being really low on oil. So double dilemma. The other miner at the camp offered us a lift up to Cripple River where the spaghetti feed was happening so that we could meet up with our friends and hitch a ride back with some of them.

No bonfire in sight…instead we came up on an old ghost town, of sorts, called Cripple River Mining Camp. There were rows of little buildings, a chow house, a meeting hall, and miners playing horseshoes outside. Apparently the “Spaghetti Feed” is actually put on every Friday night during the summers by the GPAA (Gold Prospectors Association of America) whose members pay to come up for a week or weeks at a time to mine for gold in Nome. And apparently about once a summer, the youngsters from Nome head out to get a free meal. We found the other Nomites and sent a few people back to pick up the two who had stayed with the broken down truck.

Meanwhile at Cripple River, since we had missed the spaghetti due to mechanical difficulties, we decided to check out the festivities. There was a fake hanging, an induction of new members of the “hole in a rock” club (literally, members have to bring in a rock with a hole/holes in it and recite the membership oath), and then the karaoke began! The night started off as it should with a moving rendition of “North to Alaska,” and only got better from there. All those old miners were serious about their karaoke, and seemed to get a big kick out of the Nome crowd being there. There were about 16 of us from town sitting along the back wall of the meeting hall, and many times the miners would turn around and take pictures of us as we cheered our friends on or sang along. The night ended with a dance party as our new friend, Jesse, belted out “I would walk 500 miles” by Allister, a beautiful sunset around 12:30 am, and a very crowded pickup ride back to town. Ah, Nome. Gotta love it.

It was really nice because I feel Friday was one of the first times since we arrived back in May that we were considered one of the “Nome crowd” rather than just the Summercise interns. Since the miners were all from out of town, all they knew was we came from town. Many of the Nomites we went with had moved to Nome from other places, and were in our shoes not too many years ago. I’m pretty sure Friday was my favorite night so far.

Yesterday was really lazy, and today was much the same. The roomies and I made an Indian feast last night! Elise’s boyfriend had just sent a bunch of curry packets up from the Asian market in Detroit, so we heated those up. Maerilly made sticky rice, and I pan fried the Naan dough Elise made. It was so delicious. It was nice to have some spicy food, and something other than the usual cafeteria food. Today we went down to the movie theater in Subway to see Up, the new Pixar movie. It was so cute! I would really recommend it. It was amazing how much of a comfort it was to be in a movie theater. The theater here looks much the same as the ones at home, and it just felt normal. It didn’t feel like we were in a strange place…just like we were hanging out with friends at home. I think this weekend has been good for my soul. I’ve been a little homesick and cranky lately, so finally feeling like an insider in the community for a night and seeing the movie today were both really refreshing.

Spiritually this week…
I tried to go back to that Wednesday night Bible study at the Baptist church. They had about 25 extra missionaries in town this week as part of a summer missions team that comes up several times a year from Texas. When I got there Wednesday, everyone seemed to be going in different directions. The missionaries who are up here all summer, the only ones I know, were headed to do some dog sledding out at Melissa’s, while the older men of the group were going fishing. Somehow, I got swept into the fishing trip, after being told the salmon had started running. So instead of doing the study, I found myself fishing with all the old Baptist men. ;) I didn’t catch a darn thing except on little dinky flounder. It was cold and windy as all get out. So I don’t know exactly why that happened. Obviously I wasn’t supposed to go to Bible study that night, but I’m still kind-of trying to figure out why that didn’t pan out.

Probably one of the best things that happened was when I got a facebook post from one of my small group girls from home. She asked me what God was doing in my life right now. When I started thinking about it, I realized just how much I had been learning this summer, and was able to send her a really long response.  If you haven’t thought about that question lately, I would recommend it. I think it’s good to reflect on that and give thanks because it’s so easy to forget. Some of the interns and I have decided to write a letter to ourselves to open six months or so down the road, just as a reminder of the ways we have changed and things we’ve learned on this trip. I’ll have to get started on it soon…only 2.5 more weeks!

Best Buds...

 

Camping...

So…it’s been a busy week or so since the end of session 1. I think I’ll start from the most recent events and work backwards.

I was feeling a little lonely last night, so I went down to the beach by myself to journal and think for a bit. It is so beautiful out there, and the weather has been so great the past few days. On my way back I met up with Tala and Megan, two of the other interns, who were headed to the beach for a little girl-talk, so I hung out with them for a bit. We had some really good conversations which was really refreshing. I think I’m learning that those times that I start feeling isolated, or like I just can’t connect with people, or like I don’t want to be around people, I need to do the opposite. I need to seek out people to talk with, hang out with. If not, I just get lost in my own head and feel lonelier. It’s like what I was learning at that Bible study last week. Life is all about relationships, so when I feel tempted to isolate myself, it should be a red flag. Yea…there’s my rant. :D

Half of us interns have been in Council since Tuesday morning helping with a diabetes and cancer prevention camp for kids from different villages in the area. The camp was held at a man named Tom Gray's summer cabin, or "camp" as they say here, and was going on from Sunday to Thursday. The first three interns went out on sunday and stayed until tuesday, then we replaced them. The camp is put on by the CAMP department at Norton Sound (how many times can I say the word camp in one blog post?) and was really awesome. There were only 9 campers ranging from 12 to 16 years in age. All the kids had to apply to go to the camp, and in their own ways seemed really excited to be there. Tom is a guide in this area and takes people on hunting and fishing trips year round. He and his wife, BJ, hold all sorts of camps at their cabin, including bible camps, native camps, and this CAMP dept camp. They are so generous, and really keep the kids on a tight schedule. We all took turns doing chores around the house.

The first day we were there, we went seining for fish, which was so cool. We kept about 4 fish total, and the group who seined the day before had caught a King Salmon which was really exciting because the salmon have not really started running yet. It was such hard work! Basically you have a net that is about 50 feet long (??), one end of which is laid out on the bank of the river. The other end remains in the boat you are using, and the group of people split up…half on the riverbank and half in the boat. The boat takes off across the river, stretching the net and moving upstream while the people on the bank walk the other end of the net upstream as well. The boat then turns toward the bank creating a “C” with the net. The people in the boat jump out and all start pulling the line in and then harvesting the fish. So cool!

