A Bethel Christmas

James Made This Eskimo Finger Puppet In Yup'ik Class




James' Class At The Christmas Show...They Represented Jamaica

More Christmas Show...These are Yup'ik Dancers

James Gave Santa Some Cookies At A Holiday Sing Along. He was very excited!

Thankful

Wow... so far I have given out almost eighty pairs of mittens. Everyone has been so generous in sending them in. The kids have been delighted over them. I want to thank everyone so much.

Here are some pictures of my family on Thanksgiving. I can't believe how big Addie is, or how grown up Patrick, Nathan and Reilly look. It makes us miss you all the more to see how fast everyone is growing up. - Megan

Weather

Another week begins in Bethel. Nobody in my household wanted to get out of bed this morning. It was not because we went to bed late. I think we could just sense that it was freezing outside, and we knew the sun would not rise for another four hours. However, because our alarm clock read 6:30 am up we went. Long underwear, clothes, snow pants, face mask, hat, gloves, boots we emerge out into the cold dark night, only it is technically morning.

The weather report tells us that it is –1 degree, and – 23 wind chill. The prediction for today's weather says the wind chill may approach –15. This kind of weather report is frustrating when you are trying to figure out whether to wear regular balaclava, or polar balaclava. I swear Jamie could probably make better weather predictions thanthe ones we get around here. It is unsettling not to know if or when it is going to get warmer, or just how cold it is going to get by the end of the day.

Most places in the US where you can get minute by minute accounts of the weather any time you want on The Weather Channel or on your computer. Not here. There really isn't any point to reading the predictions, they are almost always wrong. Itisn’t anyones fault that they are so bad, there is too much empty barren space, without enough weather stations and too few people to really bother with. It is a bewildering experience not having reliable weather reports, but I have gotten used to it and have begun devising my own way of predicting the weather. We know it is going to be cold until May, so that does simplify things. It probably won’t be warm enough to rain, so that leaves the possibility of snow. As far as the temperature goes the only accurate one to go on is the current temperature, and if it is night you can generally predict it will get colder before it gets warmer. Without much daylight the range of temperature is pretty small so their probably won’t be too many dramaticfluctuations. The most important factor of course, is the wind. Which is not even predicted, so you have to go on the current report. If it is windy at all, then we know we need all of our warmest gear and you better gird your loins because it's nasty out there. -Megan

James' Play

Here are some pictures from James' play. It was really fun to watch the kids work so hard and have such a good time. James loved it, and was quite good at it, drama must run in the family.

When -1 is your high temperature for the day...

We woke up to -18 ambient temperature and -38 windchill this morning. It has been around zero or colder since Monday night. I am writing this at 9:10 and it is still pitch black outside. I guess this is the Alaska winter everyone warned us about. The good thing it isn't that bad. This is really the first week it has been a nuisance, the first time I got bone chilling cold, the first time I really longed for more daylight. The bad news is it isn't even December yet, but this cold snap will not last forever. From what I have heard February is the worst month, but then it starts to warm up, and the days are much longer, and you can look forward to spring.

Jamie is doing fine. He has his play this week, so he has been busy with rehearsals every night. I think we were right when we predicted that he would have a future on the stage, I think we are in for at least 11 more years of this. The kids at school are starting to get squirrely from being indoors. A lot of the families live in pretty small houses, so I think the kids can start to feel pretty cooped up. Lets just say the time out room has been a little full this week.

We are house sitting this week. It is a really nice house with a nice view of the tundra. They have a wood stove, and furniture that isn't over twenty years old (like in our furnished apartment) and they also have a great kitchen to cook in. They also have a garage full of boxing equipment, so James is loving it. I will post some pictures later. -Megan

Mittens...

I want to thank Terrence's parents for sending us a whole bunch of mittens. When the weather started getting cold I was worried about all the kids who didn't have any mittens or gloves. We tossed around the idea of a mitten drive, Terrence's coworker Kari tried having one a few years ago at the court house here in Bethel, not surprisingly there was a whole lot more taking than giving. I gave out the new mittens yesterday, it took about two minutes to hand out all of them and they had sent us a lot. A lot of the kids wanted to take home a pair to their younger sibling, which is really sweet, but didn't help me in my mission to cover every bare digit in sight. It is really upsetting to see how many kids do not have gloves. Especially, on days like today when the windchill is -28 degrees. In these temperatures your joints, including those in your fingers, really start to ache, not to mention how cold your skin feels. I am going to look online and see if I can find some bulk mittens. If anyone comes across some real cheap, like at a Salvation Army or Big Lots go ahead and buy them and I will reimburse you the cost and shipping. It is just too cold for hands to go uncovered.

