Welcome to Bethel, AK

The 800 building (our apartment complex) in the background

Bethel, and the frozen Kuskokwim River

Welcome to Bethel, Alaska

Walking to the post office from our apartment building

Bethel, and the frozen Kuskokwim River

Nome, Alaska

Welcome to Nome! The Nome Hageland pilot houseBering sea

Nome has a movie theater - They only show one movie, but that's better than Bethel!

Front Street - Nome Front street and the Bering Sea

Unloading the 1900

Eric just finished his first shift in Nome, and he was very happy to be home. Nome is about 400 miles north of Anchorage, only accessible by commercial airline (just like Bethel). Eric said the main difference between Nome and Bethel are the bars. Bethel is a damp community, so we don't have bars. Nome does have tourism unlike Bethel, so that brings in money. Nome is in the bush just like Bethel, but in Nome you can drive a few hundred miles to different villages. In Bethel, you can't drive anywhere - as we only have 10 miles of road. Eric and I talk each night on the phone. I will admit, I'm having a hard time here. There is nothing to do, and it is so dark and cold every day. I've got to hang in there because Eric is doing really well with his flying. This will be a great opportunity for us, I just have to grow up. The feeling of desperation is like nothing I've ever experienced before. It's really hard to explain to people who are on the outside. I sometimes can't watch TV because I see everything that is going on in the world, and I'm just stuck here. I have to be strong so that Eric can continue with his flying career.

Anyway, Eric really likes the flying, and has seen a lot of amazing stuff. I'd like to come up there sometime and see what it's like.

Happy Halloween!

This is our first Halloween in Bethel. We've already had lots of snow (which is unusual, I've been told). It's been cold and windy, but today was sunny. We decided to head down to the river and take some pictures.

We did not have any trick-or-treaters this year. Our apartment complex is locked, which makes it hard for visitors. I'm not sure how popular Halloween is here - I can't imagine people getting into it here.

Eric leaves for Nome today and starts his 2 week shift tomorrow. Hageland pilots work 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off. Which is great, but this is our first Alaska winter, and I'm not sure how this is going to go. We shall see....

Yukon Kuskokwim Delta Regional Hospital

This is the hospital where I work as the clinical dietitian. The hospital is a 30 bed facility which serves patients in the YK delta. The YK delta is the size of Oregon, and has 55 Native villages. (More on the villages later). Our services are pretty impressive for an area as remote as Bethel, but we are quite limited as you can imagine. The hospital has an emergency room, obstetrics unit, pediatric unit (9 beds), inpatient unit, and outpatient clinics. We do not have an Intensive care unit. If someone is very ill, they are flown to Anchorage.

As I said, Bethel serves about 55 villages. These villages each have a small village clinic where health aids provide medical care. These health aids receive training in Bethel and do everything from birthing babies to giving immunizations. When a sick patient arrives at the village clinic, the health aid must follow a manual to identify the patent's problem. The health aids then call the doctors in Bethel if needed. Alaska is the only state that has these health aids.

Bethel, Alaska

This is the first time we saw Bethel back in June, 2005. Bethel is located 400 miles west of Anchorage on the Kuskokwim river. No roads lead in or out of Bethel, so the only way out is by a jet plane. About 6,000 people live here and most of the people are Yup'ik Eskimos. Eric and I wanted to move to Alaska, and Bethel was the best place for both of our careers. Eric was a new pilot and was able to get on with a bush flying service right away, and I landed a job that paid for the move.

I must admit that moving to this area from the lower 48 was tough. We learned as much as we could before we moved to Bethel, but we moved without seeing it first. Eric and I just jumped out there and did it. Many people don't understand how or why we could do it. That is just fine with us. Eric and I had wanted to move to Alaska for a long time, and we are very glad we did it. Alaska is very proud of it's culture, and traditions and by living in this remote part of the world, we have developed such a sense of respect for this land and it's people. It is truly amazing. The people and their lifestyle are something we will never forget. We have met some of the most interesting, real people and have experienced truly unique experiences. I have decided to start this blog to share our pictures and stories with family and friends.