I got to cut up a nice sized Dolly Varden (trout) with an ulu which was really cool. I prepped the fish for drying and got to hang it on the drying rack and then flip it and check it for fly-eggs the next day. It just hangs outdoors on a rack, is put in the smokehouse for a while, then dries for a while longer.

The next day we went on a really nice hike up Council mountain, ate a bunch of Eskimo food, and did an Eco-challenge. The eco challenge was so fun! Each team is given a clue and has to find a coffee can with matches in it. The matches are given to the teams 2 canoers who then canoe across the river to the teams runner and pass the matches off. The runner runs the matches down to the team’s swimmer who swims them back across the river to the team’s two fire-builders who have been gathering wood the whole time. The team then builds a fire and fills the coffee can with water. The first team whose water boils wins. My team was awesome and beat everyone by a mile! We watched a slide show of all the pictures from the camp and then talked for a while before going to bed.

The only bad thing about the camp was the mosquitoes. I cannot exaggerate how many there were. I was completely drenched in bug repellant the whole time I was there, and I still got a ton of bites. In my Picasa album there is a picture of the Gray’s dog, Jase, and that will prove my point.

The kids at the camp were so cool and very different from the kids we work with at Summercise. For starters they were older so they required much less attention. They were also from villages in the area, and it was really interesting getting to hear their stories a little. They were harder to crack and seemed a bit wary of us at first. The girls are very soft-spoken and reserved. We learned about different facial expressions among natives that mean different things, and for the first time I picked up on a few of them. A wrinkled nose means no and raised eyebrows mean yes. Often times they don’t answer when you as a question, you may just get one of those expressions, or you may just have to wait a few seconds for an answer. They were such cool girls though, and the boys were hilarious. Two of the girls live in Nome, and I ran into one of them last night on the way to the beach, so hopefully I’ll be able to keep in touch with her a bit. She was one of my favorites and much more open and out-going than some of the girls from smaller villages. I loved it, I just wish we had had more time to get to know the kids. I wanted to hear more from them, and I feel that they had only just started opening up by the time we left.

Over the weekend we went “camping” in Council. That trip did not turn out the way we expected. People say they go camping, but often what they mean is that they go stay at a cabin in Council. We ended up staying in a cabin and the barn at a friend of a friend’s camp…long story, and a little awkward. It’s tough because we often find ourselves completely dependant on other people out here for rides, equipment, getting out of town. The first day of camping was frustrating because it was not what any of us interns were anticipating and we felt like we were mooching off the cabin owners. Apparently they have the interns over every year, and it’s probably not that big of a deal. They were so nice to let us stay, and again they shared their food, their home, and their story. I helped the daughter of the family clear some property in Council she recently bought. That was really fun, despite the mosquitoes. It felt good to work with my hands a little, kept me out of some drama that had begun among the interns, and gave me a way of paying the family back a little which I think Maggie, the daughter at least, really appreciated. We went fishing a bit that weekend as well, and I caught 4 fish, 3 on a fly rod. Oh it felt so good to be out in nature and doing things I love. Despite the rocky start, the weekend turned out to be really fun and relaxing. Very much needed.

We have today off, so I slept in really late, and we’re trying to decide what to do for the 4^th. I think that’s all the updates for now…here’s the Picasa site again. I’ve still got to upload a few more, but by the end of today it should be complete.

http://picasaweb.google.com/emilye9/Nome1#

All my love,

em

hey hey!

First session of Summercise is done! I can't believe it's over and I've been here for 5 weeks already! Today was a great day and my first trip to a village. We drove about 70 miles out to Teller (about a 2 hr drive along a gravel road), which is a village with a population under 300. There are very few places in Teller with running water, although the town does get cable TV. We held Summercise for the kids there, which was so much fun and quite different from Summercise in Nome. There was much less structure and much more on-the-spot planning. We had to read the kids and plan from there. Teller's youth was so responsive and excited to have us there. Several kids asked if we were coming back and acted like they really wanted us there. Unfortunately Teller Summercise is only for one day. The kids ranged in age from 3 to 13, and we used the Head Start building in Teller as our base.

There was pretty limited water in the building we were using, and without getting too explicit there were some pretty yucky plumbing issues throughout the day. It was also a bit strange because as we were teaching the children about the importance of hydration, we couldn't be sure that the water from the faucet would be safe for them to drink, so we were unable to provide water for them. It was really very much like traveling to a different country. The children were beautiful there, though and I was a bit sad to leave, to be honest.

To bring you up to date on my week...

I went to a Bible study this week at one of the local churches with some missionaries who are working for Summercise, and it was really great. I was so thankful to have group prayer, encouragement, and just all around good discussion about the Lord. I feel in my heart, now, that we were built for community. That night we talked about the importance of relationships...especially pursuing and having a relationship with the Lord. That is what we are made for and that is when we feel the peace and fruitfulness of life...when we are in a real relationship with Him, our Creator. He is pursuing us, we just have to make ourselves available to Him. I left the study feeling really refreshed and restored. I really think this was an answer to prayers about finding a community for me. So thank you to all who have contributed to that. I know that often when you gain ground in your faith journey, Satan often ups his attempts at tearing you down, and tearing apart that bond you have with the Lord and His creations. It's no surprise then that Thursday was a rough day...

I overslept, had a busy, frustrating morning, and it was the last day of Summercise, and everyone was just rambunctious. We took the kids to Nome Eskimo to learn Eskimo dancing, and little Martin was the star of the day. He knew all the moves without having to look at the DVD they were watching. He stood in the front of the room and showed everyone how it should be done. He did NOT want to leave. The kids were crazy and I was just pooped and cranky by the end of the day. I was homesick, I felt like I had been impatient with the kids and my fellow interns, and I just wanted everybody to leave me alone!

