A Typical Weekend with the Bethel JVs

Temperature in Bethel today: 37*F...will rise to 52*F (hopefully!)

Bethel has no bars, no bowling alleys, no movie theatres, no affordable (for a JV) restaurants, really no social anythings. Because of this, weekends in Bethel are pretty different from weekends in NJ or Baltimore. However, this doesn't mean they are any less fun. To give you a taste of what life is like outside of work, I've decided to chronicle a typical weekend for a Bethel JV. Here goes nothing.

Preview (or the short version for those of you who don't feel like reading what is sure to be a long post): This past weekend I ate black bear meat, went camping for a night, hung out with a four year old, played soccer, had a priest over to play cards, and had dinner with the Klejka's - a family of nine people, 25 dogs, 1 turtle, 2 rabbits, and assorted fish.

Bear Meat Eating
After work on Friday, I came home to find TONS of food spread out on our kitchen table. My roommate Fran works at the Senior Center and Fridays are "native food day." My roommate Erin works at BABS, an alternative high school here, and Fridays are "Give the leftovers to the JVs day." This, combined with the fact that Jon was given leftover pizza at a conference, made for a spread of cookies, pizza, agutak (Yupik"ice cream" made of berries, sugar, and CRISCO...sounds gross but is actually delicious!), corn on the cob, salmon soup, hot dogs, and BLACK BEAR MEAT! Obviously, I had to try it. It's actually really good and tastes a lot like roast beef. Finish it off with some pizza and agutak and you have a delicious, nutritionally awful meal.

Camping
Not that I've done a ton of camping in my life, but I'm pretty positive that our expedition into the tundra this past Friday night will go down as the most ridiculous camping trip of my life. After our very random dinner, my roommates and I were all sitting around in our back room with our friend Chris, a teacher at BABS. We were trying to think of something to do for the evening and Fran exclaims, "Let's go camping!" Within a half hour, we were changed, packed, and in the cars (Chris' Jeep and the church truck that Elyse had on loan for the weekend). Without having any real idea of where we were going we drove to the outskirts of town, near the river. We jumped out of the trucks, grabbed our gear, and started wandering. Literally.


We "hiked" upriver for a bit, sticking close to shore. Then, we found ourselves in the rock quarry. So we walked through there. Then, we went into the woods along the side of the river. We blazed a trail through there for a bit, and found a spot we thought was decent (AKA it wasn't on the shore of the river so we wouldn't find ourselves drowning in the morning when the tide came in). Then we decided that wasn't a good spot so we wandered up a little farther into the tundra. We found a lovely little clearing and set up camp. We made some mac 'n' cheese on Chris' camping stove, told some stories, and settled in for the night in our tents.

The most ridiculous part of this camping trip (besides the wandering aimlessly through the tundra) came when we were leaving in the morning. We had come to the spot from the direction of the river, but decided to leave through the tundra because we thought we might be closer to the road than we thought. "Closer to the road than we thought" is a definite understatement. We realized that we had somehow looped around and were essentially in the shipyard's backyard. After walking approximately 500 feet through the tundra we were in the shipyard; muddy, tired, teeth unbrushed, wandering past empty containers, lugging our camping gear with us. We stopped to gawk at the hovercraft that brings the mail to Bethel in the winter, and waved at the workers who were gawking (laughing, rightfully so) at us.

Hanging Out with a Four Year Old
Christian is easily our favorite neighbor. Christian is four years old. On Saturday morning, while my roommates and I were lying around being very lazy, we heard slow footsteps coming up our front stairs. Then, we heard someone struggling in the mudroom. As we (or maybe just I) started getting nervous, our door busted open and Christian came running in, ready to attack. He jumped on my roommate Mike, and then bounced around the room to each of us as he got bored. Turns out Christian's mom was at fish camp doing some of the last subsistence for the season and he didn't feel like staying down the street with his cousin, who was supposed to be watching him. So he escaped to our house. And stayed there all day. Seriously. However, there are no complaints because Christian is the funniest little 4 year old ever. He is a big fan of being thrown in the air by us, and also trying to beat the crap out of us. He also really likes Spiderman.

