For those of you who might not know, I am doing a year of service up in Bethel, Alaska with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. My exact title/job is not quite known yet, but in short I will be working for a non-profit (Bethel Community Services) in the micro-finance/philanthropy sector. Bethel is a nice quaint town located about 400 miles West of Anchorage with a population of just around 6,000. Bethel's demographics are about 70% native, with the other 30% being people from all over the world who think it's fun to live in middle of no where.
We stated our journey in Portland, Oregon at Camp Adams where all 122 Jesuit Volunteer's (JV's) from the northwest met for orientation and training. To my surprise Camp Adams was not quite as much of a bible camp as I thought it was going to be, although I definitely would consider myself in the minority since I am a non-vegan, SUV driving, son of an oil barren, republican and don't regularly save our households rain water to help flush the toilet; but other than that I fit right in. As a whole everyone at orientation was a very nice and unique person who shared a common passion of wanting to do some good in the world. Orientation was a definite tribute to the Jesuits as roughly 70-80% of all volunteers attended some sort of Jesuit high school or University. One of the highlights of orientation for most of us, but especially the ladies (like 70% of all JV's) was Fr. Grubb. Who said Jesuit Priest are square...? Fr. Grubb is the Dane Cook of priest with his rugged looks, funny stories and quick Wit. It was a nice change up to have some good laughs and a youthful message after four days of talks. As a whole Orientation was a great place to get to know the roommates and work out the basic house arrangements before heading up to Bethel. We ended orientation with a fantastic dinner and mass with numerous other former JV's and supporters.
On Saturday August 8th, the seven of us departed for Bethel with ALL OF OUR STUFF in anticipation of what lie ahead it the last frontier. Our travel was plagued with delays and broken planes as all three of our flights had some sort of technical difficulty, but in hindsight it was nice to have that one extra cold beer at the Anchorage Chilli's before heading out. Upon arrival in Bethel we were surprised by over a dozen former JV's, eager neighbors, bosses and supportive community members as they ushered us and our bags away in style on a scenic tour of town on the one paved road.
Bethel is a simple yet nice place. From the outside it's not much to look at and has very little shot at winning any top prizes in the parade of homes, but from our five short days here we can already tell that the community is what makes this place tick. In our five days here we have only had to prepare one meal. Talk about service! Without question one of the common community builders in Bethel is potlucks. On Sunday (not even 24 hours into our adventure) we were informed that our JV house was hosting a community potluck. We had very little to offer besides plates and expired salad dressings, but our neighbors, friends and community came through with a grand slam. No where in my life have I seen so many different types and flavors of Salmon. Here in Bethel one of the common catch phrases we hear a lot about is subsistence living, meaning to live off the land; but for now I might leave that topic for a different day and blog.
It seems like summer flew by so quick and it was just yesterday that I was teaching tennis and playing golf at the Pinery Country club, but I suppose it's time to trade in those tennis shoes for a pair of mud boots and that ball cap for a wool hat. Bethel seems like a great little town and in my few short days am beginning to see why so many former JV's continue to stay and make this Tundra there home. I am hoping to get some pictures up at some point of the town, our house, etc...but am having some problems with the website. If and when I do I will be sure to post some cool pics. Until then adios.
Toodles,
John
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