Musings on Akiak....

It's taken me several days before I can sit down and even try to describe my experience. The flight was great. When I saw the tiny little bush plane, I excpected to be scared. I hauled myself in the airplane (no easy task) and strapped myself in next to the very cute bush pilot. (By the way, I don't know if they come ugly or plain.) I expected to be scared taking off....I waited for it. But no, I was good. And away we flew.....

Soon it became time to land, and here's where I expected to get scared. Again, I waited for it....the black hole to form in my tummy, but again nothing. The wheels touched down ever so gently and I had landed in my village.

Now here's where things got dicey. Before I can really explain what happened, let me give you a crash course on the stages of culture shock:

Stage 1: Excitement - Wow! I'm here!! There's my roommate!
Stage 2: Problems - Okaay, the windows are boarded up to prevent vandalism? Why are there no doors on the bedrooms? Wow, my room has no closet & is really tiny! The 24 hour sunlight makes me not tired at midnight. If I order something it will either take weeks or I pay double to triple the amount.

Stage 3: Adjustment - This is where I am now. I met more people. I met the kids (who quickly helped me move out of stage 2). I went participated in more activties. I've got plans to make my room cozy & homey.
Stage 4: Stability: This is the next stage where I will have a sense of home. Things will have settled down & I will feel a part of the community.

I wanted to explain these stages so you will understand that when I laid down on my bed the first night thinking, "Dear God! What did I do!?!" You will understand that it was part of the process I had to overcome. There's nothing wrong with Akiak, it's just a different world out there. And I really did think I could take my Benicia apartment living and transplant it out on the Tundra of Alaska. Clearly that first night was a wake-up call.

That was actually the worst night. Things got better immediately. I woke up with a fresh sense of "CAN DO" and started re-evaluating what I was going to bring to Alaska. And I really liked my roommate. She is awesome. I have never spent so much time with someone & not wanted to kill them by the end of the week.

I met some amazing people! My colleauges, the villagers, and the kids. The kids are what really saved me. I was feeling very doubtful in myself & I started playing with the kids at the summer camp. After juggling with them & laughing & playing, I felt like I could breathe! Whatever challenges came up, I could face them and I would make mistakes but give me time and I could do THIS! That's when everything spun around and I felt better.

There's actually so much I want to tell, that one post isn't going to be enough. I am going to end this post, but on a good note. We got the boards off our windows & my little home is actually quite cute and will be a very nice place once my roommate & I put our finishing touches on it. So here are some pics of the village: (the brown building is the corporate store). Enjoy!