Culture Week and A Good Laugh for You

Well, it seems that my time is drawing to a close. I have 19 days left here in Alaska. We have finally started to thaw out which means LOTS of little ponds everywhere. I was walking back from the post office on Monday. One second I was fine, the next second I was up to my back pocket in water. I was in a conundrum; I couldn't go back so the only choice was forward. I picked up my other foot and stepped down. It sank up to my knee. Apparently there was water under the snow that I had been standing on just a few seconds before. So, here I am; one leg up to the knee in water and the other one up to the thigh. Oh, did I mention that I was carrying a care package from my mom and groceries from the little store by the post office???? Not sure how to proceed next and not seeing anyone close by, I floundered on. I threw my package and bag forward and crawled out of the position I was in. I was taught that you won't break through as easily if you crawl on your belly because your weight is distributed better. Well, guess what, it worked. I wiggled my way out of the hole in the slush (and the very deep water) and managed to stand up on some solid ground. I walked the rest of the way home soaking wet with water and feeling it sloshing inside my boots. Of all the days for no one to stop and offer me a ride. By the way, it was about 35 degrees.

On to Culture Week. Each year, the school holds a Culture Week where the kids learn traditional Native skills and crafts. Each teacher is assigned one to two community resource people to help them with activities. A good thing because otherwise I would be teaching them to make grits. lol. Well, my group this year made a traditional piece of Yup'ik clothing called a qaspeq. It's basically an overshirt with a hood (for keeping away mosquitoes) and a pocket (for putting berries or eggs). Luckily, this year I had two amazing community people. They were Lillian Slim and Elizabeth Smith (also know as Willy). My girls were given material, shown how to rip it into the pieces for the top--no scissors and patterns here. Then they sewed the pieces and finished with ric rac. They also worked making beaded bracelets. We had a lot of fun, and I learned a lot about making the qaspeqs AND about how to use a sewing machine. By the third day, I was an expert on both. (I hope you can hear the sarcasm in that). We made qaspeqs for the girls, for one girl's baby, and another girl's niece. It gave me an opportunity to spend some one-on-one time with the girls in my last three weeks here in the village. I really enjoyed it.
While we were taking our breaks, I broke out the box of Mary Kay samples and products that the lovely Theia Chaffin, and the wonderful Wendy Bailey sent for us to use for prom. The girls LOVED it. At the end of our time, I took a group picture. It was windy and cold, but they all came out on the steps to pose with their brand new qaspeqs. Hope you enjoy the photos.
See you in three weeks.
Debbie

Check out my PARKA

Agnes Attie, one of the great ladies here in the village made my Parka. The fur on the hood is cinammon fox that I picked up in Anchorage when I went in for my lovely root canal in February. It's okay to be jealous!

