The great Leonardo Dicaprio once stated in one of his better flicks Blood Diamond "T.I.A." meaning this is Africa. Here in Bethel at the friendly confines of our permanently under construction house we have created our own version of the phrase which states "This is Bethel." T.I.B can be used for a wide variety of things that describe Bethel in some shape or manor. For example, imagine that your supper stoked because your mom just sent you a bunch of Subway gift cards to supplement the shitty diet...I mean simple diet we partake in every day and that your so relieved to be eating some good food only to find out that the Subway does not take Subway gift cards. I know right...you would think that a company would take their own company's gift card, but obviously it's more complicated than one might think. So keep imagining that your trying to explain to the cashier that the only reason that your at Subway is because you have a gift card and how you feel like you shouldn't have to pay for for your meal because no where does it say that this particular Subway does not accept gift cards, only to have the cashier tell you that he's just an employee and that he doesn't know but to talk to the manager who will be back in a little over a week. So instead of getting mad at the situation you simply mumble to yourself "T.I.B" as you pull out your credit card and pay for your $12 sub and everything seems better. It's a great trick to pull on yourself, but I recommend keeping the T.I.B.'S to under five per day.
Another example of when to use the phrase "T.I.B." occurred this past week when I was walking back to work after another one of my no show meetings (like 50% of all meetings). As I walked across the swamp/tundra on the elevated 15 foot board walk, I paused for a second to zip up the
remaining half of my rain coat as a small day long rain storm passed, and managed to fumble my leather Creighton organizer with half my life in there only to watch it fall in slow motion down 15 feet through the cracks in the board walk and into the deep wet part of the swamp. As I sarcastically laugh to myself I realize that I had to go retrieve it, as it contains all the paperwork and savings registers for the newly opened savings accounts I just recently opened. I wish I had a picture to better describe the retrieval, but let me assure you it was quite the site to see a young preppy JV waiting through the waist deep mucky freezing swamp water in search of his prized leather organizer. The retrieval was a success though and as I regained my composure and made the wet smelly walk back to our house as the water seeped out of the cracks in my shoes I smiled to myself and said, "T.I.B. baby...T.I.B."While there are plenty of T.I.B. moments to write and laugh about, there are other aspects of Bethel that are equally unique and add to the Alaska mystique . This past Labor day weekend we were fortunate enough to take a short day trip along the Kuskokuim river to explore Bethel's
wild side thanks to our friend, neighbor and captain Dr. Joe Klejka. As we made our way up the wide and shallow river it dawned on me just how important this river is the the Yupik's way of life. Throughout our hour long journey up river in search of an abandoned Moravian boarding school we passed numerous residents fish camps in full use over the long weekend as residents made one last salmon push before winter hits. Along our journey we also encountered numerous moose hunters searching for the great Alaskan prize of a big piece of meet. Moose hunting is a very big deal in Alaska and especially this year in the Yukon Delta as Bethel and the surrounding villages just lifted a five year moose moratorium. As it stands currently Alaska fish and game has issued 175 moose permits, but in all reality the number of moose taken out of the delta will far surpass this limit, as many Bethel residents and villagers will shoot first and ask questions later.Several weeks ago we had the opportunity to have dinner with an officer of the Alaskan State Troopers Wildlife division and here several of his many stories relating to illegal wildlife poaching. My hands down favorite story of the night was his description of their sting operation set up about a year back to catch illegal moose hunters. One of the fish and game rules in Alaska is that it's illegal to shoot a moose out of a boat. So, in hopes of catching some illegal moose hunters, the Alaska Fish and Game set up a rubber moose on the shoreline posed in a grazing position. Within two minutes of the set up, shots were being fired at this rubber moose from a boat down river. The plan backfired however as the troopers had hopes to catch some rich white hunters from the lower 49, but in turn got a pair of local Yupik hunters. Woops...
As far as my work and personal life are concerned, everything is pretty good as a whole. As you might have caught on from my discussion earlier about the swamp, I have a big ole' cast on my arm thanks to a frisbee fall around a month ago. Turns out I have a small fracture in my scaphoid bone in my wrist. While it is not necessarily painful or even that annoying the scaphoid bone is relatively important in the long run and needs to be healed properly to regain full strength and range of motion in the hand. As it stands right now, I have a little over two months left in the cast before my release back into the wild. While annoying and very itchy, it does have some perks such as fewer household chores and plenty of TLC from the roommates although I think both might be wearing thin...? Work is good but a little slow at times. A good part of my day is spent keeping up with the daily news, weather and sports; but if there is one thing my boss has taught me so far, is that it's important to stay well versed in the matters of the world. My technical job is to teach banking/finances classes as part of a savings matching and financial education program. So far we have three people enrolled in the program and have started up with the classes and are looking for another 6-7 participants. They seem to put up with me and not mind the classes, and as a whole I keep their attention fairly well until we hit interest rates. Then it's like...who cares. Another interesting aspect of my job has been seeing how the whole government grant process works. My boss Jerry is the Bethel grant master from what I have witnessed and heard from other folks around Bethel.Well, until next time I hope you enjoy. In the words of Bill and Ted from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures; "be excellent!"