After more prayers that night with someone very close to me, and a good quiet time this morning with the Lord, I just feel so much better. I say all this, not to sound overly spiritual or weird or extremist, I just want to be honest with you about the ways the Lord works in my life. Maybe you can take encouragement from this blog or learn from this blog. Or you may just think it's weird, and that's ok too. :D

Tomorrow we're going camping out in Council. Which is probably about 70 miles in the opposite direction of Teller. It will be my first real camping trip, and what a way to begin my camping-life...in Bush Alaska with the monster mosquitos. :D I'm taking a fly rod. I am PUMPED. Next week we will also be in Council for a few days working at a wellness camp for 9 village kids who have been affected by diabetes or cancer in some way. It should also be pretty awesome. You have to take a boat to get to that camp, which is pretty exciting in and of itself to me. Haha...it's the simple things.

ok i think that's pretty much it for now, sorry about my ramblings... all my love
em

oh the joy...

We have our first official love triangle in the five and six year old class. Oh boy. I love my job. Kids are just such a joy! Even when they're bad, they always do something cute right after that makes you like them again. haha

I left out a few things from the weekend: (in no particular order)
1. Both of the phones I have up here malfunctioned. You can call/text me on my Verizon phone, but I can't respond/call you.
2. We actually saw 2 moose: one saturday, one sunday
3. My time in the race was 38:22...pretty slow, but it was a tough run

I heard today about an opportunity to do some ministry with the missionaries we work with which would be really cool...please pray for open hearts and big spiritual movements through this work.

This scripture passage hit me pretty hard this morning when I read it on another blog:

Colossians 2:6-7
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

More on this tomorrow...i need to go to bed or I will be cranky with the kiddos tomorrow. Night!

all my love
em

Wow that water is cold...

Ok where to begin...

Midnight Sun Festival is one of the coolest, funniest, quirkiest small town festivals I think you'll find. (Don't take my word for it. I haven't been to that many small town festivals, but this one is pretty darn fun.)

Saturday:
I ran my first race on Saturday, June 20, 2009. We ran almost 4 miles along East Beach in Nome, and I was the fourth female to cross the finish line that day. It was a really tough run because the sand was really soft and really rocky, thus very unstable under the feet. We had absolutely the most beautiful Nome weather for all of Saturday, though, so it was a great start to the day.

From there, Mom, Dad, and I went to breakfast at Airport Pizza, and got ready for the big parade on Front Street. There were TONS of people lining the streets waiting for the parade to begin, including most of the Summercise kids (if they were not IN the parade). There were all sorts of floats: the typical- preschool group, JROTC, clowns. And the atypical- sled dogs pulling smaller dogs all dressed up like butterflies, the "I took a bath in Nome" float, pet reindeer in the back of a pick up truck, the Eskimo dancer float. Just in case you missed it the first time, the parade turns around and comes back for a second pass. :D

After the parade is the bank robbery and then the POLAR BEAR SWIM. All the interns except one did the swim and so did my dad! I was so excited he did it. The water was so incredibly cold. I couldn't breathe. I got in about up to my waist, dunked myself and then ran as fast as I could to my towel and the bonfire they had going. My skin was tingling, but it was so exhilerating. After I felt really awake and ready to go.

My parents and I then broke off from the group and took a drive up to Salmon Lake, which is such a pristene, beautiful lake. It looks exactly how you imagine Alaska looking. The lake was still partly frozen with the mountains rising up in the background. After spending all afternoon moose-hunting, we finally spotted one a couple of miles out of town. It was either a female or a juvenille-no antlers. But it was grazing about 20 yards off the road. It was a big thrill for all of us.

Sunday
Today was another pretty busy day. I got up and ate breakfast with my parents, and then we headed out to the Nome River to watch the start of the raft race. We got to the put-in point early enough to get a good look at all the rafts. Some teams were pretty competitive and less focused on the decorative aspect of things, but there were some teams who went all out. Some of my favorites were the Muskox Sally (complete with muskox costumes) and the pirates raft. The town comes out to watch and throw water baloons at the rafts as they float down river. The race ends at a local bar, and the whole thing is just a lot of fun.

After the rafters had gotten a good piece down river, Dad and I set up his fly rod and fished a bit. No luck today, but I think Dad is going to go back tomorrow. It felt so good to have a fly rod in my hand again. I miss doing things like that, and it was a really big treat to get to do that with him on Father's day. I have such great parents. I'm really blessed with them.

After fishing, I called Melissa (my dog-mushing friend) and Mom, Dad, and I went out to her dog lot to check things out. It is such a cool thing to see and experience. She has about 40 dogs on her lot, and she took mom and dad each out on a run with the 4-wheeler. They use 4-wheelers in the summer to keep the dogs running. The dogs are fascinating. Each has it's own personality, and all are so eager to run. When Melissa is hooking up the 4-wheeler and placing dogs on the line, the entire lot is barking, howling, pulling at their chains for the chance to run. Almost immediately after the team hits the trail the remaining dogs quiet down, except for the few who are still pretty jealous. It was so fun to see my parents getting to ride. They've been interested in the Iditarod ever since they got our husky, Maddie in '87. I really feel like that was a dream come true for them to get to see all these sled dogs and go for a ride. We kindof pushed my mom onto the 4-wheeler, and I hope she'll appreciate it haha. I know she will, but I think it was pretty bumpy and physical for her. She may be a little bruised up in the morning, but at least she'll have a good story.

We went to one of my boss's houses for dinner tonight. Ate a mean bowl of salmon chowder. oh man. I need the recipe. I know I've said it before, but everyone has just been so generous. From Melissa taking my parents out, to the townspeople sharing fishing tips, to dinner at Kelly's...I still can't get over the overwhelming kindness of Nome's community. I know I've probably left out some details, but I'll post them as I think of them. Check the photos...I'm currently uploading them.

http://picasaweb.google.com/emilye9/Nome1#

all my love
em

They're here!!!

My parents got in yesterday morning to beautiful Alaska weather. They looked really excited to be here and really exhausted (understandably) from their travels. Not long after they arrived a really dense fog rolled in and stayed for the rest of the day, so they had really good timing. Today it's another beautiful day in the 50's. It feels so good!

