Life in rural Alaska

I have had a lot of questions about our location in Alaska, and thought that would be a good place to start my Rural Alaska Living series, which will run for the next week  As you read the series, if you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments, and I will do my best to answer them.

Location:

  On the map below you will see a red star, that is (roughly) where Marshall is.  We are in Southwest Alaska, just north of Bethel, a major hub in our area.  As you can see, we are along the Yukon River, about 100 miles east of the Bering Sea.  You can also see (quite clearly) on this map that we are literally closer to Russia than the lower 48!

We are about 400 miles (give or take) from Anchorage.  Anchorage, along with Fairbanks, is on the road system.  We are too far from the road system to use it, which means the only roads we have are in town.  There are no roads from our village to other villages.  It would be too expensive for upkeep & the distance is too far for it to make sense.

Marshall from the air
{courtesy of Peter Werts}

 That said, there is a lot of travel between villages.  In the winter, there are snow machine trails marked, some along the river and some through the tundra, and in summer, travel by boat is common.  The village upriver from us is Russian Mission and the village downriver from us is Pilot Station.  They are both part of our school district as well.

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Moose from the air
{Courtesy of Peter Werts}

Swimming:

There is no pool in town.  Some kids know how to swim and swim in the river during summer, but it can be dangerous.  I would love if there was a pool here.  It would be so much fun!

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More moose from the air
{Courtesy of Peter Werts}

No Roads:

Every thing MUST be flown in since we aren't on the road system.  Some things can be brought in by barge during the summer months before the river freezes over, but that, as you can imagine, is quite expensive!

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Visitors:

We have had visitors in the past.  Josh's parents came to visit twice and some of my family has talked about visiting.  The only trick is that there's no hotel in Marshall, so we have to have everything the visitors need for their visit. 

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The Yukon
{Courtesy of Peter Werts}

Flight Costs:

I also had a lot of questions about the cost of flights for our family.  It is roughly $700 to charter (for our whole family) from Marshall to Bethel on ERA.  ($1400 both ways)

If we fly Bethel to Anchorage and Anchorage to Portland on Alaska Air, it's about $900 per ticket.  So for our whole family to fly out, not using miles or buddy passes, it would cost us about $5,900.00 round trip (combining the ERA and Alaska flight costs).

At Christmas it's even more than that, which is why we don't travel home for the holidays.  When we buy our tickets home for summer, we use buddy passes for the twins ($100 each) and miles for Wyatt.  This year we spent $3,700 roundtrip.  

Aside from the financial stress of arranging air travel, we also face dealing with the weather.  We are truly at its mercy, which can be very worrisome.  Too much wind, snow, rain or ice can be a problem, and it's often left to last minute decisions.  Our friends have had their entire family (two parents + four kids) fly out, only to pass over the runway in Marshall and go back to Bethel because it wasn't ideal weather for landing.

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Water:

I have talked before about water supply.  This is our water system here. We use the Brita filter (in the sink) to filter the water and then fill our fridge water storage (on the counter).  You can drink the water straight from the faucet, but it tastes better (less minerals) if you filter it.

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{The Russian Orthodox church}

Language:

The village is nearly 100% native.  The Eskimo here are Yupik.  That's the name of the people and the name of their language.  A lot of the students are identified as ESL (English as a Second Language) students, with Yupik being their first language.  I absolutely love the accents of those from the village.  I could listen to them talk forever.  I sometimes think mine is getting stronger, but it's hard to tell.  I guess I have to ask my family when I get home this summer and see if they think I sound different. 

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Internet & phone:

GCI is our only choice of phone company. We spend nearly $300 a month on two cell phones and (very) limited internet.  Occasionally at the end of a billing cycle we have enough internet left to Skype for a half hour with family, but usually not.  The internet is out a lot. And we often drop calls. We call it "getting GCI'd".

Television:

For TV we have a Dish satellite that Josh & Joe hung on the railing outside in -30 degree weather.  Our Dish service is usually pretty good, but during severe weather, especially wind, we can occasionally lose service.

