Chapter 2: North to Alaska: November 2017

October was a pretty full month for us, which made it go by incredibly fast! We are still doing some adjusting, but we're finally starting to get into a rhythm here. We're very much enjoying our little apartment...we have furniture!!...and work and life in general is starting to feel less new and more comfortable. The weather is slowly starting to get a bit colder, we actually had our first snowfall a few weeks ago! It was only maybe 2 inches, but it was enough to make things really pretty. Sadly it only lasted about a day and then everything went back to being muddy. We obviously have nothing to compare to, but according to everyone around us temperatures have been much warmer than usual for this time of year. We had a few below freezing days, but over the past week temperatures were hanging just above freezing overnight and climbing to nearly 40 during the day. One of those almost 40 degree days I caught myself saying "It's just so warm!"...and then I paused and thought about what I had just said. Apparently we're adapting pretty quickly...which I'm thinking is a good thing considering whats coming! This morning temperatures did drop below freezing which made for a beautiful frost over everything. Here are a few pictures from our porch right around sunrise : )

We (Both!) Made It!

I want to start by saying thank you, so much to everyone who has prayed for us, encouraged us and supported us over this past year. We officially survived our first year of marriage! There were definitely a few bumps along the way (and I'm sure there will be quite a few more to come)...as is to be expected when two very different and maybe a little (or alot) stubborn people are learning to do life together. But God is so faithful and by his grace we've been learning a ton about each other, ourselves, and what it actually looks like to put another person first. Our anniversary itself was very nice and relaxing. It happened to fall on the day of our monthly church potluck haha...which made for a great anniversary dinner. We may have cheated and eaten our frozen cake topper the week before we left home (hehe...whoops!). Hated to waste it though, and there just isn't a great way to transport a cake for a 3200 mile drive and a flight. Even without the cake, it was a great day of thinking back and reflecting on all God has done over this past year. In some ways its so hard to believe a year has passed already. It feels like just a few weeks ago we were decorating for our wedding. But at the same time, when we look at all that's happened it's amazing to think it all fit into 1 year! So far following Christ together has been an incredible adventure and I can't wait to see whats in store for the years to come!

Bear Hunt

Early in the month Jesse (one of my fellow PT's) invited Colby to go with him on a bear hunting/camping adventure. They loaded their gear in Jesse's boat and took a 3 hour, 86 mile, boat ride up the Kuskokwim River on a Saturday afternoon. Per Colby's report (I was not included in this man adventure) they arrived at their destination on Saturday evening, carefully surveyed several potential spots to camp, then selected a place near the foot of the mountains they were hoping to hike the next morning. They set up camp, sat around the fire and ate some freeze dried food packs (Colby was supposed to bring hot dogs, and Jesse was going to bring sausages...I found the hot dogs were still in our fridge on Sunday morning. Jesse also forgot the sausages.) They slept in a tent in very warm sleeping bags, Colby woke one time at night to sleet and freezing rain outside. Temperatures were around 30 degrees. The next morning they hiked for about 4 1/2-5 hours through some very beautiful and completely remote parts of Alaska. Then loaded up their boat and returned home. In the end the score was tied at 0-0. Colby and Jesse did not find a bear to shoot...no bears were able to eat Colby and Jesse.

Hooper Bay

I took my first village trip to Hooper Bay from the 10th-12th of October. To give you a little background on the village, Hooper Bay is located right along the Bearing sea. It's one of the larger villages in the Yukon-Delta with a population of about 1,100 people. Almost no one in the village owns a car or truck, in fact according to one of the workers at the clinic there are 6 trucks in the whole village. Everyone else drives a four-wheeler, so parking-lots look like this...

Because this was my first trip, I got to travel with Eliza, one of the other therapists I work with. We flew out on a little plane with 8 passenger seats although we were the only passengers. The seats went up the right side of the plane, on the left side there was a place for cargo. On this particular flight most of the cargo was groceries, and a lot of the groceries were eggs. We landed on a tiny air strip right beside the ocean and were picked up by one of the clinic employees who drove us about 1 1/2 miles to the clinic.

The trip itself went very well, Eliza introduced me to the staff at the clinic, gave me a quick tour of the village (this took 5 minutes...we drove to the grocery store and back), and explained the process of working there. We each treated patients, so I got to begin meeting some of the people in the community as well. Life in the village is hard, both in terms of climate and living conditions. As is true with most of these remote villages, many people there are living in poverty and there are high levels of alcoholism, depression and suicide. In such a small area, everyone has been touched by tragedies related to these in some way. Even in my short visit and brief interactions the effects of this were evident. Although it will be challenging, I am incredibly thankful to have the opportunity to continue to work and build relationships in this community. Starting again in January I will be traveling to Hooper Bay every 7 weeks to evaluate and follow up with patients there.

Colby's Travels

The truck looks fine to me...

Colby also got to make some village trips this month. He continues to travel with Job to Napakiak on Thursdays (weather and time permitting) to be part of the Bible Study there. This week they went by boat because it was too foggy to fly. He was also able to fly with Job to Camp Kako, which is located just outside of the village of Russian Mission. They flew there to help make some repairs to things that were damaged when the damn between 2 ponds, which supply the camp with all of its water, broke, causing a good bit of flooding. This included moving brush, removing a building from the lower pond which ended up there due the wash out, and working on a dump truck, among other things.

Camp Kako

Working with Job and having occasional opportunities to travel within the area provide very much needed breaks, but Colby's focus continues to mostly be on studying. His classes take just as much time and effort as expected, maybe even more. So even though it's definitely not something that comes naturally to him most days are spent in books. We did have a huge blessing in that area this month though...We were able to buy a desk for a very very good price from a local couple who was preparing to move. We set this up in our extra bedroom and Colby now has a lovely little office space!

I'm Learning Too...

I did some learning of my own this month. First, because wound care is such a huge part of what we do everyday at the hospital, I'm trying to learn as much as I can as fast as I can so I can be more of a help. It just so happened that there was a two day wound and foot care course offered in Anchorage a few weeks ago. Because this was necessary continuing education, my company paid for my tuition, flight and hotel and I was able to soak in some information! I feel like I still have so far to go, but it was good to hear from some very experienced medical providers.

Since we moved here I've been noticing these very fun looking shirts that so many people wear. They are called Qaspeqs (Kuspuks). Basically they are traditional shirts, worn by both women and men, with a hood and a pocket in the front. After talking to a few people I learned that the tiny local college (it's a community branch campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks) offers a weekend course where you learn to sew one! I took a hobby inventory and realized that all of mine take place outdoors...which is going to make for a boring winter...so I decided this was a great opportunity to learn to sew, and make a Quaspeq! Prior to this I had sewn one pillow before in my life...I e-mailed the instructor and they said there was no sewing experience necessary. Well let me tell you, experience was not necessary, but it would have been helpful. The whole experience was just a tiny bit overwhelming (although the instructor was very patient), and I'm not sure that I'm suddenly going to start sewing clothes for Colby and I or something BUT in the end...out came a Quaspeq : )

Last but not least...

Thanks again for taking time to read this and keep up with our lives and for your continued prayers as we settle in and begin to invest in life here. Even from very far away, we still feel very much loved and supported by everyone back in PA! We so much appreciate every message, call and card! Looking back at our prayer requests from last month, I think most of them will be continued throughout our time here.

We continue to ask for prayer for Colby's focus as he studies, for my growth and ability to invest at work and for our marriage as we adjust.
As we're beginning to get past the initial phase of settling, you can also pray that we would have wisdom to know where to best invest our time here to make the most impact
That we would continue to build deeper relationships with the people around us, and learn to bridge cultural barriers