Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Merry Christmas, Baby (Jesus)

The title of this post was inspired by the Bruce Springsteen playing on my radio right now (as so much in my life is), but what's to follow was inspired by my spiritual musings this Advent season. So watch out, it's about to get reflective. You can skip this post if you're looking for something about my proximity to the North Pole this Christmas. Sorry.

I thoroughly enjoy Advent. Theology nerd that I am, I can safely say it is my favorite time of the liturgical year. I enjoy the sense of quiet anticipation and joy that comes with knowing that Christ will soon be entering the world. I also enjoy the challenge that Advent offers: the challenge to personally re-evaluate the way I have been birthing Christ into the world in my own life. How have I figuratively welcomed good and love into the world, the way Mary did literally? What has distracted me from this?

This Advent season I've realized that, ironically, anticipation itself has distracted me from doing my best to welcome good and love. Knowing that this JVC commitment is only a year long has had an odd effect on me: dreamer and planner that I am, I have found it very difficult this year to stop looking ahead. I am constantly steps ahead of myself, creating fantasies of where next year will take me. As you could guess, this has made living in the present much more of a challenge than it ever has been for me before. And, because I value ministry of presence above all else, this constant planning has made me feel that I am not bringing Christ into the world to best of my personal ability this Advent season. While others must fight to gain motivation and look ahead, I must challenge myself to live singularly in each day.

I hope that this Christmas, each of you are able to question how good and love have entered your world, and how you can bring these things to others. For me, this will literally mean the end of anticipation, both liturgically and (hopefully) personally. Because, this Christmas, I am asking for presence.

Sending light and warm wishes from the dark and frozen tundra, Merry Christmas!


Friday, December 19, 2008

Acclimation Updates

It is 28*F in Bethel today, and has been around that temperature for a few days now. 28*F is now my definition of positively balmy weather. I carried the garbage down the road to the dumpster last night in a t-shirt and was completely comfortable. I would also like to point out that 28*F is exactly the temperature in Rockaway, NJ today. Solidarity! (Doubtful that you wimps are wearing t-shirts, though.)

Also, because of the warm weather, Bethel has become a slushy mess. Walking to work is much more difficult this week, due to slush, than it has been in previous weeks with windchills of negative 20*F. I am looking forward to when temperatures drop again and everything freezes. Then, I will be able to walk to work without taking my life in my hands.

Lastly, this Sunday is the winter solstice! That means that here in Bethel we will have approximately 4-5 hours of sunlight. Lately, the sun has been rising between 10:15a and 10:45a and setting by 5p, with twilight beginning around 3:30p. Yes, this means most days, I go to work in the pitch dark and walk home in the dark. While it makes getting out of bed that much more difficult, I have noticed something really cool that I would never be able to see anywhere else: often, while I am walking down the block to the courthouse for a morning hearing, I will be able to see the moon on one side of the sky and the sunrise on another. Amazing. Anyway, as for the solstice, my community and I have decided that we want to spend as much of the sunlight hours outside on Sunday, and will probably be building a snowman to rival all snowmen. (Or, a snowperson to rival all snowpeople, for the politically correct.)

And, a few things to check out:

www.goeok.blogspot.com - this is my roommate Erin's blog, and I highly suggest you all check out her most recent post (12/16/08). It is about Marvin, a Bethel dog who has become very near and dear to our hearts. I was going to write a post almost identical, and then she beat me to it. So, I direct you all there to share in my life.

www.servicenation.org - stories of service from volunteers of all kinds, all over the world. Servicenation is a campaign to inspire volunteer citizen service across the country, in many different capacities. JVC has asked me to post a reflection about my job under the "stories of service" tab, because my job is very unique - both because I'm here in Bethel, and because I work for a state agency. Keep an eye out.

Friday, December 5, 2008

The Day of Giving Thanks

I just wanted to offer you all physical proof that I cooked a turkey. Below are some pictures of the Bethel JVs' Thanksgiving.
Still baking...looks good, yea?
The final product.

So pleased with myself.

Our table, and apparently Anthony is the only one ready to eat.

Wishbone! (I won. Boo-yah.)The aftermath.

Monday, December 1, 2008

The Most Ridiculous Three Hours

This past Friday night/Saturday morning, I experienced what can probably be considered the most ridiculous three hours of my life. I'm going to share this story with all of you because a) it's a funny story and b) I really want to remember it when I am old and grey, and what better way to do that than immortalize it on the internet? I will start from the verrrrry beginning.

