While I was in Alaska, Kristen decided to take the kids and go for the weekend with some friends up to their cabin. It was a sort of reunion trip with the same friends that we went with to Lake Powell earlier this year. Between snow mobiling, sleigh riding, rope swinging, lots of games, and great friends, they had a wonderful time. I just wish I could have gone. Well, like they say, while the cat is away, the mice will play!
So, I'm back in Emmonak, but not by choice. We spent a few days in the village of Alakanuk. The weather forecast didn't look too promising while we were there, so we decided to leave while we had the chance. While in Alakanuk, we set up clinic in the tribal council building. They gave us an old office to use to set up clinic and to sleep in. It was completely full of junk, which we had to clean out and move around just to have enough space to set up. That's also where we had to sleep. No beds, no pads, nothing! Just a nice hard floor to lay on. They did have a bathroom with warm water, but no shower. They had community meetings all day in the main recreation room, and at night they had half the village practicing the tribal dance for an upcoming competition. They practiced every night for about 3 hours. And they weren't very quiet either.
When we were ready to leave and went to check out, you'll never guess what they charged us for these luxuryaccommodations-- $180.00 per night. Yes, that was not a typo--$180 per night!! Never mind the fact that we are bringing a service to their village, and sleeping on the floor. I wasn't too happy about it, either.
And if that wasn't bad enough, the only way to leave the village was on a snow machine (snow mobile)--no planes were coming in because of the weather. The closest (biggest) place to go was back to Emmonak. So we hired a man to take us and our gear back to Emmonak. Since there is only enough room on the back of the snow machine for one passenger (and there are 2 of us), I had to travel in the sled that was pulling our gear. Talk about a crazy trip. I was wrapped up as much as I could possibly be. And between the exhaust from the snow machine and the ice crystals that it was shooting at me like b.bs, it wasn't a very enjoyable trip. Not to mention that the sled I was sitting on was home made, made out of wood, and VERY bumpy. Single digit temperatures didn't help either. Fortunately, it was only about 30 minutes of torture! :) But hey, it's all a part of the experience, right? Sometimes I wonder what on earth I am doing up here!
My first stop on this trip is in the village of Emmonak. I don't always have internet service in the villages, but I do in this one. We have set up clinic in the community center, and upstairs they have a few rooms to rent out, so that is where we are sleeping. This building does have running water. In the bathrooms, in order to let gravity help pull everything away, they have built a little platform, 2 steps up, for the toilet. The roof is already lower than normal, and when I have to step up 2 steps higher to get to the toilet..... Well, needless to say, I can't stand up when trying to use the bathroom. Ok, so that was probably a little too much information, but I thought it was pretty funny when I wacked my head the first time using the bathroom!
Between city council meetings, Bingo, and traditional dance practice, they have me playing musical rooms. Which is a pain having to break down all the equipment and move everything into another room. I've been a little dissappointed in their willingness to be accommodating. Oh well, you do what you've got to do.
Kids will be kids
Cute little girl all bundled up
An elderly tribal woman
Taking a walk to the storeNative tribal dance
Lots of snow makes for great sleigh riding. So we ventured back to the same place where Kaden broke his leg while sledding several years ago. Katelyn has no fear, as she tries to do whatever her brothers do. Kaden had no fear until he flew off a jump and landed on his head. And Caleb, he just likes to have fun. Some bruises, headaches, and rosy red cheeks are all we took away from this sledding adventure. Fortunately, all bones were intact!
Last night as we were putting the kids to bed, Kristen just happened to glance out the window and notice a deer laying in the middle of the snow in our backyard. So we got the boys, turned off the lights, and spent the next 30 minutes spying on her. The bright moon and the 2 feet of snow that covered everything made for a fairly bright night. After a few minutes of resting in the snow, we watched the doe as she meandered around the yard, eating any leaves or branches that she could find. We moved from room to room as she moved around the house. Since we were looking from the second floor, we had a great view of her (especially when she was up eating the rose leaves along the house), without being spotted. The boys were concerned about her being cold and alone, and not able to make it back to the mountains. So it was a great opportunity for us to talk about Heavenly Father's creations, and how they/we are all created to survive different types of situations. It was a simple but beautiful moment together with our boys, spying out the window into the cold night.
Fortunately, Katelyn was asleep before this happened. Normally we would feel bad she didn't get to be there with us, but for some unknown reason she has this terrible fear of deer. When we see them while we're driving, she is sure they are going to open up her door and get her. Trying to explain to her that deer can't open doors doesn't help either. Christmas time and reindeer have helped to calm the fear a little, but I don't think we'll be having any pet deer for a while.
