BASC, TEA WITH A NEW FRIEND AND MEETING THULE

Saturday morning found me looking forward to the program being held at the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium in the early afternoon.  The talks are always interesting and I’m enjoying conversations with others who attend while waiting for the van, on the van trip there and back and while waiting for the program to begin.  While waiting in the lobby of the library, I talked with a young Inupiat grandmother (Aaka in Inupiaq) who was taking her granddaughter to the program, needing a change of scenery and to get out of the house for the afternoon (see photo in next post).  The little girl was not happy while waiting until her Aaka lifted her up, put her on her back beneath her parka and cinched up her belt, holding her in securely.  The child became quiet and looked sweetly out from her Aaka’s hood.  I talked with Marie on the van ride out and we agreed that we’d enjoy walking to BASC on some upcoming Saturdays.  A legal aid shared our ride and talked about having just accepted a higher paying position in Nome, so was moving there in the upcoming week.  He said that his housing here in Barrow was costing almost half of his income.  Nokinba Acker usually drives the van as well as coordinates the programs at BASC, but today his wife, Rita drove.  On the return trip, I enjoyed talking with her and learning that she is pregnant with their fifth child.  She kindly stopped at the post office when a rider asked if she could run in to check her mail.  We were passing by at the stroke of 3 pm, a minute before the door closed for the next two days. 

The program was well-attended and I was happy to see the two nursing students from Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter along with their instructor who had arrived earlier in the week there.  Alexa and Christian had spent the past two weeks doing community assessments, putting on educational programs in the local schools and had each attended a village health fair and a week’s clinical in different villages.  I was looking forward to working with them at the health fair this coming week in Point Lay, but they had decided to forgo the last one, preparing to return home to Minnesota.  Neither had brought enough warm clothing and had been very cold on their village trips.  It was good to see them again and to have heard from the public health nurses they worked with about how well they both did in their clinicals.  Alexa commented on succumbing to hunger at the village she did her clinical in and how she and the public health nurse broke down and paid $9 for a package of Oreos and enjoyed them thoroughly.

Glenn, who had moved up years ago with his wife as an anthropologist was there as well as Pat, the school aid, Jan, the high school science teacher and Valerie the elementary school teacher.   Bob, the advisor to the Mayor in regards to the housing shortage here was missing although he normally attends.   A man sat in front of me wearing a T-shirt that read “Dexter Area Fire and Rescue”.  I asked him if he was from Nome, remembering Grandpa and Grandma’s cabin at Dexter and the fun times my family had all enjoyed there over the years.  He said that he was from Dexter, Minnesota and was in Barrow attending an Allied Health class at Ilisagovik College.  The class if offered online, but he felt as though coming for classes here would be much more interesting.  There were others who drove independently that I haven’t met yet.  It is nice to be seeing some of the same people each Saturday and to be getting to know them.

The presenter, Sasha Draganov, is a Boeing Technical Fellow who is working on research and development projects related to navigation, geolocation and data processing.  He holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and a Masters in Theortetical Physics from Keiv University in the Ukraine.  He and another engineer are here in Barrow for a short period of time collecting geolocation data.  Dr. Draganov spoke about the history of navigation and  the many disciplines involved in the development, science and technology behind GPS’s including, among others, math, meteorology, physics, statistics, mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering.   The talk was fascinating and I felt as though I was in an upper level university class.  I was impressed that the young legal aid as well as another man seemed to understand the physics involved in GPS navigation and asked very thought provoking questions that Dr. Draganov was able to answer without hesitation. 

After the program I took the van with Valerie to her apartment which is attached to the back of the high school warehouse.  She has been able to make friends with the warehouseman and has appropriated enough lamps to confidently face the darkness of the upcoming months.  The apartment was beautiful and I hope that I’m as fortunate in the future to find one as nice.  She lives there with her six year old dog, Thule, who seemed very happy to have company for the afternoon.  Valerie invited me to make myself at home while she made a needed call to someone who was making her a parka.  She talked about specifications and price while I passed the time tuning her guitar…a pleasure as I’m missing mine and plan to bring it back when returning from my first trip to Washington.  Thule seemed determined to convince me that my time would be better spent playing with her, so from time to time, I took breaks from my task and enjoyed her vigorous hugs and wet kisses.  After Valerie’s call she shared that the parka she was considering would cost close to $600 but that it would ensure that she kept warm all winter.  I showed her the heated vest that Sandi had sent me, not feeling as though I wanted to part with $600 this year although the parkas I’ve seen and remember from years earlier are beautiful as well as very warm.  We enjoyed cup after cup of tea and discussions of our journeys to become a school teacher and a nurse and books that we each had read, mine some time ago, prior to nursing school, but ones that I thought she would enjoy nonetheless.  She and Thule walked me home in the dark on a route that was new to me across the larger lagoon and she talked about the five weeks she spent on a teaching project in Antarctica several years ago, saying that it was too cold there for snow and that it was more like a cold dessert.  I’ve posted a photo of Valerie and Thule on the next post.  It was a wonderful day.