Old, new, hitchhiking lives, living arrangements and in town travel are the topics I will cover in this addition.
Friday was arrival day in Kwethluk. We were able to boat up river and made it forty minutes. Rain was our constant companion for the day with a high of 50. Just perfect wekather to upgrade my Bethel Bug to Bronchitis. We beached the boat and offloaded the gear. I stood guard while the school suburban was brought down to move everything inland. I had time to check phone service and had one bar if I stood in the right spot and had pure thoughts. During the wait I looked around and had the feeling that Kwethluk was an extremely old village with deep roots. The old school house, that is a faded pink, stood next to our landing spot. The houses in view looked like they had been there forever. As the day progressed I realized that was the normal here. They are all small and weather worn. Small reduces heating space and makes for tight living conditions because the families are large.
When the suburban showed up I met a new teacher and the school secretary who like all secretaries will prove to be invaluable. We received a message as we were driving to the school that another new teacher had arrived at the airfield and needed a ride. So as we bounced our way to make the pick up we passed a gentleman who gave us the thumb. We picked him up and I realized that hitching was alive and well in the Alaskan bush. We made the drop off/pick up at the airfield, which was a small dirt and gravel runway cut out of the brush, and headed to the school.
The school is newer. Depending on who you ask it’s three or four years old. The entryway opens into the foyer/cafeteria/common area. The office area is immediately on the left and houses a large area for the secretary. Behind her, from left to right, is the principal’s office, my office and a large teacher workroom with staff restrooms. Using the entry as a base at the six o’clock position with the office at seven o’clock, next is the gym wing hallway at nine o’clock. The gym has bleachers on the right hand side that are four rows high. On the left side is storage, locker rooms and a nice workout out room with free weights and machines. In the back of the gym is the maintenance shop, a wood working classroom and lab. At the ten o’clock position is the serving line for lunch. Twelve o’clock is the hallway for K-6 grades classrooms. Above this is the hallway for the 7-12 grade classrooms. One o’clock is the stairway to the upper floor. Three o’clock is the library and five o’clock the multi cultural classroom and lab. It’s the newest building in Kwethluk. It is not on the power grid and is powered by generators. I discovered that Kwethluk has only had a city water and electricity system since 2016.
I will briefly give a general explanation of living arrangements but have a special stand alone piece that will discuss my little piece of heaven. There are two sets of teacher housing units. The newest is on campus. Up until this morning I had been told that I would be in one of those units. I learned on the boat ride that a single female teacher had requested to move to those units for safety reasons and that the district office felt that I would would be of more use at the “in town” units. That teacher has a special place in my heart right now. I completely understand the reason and have said from the beginning that I’m flexible and will do whatever is best for the district. The second set of housing is a 20 minute walk from the school on a good weather day. It consists of four occupied buildings, one storage building and two condemned buildings. Honestly, it’s hard to tell which are the condemned.
In town travel is typically accomplished by four wheeler. I and many in town walk but most local families own at least one four wheeler. I have noticed several cars, trucks and SUV’s at homes. These vehicles are not in working order. Most are gutted and only shells of vehicles. I can count on one hand the number of serviceable vehicles here and that’s counting the school suburban. Families traveling by four wheeler do so by the driver sitting in the usual spot. Then anyone and everyone who can sits on the seat or rails or fenders. They sit there and hold on and then anyone whose is old enough to hang on just grabbing something putting there feet on some point of contact and away they go. I’ve seen an adult and six kids on one four wheeler. It’s amazing. Many families don’t own cars. They own a four wheeler, snowmobile and a boat instead.
Day one in Kwethluk is in the books. It was an eventful day. I know I’ll be working in a nice school with good community support. The work here will be beneficial to the kids that will become adults here. In the end this will be something I’ll remember for the rest of my life. If I live that long.
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