I went running yesterday with the running club in the fog, which was really cool. Although I was technically with a group, I just ran ahead a bit with my iPod on. It was the first time I have run by myself since I got up here. It was really fun for a change. It's nice after camp to just have a little time to yourself to get your thoughts back in order. This year, I found running a good time to pray or worship with my music on, and yesterday it was really awesome to get to do that. We ran a route that goes right along the sea for a couple of miles, and the fog was just beautiful and mysterious. I couldn't really see what was up ahead and could only see about 20 feet on either side of me. It was good because I had to focus on the beauty immediately around me. I had to be present in my worship right where I was. If that makes sense. It was like putting trust in the Lord without seeing ahead of myself or planning for how much farther I had to go or anything. I know that all sounds really cheesy, but it was some really great me-and-God-time. :D

The midnight sun festival is in full-swing. I just ran down the road to see my parent for a few minutes and they were eating barbeque that was being grilled on the main road downtown. The softball championships are tonight, so we'll probably all go to that and then there is a concert tonight at Airport Pizza. Tomorrow morning I'm running in a race along the beach and then it'll be time for the parade and the polar bear swim! More to come over the weekend...

em

oh yea i almost forgot...

here are pictures from the weekend!

http://picasaweb.google.com/emilye9/Nome1#

Officially legal...

So i turned 21 over the weekend (on saturday), and I was a little nervous as to how the weekend would go. I feel that often 21st birthdays turn into this mega push to be completely out of control drunk, and I'm just not that into the whole alcohol thing. It was also a little hard to tell how pushy the girls I'm here with were going to be about the issue, but it was actually a really great weekend! Everyone was really cool. We went out Friday night at midnight for a few drinks downtown, then saturday we went on a really long hike about an hour outside of town, which was probably my ideal way of spending my birthday...outdoors in Alaska.

The hike was beautiful. The tundra is finally turning a little bit green, and there are several varieties of wild flower blooming now. We saw a falcon's nest that had 3 or 4 chicks in it under a bridge, and I got one really good shot of one of the baby birds. Saturday night we went to a barbeque that one of our friends was having, and the girls made me a "Better than Sex" cake (their name for it, not mine) which was full of chocolate, toffee, fudge, and delicious icing. It was so good! Our friend grilled chicken and vegetables for us, which was awesome. It was such a comfort to have normal food. It reminded me of home. Then, Sunday I just spent time writing letters to different people and getting caught up on rest.

I have struggled lately with not being surrounded by my Christian community. I know that probably sounds weird to some of you, and I am really enjoying the friends I have made up here. I just feel like I am having to work a lot harder to stay excited and renewed in my faith life. It's definitely not a bad thing because the Lord has used this time to show me how much I rely on the faith community I have in Clemson as my way of being a follower of Christ. Here I don't have that buffer and that easy-out. I actually have to put action behind my words. It is really cool how the Lord has responded, though, to my prayers about this. I had a really awesome conversation last night with my boyfriend who just gave me so much encouragement. I left that conversation feeling refreshed in faith. It is amazing how much of a difference it makes to be able to bounce ideas off other believers or have a really good conversation about what the Lord is doing. He answers when you ask. I am still going to keep looking for ways to live out my faith. I have to be creative and really listen to what He is asking of me while I'm here.

The kids were totally crazy today. We had two new kids and three new helpers so it was just a bit chaotic...ok a lot chaotic. But they are still so cute! We had a total of 32 children in one multi-purpose room. We made apple smiles for snack (apple slices with peanut butter on them and a few mini-marshmallows for teeth) which were a hit. I also recieved a home-made bracelet from one of the little girls in my group. She is so awesome...she lost a tooth one day in class, had a nose-bleed the next day in class, and never missed a beat. I love this job. The only thing I wish were different is that we are never able to give any one child our full attention. I wish we were able to spend one-on-one time with these kids. A lot of them have behavioral issues, but it stems from really bad home lives. When you sit down and talk with them one-on-one they are the sweetest kids with the best personalities. They just crave attention and crave love. It gets frustrating when there are so many of them and so little time.

Third day of summercise...

We are three days in, and today was the best day so far! We have right around 30 five and six year olds in my class. Our two high school assistants have been great and are vital to the smoothness of the day. The first two days were really hectic, but today I think we were beginning to get into a rhythm and a system that works for the kids. Yesterday, we ran out of things to do toward the end of the day, and the kids were restless. We had them inside all day because it had rained a lot that morning and the softball field where they play was really muddy. So today we overplanned, which was great! We didn't get through all the activities we had planned, but that's just fine. We accomplished a lot and have leftovers to use for tomorrow too.

So far the very favorite games seem to be freeze dance (we turn on the black light and disco ball, and the kids go crazy), duck duck goose, and doggie, doggie, where's my bone. We had one girl storm out of the room in highly dramatic fashion today because she did not get a turn to be the dog in doggie doggie (even though she had had a turn stealing the bone). Luckily she stormed out of the door and right into her grandmother. It was right at the end of the day and she continued to storm right out the rec center with grandmother behind. You win some you lose some.

There is one child who is a very young 5 year old and has never been to school before. We've had a little trouble with him the past couple of days because he just doesn't know how to handle organized play, I think. His parents are aware of it, and they have talked to him, and today he was more or less wonderful! He also never fails to produce my favorite kid-one-liners of every day. Yesterday it was "hey-want to know what my favorite protein is?...EGGS!" Today is was "my favorite vegetable is asparagus with holandaise sauce on it!" It has been really amazing to watch this kid develop; just within a few days he has matured so much and really started participating with the other kids. Kids at this age just fascinate me.

