Happy Thanksgiving. My two main topics today will be food and thanking.
Last week there was a feast honoring an elder who died last year. It was held at the school as most events here are. Pretty much everyone in the village came and most of them brought food. There was a line of tables all along one wall and around the corner of the gym. Some of the food was what you would consider the usuals; mashed potatoes, salad, chicken, jell-o, etc. However most of it was local. I personally only ate two new things both of them coming from the same animal. Two different types of walrus meat-one was cooked and even had a little fur still on it and the other was a little chunk of raw kidney. I tried kidney the other day but spit it out. This time I actually ate it-just a bite though. There was a plate of hard-boiled eggs, nothing out of the ordinary there, but wait, these were not your ordinary eggs. We had a choice between sea gull or goose. Having watched the Cubs all year, I'm kind of used to goose eggs so I opted for the sea gull. They were all gone when I got to the plate so I took a goose. First thing-they're big! Second thing-I cracked it open and out oozed a real live dead goose. When the locals go searching for food they take any egg they can find. I was told it was treat and I should still eat it. I didn't.
Some of the other foods I didn't eat-kelp, fish eggs, beluga whale. I wanted whale but that was also all gone when I got to it. There were plates full of various fish and fowl but I didn't know what anything was so I just skipped it. Overall it was pretty cool. Everyone sat on the floor which is common around here. Most of the serving dishes didn't have utensils; people just reached in and grabbed or ripped off what they wanted. Those of you who know me well, know that is very difficult for me; but you know what they say, "when in Chefornak, do what the Chefornakians do."
Today was our village Thanksgiving feast. Kind of the same thing in some ways, different in others. It was during the school day and the whole village was invited. This time we had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, regular Thanksgiving staples. The only thing missing was the pumpkin pie. Anyone that can get one here for me and have it still be edible will be greatly rewarded.
On Thursday the teachers are all getting together for our Thanksgiving dinner. I'm looking forward to it but it's also a little tough not seeing my family.
I also wanted to send out a couple of "thank yous." First to anyone who is reading this, thanks for reading. People back home that have run errands for me and taken care of my house; mom, Jason, Glor, Becky, Zach, Mandy, Catie I couldn't be doing this without you. A huge thank you to the people who have sent unsolicited boxes/packages. You can't imagine how good it feels to hear Nicole, the postmaster say "Tom, you have a box at the post office" when I wasn't expecting anything. Thank you; Karen and Dan, Uncle Ed and Aunt Elaine, Eydie and Tim from Osco, Mom. I hope I didn't miss anybody.
Quyana
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Chefornak to Chicago in 5 Easy Steps
OK, here we are again. It's been a while since I've been on here. I hope you all have been doing all right without me. My last post was October 10th, almost a month ago. Right now I'm sitting at my desk eating leftover Halloween candy.
Since we last met...
I left on Wednesday, October 13th to go back to Illinois for Becky's wedding. What a trip! I'm surprised I didn't run into Steve Martin and John Candy.
First, I almost didn't get to leave Chefornak. It was foggy and flights were being cancelled. [Alaskans get their PFD (Permanent Fund Dividend) checks in late September/early October. Basically it's a check that all citizens get every year, roughly around $1000. Alaska Airlines has a huge sale when the checks come out.] The importance of the last few sentences is; if I missed one flight there were no empty seats on any plane until Monday the 18th, two days after the wedding. At about noon KC, my principal calls me into his office and tells me to call each of the airlines that serve our village and make reservations with any or all of them to make sure I get out of here. I find a plane and leave around 1:30 and get to Bethel at 2:30. My plane is not scheduled to leave Bethel until 8:30. Having a few hours and not wanting to spend the $7.00 for a cab I walk from the airport to "downtown" Bethel, about 3 miles. Do some shopping, eat at Subway and walk back. When I get there, I'm told that because of the returning fog, my next plane will be late and may not come at all. After sitting in the airport for 2 more hours, the plane comes in at around 9:30. At this point, I've been gone for 8 hours, walked 6-7 miles and have travelled less than 100 miles. The plane leaves for Anchorage at 10:30 and I sit next to two people (a man and a women) both chewing tobacco, and spitting into their empty Pepsi cans.
I get to Anchorage around 11:30 and wait for my next plane. I'm scheduled to leave at 12:45 to fly to Seattle. While waiting I buy an $8.00 Big Mac meal. This plane leaves on time and I get to Seattle around 5:00 their time. The Seattle airport has trains that take you from one terminal to the other. Being impatient, I just hop on the first one which results in having to take two more to get me back to where I'm supposed to be. I'm there for a couple of hours, enough time to eat at Starbuck's (just a donut) and on to the next plane, leaving at 7:00 for Denver. Get to Denver, get myself a personal pizza from Pizza Hut and head for the next plane. This plane (big and very nice) takes me to Chicago. As I was traveling I noticed the physical appearance of both the airports and the people improved as I moved from Bethel to Anchorage to Seattle to Denver, but then it stopped when I got to O'Hare (no offense intended).
After getting off the plane in Chicago I had to run to catch to CTA train. Took that to Jefferson Park. Got off the train there and waited for the Metra to take me to Crystal Lake. When I got to Crystal Lake, my car was waiting for me with a full gas tank (thanks Jason). It was now 6:00 pm (3:00 Alaska time). In the previous 26 hours I had been on a total of 5 planes and 5 trains in four different states and four different time zones with less than 4 hours of sleep.
Even with the hassles I'm glad I went back.
