Ice Road Truckin' - Ruark Style

Thus far, I have been able to turn everything into a positive about Alaska. And what I believe is true: my pipes freezing showed me I have what it takes to survive out here when that happens again (which, of course, it will). I fully believe that we grow when we overcome challenges. There is a learning experience in everything.

Even today's adventure: I rode down the ice road from Akiak to Bethel. And it sucked. It sucked big time. For me anyways.

So I went with a handful of teachers to get snacks for the extended day program. We took the suburban, kinda like a big station wagon. I sat in the third row in the back (any of you thinking uh oh just at that statement?) where none of the seatbelts worked. I didn't really need to go shopping since my bush order had come in a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted the adventure of going and i wanted to do some fun shopping. Plus, my snow pants are hard to walk in and I wanted a second pair of not so heavy duty snow pants.

But as I've learned in life, nothing runs smoothly. There are always some bumps in the road. So I was kinda excited & nervous: what would happen to us? Would we hit an air pocket and fall through the ice (but you land on ice) OR would we hit "open water" (a hole in the ice) and fall through (landing in freezing water)? What was going to be the "big problem"...because every excursion has one that I normally laugh off.

So we head out onto the ice and it felt weird...in my head because we were on an ice road! Under us was the river. It was a wild sensation...but I thought it was so cool. We start on the trail....so far so good. With us were Owen (language arts teacher), Diane (counselor), Jared (3rd grade), Jamie (Jared's wife), and their 2 year old baby.

And I thought traveling with a two year was gonna be rough! Silly me!! Here's what happened: the road was extremely bumpy. Jamie turns to me and says "Do you get motion sick?" I start to say "No, but I get carsick unless I can roll down a window." When it hits me....I can't roll down a window! Two reasons: 1) It's negative 12 degrees outside and 2) I'm not sitting by a window anyways. But I figure I'll be okay because it's mostly claustraphobia that I battle. And if I don't get sick in a bush plane, I was sure I would be fine.

And maybe I would have been if it had not been so bumpy. At one point I became airborne and hit my head on the roof. I felt every bump, every fishtail....and twice the car slid, spun 90 degrees (to the side) and continued to slide across the ice. I was holding on for dear life. My stomach had started lurching while we were still in sight of Akiak, so I was in bad shape. I was trying so hard not to throw up...I realized that if I felt cold, I wouldn't feel so sick to my stomach....so towards the end, I had stripped down to my socks, sweatpants, and a thin tee-shirt. I was trying not to be sick and trying not to cry. (I hate crying in front of people, remember?)

It took us an hour and a half to get to Bethel. Once we were off the ice road I had put on my boots because I knew what was going to happen once we stopped the car. I was half a block from the parking lot when I said, "You need to pull over." Owen stopped the car and both Jared & Jamie jumped out of the car as quick as lightening so I could get out.

I rushed out still in a thin tee shirt and it was 12 degrees below zero. Once the cold hit me, I didn't have to throw up anymore. I burst into tears instead. Jamie was standing there to make sure I was okay and I had to admit the truth: I didn't think I could get back in the car. I was debating buying myself a ticket to fly home for $80.

We went to lunch (I couldn't eat) and I tried to calm down. I knew I would have to confront this ice road again on the way home and that was just the way it was gonna be. We went shopping after lunch. My tummy was still iffy but I didn't want it to ruin my time. I wanted to pretend that nothing was wrong but I felt a cloud over me....the ride home was going to be hell....they were going to move me up to the front on the way home...but I just didn't know if that would help.

I was walking through my favorite store in Bethel, Swanson's, where I had found a pair of snow pants when Owen called me from somewhere inside the store. The basketball team was here in Bethel too and one of the students had hurt his ankle and had to be taken to the ER. The girls had no chaperone to get them home. Would I mind flying back with the girls (for free by the way)?

Oh hell no, I don't mind. And that's just what I did.

Would I go on the ice road again? Yes, I would go on a snow mobile, dog sled, or even a different vechicle....but not in that car again!!! No way!!!

By the way: the toddler fell asleep on the ice road and was fine....turns out the real baby was the 34 year old in the back.

And We Have Water!

Yes, the water is running!! We have water!! I'm really happy about it.

Living without water wasn't a big at first. More inconvenient than anything else. Until the 4th day. I woke up feeling so grumpy. I knew I could shower at my friend's house and wash my clothes at work in the home ec room, but I was just not happy. I had gone to a basketball game and decided I was going to live like this anymore. I figured I would just accept living with no water and I made a plan. I would shower after school in the locker rooms, bring a small load of clothes to wash and I was going to melt some snow, get extra water, and just accept it. Of course, on my way home, the pipes had thawed out. But I was happy to see that my survival instinct would kick in and I would be fine. I can make it out here. I wasn't happy but I was happier claiming back my life on my terms. We hadn't done dishes waiting for the water to come back on, and I was going to boil water to wash them....

So there was some personal growth in this experience.

The other new thing is my roommate ordered a dish for tv. So we have tv. I'm so happy I'm not going to miss the Oscars this year. I haven't had cable in 4 years. I would go to my mom's for special events. And I was a bit upset with the oscar race on and me missing it. But no more....I can watch it myself!! Woo hoo!

So there's the update so far.....life is good!

Water, Water, Everywhere...But Not a Drop to Drink....

Normally, I don't like to post an adventure until it's over....but I'm not sure how long this new one will last. So this is more of an update and not a reflection on the experience....

On Wednesday, the entire village ran out of water. There was a leak somewhere in the pipes. School was cancelled (no water = no fire sprinklers) so I went home and relaxed.

They brought us some water from the river for toilets. I had gotten a warning before the water ran out, so we stocked up on drinking water.