Thankfully, most of the kids have jackets. I ordered James' new jacket yesterday, it is supposed to be good for temperatures down to minus twenty and has some kind of fancy windproof shell. Even with his super new jacket he will still have to wear long underwear and several layers on cold days. The cold isn't so bad as long as you have the right kind of clothing. Even I, who am wimpy in the cold, am managing. -Megan

Law of the Tundra

I have not written for this blog in some time. What can I say, I’ve been busy. I have a lot of clients now, and I’m busy learning to be a trial lawyer. Taking on something new is always tiring, and this has been no exception. So far so good.

As for being a lawyer in Bethel, it has been a unique and humbling experience. The majority of my clients live in small villages scattered across the tundra. Towns like Napakiak, Pitkas Point, Goodnews Bay, Akiak, Kwethluk, Hooper Bay, Akiachak, and so on. Whenever I can’t find a client for a hearing, often because their VHF or telephone is out of service, I can call the tribal headquarters or town offices and ask about them:

##########

Ring….ring…. “Hello, town administrator.”

“Hi, have you seen John Doe?”

“Hmm…I think he’s staying with his cousin Bill.”

“Oh, ok, do you have that phone number.”

“I don’t think they have a phone, but I’ll pass along the message.”

“Great, thanks.”

Click.

#############

Invariably, the person calls back after a while. It would be like me calling the mayor of your town to have her find you. When she does, she’ll take you down to the town hall to call me back.

On the other hand, it can be pretty uncomfortable to be an outsider and a lawyer here. I am often reminded of the famed Chief Justice John Marshall, who proclaimed in a Supreme Court decision 175 years ago that “conquest gives title which the courts of the conqueror cannot deny.” John Marshall would have had no idea how expansive the boundaries of the United States would become. Today, the conquest of which Marshall spoke has expanded all the way to the Alaskan Tundra, and to the lives and homes of the peaceful Yup’ik Eskimos that have inhabited this place for thousands of years. It should be uncomfortable I guess.

Here are some pictures borrowed from around the web of some of the villages in Southwest Alaska.

Saint Mary's

Napakiak

Goodnews Bay

Kwethluk

--Terrence

Finally, Some Cute Halloween Pictures

Nathan in the middle (I think)

Hard to believe he's usually so sweet looking.

His pilot's union is the scary part.

Meg, Addison and Grandpa George

Daniel, Timothy and Michael and friends.

Angelic indeed



Thanks everyone for sending pictures. It was fun to get to see how everyone dressed up. Sorry it took so long to get the pictures up, I wasn't able to do it on our home computer.
-Megan

Snow and Ice

I took these the week before Halloween (notice the scythe). The ponds and the river are completely frozen. We won't go out on the river, but lots of people are, including snowmobiles. It is much easier for people to get around in the winter, as snowmobile trails connect many of the villages. We are beginning to accept that winter is just the norm around here, summer seems to be just a short intermission connecting the regular season of snow and ice. -Megan

Like Manna From Heaven- Farm Fresh Veggies in Bethel!

Jamie and I went to the store yesterday to get milk, (now paying over six dollars for half a gallon because the whole gallon spoils in 2-3 days) and vegetables. I just needed some vegetables. I was craving rutabaga and brussel sprouts, which I suppose is a strange combination, but I was. We arrived at the store, no brussel sprouts, looked around some more, no rutabaga, looked over the carrots, old and flaccid, the lettuce was turning brown. The only vegetable that looked good were artichokes and they were seven dollars each and I just couldn't bring myself to spend that much.
Deflated, James and I started walking home with our groceries which did include a bag of frozen broccoli. What do we see through the frozen snow? Terrence carrying a large box of farm fresh vegetables! Organic onions, beets, potatoes, cabbage and incredibly sweet carrots all grown here in Bethel. I don't know how the guy does it, we have been below freezing since the end of September but somehow he has performed this garden miracle. I had carrots and beets for dinner last night and it was delicious. Apparently, there is an organic farm right here in Bethel and he hopes to keep having vegetables throughout the winter. I don't know how he does it but when I find out I will post more. I know the Yupik were able to live on fish, greens and berries, but I am so grateful that we have some other options.