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{Old teacher housing}

Teacher Housing:

Someone asked about our housing now, mentioning that it seems quite nice.  Indeed it is, especially compared to the old teacher housing they had downtown.  They had mice, broken windows and would occasionally run out of oil for heat.  Brr!

{New teacher housing}

The new housing is uptown.  There's really nothing around us save the "workers' camp" where seasonal construction workers from the lower 48 come and stay for the summer months.  The school district takes rent directly out of Josh's monthly check to pay for it based on housing type and whether or not you have a roommate.  We are the first tenants to have lived in our house, and I have been very happy with it.  It's the most beautiful house I've ever lived in, that's for sure!

{Marshall School}

The materials to build our housing (and the new school) had to either be flown in or barged in.  Same with the furniture.  Our houses came fully furnished with brand new, lovely pieces.  Almost all the villages in Lower Yukon School District now have new housing and schools after years of building, village after village. We are very lucky as this is not the case in all villages of rural Alaska.  We also have indoor plumbing, and water that is safe to drink.

The housing is built on steel trestles that are placed on two foot by two foot wooden planks that can be adjusted up and down as the ground moves.  It's an experimental project that, quite frankly, isn't going well.  You can look under the house and see that the ground has settled and many of the two by two planks are floating in the air.  The housing has lots of cracks, our doors often stick, and in the kitchen marbles roll rapidly from one end to the other due to shifting.

The reason for this ground shift (and subsequent house shift) is the permafrost on the tundra.  The ground is basically pumped full of water which freezes and melts, causing a lot of ground movement.  Traditionally pylon's are drilled down to bedrock to support structures built on tundra.  That's how the school was built and most houses in Marshall as well.

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{Mommy headed to Anchorage}

Who's Here With Us:

Teachers in Marshall are mainly from the lower 48, but each year we've been here there has been at least one native teacher.  Currently we have two native teachers.  Our school has ten teachers, a counselor, a principal and an assistant principal.  There are roughly 130 students k-12.

There are other kids in the housing.  Three families in total.  Our family; our neighbors who both teach and have six children, four of whom live here with them (ranging from 1st grade to grown); and another family who has four littles, age six and under.

One other family currently does a mix of homeschooling and Marshall school, the other only has one in school thus far.  

The other teachers are all single.  No spouses and no children.

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Clothing:

As you have probably guessed, there is no clothing store in Marshall.  No Macy's or even Goodwill.  I try to pass the clothes I'm not saving for some (potential) future baby to people I know in the village with kids younger than mine.  The rest goes to the dump, where it's burned with all the other trash.  People here make kuspuks, which are a traditional top, like a long shirt with a pocket & hood.  Some are quite beautiful.  There is some clothing at the store, & school (Marshall Mustang gear), but the selection is limited.  Most people shop while in Anchorage.  I order things online for my boys, usually from Osh Kosh or Old Navy.  For myself I order from Old Navy almost exclusively.  Returns are easy and I can almost always get free shipping.

For outer gear, we stick with Lands End, Columbia and North Face.  North Face is the best quality and I find that it's worth spending the money on something that will last significantly longer than a cheaper counterpart.

And for winter footwear, we do Sorel.

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{August 2013}

Restaurants:

There are no restaurants in Marshall, and very little entertainment.  There is a Bingo Hall, although I've never been, and there are three churches.  (Russian Orthodox, Catholic & Evangelical)  Most activities revolve around the school.  Like the Halloween carnival, basketball and volleyball games, and even the men's and women's adult league basketball.  (Basketball is HUGE in Marshall!)

The big city luxury I probably mourn the most personally is the movie theater.  What I wouldn't give for a theater in town!  Or even a Redbox.  Instead we use our precious internet to download movies purchased from iTunes.  We try, nearly every Friday, to watch a movie (new or old) for date night in the living room with all the lights off and Josh's delicious homemade pizza for dinner.  It's close, but nothing is the same as a dark theater with buttery popcorn and a box of Junior Mints!

I also really miss Target, Barnes & Noble, the library, and Costco.