Soccer
Every Saturday at 4p I play soccer. I'm not really any good at soccer, nor do I like the sport all that much, but I do really like having friends. And soccer is my main social endeavor. Most of the young, fun, twentysomethings in town play, and it's usually a good time. Soccer's not really all that interesting, but I didn't guarantee that everything would be. Sidenote: this week during soccer I got a bloody nose. Risk of having a nose ring is that when you collide with someone, it may stab you on the inside of the nose, making you bleed all over and stopping the game. Unfortunately for all of you, I do not have pictures of this.

Having a Priest Over to Play Cards
Fr. Chuck is Bethel's lone Catholic priest and Elyse's boss at Immaculate Conception parish. He is a Jesuit, and has been one for 50 years. He's over 6 feet tall, with a white beard, glasses, and a big belly. He kind of looks (and laughs) like Santa Claus. Fr. Chuck is an avid cribbage player. So is my roommate Mike. (Because of whom, we are all becoming cribbage players.) Fr. Chuck loves a strong opponent, so every once in awhile he invites himself over to play cribbage and talk some trash. On Saturday, when a few of us went to check out the church rummage sale, we were told that Saturday night would be one of those nights. Fr. Chuck came over to beat Mike's butt in cribbage, share some stories of Bethel history, and offer us his thoughts on Sarah Palin. (FYI: He likes her and what she has done for Alaska, but knows the trooper fired in "Troopergate" personally and is concerned about that. And, like the rest of Alaska, he considers her completely underqualified for the job of VP and would like to see her stay in Alaska and continue to do good things here.) By the end of the night, he was reciting poetry by Alaska's poet laureate to us. A few of us went over to our friend Jeff's later that night, but I still hold that Fr. Chuck was the most entertaining friend of the night.

Dinner with the Klekja's (pronounced Klay-ka)
Eeeeeveryone in Bethel knows the Klejka's. Dad (Joe) is a family practice doctor at the hospital, and Mom (Jackie) runs the veterinary clinic in town. They have 7 kids, 6 between the ages of 10 and 18, and a two year old. (Surprise!) Jessica, Jenny, Jeremiah, Jesse, Josh, Joan, and Jordan. Yes, their names all start with "J." Not at all confusing. They also have 25 dogs, 2 bunnies, a turtle, and a bunch of fish. 24 of those 25 dogs are members of a sled team. Jessica Klejka won the Junior Iditarod last year. The 25th dog is a pregnant chihuaha named Jitters (note the "J" name).

The Klejka's are absolutely wonderful. They are a big, fun, busy, and very generous family. They always have very good relationships with the Bethel JVs. The JV house used to be the house right next door to theirs. Now, we are right down the street. Because the Klejka's are the nicest family in the world, they have extended an open invitation for us to come over for Sunday dinner each week. This is always a good time; besides the 9 Klejka's, the house is usually filled with other random friends...of Jackie, of Joe, or of any of the many kids. In return for their generosity we house/baby/dogsit whenever we are needed. However, I'm sure that however many hours of sitting we do this year, we will never really make it up to them.

Hopefully you enjoyed my incredibly long description of a Bethel weekend. If you are still reading, I commend you.

Tundra Sun and Games

Temperature in Bethel today: 52*F

The sunsets in Bethel are absolutely gorgeous. Often, when my roommates can see a good one coming on, we throw on our quaspuks (a traditional Yupik "hoodie"), fur hats, and boots (all to fend off the bugs) and run onto the tundra. As the giant sky deepens into different shades of orange, red, and purple, we run around trying to take it all in. Here are a few pictures of my favorite tundra night thus far.


This is what tundra looks like.

A sea plane heading in to land on the Kuskokwim.

Fran and I were inspired.

But Mike definitely went the farthest.

Mini tundra lake, complete with reflection of sunset.

Giving the earth a hug.

Erin, so contemplative right now. (And looking oh-so-Alaskan!)

Sneak attack!

Yay God.

See For Yourselves!

Temperature in Bethel today: 52*F

Bethel, here we come!
Hey, look at the plane!

View of the mountains from the plane.

View of the tundra from the plane.

Home sweet home! (And Mike's back.)

Our front room.

The view from our back deck. (This picture was taken at 11:00p.)