Things you need to know to fully experience this story:
1. I had work the day after Thanksgiving and was EXHAUSTED by the time dinner was over on Friday.
2. Bethel has a limo service. Bethel also has only 6 miles of paved road. Make your own conclusions about how these two facts fit together.
3. In the winter, the Kuskokwim River freezes over and becomes a state highway.

At 9p on Friday, November 28 I was wearing pajamas, my down parka, gloves, and hat. I had car keys in hand and was ready to go up to the house we were housesitting at to go to bed. I had every intention of being asleep by approximately 11p. My roommate Fran was also tired and decided to join me. Our friend Bethy did not agree with this plan. As we walked out of the house, we heard a lot of this, "You're lame! Come to the party at Ryan and Jitka's! It's a Friday night!", etc., etc. Once we got to the house, we even received a phone call from our friends Lisa and Andrew, echoing the same sentiments (except they did so in song). Fran and I convinced ourselves that we are not lame, and I acheived my goal of passing out in front of the TV at 10:30p.

Fast forward to 4a. I am still asleep on the couch. Fran has moved into the bedroom. All of a sudden, I am roused by the sound of shuffling and voices in the back hallway. Our friends, Bethy, Anthony, and Ryan had bust through the side door and were yelling, "Hey, wake up, come on out, we have the limo!" After a lot of confusion and eye-rubbing, Fran and I looked out the window to confirm that, yes, our friends had gotten drunk at Ryan and Jitka's house and actually chartered Bethel's stretch hummer limo for a very early morning ride around Bethel. And what did they decide to do once they were inside the limo? Come get Fran and I, of course.

After about 5 minutes in the house, Anthony and Bethy both sat down on the couches and fell asleep. Fran and I decided to seize this opportunity to take their seats in the limo. We grabbed our coats and jumped in. The limo was ridiculous. It had colored flourescent lights, a strobe light, and KARAOKE! At 4:45a on Saturday, I found myself singing "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" in the back of a hummer limo in Bethel, AK, with Ryan, Jitka, Fran, and Ryan's brother Mike who was visiting for Thanksgiving. Absurd.

The limo brought us back to Ryan and Jitka's. Fran and I asked James, the gracious driver, to bring us over to our house, but time was up. We decided to stay at their house, rather than walk back to ours at 5 in the morning. Jitka went right to bed because she had 9a EMT class. Ryan, Mike, Fran, and I stayed awake, just chatting. About every 3 minutes during our conversation, Ryan would suggest that we take his car, drive on the river highway, and go to Kwethluk, a village upriver from Bethel. Fran and I continued to shut down this suggestion because we were wary about driving on the river. That, and Ryan was drunk, so we weren't putting too much stock in his suggestions.

I'm not really sure what changed our minds, but after about a half hour, Fran and I gave in. Fran had the balls to volunteer to drive on the Kuskokwim, so the four of us piled into Ryan's car and off we went. We followed the river highway (aka tire tracks) west to Oscarville, the closest village to Bethel. We drove off the river and were almost immediately in the center of the village. We got out of the car, walked around a little, and got back in. (Anti-climatic, I know. Sorry!) We hadn't had our fill for the morning, so we pressed on.

Ten minutes later we were in Napaskiak, the next village off the Kuskokwim. This village was far more interesting. We drove on the boardwalk (intended for snow-go's), took pictures in front of the post office (to prove we made it there), and played on the playground (because it was fun). After that, we got back on the river and headed toward home. What followed was probably the coolest part of the whole morning.

About halfway back to Bethel, we decided to stop the car, hop out, and look at the stars. (Fran, always the safe driver, was sure to put her blinker on and pull safely out of the tire tracks.) It was absolutely amazing. I've literally never seen a sky so big and so full of stars. It really felt like we were surrounded by stars on all sides. Fran, Mike, and I laid in the snow and just breathed in the cold, the dark, and the beauty. Awesome is the only word to describe it.

We made it safely back to Ryan and Jitka's house by about 7a, thus completing my most ridiculous three hours ever. I rode in Bethel's one and only limo, tripled my village count, and experienced breathtaking beauty. Not too shabby for a boring night in.