Diagnosis-----Alaska Crud

Well, I made it in to Bethel to see a DR!!!!!! I flew out on Thursday morning, as per my local clinic's instructions. I went up to the school to make sure that I had done all the needed paperwork for me to be out for the rest of the week if necessary. If you're keeping score, that's FIVE consecutive days. Then, I came back home to wait on the call for the plane. I don't know that I have explained how the plane situation works here so I should probably do that briefly.
There are three "airlines" that serve the village, and they each have two or three flights to Bethel a day. You call the village agent for the airline of your choice and tell them when you would like to go. They write your name down--I guess it's in an appointment book of sorts--and they call you when your plane is about ten minutes out so that you can walk out to the air strip. Now, they have to call you because the flights coming in are sometimes erratic. You can't just go out and stand around and wait on your plane at the appropriate time because it might be thirty minutes to an hour later (or more) and there is absolutely NO shelter out by the strip.
Well, the village agent called and told me that I would be going out with George when he left and to be out there at 8:50. George lives in the village but flies for Hageland. So, he brings the plane here at night. Well, I walked out to me George at 8:50. No sign of George. Luckily, the Yute agent was already out there waiting on the Yute plane to come in so I hunched down behind his sled to get out of the wind until George arrived. He arrived about five minutes later and had to tow a snow machine out of the way of the plane. Then, he let me get on the plane. Now, keep in mind that it is about 6 degrees with a negative wind chill, and the wind is probably blowing about ten to fifteen miles an hour. We loaded up, he performed all his checks, and off we went. I was sitting in the co-pilot's seat which meant I couldn't see anything but instruments. I never get motion sickness on those little planes, but I had been feel a little sick at my stomach from my bug and thought about the air sick bag two or three times. On a side note, have you ever really LOOKED at one of those bags? If you are doing the "technicolor yawn" how much good is that teeny tiny little sack really going to do???? Well, we landed in Bethel without my adding any more interest to the inside of George's tiny little plane.
I got a taxi at the airport and headed over to the hospital. I went in to the area where they take appointments for the hospital clinic to see if I could see a doctor there instead of going into the actual ER. Sorry, but I don't think you should go to the ER unless it's a real EMERGENCY. I figured that I had coughed for two weeks; a couple more hours wasn't going to kill me.
I went up to the window to try to get an appointment. The guy said that he could get me a doublebook appointment at two. (It was 10:40). I asked what that meant, and he told me that the doctor had two patients scheduled for the same time period. He tried to put me in but the computer wouldn't let him. Apparently, that doctor already had six doublebooks for the day and that was the limit. Then he said he could get me an 11:00 appointment. I said, "A.M.?" He laughed. We decided I would take the 11:00 appointment. I turned around to go sit down and wait for them to call me over to one of the little registration booths to get my information. As I was sitting there I realized that I was the only white person in the waiting area. Normally, as the white people have to go to the white people clinic. I had tried to get another appointment there (I missed my first one because no planes flew) but was told that they couldn't see me until Saturday afternoon. They called me over to the booth, took my info, and directed me to the correct clinic for me. Apparently the hospital has THREE clinics inside it. I know that one is ob/gyn and pediatrics, but I don't know the difference between the other two.
I went over to my assigned clinic and calmly proceeded to read my book and wait. They called me back around 11:45 or 11:50. I went back and went through all the basic stuff: temperature, weight, medication, blah blah blah. Then, the doctor came in. I started coughing my head off right when she came in. I just knew I wasn't going to cough while I was in there just like your car never makes that noise when the mechanic is driving it to check it out. She asked me a series of questions about my symptoms. My response to every single one of her questions? YES. She told me that I had some sort of bacterial/viral infection that was rampant in the area at the time. The nurse had told me that she had suffered the same thing herself just a few weeks earlier.
She gave me a lovely shot in the rear, and I had to sit around and wait an hour to see if I would have a reaction. I DID. I almost passed out. I have a feeling I went green or white (I felt green but one never knows what other people see). I had to sit there a while longer. Finally they decided I could leave and go over to the pharmacy to get my prescriptions. When I asked how much I owed and where I should pay, she looked at me like I had said an alien was living in my snow boots. She replied, "You know, no one has ever asked about that before." So I went out to the nurses station for my clinic and asked the same question. They all just looked at each other. One finally said, "I guess they'll send you a bill."
I then headed over to the clinic to get my medication and found out it would be about an hours wait so I headed off for some lunch. I was SO HUNGRY! I went to a place called Shogun and had Mongolian Beef. Now, I had a regular-size portion with iced tea, and my ticket was $24.20. Stuff isn't cheap in Bethel. I then walked over to the grocery store (about a hundred yards away) to get some money from the ATM. I also got an ice cream sandwich ($3.17 but worth every penny). I went back over to the hospital to get my medicine and was sent into a consultation room to meet with a pharmacist. When I asked about paying for the medicine (at least my deductible) he looked at me with the same strange look the doctor did and said I would have to ask at the pharmacy window. That guy didn't know he either. He said that he guessed they would send me a bill. Does no one ever pay at this place?????
I went over to my friend's house to rest. I was told not to leave town in case I had an adverse reaction to the medicine they had given me that was similar to the reaction I had to the inhaler from the clinic. So, I hung out with my friend Sadie. I did have an adverse reaction....a BAD tummy ache. Apparently antibiotics can do that to you.
I took it easy Friday and didn't see any need to go back over to the hospital/clinic/er. Today is Saturday. I went to Saturday Market this morning and flew back into the village this evening. I had a cheeseburger and fries for lunch ($10). It was SO good. I can't remember the last time I had a good burger and fries. That's one of the big draws about going to Bethel. They actually have a few restaurants, several of which have pretty decent food.
I am back in the village now and getting ready to go to bed. Hopefully I will get some sleep tonight. I think the cough medicine I was given is keeping me from sleeping.
It is only a month until I come home. Hopefully I won't get sick again. Thanks to those of you who prayed for me.
Love
Debbie