I am pretty much wiped out at the end of every day, which I've always thought is a good thing. It means you're doing something with yourself. It's also been great because after work on mondays and wednesdays I do a 4-5 mile loop with the running club here in town. It has been so nice to have people to run with. I never realized how much support and how much of a push I was missing out on while running solo in Clemson. It really helps to have someone to chat with while running, and it has really held me accountable to staying on a training schedule of sorts. Tuesdays and Thursdays I have started taking yoga at the rec, and I am quickly falling in love with it. Every class is a combination of "oh my gosh this pose is kicking my but" and "oh my gosh this pose feels so good". The combination of running and yoga seems like a really good idea and has provided a great stress release after long days with the kids. One of the other interns also brought a pilates dvd, so saturdays are going to be run/pilates combo days as well.

Alright...I know this is getting long, but some of you have been asking me questions so I'll address a few of them and hopefully get around to calling you soon, and talking more in-depth about these in person.

Not all of the kids at summercise are Eskimo, although, like in Nome, a large percentage are. Not all of the kids are overweight either; the goal is to begin proper fitness and dietary habits at an early age.

Foods up here: Many, many of the Eskimo families up here still maintain a partially subsistance lifestyle; meaning they live off the land, and eat things like seal, whale, eggs found on the tundra, greens and berries from the tundra, moose, muskox, reindeer, etc. You are required by law to be of native descent to hunt or kill a seal or a whale (and maybe a few other animals as well). I would say most of what people eat comes from the grocery store, but many suppliment that with native foods. Very few people (mostly in the rural villages) keep a completely subsistence-based diet, and most of those who do are elders. When a young person gets their first moose, their first seal, their first whale, their first batch of eggs, the first kill is presented to an elder in the village. Our friend, Myriah, just went on her first egg hunt a few years ago, and presented the eggs to her grandmother in one of the villages. This is done out of respect.

No one eats bear here. Bear meat is considered "bad meat," and people don't seem to like the flavor of it. People do hunt grizzlies, though, and from what I hear, grizzly bears are about the only animal that is hunted for sport, not for food. Also, you can't find native foods on restaurant menus up here. We were a bit dissappointed at first, but after being in town for more than a week, we began to realize that it doesn't need to be. Someone is always having a barbeque and is always willing to share their salmon, or berries, or moose.

Mentality here: Yes, you feel pretty isolated here (coming from the lower 48), but people here seem to travel a lot! Just about everyone you talk to has been to many different places around the country or out of the country. School groups take trips to Florida, and whatnot. Several states in the northwest have agreements with Alaska so that kids from Alaska pay 150% of tuition instead of full out-of-state tuition, so many of the students go to the lower 48 for college.

MA-you were asking about the way people feel toward the federal gov't here, and from what I have seen in Nome, they don't seem too different from anywhere else. It does amaze me just how much grant money they have to work with up here. The gov't pays for a lot up here, and I think people are greatful for that.

I don't know what type of flower that was that I took a picture of on the tundra, but if anyone can ID it, I'd like to know. From what Melissa's dad told us, all the flowers that grow are miniature like that. They have miniature dogwoods that grow only a couple of inches off the ground and have 1 blossom at the top. He has encountered other species with the same stature. I can't imagine what a two-inch-tall dogwood looks like! Haha it seems like something out of a fairy tale...someone sprinkled shrinking dust on the dogwood tree!!!!

Natives: The native population in Nome and its surrounding villages still has very strong cultural practices. The government has helped ensure that they are able to keep their traditions going. There is an Eskimo center in town (where we watched the seal demonstration) and another native corporation that deals with natives from the outlying villages. What we learned in our cultural orientation and in dealing with the people of the region is that a lot of Eskimos speak very slowly and give very little response in terms of body language and facial expression. It is really hard to read their reaction. We were told not to ask too many questions of the elders, that they will tell us about something when they are ready and will teach us in depth about the subject. I thought that was beautiful. Too many questions is disrespectful and means you are glossing over the issue.

Religions: Each area was settled by a different church group. King Island was settled by the Catholics, and have now moved into Nome due to erosion of their island. Nome was primarily settled by Friends church and Covenant Church I think, although there are also Baptist and Methodist churches around as well. I have not really learned much about native religions although I have been wondering about those, myself. I'll try to see what I can learn. So far it has been only Christian churches that I have encountered. Although from talking to people around town, if you go to Christian church you are automatically labeled a "good church girl". I've heard that several times. There seems to be a sort of division there between those who attend church and the rest of the population. Non-church goers hang out with "good church people", but don't really take their advice or beliefs very seriously it seems.

Ok now that this is officially tooooo long. I will close there for now. i love you all with my whole heart. :D xoxo

http://picasaweb.google.com/emilye9/Nome1#

here they are!

How great are your works, O Lord...

Today we got a call from our friend, Melissa, asking if we wanted to see MUSK OX! Melissa and her family are pretty well known around here, as she was one of the youngest people to ever run the Iditarod. She has competed in it twice and finished it once. Mushing is her life, and she is always willing to share stories about her dogs or racing. Her mom is one of the dietitians at Norton Sound, and Melissa is going to be an assistant for Summercise.

Melissa, her parents, her little brother, and her handler showed up in a big GM 1500 to pick us up, and we rode out to the tundra behind the highschool in the back of the vehicle...all 10 of us on bags of soil with 2 dogs. As we rode out, we came upon a herd of reindeer grazing along the road. This was the second herd I have seen since I arrived two weeks ago, but I didn't have my camera the first time. Their antlers just look so incredibly soft, and adding to the already uniquely Alaskan moment I was having, the herd was grazing right in front of a dog lot. The sled dogs were going crazy! Jumping at their chains and barking.

We kept riding a bit when the dog handler spotted the first herd of musk ox up on a hill. My untrained eyes didn't see anything, but as we kept driving we began to see a few herds along the sides of the road. Quietly opening the doors of the 1500 we all piled out, cameras in hand and followed behind Melissa, careful not to make any noise or spook the uneasy herd. There were calves and the musk ox are known for being really protective. There were 2 herds within sight and we got some really nice shots of both. One herd began to move away, and after getting the "ok" from Pat, the dietitian, we followed one of the herds as it made it's way over a hill.