Scoping Bethel from the jungle gym.

If MTV Came to Bethel

Temperature in Bethel today: 68*F

Typically, when I tell people that I live with six people I just met a few weeks ago, they say "Haha, it's like 'Real World: Bethel!'" In response, I usually laugh and make a joke about using our small sunroom as a confessional. However, in reality, I can't help but think how much more "real" life as a JV is going to be than anything I've experienced up to now. Bethel (and the entire Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta) is a truly unique and beautiful place, but life here is not easy. There are physical, emotional, and cultural realities that make life here very different from anywhere else in the United States. Even after only two weeks here, and only one week of work, I know that the culture and the people of Bethel will open my eyes, break my heart, and change my life.

For those of you who don't know, this year I am working as a Client Advocate with the Bethel Public Defender Agency. I will be working on Child in Need of Aid (CINA) cases, advocating for the parents of said children. My role, as the sole non-attorney at the agency, is to essentially act as a social worker for these parents as they manuever their way through the intimidating and complicated legal system. In Alaska, when your children are taken into state custody, you have 15 of the next 22 months to get your act together and create an environment that is suitable and healthy for your children to live in, if you want to regain custody. That means that the children can be in and out of your custody, so long as the time that they are out of custody does not (altogether) exceed 15 months in a 22 month period. I work with the parents during those 15 months (and sometimes longer, with extenuating circumstances) to help them create those healthy environments.

Pretty much all of my clients are dealing with issues of alcohol abuse and/or domestic violence. It's my job to listen to them, and help them make progress on the caseplan that the state develops for them. That may mean getting substance abuse treatment, finding housing, keeping up contact with their children while incarcerated, etc. I am here to offer emotional support that the attorneys literally don't have the time to offer, and help them communicate with different (very busy and very understaffed) state agencies. Essentially, I help them get to a point where their attorney will be able to prove that their children are no longer children in need of aid. I'm still working to get my feet on the ground at work: right now I know what I need to do, the tricky part is figuring out how to do it. It's pretty intimidating, but I do really like all the people I'm working with, and I know that once I get a handle on things I will be able to have a lot of personal contact with my clients and really be able to learn their stories. This is what I'm most looking forward to, and also what will help me do my job in a way that will most benefit the parents I'll be working with.

With each day that passes, as I learn more and more about Bethel, my job, and my roommates' jobs, I understand how "real" our experience will be. We will be walking with people in some of their most difficult times. We are living in a culture that is very different from our own, and a physical environment that none of us has ever experienced. We will have to deal with the harsh realities of alcohol abuse and domestic violence that have become everyday occurrences here. Most importantly, we will learn to truly work for the sake of human relationship, for the value of the work over results. In a place that is as isolated as Bethel can be, that is the most "real" thing there is.


(Also, in other news, to celebrate my roommate Fran's birthday last Tuesday, the 7 roommates jumped into the Kuskokwim River. It was "real" cold, and now we are "real" Alaskans.)

Well, I made it!

Temperature in Bethel today: 61*F

Hi all. Sorry it's taken me awhile to actually get this post up. I don't have regular internet access at my house so this had to wait until I started work (and got a few free minutes). My roommates and I arrived in Bethel last Saturday and we have really been enjoying Alaskan life so far. We got in around 9:30p Alaska time and were picked up at the airport by our JVC community support people, 2 girls who were JVs in Bethel last year and decided to stay, and Fr. Chuck, Bethel's only Catholic priest (and a Jesuit, whaaat!). Bethel's airport is pretty much a room with a ticket counter and conveyer belt. We grabbed our luggage and headed to the JV house.

I have 6 roommates this year (Fran, Erin, Elyse, Meg, Mike, and Jon) and there is definitely ample room in the house for all of us. We have 4 bedrooms and a "nook," aka a curtained off area with a dresser and a bed. We talked it out and the boys got the single bedrooms, Fran and I in one double, Elyse and Meg in another, and Erin in the nook. We have 2 living rooms, each with a wood-burning stove, a nice sized kitchen, 2 bathrooms, and a big back deck that looks right over the tundra. It's really a beautiful house. It also has tons of windows which we love now for the midnight sunsets but will probably be cursing in the winter. Such is life.

