Hi, everyone!
I thought I would do a short post of my pictures from around the village. I'm living in Napakiak, Alaska. The state of Alaska is so large! Napakiak is in the Southwestern part of the state.
If you Google Earth Napakiak you will be able to see my entire village. It's only about 1.5 miles long and approximately 350 people live here. There is only one school which houses grades K-12. There are about 90 students in all and I will be teaching 1/2 grade with 18 students! The natives are very friendly and happy here. I've taken multiple walks around the village and every time I pass a four-wheeler the people are waving and smiling.
SO BIG!
Here's where I am on a map of the state...it's about 4,000 miles from Palmerton!
In Alaska the flower fireweed is very popular! The purple flowers start blooming at the bottom and throughout the summer they make their way to the top. It is believed that when they reach the top the summer is over. In Napakiak the fireweed is very close to the top! It's been in the 60s and 70s here, that's good summer weather for Alaska! However, it will be getting colder by probably the middle of September. My roommate is going to try to make a jelly out of fireweed that we collected from around the village. I'm excited to try it! I sampled a fireweed ice cream in Anchorage which was like a fruity type of ice cream.
This is one of the stores in the village, Jungs Trading Post. They sell a variety of items at the store and I've heard that my village actually has one of the best stores in the school district. The prices are still pretty high, but you can get some items for good prices. I believe a candy bar is about $2.00.
They sell Hershey bars!
This is the other store in the village - "Naparyalruar Store"
We went berry picking a few days ago. This is a salmonberry. They taste just like fruit punch! Unfortunately, we only found about 10 of these berries, not enough to make jelly. :(
One of my boxes from WalMart made it here in under a week!
This is a dogs that roams the village. It belongs to one family in the village, but dogs usually stay outside here. It's so cute!
This was a tie-dye banner in the bingo hall. We attended a pot luck dinner here on Saturday. I tried moose soup! Not bad.
Here's the bingo hall!
This is the gas station. It's about $8.00 per gallon. There aren't very many cars. Most people drive around four wheelers or "Hondas".
A welcome sign into the village at the airport.
Tundra. It's very flat in my village, which means it can be windy! Also, when it's a bit windy it keeps the bugs away! When I was out for a walk on Sunday there wasn't any wind and the gnats were horrible! They call them noseeums (no-see-ums) in Alaska and they bite!
People also leave their vehicles anywhere and everywhere here. There are so many in my village just on the side of the road. Many of them have broken windshields and flat tires. A part of the problem is that there's really no place to dispose of these large vehicles.
I'll leave with a picture of fish head soup. We had the opportunity to try this during our district training in Bethel. I wasn't brave enough. Maybe next time...
P.S. The teachers might be going to Hawaii in March!!
So cool, Steph! Enjoy the warm while it lasts!
ReplyDeleteVery nice Steph! I want to know when you start eating salmon:)
ReplyDeleteABSOLUTELY we are going to Hawaii in march.
ReplyDeleteNot so many comments :D
ReplyDelete