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.