As of last night, my friends had water again...but not me. And I really needed to wash my hair! I used the river water (in an 18 gallon tote) that I heated up on the stove to bathe with. It wasn't horrible.

Actually, except for being inconvenient, so far it's not one of life's great tragedies.

Did you know that pipes freeze when there's no water in them too? I didn't. But that's what happened to my house. The pipes are frozen. And I still have to wash my hair.

Thankfully, I have friends who've offered to let me use their shower. Even my principal offered to help me out. We can shower at the school too...so I am quite confident that my hair will be washed before the night is out. Even if it's me with heated river water standing over a bucket....

On a positive note, my bush order has already arrived! Last time it took over a month and this time....just a week. In August, all the bush teacher descend upon Anchorage and bush shop. I thought maybe they did it during the winter breaks but nope, only August. Hey, works for me.

The funny thing is that just when I think life out here has calmed down and is really no big deal, something happens. I need to remember that.

So as it is, I am living in a Yup'ik Eskimo village in the middle of the Alaskan tundra, in a house with no running water using river water to bathe with....and I'm still loving it out here!!!

Back to the Bush!!

Well, I've had a nice little vacation. I went to California and played around San Francisco and my hometown. I had arrived in Bethel 12 hours before my flight left to Anchorage. I was prepared: rented movie on itunes, kindle, laptop, ipod...and two hours later, i was bored out of my mind. But that's when a group of my co-workers walked in. And I found out that they had shut down the bush planes due to weather. So I made a good call getting there early. And it turns out I had company! A teacher from another village (same district) had the same flights as me all the way to Seattle. So I ended up spending the next 20 hours hanging out with him....our seats weren't together, so there were a couple of hours where we didn't hang out. But I was glad for the company.

After 10 days in California, where I loved seeing my family & friends, I spent the night in Anchorage. And I went bush shopping! So we'll see how long this one takes! It was nowhere as expensive as last time. $400 at Sam's Club...instead of the $900 I spent back in August. Yay me!

Coming home was a bit of an adventure. The flight started out normal and the plane started to land. I noticed that I couldn't see anything through the thick fog. I was glad the pilot had all those fancy gadgets to see better than me! But I guess those weren't working either, because just as we were landing..the plane suddenly shoots back up. Then we fly for a bit while...and I'm thinking: Did anyone else just notice that????

I'm not sure anyone else did, because when the pilot came on and said that we were gonna try for Bethel a second time, but if we can't make the landing we have to fly back to Anchorage, this seemed like news to everyone. I was kind of expecting it.

But thankfully, we made the second attempt...although, if there was any doubt, I would have been okay not trying to land. But now my problem was getting home. The planes were grounded. I went to a little bush plane airport, hoping to at least drop my baggage off and do some shopping (dairy & produce). When I got there, the sky had cleared up and they could get me out in the next 10 to 15 minutes. Great! I'll order the food from Swansons! And I made it home!!!

Where I did nothing but rest. I had reverse culture shock....being around so many people and the hustle and bustle of a big city had exhausted me!! I also think that all that concrete had something to do with that too. I was happy to get back to the natural world...of snow.

I forgot to mention my walk of approaching death! I took a cab to Sam's Club and planned to walk across the parking lot, cross the street, and through the Walmart's parking lot...just like I did in August. The parking lots were a sheet of ice. And you know how I feel about walking on ice!! Well, I got halfway through one parking lot when I realized I was in tr-ou-ble!! I found some puddle to walk through, but I was terrified. Crossing the main street was fine....the sludge had all melted. I was still saying to myself: dontfalldontfalldontfall as I crossed. I still had to cross the next sheet of ice. I seriously almost asked this guy if he would drive me the rest of the way. But I noticed a trail of puddles....in the middle of the street. And yes, that's exactly where I walked! Right there in the middle of the road totally in other car's way. I waved one car to go around me because I was beyond caring. I said to the car "You can just go around me because I'm not moving." I was a woman on a mission. The last leg of the walk (it was seriously a major ordeal) I came across a young couple having a similar problem getting across. We laughed and they held hands together....but I was still in the middle of the road. Whatever...you two can die together...

And when I was done traversing the ice, all I could think of was: man, my mother is not going to pleased to hear I pulled another dangerous stunt! The wolf story nearly did her in!

It's come to my attention that I have not told the wolf story on my blog. I didn't think it much at the time, but since people liked this story, I'll go ahead and write about it:

It was a normal day in Akiak. Just as school was getting out, some people came to my classroom and said "Wolves have been sighted. Please go straight home and don't play outside!" There was a giant herd of caribou 6 to 10 miles outside the village, so I figured the wolves were just following the herd - which means they're not starving...or really hungry.

So it was my turn to walk home. I was walking with my friend the 3rd grade teacher (Jared) and we were debating going to the post office. Jared wasn't sure we should dare it with the wolf warning.

But see I know Alaska's true secret, so I say to Jared, "Jared, I have been here for months and haven't seen ANY wildlife! I know for a fact that I am not going to see wolves if I walk to the post office. So I'm walking to the post office!" And Jared agrees to walk to the post office.

And then we reach the path...it cuts through some woods and leads out next to the post office...aka a short cut. Poor Jared. He wanted to take the road and not go on the path. Not I. Here's my argument 1) wolves aren't hungry 2) I'm not going to see any wolves anyways

I win the argument so when the village was under a wolf warning...I went traipsing through the woods...dragging the poor 3rd grade teacher along with me.

But guess what we didn't see any of? That's right! Wolves!

And what do I see during my 10 days in Benicia? Hawks, skunks, possum, raccoons, & rabbits. I saw more wildlife there than in my whole 5 months in Alaska. I have serious doubts as to the existence of actual wildlife here, to be honest with you. But my mother says I can't do things like that again....ah well.