This past Tuesday was another village trip. This one was a bit different however because normally the Salmon Camp crew splits up into pairs and each pair goes to a separate village. Well Liz & Mike were supposed to be heading to Karluk while Karen and I were supposed to go to Akhiok. It turned out that Akhiok had another camp there that week so we may be going there in two weeks instead and Karen had part of this week off to move. Soooo Liz, Mike, & myself were all to go to Karluk plus there was a lady from Kenai Refuge visiting, Leah, so she went with us to help out as well. So we arrive at the airport at 7AM, Tuesday for our flight at 8AM and end up waiting 2 hours before we actually leave due to weather. We were crammed on a tiny plane and for the most of the way we flew closer to the ground then normal due to low cloud coverage. We were just about to turn around but the pilot felt he could land us okay. Sure enough he did... but I was thinking maybe we shouldn't be going if we won't be able to leave the next day. There's always the possibility of the weather clearing up... but it never did the whole time we were there. So Karluk, I believe, is the smallest village on the island with a population of about 40. So we were glad to have 11 kids show up to our educational program. It went well, however some kids had a hard time listening which is a big pet peeve of my mine and caused me to about lose it one day after trying to explain a game about 8 times, but thankfully Liz stepped in for me. The kids had a great time though! We stayed in the school where the maintenance men were staying as well to fix the hot water and heat.The school had 3 classrooms, bathrooms, a miniature gym/cafeteria, and a kitchen. We had fun in there though, we played basketball and watched Sandlot (classic). It rained the whole time so we stayed inside a lot. So on Wednesday we were supposed to leave at 5:30PM but it wasn't looking like we were gonna make it out, because the maintenance men were supposed to leave that morning and were still there. After I accepted the fact that I was going to stay in Karluk for another night (if not forever) we got the call that the plane was coming for us a little after 6.. and sure enough it did!I did freak out a bit because there were times we were flying straight through clouds and couldn't see a thing but we made it back safely! And I had never been so happy to see Kodiak!
This is what Karluk looked like the whole time we were there. Too bad we couldn't see the sun shining.
All the wonderful kiddos we had... they had a fun time!
Mike & Liz crammed in the back of the plane before we left.
Here's the handy dandy map so you can see where exactly Karluk is located at.
The second part of this blog is for my friend Stacey. She was here from Canada on a murrelet research crew consisting of her and our other Canadian friend, Jenna. Liz & I have become good friends with the Canadians (even though they are from Canada and sometimes crack jokes about their Canadian-ness) and had some spectacular bonding times with them. So the night before Stacey left we did karaoke, which she did so bravely for the first time and was a singing fool by the time we left, and got to say bye at the airport the next morning when she left. I'm going to miss her and am so glad to have had met such a great friend. I'll see her again someday though, she's amazing!
Myself & Stacey doing the Alaska throw-down
Mike, Fran, Stacey, Liz, Jenna, & myself before we left for karaoke! Love this group!
Myself, Liz, Stacey, & Jenna at the airport before Stacey's departure :(
Well it was a fun yet interesting week. Next week we have a full week of camp with Jr. High kids and will be going on a camping adventure. After that it's wrap up! I can't believe how fast time is flying here. But I've loved every moment here and am so glad I was given this opportunity to see what I saw, meet the people I've met, and learn all the wonderful things I've learned. But the fun is not over yet! :)
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