I stayed a short distance behind Melissa as she slowly, patiently made her way behind the herd, picking up the shed undercoat of the animals along the way. The fur (i can't remember the name of it right now) is supposed to be really pricy when sold, and really warm when worn as a hat. Melissa had a pretty scary run-in with a herd of musk ox when running her dogs, so she was really careful when inching up on the herd. They had stopped just over the hill for some water, and as we began taking pictures again, we started to hear some snorting from some of the adults. After a few minutes of this, the oxen started moving closer towards us and Melissa gave us the signal...get away, fast. We backed up and started running. The herd ran towards us a bit, but once we were out of sight Melissa stopped and said we were no longer a threat to them. We were safe. Quite the adrenaline rush.

While out, we found a beaver dam and a floating duck's nest with eggs in it. Melissa and a few others waded out in the water to see it and take photos. I sat back and took in the beautiful view of the surroundings. The mosquitos are beginning to come around and they are HUGE! It'll be time for buzz off soon!

Tomorrow is the first day of camp, and I think everyone has the jitters. It'll just be a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of day...monitor and adjust. It'll be great! We hosted our first pot luck tonight! We had our highschool assistants over for spaghetti bake and sharades (sp?). It's late! I should sleep! Check the pics!

Generosity...

Here are pictures from last night....we got to go over to our boss's house for Eskimo food, and she provided a feast!

http://picasaweb.google.com/emilye9/Nome1#

Today, our other boss gave us 3 huge fillets of salmon she had left from last year's salmon run. They are each close to two feet long. We are overwhelmed with how generously people give of their food and possessions up here. We've been invited to another get-together tonight, and there is a concert at Airport pizza.

The 4 hour time difference is getting a little frustrating. It's just hard to schedule time to talk with everyone, and takes more planning than I'm used to. I miss you all!

My 7:30 am reflection...

It's about 7:30 here in Nome, and I got up early today to continue gathering information about breastfeeding. I'm sitting at our kitchen table in front of a picture window that looks out onto the town, drinking my first decent cup of joe since I arrived. (thanks mama!) From just about anywhere you are in Nome, you can see the steeple of an old church that sits directly in the center of the town. I have a really clear view of it from here, as the church is only about a block away from our apartment. Although the church is no longer used as a church, merely for community functions and show, I was thinking about how cool it is to have the cross at the top of the steeple constantly over the town. I see it every time I am in our kitchen, and I use it as a reference point when navigating around town. It reminded me of that passage in Matthew about having childlike faith. (Mt 18: 1-6) I am constantly looking to that cross for guidance (physically and spiritually, I suppose) When I'm in such a remote place without my faith community around me, it is so great to have this image to serve as comfort, compass, and reminder.

June 3, 2009...

This has been and still is a busy week up here for me! Monday we had training for the summer lunch program we will be helping with during our weeks up here which was pretty hectic. We got all of the food unloaded, labeled, and stored. We washed pots, pans, and utensils and blocked off areas of the rec center where the kids should not go. All of this, and I have come to the (not too surprising) realization that I do NOT want to go into food service. However, I know this will be a great opportunity, and I will just have to grin and bear it for a while.

Yesterday (Tuesday), I began shadowing in the Step by Step program, but I only sat in on one patient yesterday before I had to help set up for registration. Summercise registration began yesterday with a bang! I have at LEAST three Sarah's in the 5 and 6 year old class, two of whom have the exact same pair of rubber boots. I am so glad I will be working with the younger kids...I relate to them much better than the older ones. I'm not exactly sure what that says about me. ;-]) We spent the rest of the day planning and I went to a yoga class last night! I haven't done yoga in years, and my only experience with it has been following along with a video in my room at home. To attend a real class was really a big treat! I can't explain how relaxing and peaceful it felt to stretch and meditate for a while.

Today was awesome! I continued working with Step by Step today and got to see 5 more patients, some healthy, one homeless, and one who couldn't speak English. Two of my poor bosses sacrificed their fingers today so I could practice finger pricking before the first patients got there. By the end of the day I was allowed to conduct pretty much the full consultation by myself. I had a superviser in the room, of course, but I was allowed to do pretty much everything, including counseling. I am in love with it! (Fingers beware! Pricking is fun!)

Once I finished with the last patient, I met the other interns at Nome Eskimo Center where there was a seal demonstration going on. We got to watch a few Eskimo women prepare the hide of the seal...so they separated the meat from the blubber and the blubber from the fur. There was a group of young girls there watching, as well, and as the blubber was removed, each girl would eagerly rush forward with a jar to put it in. If you let the blubber sit at room temperature for several days it produces seal oil, which is a delicacy up here. Each of our apartments got a jar as well. The women at the center told us you can eat the blubber raw so the two of us interns still watching tried a small chunk. It didn't have a strong flavor at all like I thought it would, but it was really tough and really oily. My hands smelled of seal for the rest of the day. Seal blubber is definitely not something I want to eat everyday, but it wasn't awful, and I'm glad I tried it. I also learned how to say hello in Central Yupik: "Wagaa".

It was a really good day, and now I have to start preparing for my breast feeding presentation on Friday. Oh boy!

A few more pictures...

http://picasaweb.google.com/emilye9/Nome1#

it started raining tonight...hopefully things will clear up this week.

Sunday Update...

Hey hey! This weekend has been really relaxing. I went running again yesterday, and the interns and I had a movie night last night. Today I got up and went to Mass at the Catholic church around the corner. It was really neat; the church had a real air of excitement. The church has been without a priest for several months now and is expecting a new one in July. Since it is Pentecost Sunday, the nun running the service used it to talk about the Holy Spirit's role in holding the congregation together through the winter months with no leader. One entire hymnal was devoted to songs translated into the language of the King Island peoples, so one of the songs we sang was in a native language. Thankfully there was a section at the bottom of each page for phonetic spellings of all the words. This afternoon, I took some time to do Pilates and then a nap. Back to the grind tomorrow!

My first taste of Alaskan food...

Yesterday at work we got to hear two of our co-workers talk about Eskimo culture. They are both Alaska native and know a lot about the culture of the region. Here is a list of Eskimo cultural values I thought was really beautiful. It is written in Inupiaq first, then translated to English.

