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