Not in my Town

".. at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, “Not this time.” This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can’t learn; that those kids who don’t look like us are somebody else’s problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time. "
-Barack Obama
As most of you know I work at one of the local schools. I have enjoyed getting to know the kids, they are bright, kind and trusting. However, some of the conditions in their lives give me great sadness. Everyday I see kids who are hungry, kids who wear threadbare sweatshirts instead of jackets in negative zero temperatures. Some of them have told me about things that have happened in their lives, stories that are so disturbing that I wonder how I am going to get through the rest of my day. It is shocking to me that in this day in age, in this country that children have to live this way.
Today I feel more hopeful than I did yesterday. Even though I do not expect any president or party to be able to solve all of the problems in this country I am heartened that we are now going to have a president who understands what the problems are.

All Souls' Day

Cemetery in Bethel Alaska
"It was a remarkable aesthetic... Some graves had shrines with niches peopled by saints; some looked like botanical gardens of paper and silk; other had the initials of loved ones spelled out on the mound in white stones. The unifying principal was that the simplest thing was done with the greatest of care. It was a comfort to see this attention lavished on the dead. In these families you would never stop being loved." Excerpt from the book "Animal Dreams" by Barbara Kingsolver

Take care- Megan

Pictures, and more pictures.

This was taken at a Native Youth Olympic Tournament. This event involves holding onto a stick greased with fat longer than your opponent (in this case it was Crisco- before Crisco seal fat)
I figure we should put this great camera Ann gave us to good use, so here is pictures and more pictures.

Terrence's Public Defender Conference

Check out the place Terrence is staying for the next four days. It is a beautiful place, set in the mountains.This is the Alaska everyone imagines. I hope he gets to hike and relax, and get a beer at a bar- not something we can do here in Bethel. If the above link does not work follow this http://www.alyeskaresort.com/

Roller Skating on the Tundra

I wanted to give everyone an update, since it has been awhile. We have been having a good time. It has been cold, very cold. We have had several days of below zero wind chills. Last weekend we had a game night with a few of Terrence's coworkers and their children. Last night we went to Jamie's school for roller skating- the picture says it all.


After that we had a beautiful hike through the tundra. We were able to see the mountains which are only visible on clear days and mostly at sunset- but when you can see them they are amazing, and then a beautiful moon rise. It was huge and pink (the picture does not even come close to capturing the size).


Then we went over to Terrence's friend Chris's house to watch Iron Man which Jamie had been looking forward to for weeks. Today Jamie had play practice again, he tried out for some solo lines and got two! He is very excited. He was almost given a bigger part, but since it is his first play we decided it would be more fun with less pressure.


Terrence goes to Girdwood tomorrow for a Public Defender's conference. Girdwood is a town south of Anchorage. We hear it is gorgeous there, like the post card Alaska- which Bethel is not. He is going to bring back lots of groceries, because the prices here are ridiculous! I hope everyone is doing well,- Megan

It's Officially Cold in Alaska

Thought it might be interesting for everyone to know that it is cold here in Alaska. The windchill today is 13 degrees. We also may accumulate up to four inches of snow. Terrence claims it doesn't feel that cold, but I would have to disagree. I will try and get a picture of the snow later tonight- I am sure I will be out since Jamie will be so excited.- Megan

It snowed!

It snowed for the first time on Wednesday. The kids at school were very excited. One of them said, "It's about time," which made me laugh. We are all doing well. James has gotten over his cold, and I have gotten over some kind of stomach flu I had. Terrence managed not to get either, which is normally his custom- except of course this past summer. I think everyone knows by now that Ted's Lyme disease test came back negative. This is good news since it means we don't have to worry about any lingering side effects from his illness. His doctor didn't really have anymore insight into his sickness except for that it was bacterial meningitis, of an unknown type.

I never really did any research into meningitis until now. Once we were in the hospital I knew he was in good hands, and Rob patiently answered all of my questions and assured me that everything was proceeding as it should. Denial can be a useful thing, and it served me well during that time, enabling me to stay optimistic and present with Ted as he suffered through terrible headaches, high fevers and the fear of the unknown.

