Shopping!

When you live in a village in the Bush, shopping becomes an all day task. I am living in Napaskiak, which is only 6 or 7 miles from Bethel. In the winter, we would normally just take a snow machine, hook up the sled and drive there. But with warm temperatures, river travel is closed. The ice is too thin. So, today we chartered a plane to get to Bethel. Our plan was to leave at 9 AM and return around 3 PM. Sounds good? Well, I think everyone else must have been thinking the same thing.

Before we left the house, Jan called to be certain our charter would be on time. The answer, of course, was no. It would be an hour late. They would call when they left Bethel. As we waited, we worked on our puzzle and talked with Sean and Sara who would be joining us for the day. When the call came, we hurried. We had a ten minute walk to the airport. The sun was just beginning to rise as we walked through the village. We each had our backpacks. We brought the cooler for food, not to keep food frozen but to keep it from freezing.

We were flying Yute, probably the biggest Bush airline we have. A man from the village joined us. Along with the pilot, there were six of us. It was a short ride to Bethel.

When we landed in Bethel, we saw several familiar faces. One of them was Julia - the teacher for whom I am subbing. She was on her way back to the village with her baby. Two weeks ago, JJ had open heart surgery to repair a hole in his heart. You certainly couldn't tell that today. He looked great and very active!
Once in Bethel, we went right to the Cultural Center. It was Saturday Market. This is held each Saturday from now until Christmas. Here the local artists sell their crafts. Since I love the native folk art, I was mesmerized. There was so much from which to choose. I finally decided on two items. One is a fisherman in a kayak. The kayak is made from seal skin. Walrus ivory is used for the point of the arrow. The fur around the fisherman is also walrus. It is beautiful. Don't think these animals were killed for art. It is the other way around. The animals were killed for food. All parts of the animal are used. Nothing goes to waste. The artists use whatever materials they have to create their works. This was created by Mary Roesing.

I also had been looking for a doll. The one I bought today is a dancer. Both her arms and legs move. She is dressed in a native qaspeq coat and holds dance fans. I love the beading on her coat, and I love her bead earrings. Susan Charles is the artist.

We spent two hours here at the Cultural Center. I saw many people I worked with last year. It was great to see so many people. By 12:30, I was getting hungry, so it was time for lunch. We made our way down to our only fast food restaurant in the Bush! To get there, we walked down the main street of Bethel.

Time for lunch!

After lunch, we crossed the street to the grocery store - AC. I really didn't need a lot of food, but I did want fresh vegetables, fruit, and bread. I always find the prices so amazing. Here are a few samples!

Soup for $4.99 a can! I mailed 18 cans of soup from home for which I paid $.99 a can. That's why it's so important to main as much as possible from the Lower 48.

You are reading it correctly. Juice is $11.52 a bottle and it's on sale!

After we finished up at the grocery store, we were ready to head back to Napaskiak. We met friends at AC while we were shopping and they drove us back to the airport. That saved us quite a bit of money. It is $7 a person for a taxi ride to the airport. Here Sean, Sara, and Jan sit at Yute and wait for our charter. Free popcorn!

They loaded up our plane and we were off again - back to the village of Napaskiak.

We were back in the village by 4. It was a great day of shopping. I'm certain I will do this again before I head home. I just can't resist a day of shopping in the Bush!