Home from Nome

Nome is...Nome.  It's a very difficult place to describe if you've never been there before.  If you've lived in a small town before you'll have some idea of what life in Nome is like...it's true that everyone knows everyone else and one person's business is everybody's business.  But rural Alaska is also so different than other rural parts of the country.  You can't drive any number of miles here and get to the city.  You have to take a plane.  This might not seem like a big deal, especially on the short (1.5 hour) flight to Anchorage, but thinking about never just being able to go when you need to...it's a hardship.  I love driving and the thought of not being able to drive for the sake of driving due to distance (and cost; gas is $4.50 a gallon) is a lot harder than it sounds.


The people of Nome have a true dedication to the place.  Many people who come from the lower 48 (or outside, as it's also called) have a deep connection and love to the town, the land, and the way of life.  And you have to if you want to live in Nome.  If you aren't willing to make the sacrifices, such as higher cost of living and isolation, than Nome is not the place for you.


I know that permanent residency in Nome is not something I would want.  I really enjoyed my 3 weeks there and met a lot of really great people, but I enjoy the city (it's a real place karks!) of Anchorage.  I actually like that's it's not as big as phoenix, or even as big as Tucson, but still has everything that I could ever want or need.  Living in a place like Nome for 3 weeks definitely gives me a new appreciation for the city and it's conveniences.


My favorite thing in Nome, hands down, was running dogs, or dog mushing.

  You hook the dogs up to a 4 wheeler, put it in neutral, and they can pull it in almost any condition.  They each pull about 100lbs, and are very, very strong dogs.  They get so excited to do it!  It's a really great experience.  If I lived in Nome, that's all I would do.


I'm very happy to be back in Anchorage.  I got back on Friday, and saw fall where I lived for the first time!  I really like fall here so far, the yellows and reds in the leaves are beautiful and the air is definitely getting a chill.  We had a tiny, tiny bit of snow on Sunday, and will probably have more towards the end of the week.  This weekend is all about snowproofing:  getting studded tires for my car (which are a necessity up here) and engine block heater (basically what it sounds like...you can plug it in to parking space outlets that come standard to apt parking spots) for when the weather gets so cold that the engine freezes.  I also need the rest of my winter gear, like a big parka and heavy duty gloves.


As far as the internship goes, this week is pretty easy going, I'm doing hospital foodservice (patient meals and stuff) at Alaska Native Medical Center.  They use a room service program but also have a lot of traditional foods on the menu, including fish pie and reindeer stew.  I like the hospital so far, it's smallish but I'm enjoying that more and more.  Next week I start 10 weeks of clinical which will be the most demanding (of my time and brainpower) rotation of the whole internship.  I'm looking forward to it and not at the same time.


Overall I'm still doing really well here.  This place is starting to feel like home, even with the cold weather!  It's 37 out right now...when I've been getting into my car in the morning it's about 26.  A little chilly!  But I'm adjusting well, I hope, and am really liking being an intern.

The Last Train to Nowhere

So after spending a week in orientation, 2 of the other interns and I (there are 5 total) flew an hour and a half north to Nome for our rural rotation.  We've been here for a week and I felt like I've learned so much in just a few days!


So we are spending the bulk of our time here working at the hospital, which is run by Norton Sound.  They  are one of the biggest employers in town and it seems like every other person works there.  The hospital itself feels so small compared to what I'm used to.  There are 10 inpatient beds that are not always filled, plus 2 er beds.  There are also 15 beds for elders in the long term care facility attached to the hospital.  The hospital is basically a one stop shop for any healthcare needs.  There are departments for audiology, dental, and even eyecare.


The hospital works this way because of the way rural Alaskan life is structured.  Nome is a hub city, which means that it is home base for outlying villages.  Nome has about 15 villages that it's responsible for.  A hub like Bethel, which is about twice the size of Nome, has 53.  The actual town of Nome is about a mile wide and has a little over 3000 people.  But villages can have anywhere from 10-750 residents.  To a lot of people in the villages, Nome is a big city and Anchorage is too large and can be overwhelming.


Only 1 of the villages is accesible by car.  It's about 70 miles north of Nome and the biggest building by far is the school, which also serves the village across the inlet.  There are about 75 kids total in the school, from 1st-12th grades.  Because you have to fly to all of the other villages, there is even a travel department at the hospital.  They arrange for people from villages to come into town for drs. appointments or various other health services.


One of the highlights of the week is that I've gotten to try native foods!  Fat has traditionally been the majority of Native diets, because carbohydrates are almost non-existant in the winter.  Seal oil is probably the most prevalent fat, and one women even referred to is as "our ketchup"meaning that they put it on everything.  We tried raw and cooked muktuk, which is whale blubber with the skin attached.  It was terrible.  The raw kind was probably one of the worse things I have ever eaten...it was chewy and tasted like bad fish.  The cooked kind was better, but still didn't taste great.  I'm glad I got to try it but don't want to have it again!


We also got to travel out to a village, Teller.  Village life is...interesting.  It's fascinating to see the different ways that people live.  It was incredibly eye opening and defiantly a worthwhile experience.


Today we went berry picking!  Tundra blueberries are amazing, very different than blueberries that we would buy in a store.  They are slightly sour, but still sweet.  You feel good when you eat them, especially knowing that you picked them yourself!


I can't add pictures here because the internet is...interesting, let's say.  But if you want to see pictures of Nome, Teller, and berry picking, you can check out my flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ktcasa87/

So I live in Alaska Now

Here are some pictures of near where I live:

Parts of a glacier in a lake

mountains and a glacier

There are sunny days here!

There is still a wildness here that you can't find in other cities, which is why a lot of people come up here.  It changes the attitudes of the people who live here and the way they live in relation to the land.  I'm definitely enjoying that aspect of Alaska living, it feels different but in a good way.  

So far, it's been fun exploring and getting to know a new place that's so different from Arizona.  The only thing that I'm worried about for the coming winter right now is driving in the snow, since I've never experienced that and I think it will be the most difficult thing to get used to.  But I know that it's something that I will have to do, so I'm coming to terms with it.

So I've still been getting a lot of questions about what I'm doing up here.  I'm one of the 5 2010-2011 dietetic interns at University of Alaska-Anchorage.  For those that don't know, a dietetic internship is the next required step to getting the credential of Registered Dietitian after earning a Bachelor's degree.  There are a variety of internships sponsored through universities, hospitals, food service companies, and health departments throughout the country.  However, they are very competitive due to growing numbers of applicants and same number of spots.  The placement rate for applicants is about 40-50% nationwide, and you're competing against classmates, nutrition students across the nation, and those that have already graduated and are applying for their second plus time.  It takes a lot of dedication and honestly, stamina.  It's not a very quick process.  I started preparing just for the application process a year ago.  But getting matched to a program you chose...there isn't really another feeling like it.

So Alaska was my first choice of internships, because I fell in love with it from the very first time I was here.  I feel very fortunate to have gotten in to my first choice on the first try.  Moving here has been a long road, but now that I'm here, it's been totally worth it (so far at least!)  I'm really enjoying it.  

I've gone through a week of orientation, and I know that I'll be BUSY this next year, but getting so much experience to be able to get a job when I'm done.  I'll probably be posting more on what I'll be doing, but for now I'm packing for my first rotation, a three week stay in Nome, AK.  The strangest thing for me about this trip: I had to buy snow pants.