Nunakut munaqsrigitkut
We take care of our land

Munaqsrigaqtuut qunignaituamik
We have a caretaker, we cannot see

Ilavut nakliiluit
We take care of each other

Pilguittuat igayalugit
We take care of those who do not do well

Kaanniuqtuat nigipkalugit
We feed the hungry

Utuqanaat Talugilugit
We respect the elderly

...and the list goes on. I've always found learning about other cultures, especially native cultures, fascinating, and Eskimo culture just seems wonderful. Many still try to live a subsistence lifestyle (living solely off the land). It was interesting because right after the cultural talk we had a nutrition talk, and the subsistence lifestyle and diet is incredible for your health! HDL levels (or "good cholesterol" levels) are considered healthy when they are above 40 for men and 50 for women, but some Eskimo patients have HDL levels well into the hundreds.

Another important aspect of Eskimo culture and of Nome, it seems, is sharing, and one of our co-workers was a great example of this for us last night. Moriah, one of the girls who gave us the culture talk, invited us over for a barbecue at her house last night. We got to eat moose meat kabobs and bison-moose burgers, both of which were DELICIOUS. The burgers were my favorite, although I had already filled up on the kabobs and only had a bite of the burger.

Today is clean up Nome day...so I may be helping pick up trash and sprucing up the place this afternoon, but I'm going to see if I can get one of the other interns to go with me. Going along with that, one of the classes in Summercise is called "graffiti class." All around town, you see big metal shipping containers which people have used to ship things up (i.e. cars, etc.) and abandoned. Lance, from the community center will be helping the kids paint murals on the containers to help beautify Nome! I thought that sounded like a fun way to make a difference. I almost wish I could do Summercise!

Oh! And we saw our first sunset last night. It started happening around 1:30 am, and I don't know when complete darkness hit because I went to sleep. It was funny because in less than a week we've started saying "Wow, look it's getting dark! That is so cool!" or "Woah! The MOON!"

More Pics...

http://picasaweb.google.com/emilye9/Nome1#

This is in the same album as the last set, but these are pictures from our walk on the beach and whatnot. Also note that these pictures were taken at about 10:30 pm. That will help you gauge the daylight situation.

Tonight we went on a small hike out to Gold Hill on the tundra. There were several spots on the trail that we had to wade through knee-deep snow...far more than I've ever seen. We even got a tiny flurry but nothing that stuck. We don't have to be at work until 10am tomorrow, so I get to sleep in just a bit. :D

Hope you have a great night! All my love
emily

We HAVE internet!

We just got internet in our apartment so celebrate with us!

The past few days have been fun but really busy. We've been going through orientations galore and have gotten to meet our high school assistants. One high school girl, Gena, has the most beautiful smile.

We got to tour their food service department in the hospital which was really interesting. They have to plan meals so far in advance! Every hospital has to have enough food for two weeks worth of meals in case of a disaster, but the dietitian says they've gone for as long as six weeks without a delivery. We toured the rest of the hospital and then did a bunch of fun team-building games with the assistants and this really awesome man from the community center.

It sounds like we will be doing all kinds of really cool activities which will really help with my dietetics internship in a few years. We'll be working with WIC and a program called Step by Step which offers free nutrition screenings and has an incentive program which gives out free 3-month passes to the Rec Center. We'll also be able to do some work in the maternity hostel in town and with a summer lunch program which sounds pretty involved. I am so excited!

Two nights ago we went for a walk on the beach looking for beach glass, which is just glass that has washed up from the ocean, but it looks really rounded and pretty. And it's cool to think where it may have come from. There is still a good bit of ice near the shore, probably close to three feet thick, so we walked out on that and got some good shots. I'm trying to upload them to picasa, but it is taking a while...

Today was mostly just more training on how to handle behavioral problems and parent complaints. We learned more about our specific roles and met a few of the community members who will be helping with the program. I think we'll try to go for a hike tonight and take a peek at a thrift store we've heard about down town.

Mom and Dad- I took a picture of the hotel you guys will be staying at when you come up, so check that out too.

love,
em

And pictures...

http://picasaweb.google.com/emilye9/Nome1

Oh yea...one more thing...

I forgot, but we found out today that TLC is doing a couple of episodes of a reality show based in Nome this summer. They've just produced a 4 minute pilot episode, and the show will center around this coffee shop we're in right now, Airport Pizza. This place is known for flying pizzas out to the villages around here. From what we hear, the show puts a really negative spin on the employees here and the town, though. So if you happen to see it this summer, take it with a grain of salt. ;D

This is too funny. There are 7 of us in here, all of us are online, some of us are trying to Skype (unsuccessfully), and 3 are on cell phones. We come to Bush Alaska, and this is what we do. AHHHH. rediculous.

all my love (again.)
em

I'm HERE!!!!!

Here are my notes from the past 3 days. There are currently 7 of us sucking the wireless out of the local coffee shop, so this may be a really slowwwww load. :D I'm working on getting some pics up on picasa web, too, so hopefully a link will follow.

May 25, 2009

I just arrived in Nome last night around 8 pm Alaskan time. It was such a long day of travel, but I am so happy to be here and really love the town so far. I’ll get you caught up.

Travel day was really cool. I left my house around 4:30 am for my 6am flight, and of course, I was extremely nervous. I’ve never liked flying a whole lot, and this was my first time flying by myself, meaning this was the first time I had to put much thought in getting from gate to gate on time, etc.

Luckily the Lord stepped in with some encouragement right at the start. Just after I sat down to wait for my flight an older couple sat down next to me, and the man struck up a conversation. After a few minutes he started talking a bit about his faith and giving me encouragement. In our conversation about Alaska, he told me about a really cool word he says isn’t used much any more, but it is highly descriptive of the Lord. The word is “redound” and it describes beauty and majesty. So there you go…redound…use it well. :D I sat next to a Clemson grad on my flight who was also going to Seattle after Dallas, so she helped me get to my next gate.