Sunday we went to mass. Mass in Bethel is pretty cool. It's a very small community and everyone seems to know everyone. Native culture is also very strong; the altar servers wear traditional Yupik shirts and the Our Father is said in Yupik. When we got to mass they were handing out the church bulletin AND the sheets with our pictures and bios. That was a little surreal. There have been JVs for so long in Bethel that everyone kind of knows who we are. Even if they don't have our bios, we're pretty distinguishable. I have already had people come up to me in the grocery store and the library to ask me if I am a new JV and welcome me to the community. It's pretty great, even if it did take a little getting used to.

Sunday evening we hosted a potluck at our house. Or, I should say, we were told we were hosting a potluck, haha. Most of the people who came were mid-late twentysomethings who work in Bethel in the social services field. That was nice because we all had a lot in common and now we know we'll have friends, haha.

Monday through Wednesday my roommates and I had appointments at each of our jobs. All 7 of us went to each person's job to get a feel for what the others will be doing. We also had a woman who teaches sociology at the college come to teach us about the native culture here and how we would best be able to adjust and assimilate. Other than that, we spent our first week getting to know the town and the terrain. Bethel is literally tundra, which is very spongy and kind of hard to walk on. Because of this, there are boardwalks crossing through everywhere to walk on. It's pretty cool. Other than that, it's mostly dirt or gravel roads, with one highway going around the town in a loop. Highway is a relative term; the speed limit is 30mph and there's one stoplight. However, in the winter when the Kuskokwim freezes over you can drive on the river.

Cool things that I have done in Bethel so far: berry picking, bread making, sunset watching at crazy hours (although we lose 5.5 minutes of sunlight every day!), fishing on the Kuskokwim River. If you haven't noticed, most of these things are pretty outdoorsy/domestic. In Bethel it's definitely a subsistence way of life. People live off the land and the river, and that includes JVs. The price of groceries is ridiculous up here. Gallon of milk? $10. Triscuits? $7. We buy what we can wholesale, pick up groceries in Anchorage whenever we go through there for retreats and whatnot, and live off the river or the land. We fish now, and in the winter we'll get to go hunting. I'll let you all know what caribou meat tastes like.

This past Sunday our landlady dropped by and asked if some of us wanted to go fishing. Five of us went out, and letting the net out twice, we caught 52 fish. Which we then headed, gutted, cleaned, fileted, and froze for winter. At one point I was in the back of the boat LITERALLY knee deep in fish. It was pretty crazy, very fun, and just a little gross. (I can't say gutting a fish is one of my favorite things to do.)

This week is my first week of actual work, and I'm very excited. I've only been in 2 days, but I can already tell I'll really like it. I get a lot of personal contact with my clients, and will really get to walk with them every step of the way. My boss is actually on a business trip this week, which means I am just sitting down with each attorney, talking to them about the Child in Need of Aid cases that I'll be helping with, and shadowing on different things. Yesterday I was in court all day helping with jury selection. Today I got to go to the jail to talk with a few different clients. Hopefully, in September I will get to go out to one of the villages with one of the attorneys to meet a client. I haven't gotten a great idea of what work has in store for me, but I know it will be interesting, challenging, heartbreaking, and hopefully meaningful to my clients. I'm excited.

Hopefully I'll get to update a little more often now so every post won't be this incredibly long. Also, once I can get to the library and upload some photos, you guys will have pictures of my house, Bethel, and my roommates. I hope all is well back home and send my love! Keep me updated on life in the lower 48.

You're moving where?!

This whole summer I've really enjoyed answering the question "Now that you've graduated, what happens next year?" I love seeing people's reactions when I respond, "I'm doing a year of service with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps...in Bethel, Alaska." After I tell people where Bethel is, they have been enthusiastic, surprised, and some think I am downright crazy. However, (almost) everyone has asked me to keep them updated on my life up in Bethel. Now that I am 2 weeks out from move day I decided to get this blog up and running so that you all can check in for updates about life on the tundra at your leisure.

I'm going to do my best to update this regularly with stories, pictures, and fun Alaskan facts. Hopefully you will enjoy and it will be a good way to keep in touch!