Welcome to the Pity Party---Guest of Honor--ME

Well, here I am at home from work AGAIN. I walked back over to the clinic today. Now, lets talk about the logic of this. I am supposedly suffering from pneumonia, and I have to walk to and from the clinic in a wind chill or -16 with blowing snow. Does this sound like a bad idea to anyone else???
Well, despite my better judgement, and in hopes of getting some medicine for my cough, I went. I had an appointment at the Bethel clinic today, but no planes were flying. One of my friends said that I should add that I walked to the clinic uphill both ways when I tell the story to my brother's grandkids. (She actually said MY grandkids, but come on, who are we kidding). In actuality, I did have to climb up and over a snow drift going both ways so that counts.
Inside the clinic, I was the first to arrive for the 9:30 appointments. Apparently, that's how it works. There are like four appointments times during the day and they schedule so many people for each time slot. Luckily, since in down states you always arrive for doctors appointments early, I was at the front of the line both times I went.
Today I saw a different health aide, Norma. Now, Norma is really nice and I like her. She took down the details of my illness. My big concern is that I develop this HORRIBLE cough AFTER I started the antibiotics. She asked me the questions from the "medical Bible". It has a name, but I forget what it is. It's basically like those books that you used to read where, at the bottom of the page, you got to choose what you wanted the characters to do next. I.e. if you want to go into the haunted house, turn to page 47; if you don't, turn to page 101. Well, she asked me the questions and turned to the appropriate pages. She listened to my lungs, looked in my ears and nose, etc. etc. Then, she gave me a strep test which, of course, turned out negative. I was then sent home to rest and was told that they would call me after the doctor called them.
I battled the wind to come back home and drink some hot chocolate then had a little nap. I was home well before 10:00.
It's 4:00 now, and the doctor apparently just called back because she just called me. The doctor is prescribing some sort of inhaler for me. The health aide also said that the doctor said, "That if you aren't better in two days, you must go to Bethel." Funny, that's what I was hoping to do today. I also have instructions to inhale a lot of steam, drink plenty of fluids, and get lots of rest. It looks like I will taking off at least tomorrow and possibly the next day. I know that my Site Administrator isn't going to be thrilled, but I am certainly not going to work if it means it could cause my health to get worse.
A while back, I asked for those of you of the praying nature to pray for our generator. Well, after that plea, the generator has been in great working order. I believe that prayer works so here goes a similar request.
To those of you of the praying nature, please pray for improved health and a quick recovery for me. It is very difficult to be sick when you are so isolated. For those of you who aren't of the praying nature, now's a good time to start. :)
I'll keep you updated as to my condition.
Hoping not to cough up a lung,
Debbie

Cool Pictures

Here are some really neat pictures of cloud formations over Mt. Rainier.