Here in Chefornak there's not a whole lot out of the ordinary going on. I worked at the Halloween carnival last weekend. I was in charge of the duck game. My biggest problem was telling the older kids that they couldn't play. Sunday was Halloween and the oddest thing was many of the adults go trick or treating without kids. Kind of interesting to hear a knock on the door, open it and see a 40 year man standing there with a bag for candy.
Ice skating is the big activity right now, although they just call it skating. There's only a short window that it's possible to skate. The few weeks after the ponds freeze until there is too much snow. I haven't skated but I've been out there. The kids like to hang to my coat while I pull them around. I've had as many as 12 hanging on all yelling "Run faster!" Hah!! that's what I say.
This weekend was the time change "Fall Back". They don't do it here until Sunday afternoon. That way they don't have to change their schedule for church. Clocks stay the same and then when you get home from church you move them back.
ALASKA LIFESTYLE NEWS
Last Tuesday I helped clean blood off of a seal skin. The seal was caught and skinned over the weekend. The skin was then brought to the Preschool of all places. There, the kids (and I for a short period), cleaned it and hung it to dry.
Of course the big news is..... I used my Honeybucket for the first time. It was a Saturday night, I woke up around 3:00 am and thought I have to go. I sat there and thought about getting dressed and running to the school, then I tried to convince myself it was gas, then I hoped it would just go away. None of the above. In the words of Forrest Gump, "that's all I have to say about that." Other than I used it again last week. Still don't like it but it does come in handy.
Since we last met...
I left on Wednesday, October 13th to go back to Illinois for Becky's wedding. What a trip! I'm surprised I didn't run into Steve Martin and John Candy.
First, I almost didn't get to leave Chefornak. It was foggy and flights were being cancelled. [Alaskans get their PFD (Permanent Fund Dividend) checks in late September/early October. Basically it's a check that all citizens get every year, roughly around $1000. Alaska Airlines has a huge sale when the checks come out.] The importance of the last few sentences is; if I missed one flight there were no empty seats on any plane until Monday the 18th, two days after the wedding. At about noon KC, my principal calls me into his office and tells me to call each of the airlines that serve our village and make reservations with any or all of them to make sure I get out of here. I find a plane and leave around 1:30 and get to Bethel at 2:30. My plane is not scheduled to leave Bethel until 8:30. Having a few hours and not wanting to spend the $7.00 for a cab I walk from the airport to "downtown" Bethel, about 3 miles. Do some shopping, eat at Subway and walk back. When I get there, I'm told that because of the returning fog, my next plane will be late and may not come at all. After sitting in the airport for 2 more hours, the plane comes in at around 9:30. At this point, I've been gone for 8 hours, walked 6-7 miles and have travelled less than 100 miles. The plane leaves for Anchorage at 10:30 and I sit next to two people (a man and a women) both chewing tobacco, and spitting into their empty Pepsi cans.
I get to Anchorage around 11:30 and wait for my next plane. I'm scheduled to leave at 12:45 to fly to Seattle. While waiting I buy an $8.00 Big Mac meal. This plane leaves on time and I get to Seattle around 5:00 their time. The Seattle airport has trains that take you from one terminal to the other. Being impatient, I just hop on the first one which results in having to take two more to get me back to where I'm supposed to be. I'm there for a couple of hours, enough time to eat at Starbuck's (just a donut) and on to the next plane, leaving at 7:00 for Denver. Get to Denver, get myself a personal pizza from Pizza Hut and head for the next plane. This plane (big and very nice) takes me to Chicago. As I was traveling I noticed the physical appearance of both the airports and the people improved as I moved from Bethel to Anchorage to Seattle to Denver, but then it stopped when I got to O'Hare (no offense intended).
After getting off the plane in Chicago I had to run to catch to CTA train. Took that to Jefferson Park. Got off the train there and waited for the Metra to take me to Crystal Lake. When I got to Crystal Lake, my car was waiting for me with a full gas tank (thanks Jason). It was now 6:00 pm (3:00 Alaska time). In the previous 26 hours I had been on a total of 5 planes and 5 trains in four different states and four different time zones with less than 4 hours of sleep.
Even with the hassles I'm glad I went back.
Here in Chefornak there's not a whole lot out of the ordinary going on. I worked at the Halloween carnival last weekend. I was in charge of the duck game. My biggest problem was telling the older kids that they couldn't play. Sunday was Halloween and the oddest thing was many of the adults go trick or treating without kids. Kind of interesting to hear a knock on the door, open it and see a 40 year man standing there with a bag for candy.
Ice skating is the big activity right now, although they just call it skating. There's only a short window that it's possible to skate. The few weeks after the ponds freeze until there is too much snow. I haven't skated but I've been out there. The kids like to hang to my coat while I pull them around. I've had as many as 12 hanging on all yelling "Run faster!" Hah!! that's what I say.
This weekend was the time change "Fall Back". They don't do it here until Sunday afternoon. That way they don't have to change their schedule for church. Clocks stay the same and then when you get home from church you move them back.
ALASKA LIFESTYLE NEWS
Last Tuesday I helped clean blood off of a seal skin. The seal was caught and skinned over the weekend. The skin was then brought to the Preschool of all places. There, the kids (and I for a short period), cleaned it and hung it to dry.
Of course the big news is..... I used my Honeybucket for the first time. It was a Saturday night, I woke up around 3:00 am and thought I have to go. I sat there and thought about getting dressed and running to the school, then I tried to convince myself it was gas, then I hoped it would just go away. None of the above. In the words of Forrest Gump, "that's all I have to say about that." Other than I used it again last week. Still don't like it but it does come in handy.
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