Sunday, September 27, 2009

Pandora FREE Internet Radio

I really enjoy listening to music and wanted to share the website on Pandora free internet radio. When you live in rural areas and your limited to listening to only one radio station, like where I live (the KYUK radio station in Southwest Bethel, AK) it is so nice to have the option of listening to any music genre of your choice through the internet. Pandora is basically a free internet radio and you can play music of your choice that you like in your home or when your on the go.

To sign up on Pandora all you have to do is create an account by typing your email and password. www.pandora.com

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Kong Wolf Attack

One of the teacher's from here told the story about her husband's attack by a wolf while moose hunting on the upper Kuskokwim river region.

Funny how the story changes...Rod was on KYUK this morning and there will be an article on the Delta Discovery. He's fine... never had to be hospitalized. This is how the story goes....

Rod and a couple other guys made a bonfire and they were burning trash. When they were done, Rod decided to go listen for moose and walked off into the woods, not very far from where they had a bonfire going. While walking out there, he noticed a wolf prowling around, so he screamed "WOLF !" As soon as he screamed, the wolf went right for him. He tried to run away, but the wolf caught up with him in no time. Just as it reached him, the wolf jumped, and Rod jumped at the same time, (avitengnaqluku) trying to avoid being bitten, but it got him right below his right hip. It took a nickel sized piece of his skin. (he's pretty lucky it took only that much) He then turned around and grabbed it by the neck, giving it a choke hold, and pinned it with his legs. His brother Eric ran over with his gun... when he got to Rod, he asked him where it was... (it was dark, so Eric couldn't see him wrestling with it) and Rod screamed, "RIGHT HERE!" When Eric got close enough that Rod could see he had a gun, Rod released the wolf and shoved it at the same time. Eric then shot it twice and killed it.

Pretty creepy and scary... the wolf had porcupine needles all over its mouth, inside and out...and even had a baby wipe inside its mouth. So it musta been pretty desperate and hungry. They brought it to Bethel to be analyzed and the people in Bethel sent it to Anchorage where they found it did have rabies. So Rod is getting a series of rabies vaccination shots. Thanks goodness they don't give them on stomach anymore...he just had to get five shots on the arm.
Other than that...Rod is fine.

There is a more in-depth Anchorage daily news (adn.com) article on the wolf attack of a local resident.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Kong Waste Disposal

In Kongiganak, the only flush toilets are at the school and laundry mat. In this photo, you can see one of our local honey bucket delivery boys taking our container to the lagoon. This is the first I’ve seen someone using a motor bike to deliver the do-do. Other ways of transporting honey-bucket are by sled, wheel barrel, four-wheeler and snow-machine. Honey buckets are common in many rural villages in Alaska. Kids and some adults earn $5 for hauling the do-do to the lagoon throughout the school year. I hope that someday this village will have flush toilets in our homes.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Full Circle Farm

When you live in rural Alaska, it can be difficult to get fresh produce. This past year some teachers and local residents joined an organic food coop called Full Circle which is located in Carnation, WA. We received a variety of fresh organic produce that was readily available every week.

Full Circle Farm gives members a choice of specific types of foods that will be sent out. Members are able to substitute certain items. Farm notes included in the boxes give members relevant nutritional information and recipes that contain the current week’s selection of fresh produce.

If anyone is interested here’s their website: www.fullcirclefarm.com and phone number 425.333.4677. This is a great program that allows their members to eat healthier and feel better.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

New School in Progress


The new school foundation was completed in late March. Last month the school’s wall panels were also put together. As you can see in the background of the new school, the village has five wind towers on the tundra. The close-up picture only shows three of the wind towers standing. The wind towers will provide electricity and help reduce the cost of living for local residence.

It will be interesting to see how much work has been completed by the time I return in August.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Kongiganak School Update



Here is a picture taken on Monday of the new school site. The workers have just started building the school foundation. It is expected to be completed by the spring of 2010. I also took an aerial photo of Kongiganak last August, 2008. In this photo, the airstrip is between the new housing which is facing the mouth of the Kuskokwim River and the old housing where you can see the current school painted in red. The new school site is located on the other side of the left end side of the airstrip, by the big lake. The community decided the new school should be built in an area where there is no chance of land erosion. Last summer the QAP Company put rocks along the river to stop erosion near our house and the old school. Our living room has a birds eye view of the new school construction site. It’ll be interesting to watch the progress of the new school construction.