Tuluksak, here I come!

I know it's been a while since I've updated, and I'm sorry for that. Life here is pretty busy, especially since it's summer, and it's been nice outside.

One of the prime things to do when it's nice weather is to go berry picking out on the tundra. The berries are tiny blueberries that are about half to a third of the size of blueberries downstates (that would be in the lower 48. They call it "downstates" here...) but they have the flavor of a handfull of regular blueberries, and apparently, they have some insanely huge amount of antioxidants too. It's something about the cold weather that makes them grow differently.

And speaking of the cold... :) No, I'm not freezing yet. It's gotten colder in the last week though...one day I walked to work at 8:45, and it was 39 degrees outside. But a 15 minute brisk walk warms you right up, and it's heated in every building here if it's cold. And in the last couple of days, it's heated up again, and now it's 50 to 55 during the day.

I've been kept busy, very busy with getting trained for my job, which is pretty damn intense, but somehow, fun at the same time. I work with amazing people, and we're all just people who care about other people, and want to do our best to get them out of dangerous situations, and help them aquire the skills they need to continue on without our help. Yes, sometimes it's really frustrating, and sometimes it's a little scary, and alot of the time it's just plain emotionally draining. But cuddling those little Yup'ik kids, and knowing that they don't get that kind of affection on a regular basis, and working with their mothers, and thinking that even just one change could save someone's life, or prevent sexual assault.... It's a really incredible feeling. It's like if I'm helping one person, that's enough reason for me to be doing this job.

I'm traveling to Tuluksak tomorrow for work. Tuluksak is a village on the Kuskokwim River (the same river Bethel is on) upriver. Since this part of Alaska isn't on the road system, we're boating up there. It's an hour and a half boat ride, and then we're going to be doing presentations in the school all day. The younger kids get a presentation about safe and unsafe touch, and the older kids get a presentation about bullying. We'll also do one about the effects of domestic violence on kids for the teachers in the school. I'm excited because this is my first village.

In completely unrelated news, I'm in a band. We practice a couple times a week, we jam at the community center, and in people's houses. I'm learning how to play the guitar, and the mandolin, and learning how to bluegrass fiddle on my violin, and I'm having a blast.

I have more to say, but it'll have to wait. I'm going to post pictures on facebook SOON!

-Bethy