As Molly says, Ted was one lucky bastard. The chances for brain damage and death with bacterial meningitis are high. I can remember a particularly sobering moment after one of the doctors tried to prepare us for what might happen. I realized how possible it was to lose it all. My fear for Terrence gripped me, then my fear for Jamie as well. But we were really lucky and I am really thankful.

It is kind of nice to have my denial wear off here in Bethel. Puts the cold and the remoteness in perspective. So with the snow falling outside, I conclude that we are going to have a fine time here this winter, even if it is long and dark.

Jamie is going to the Teen Center today after school. Friday is movie day and they have popcorn. He really likes it there. If they would let him set up a cot in the corner he would live there. It is a nice place. There are games and activities, some couches, cooking and sewing class, a couple of aquariums and a lot of kids. After that we are going to the cultural center to buy McDonalds cheeseburgers. Thats right, if you don't live where they have a McDonalds they will find a will to bring them in. It is a fundraiser for the Girl Scouts, which is a worthy cause so we will have to do our part. - Megan

Living in Bethel

We originally had planned to do a blog every week. We haven’t kept up with that pace so far. There are probably several reasons for this, we are busy, we are still adjusting to the move but I know, at least for me, the main reason it is hard to write about Bethel is because I have no context for it. There isn’t an easy way to describe this place because there is so little in my experience to relate it too. Being so new to this place I just find I am in not in a good position to make any blanket observations of it. However, we have been here about a month and the purpose of this blog is to relate to friends and family how it is to live here so I am going to try and do that.

One of the things I find most striking is the difference of scale here. We have explored most of the town on foot, it isn’t hard to do, and can easily be done in one day. I have seen every store, every church, and every park there is to see unless I want to hop on a plane and fly away. The only other alternative would be to find someone with a boat and go to a village where there probably isn’t a store or a park. Personally, this boggles my mind. I feared I would find it claustrophobic, and at times I do get that sense, but I also get the sense of something else. Most humans for most of time never saw more than the few surrounding miles from where they live. As my head wraps itself around the fact that unless my plans change drastically, I am not going to leave these six square miles for about a year I find myself wondering how that is going to change my perspective. Will I look at things more in depth? Will I be more careful about my relationships since these people are all I’ve got? Will wanderlust be replaced with something else? Will I end up watching cable t.v. all day? I don’t know, but I think it will be interesting.

Some fun facts about Bethel, there are only four places in town to get a fountain soda, everywhere else it is only in cans or bottles. You can buy a snowmobile at the grocery store. The only chain restaurant is Subway. The kids go outside for recess unless it is colder than 20 below (windchill). Wrestling is very popular with the kids at school, and both boys and girls participate (about equally). People joke a lot about the terrible weather. If it rains our roads turns into a muddy, horrible mess. The kids like to walk on the above ground sewer pipes (we don’t let Jamie do this, though). A lot of the people who are from here love it, and don’t want to live anywhere else.

Jamie continues to like school, Terrence likes his job. I am having a good time getting to know the kids who frequent the time out room. We miss everyone a lot. - Megan

Just Pictures

One Morning in Bethel

(Since Ted is in the thick of public defending I decided to blog. This was the first time I did it and I didn't get the pictures the way I wanted, but I figure something is better than nothing. The top picture is of James and his friend and the bottom picture is of the sunrise. I will try and blog again soon.)

James and I took these pictures of the sunrise about a week ago. I was pleasantly surprised by how beautiful Bethel looked in the morning light. When Ted and I were researching Bethel we did not come across many accounts praising its beauty. I think there are several reasons for this. The first reason being that there are parts of Alaska that are truly some of the most beautiful places on Earth and it is hard to compete with towering mountains and glaciers. Another reason is I think it is hard to notice the beauty is because it is hard to look beyond the buildings here. There are parts of town that are dirty, dusty and run down. Buildings don’t have to be beautiful to be functional, just ask Ted about the P.D.’s office. It may not be beautiful but a lot of good work goes on there. Considering how hard it was (and still is for some) for people to exist in the harsh tundra environment it is not surprising that functionality is highly valued. The tundra is beautiful though. I thought it would feel like the corn fields in Northern Indiana, or worse the clear cuts in the Upper Peninsula, but it doesn’t feel like either of those. When we walk out of town I can’t take my eyes off it. The gentle rolling of the land, the many different colors, the vastness of it are extremely pleasing.

