8 Fun Facts about Bethel!

Hi everyone!

I realize that my last blog was real long and not all that interesting. There are so many crazy, fun and ridiculous things about Bethel that I was too scatterbrained to share before but I will try to do now. But, before I do, I want you to know how much fun I am having. This is a crazy experience and while these fun facts may give you pause or make you want to send me a plane ticket out of here ASAP, you should know how cool it all is.

1. We need to reset our clocks every night or they get off 5-10 minutes (or in Abby's alarm clock's case... 2 hours) We live right by a power plant and everyone says that won't kill us but it does interesting things to our power.We are still brainstorming ideas for how to get up for work on time.

2.We are going to eat salmon... a lot. We have eaten it for almost every meal since arrival, though we finally ran out of leftover salmon from our potluck last night. Don't worry though, people have already offered to take us fishing. We are going to need to go soon while the weather and the salmon runs are good, but apparently the fish we catch will be a majority of our food this winter.

3. Things are really expensive here. A bag of Lays potato chips is $10. I'm not exaggerating. At all. We went to the AC (the local grocery store) today and almost cried about the prices. For lunch today because we were walking around town and got hungry, we went in and got 1/2 price yogurt (it expires tomorrow) and two candy bars (one candy bar was for later, but the total cost was $2.76) That might be the way to go on our food stipend ($72 per person per month) Actually, I'm pretty excited because I get free lunch at BABS once I start work on Monday which will be nice.

4. The bugs are ridiculous. There are little bugs that go through screens and even some clothes. I'm so sick of bug bites that I have worn sneakers since I got here. Me. In. Sneakers. Goodness gracious.

5. Another reason I wear actual shoes is because of all the dust. We walk on dirt roads all day long, even the side of the paved road is covered in dust. I swear I have swallowed more dirt and bugs in my few days here than ever before in my life.

6. Everyone recognizes us. I mentioned this before but there are flyers everywhere with our faces and bios. But, I still feel like I'm introducing myself 134 times a day. I swear I'm back at SU Orientation. "My name is Jill Bruton. I'm from Shoreline, WA and I'll be working at BABS (Bethel Alternative Boarding School). "

7. There are a ton of 20 somethings here. It's weird. One of my fellow JV-ers was invited to play in a slow-pitch game last night so the rest of us went to cheer him on. When we got there, we were all invited to play but because I didn't want to make a complete fool of myself yet, I played frisbee and hung out on the teeter-totter with Abby... obviously a cooler activity. :)

8. Bethel just got cell phone reception a little bit ago. But, I'm pretty sure the phone only works in Bethel to other Bethel cell phones. I'm seriously considering it. Not. Also, to get internet at our house, it would be over $150 a month. So not gonna happen.

That is all I can think of right now. I'm sure I will have more fun facts later. I don't start work at BABS until Monday but we get to visit the school on Friday, which I am super excited about. I will write more about my roommates later but so far, so good. We are all super excited about our jobs and can't wait to get started.

Also, if you want to send me mail, my address is:
P.O. Box 1765
Bethel, AK 99559

I forget my number but I will post it soon so you can call and save my phone cards :)

Love you and miss you all!
Jill