All of my flights went really smoothly, and as scary and unnatural as I think flying was, I found out that I really love having a window seat. Who knew that there were that many layers of clouds? I mean, I have flown before, but I think this was the first time I actually appreciated how beautiful the world is from that high.

There was another intern on my last two flights, but we didn’t realize who each other were, so I didn’t find out until later. We got picked up at the airport by the two CAMP directors who are both really young and nice. One took us to our apartment which is on a dirt road in the middle of town. It’s in a pretty nice, yellow building and the space is HUGE! We found out that all but two of us get our own room, which is really nice. The apartment has a huge kitchen and den area, and three of us are sharing it. We have cable and a DVD player. No internet yet, so if I’m posting this, it will probably from the office or the coffee shop down town.

We drove around a bit last night to look at the town. Most of the streets are dirt, and there are a lot of broken down cars, tools, and gold mining equipment lying around. One area along the road leading out of town is used as a “museum” of gold mining equipment from the early 1900’s. There are three roads leading out of town into the bush where people have camps. Hopefully we’ll make it out there a few times. AND! We saw a herd of reindeer crossing the road last night. I went to bed around 11pm in the broad daylight and slept extremely hard. One of my roommates said she was up to see the sunset around 1am.

I woke up around 5:30 am (9:30 am at home) and there was a bit of a sunrise going on. It was still really light outside, but the sky was pink so you could tell it was morning. We all got up around 8:30 and headed to the CAMP office to catch a ride to the start of the Memorial Day parade. There were about 30 people in the parade, and maybe 40 onlookers. We processed up the hill to the cemetery where there was a nice ceremony to honor veterans and fallen soldiers.

After the ceremony Kelly, from CAMP, took the three of us out to brunch at Airport Pizza (which is actually more of a coffee shop that serves pizza, among other things). I spent the rest of the morning unpacking and getting settled until another intern got here around 1. The four of us went exploring this afternoon on foot. There are a lot of bars on the main road and a few restaurants and cool gift shops. The shops we visited have a lot of native art and carvings, as well as Russian artwork. I saw fox, mink, and musk oxen pelts and some moccasins that looked really warm.

The women at the visitors’ center say that the baby musk oxen have been hanging out pretty close to town lately on the tundra, so hopefully we’ll go on a hike soon and see them. The sea is still a little icy, although the majority of the ice broke off last week. We’re waiting on the last four interns to arrive tonight, and we start orientation and stuff tomorrow morning. I think that’s about it for now…more later, and I should be posting pictures soon, so I’ll post a link to picasaweb on here. :D Love all of you!

em

May 26, 2009

Today was our first day of training at the office. We had to fill out a lot of human resources forms this morning, take a drug test, and have our immunization records checked. I’ll have to get fingerprinted later in the week. We watched a really fun video on blood-borne pathogens (thrilling, I tell you.) The CAMP office had Subway sandwiches for us at lunchtime, which is about the only recognizable restaurant in town.

A lot of the restaurants we’ve seen have really odd combinations of cuisines. There is a sushi/pizza place, an American/Japanese/Italian place, and a barbeque/Chinese place. This week, we have a gift card for our stipend which only works at one of the grocery stores in town, but by next week we should be getting a direct deposit into our account. I think all of us interns are going to try doing a lot of group dinners to save money and maybe trying 1 restaurant a week. Prices are, as expected, really really high here. For instance, one avocado is close to five dollars, milk is seven dollars per gallon, but we’re applying for a store savings card, and we should be able to “mooch” off the hospital a good bit.

Anyway, after lunch we got to meet the rest of the CAMP staff and play a name game to get to know each other. It looks like we will be getting a ton of really cool opportunities to gain experience in the nutrition field up here. We will be working with WIC some, a summer-lunch program, and various other community nutrition projects. There are three dieticians who will be working over us, and everyone just seems to genuinely love this community.

They’ve told us we may get to spend some time with the elders of the town, too, which would be really cool. We may even be able to go berry picking with them. A group of women came into the office today from one of the surrounding villages to sell crafts they had made. I love it!

One of my new friends, Tala, is a big runner so she and I went for a run last night around 9pm. We were trying to find a 5k route we had heard about and got a little turned around so we didn’t go for very far. Today in our meeting we found out about a running club in town and a 12.5 mile race up to the top of Anvil Mountain late in June, so we may try to train for that! I am just trying to soak everything in. I think we’re going to go back down to the beach today, so I’ll be sure to take my camera. Things are going really great so far! Love love love!

em

Lex, the gnome...going to Nome...

I would like to introduce you to my new travel companion, Lex. He is a gnome and a gift from my aunt. And yes, this gnome is going to Nome. (Is that how you spell gnome? And what is the point of silent g's?)

A few thoughts...

It struck me today that I am starting to understand what people mean when they say "life happens- I'm just along for the ride." I leave for Alaska in a day and a half, and I have no idea where the time went. I'm glad God is in control!

I judged company auditions for local dance studio the other day, and I feel like I have to share a story from my time there. First of all, the two women who own the studio are very dear friends of mine and really wonderful women of God. I have worked at this studio a few times now and did some choreography for their senior tap company last year, and their students are such a joy. My friends have been able to create a real family atmosphere in the studio, showing love to the kids and treating them as their own.

One of the women, Debi, told me about a young boy who was going to be observing tryouts. She said she had worked with him in chorus at the middle school nearby, and he had such great stage presence and love for performing that she invited him to see how he liked their studio. As it turns out this little boy is a foster child and is living with a great foster mom who has let him start hanging out around the studio for a couple of weeks now.

Tryout day was a little different for him because, although we were not judging him for the team he wanted to try the moves with the girls and other young male dancer on the senior team. IT WAS SO COOL TO WATCH! This kid rocked! He had the hugest smile on his face the entire time he was dancing and just hammed it up big-time. I was watching raw talent. He had had no dance training, but his musicality was perfect, his attitude was better than you can ask for, and he just looked like he was having the time of his life trying to follow along with the other dancers. I don't know exactly what touched me so about this boy's story; I think because I am passionate about dance it is always exciting to see others (at any skill level) with the same excitement and love for it.