Overall, we had a good week. Ted got into the thick of it at work, I got a job and James tried out for a musical. The people, to our delight, continue to be extremely friendly. This is a picture of James and his new friend who lives down the street from us. He likes to come over after school and he and James have a great time playing together.

Mikelnguut Elitnaurviat

That is the name of my school. I call it M.E., and so does everybody else. It means “little kids school” in Yup’ik. I am a first grader there. We are the “Mushers.” I am a “buser.”


It looks like the comic book room at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, which is the biggest Children’s Museum in the whole world. My teacher is named Mrs. O’Brien. She’s nice.

It was rainy on the first day of school, so we all went under the building for recess! They even have seesaws under there. They have a wooden floor down there too. I looks like a stage. There were all kinds of animals on springs that you could ride.

At Yup’ik class it wasn’t what I expected. We mostly do art, but we do learn some Yup’ik. I can’t remember any words right now. I can’t remember my teacher’s name right now, but I’ll tell you later when I remember.

So far my favorite thing about Bethel has been the three puppies that live across the street. My favorite thing that happened at my school so far was Friday Morning Showcase. It was real fun because I got to sit with Mom and Dad. What I did was watch kids who live near me sing songs, do the pledge of allegiance, and sing the school song. All the kids and a bunch of the kids parents were there.

You can even hear the coyotes or foxes or wolves howl from way out on the tundra. I like Bethel.

I will have my dad type in the school song:

(Sung to the tune of ‘This Land is Your Land’)

Today we’re singing a song for our school
We call it M.E., a really fine school
We greet good friends here, we make good friends here
All kinds of people large and small


M.E. is your school, M.E. is my school
We’re proud to be here, we all love our school
And it’s the finest, it’s where you’ll find us living and learning all we can
We learn together, working and playing
Striving to become the best that we can!
We help each other, just like a brother
Our school is best for you and me

‘till next time
--James

Bethel

It is hard to describe the experience of arriving in Bethel. After a long day of flying, we boarded the last leg of the journey to Bethel on a plane that was half passenger plane and half cargo plane. The passenger section was full. It felt a little more like a bus than a plane. Most of the people seemed to know each other, and they speculated with great interest about whether so-and-so was going to make it in time or whether such-and-such a person's cargo made it on the plane. All of us were very tired. It was a short flight, and before we knew it we were descending into Bethel. The view out the window was beautiful. Thousands of lakes, like puddles, stretching out to the horizon in an expanse of golden tundra. Clouds were moving slowly across the sky dumping rain in long mare's tales. The descriptions of Bethel we had read before arriving did not do it justice.



Our first couple of days we took few pictures. It was enough just to be in town. The attorneys at the PD's office are all very friendly and helpful. They have been a great help in getting acclimated to Bethel. Mostly we have just been walking around town attending to a million little moving tasks. Sign up for a phone. Transfer electricity. Figure out James' school. Get a P.O. Box (no mail delivery here). Find out about cable and Internet. Generally figure out how to get from here to there. It is clear that we will be doing a lot of walking if we don't get a car. The basics are right here though. The public defender's office is right across the street. As you can see below, it is a pretty basic structure. It's the one with the blue roof. I will have my own office there. Below that is a picture of the courthouse.


Yesterday, for the first time, I took an hour or so to walk around taking pictures. My focus was the sky. The sky here is incredible. It was cloudy and rainy for a couple of days, but yesterday evening the weather broke.

These pictures are mostly around the pond that sits behind our apartment building.

This is along the river.

This little girl was working on some very complicated project in the mud. I asked what it was, she was not willing to divulge. She was happy, however, to pose for a photograph.


Things here are very run-down, and much of what we read before arriving was focused on the junk around town. In fact, a lot of visitors describe a grubby little town in the middle of nowhere. No alcohol is often a concern. If the primary entertainment you seek involves bowling allies and cold beers (I am partial to both by the way), then you won't find much in Bethel. But so far there has been no lack of interesting people and places.

Finally, this is the apartment complex we live in. It is called "Timberline." It didn't look very significant to our eyes, but everyone in town knows about it. Next time James will blog about his school. Trust me, he can't wait.


--Terrence