Poor, Pitiful Me

Greetings to my weary readers. As you may or may not realize, I only have five more weeks in Alaska. I will have to think of a new name for my blog. My last two weeks have been blighted by my being ill. I started out with a lovely sinus infection. Nothing unusual for me. I get at least three really good ones a year. I decided to try to use some home remedies to treat myself. The symptoms began two weeks ago on a Sunday. One reason I decided on home treatment is because we don't have a doctor here in the village. We DO have a clinic that is staffed with health aides who try their hardest, but it is hard to diagnose something when you only have aide training. Usually, they go through your symptoms, call the doctor, and try to help. Most often, if you have any kind of sore throat they give you a strep test. Now, being a frequent strep throat flyer, I knew this wasn't strep. I just figured it was a sinus infection that would slowly go away. That was until I started coughing up something green and solid. That was a cause for concern for me because, at this point, I had been sick for ten days. I made my appointment for 2:30...that's the latest appointment they take???? I went over there Thursday afternoon around 2:20. I got to go right back because I was the first of the 2:30 people to get there. I had a GREAT health aide named Andrewski, who really seemed to know what he was talking about. He didn't even try to give me a strep test...the first time that I had been in without getting one. He asked me the general questions from the book and then several more. I had a sneaking suspicion that he has a sneaking suspicion what might be wrong. He looked into my sinus cavity and said that he "didn't see much infection." Which was bothersome to me because I had just coughed up a lovely little present on the way to the clinic. THEN, he wanted to listen to my lungs. His sneaking suspicion was confirmed. He was fairly sure I had pneumonia; it had been going around the village. He said that he would call the doctor and for me to go home. He would call me when he knew something. It was not 3:00 so I went home and took a little nap.
He called back at 6:30 and said that the doctor in Anchorage said I could have an antibiotic but I couldn't get it until the next day because they were already closed.
Friday at lunch, Carol, one the aides at the school, was kind enough to give me a ride to the clinic and back on her four-wheeler. I was SO glad that she did that because it was snowing like crazy, and I didn't want to make my slight pneumonia worse. I took my medicine on Friday.
Saturday I woke up with a cough that would make any smoker proud. Every time I took a deep breath, I coughed. This was a painful cough. It lasted most of the day and night. By bedtime, my chest hurt from coughing so much.
Sunday, still coughing. No more green stuff, but my chest is SO sore from coughing and coughing and they are DEEP coughs. I have decided that I will go back to the clinic tomorrow for my follow up. If things aren't looking up considerably, I will be flying out to Bethel tomorrow to see the PRN at the clinic or try to get into the ER at the Native Hospital. Flying on one of those tiny little planes with pneumonia won't be fun, but it beats the alternative. Waiting around too long and having to be picked up by the National Guard Helicopter. Boy, the whole village turns out when that things flies in.
I will keep you up-to-date.
Coughingly yours,
Debbie

Mount Redoubt blows its top AGAIN

Well, Mount Redoubt is up to its old tricks. There was another major eruption on Saturday. While it was blowing its top, we were having a blizzard. We got about fifteen inches on snow in a twenty-four hour period. Not bad for the first week in APRIL!!!
I tried to load some Redoubt images, but it doesn't look like they are going to cooperate. So, if you want to see some pictures, check out
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/volcact.php?volcname=Redoubt&page=images&eruptionid=610

Cama'i Festival

Two weekends ago I had the opportunity to go to Bethel for a workshop and the Cama'i Dance Festival. The workshop was on culture, and it was much more interesting than the cultural workshops I went to last year. I actually learned quite a bit. For example, I learned why Yup'ik obituaries usually don't mention the way the person died. To the Yup'ik, it doesn't matter HOW someone dies, just that they pass over to the other side. That's also why they have feasts commemorating the death of a loved one. It is to celebrate the person's journey to Heaven.
We had the opportunity to see Native dancing from all over Alaska. There was also a duo from Japan, a breakdancing group, and a Sudanese group. I will post some of these videos as soon as I can get them edited into manageable pieces.
I also had the opportunity to hang out with some of the wonderful people I have met while here in Alaska. For most of these folks, it will be the last time I ever get to see them. So, it was a time of mixed emotions. I was SO glad to see these people that I have come to call my friends. But, at the same time, I was saddened to think that I might never see them again. It's like being at summercamp. You always say that you will keep in touch, but how often does that really happen?
On Sunday, the weather was SO beautiful that Mark, Vicki, and I had to take our coats off as we walked over to the high school to make some last-minute craft purchases. When we got to the school, we saw that it was a balmy 37 degrees. When we came out of the high school, it was a different story. The sky was VERY overcast.....snow was on its way. By about two o'clock, it was snowing really hard, and Mark and I contemplated whether we should even go to the airport. Calmer heads prevailed, and we went. It was a good thing because our flight left right on time. When we got to Kipnuk, we discovered that they had gotten about three feet of snow while we were gone AND that our luggage was on a different plane.
I came home with some great souvenirs, wonderful memories, and a raging sinus infection--which I am still battling.
Hopefully, I will have the video up by the end of the week.
Six more weeks.
Debbie