We all miss eating out.  The kids miss McDonald's; I miss Red Lobster.  But what I miss more than any particular food is the convenience of someone else making it! I miss grabbing a pizza for the kids when I don't feel like cooking.  I miss drive throughs when I'm in a hurry.  I miss desserts picked up after the kids are in bed from Dairy Queen or Baskin Robbins. 

But if I had to pick, what I miss most is orange chicken from Panda Express.  My friend Kari asked how much I would pay for a delivery of orange chicken to my front door in Marshall, and I won't lie-- I would probably pay $50 if someone could make it happen!  In January, I paid $20 for a burger, fries & a coke at Brothers restaurant in Bethel while I was waiting for my flight to Anchorage, and it was worth.every.penny.

As a family we also miss variety.  We miss having oranges and watermelon and real pineapple.  We miss corn on the cob, salad and tomatoes.  We miss steak, porkchops and burgers.  We miss donuts, buns and store bought bread.  

But I will say that going without is what makes it so special when we're home.

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Occupations:

In addition to the co op, we have a gas station. It doubles as a store, selling some things along with gas.  There's also a gas tank down by the river.  The main occupations in town come from the store, the gas station, the school and seasonal construction.

The town was founded on gold in the 1800's, and was originally called Fortuna Ledge.  Year before last Josh took his students on a field trip to the old Marshall gold mine.  It was really cool.

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Banking:

We do our banking with a national bank because we wanted a bank that had a presence in both Washington and Alaska.  We send checks to Anchorage to be deposited in our account, and are able to use debit and credit cards at the co-op.  You can use your cards to get cash back as needed as well.  The co-op here has a "bank" in the back.  I am not sure what all they are capable of, but I know you can cash checks there.  I only use/need cash at Saturday Social for the Student Store, which doesn't take credit cards.

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Alaska plans:

We do have plans to stay in Alaska long term.  That said, our plans may change as best suits the needs of our family.  But the long term plan is at least five years here in Marshall, then move on to a larger city, one on the road system with a grocery store and a YMCA.  Perhaps a place like Wasilla, where we could settle down and buy a house.  Teachers can retire after only twenty years in Alaska, so that's Josh's primary goal.  Work twenty years so he can retire and then pursue some other kind of career that strikes his fancy.

Some teachers do desire to stay in the village forever, and I can see the appeal.  The pay is good, the pace of life is slower, and the scenery is beautiful.  Not to mention, we love the students.  But for us, with our own kids to worry about, I would like to have them in a place with a little more in terms of things to do, like swimming, baseball and other activities like boy scouts.

The turnover is high in the rural villages because village life is not for everyone.  When contracts come out, it can be stressful for first year teachers, holding their breath, hoping to get offered a second year contract.  After four years in LYSD you are tenured, so next year is an exciting one for Josh.

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Summer Plans: 
For summer our plans involve mostly hanging out with friends & family in Vancouver (Washington), with a few camping and beach trips sprinkled in.  I will admit that being back in "town" is completely overwhelming.  I feel like coming back to everything (radio, billboards, crowds, traffic...) must be similar to how an autistic person feels all the time.  It's like the stimulation of it all gets in my head and I can't shut it off.  It's exhausting. After a few weeks, I get back in the swing of things, thankfully, but in the beginning, it's truly a sensory overload.

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I am so grateful we get to lead this double life-- where we spend part of our time here, in the Yukon, with only 400 neighbors, moose & the sky, and part of our time there, in the lower 48, in a real city with restaurants & grocery stores & all kinds of new daily experiences.

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I hope you enjoy the rest of the Rural Alaska Living Series.
Tomorrow is The Laundry Room, Eating & Groceries in rural Alaska
Wednesday is Hunting & Health in rural Alaska
Thursday is Life with Small Children in rural Alaska
Friday is The BEST and the WORST of life in rural Alaska
& Saturday I conclude with Weather in rural Alaska

As I stated above, please feel free to ask questions as we go along.
I love to know what you want to know and try to get you answers.
Happy reading!