Ok, so I’ve decided it is time to write a little more about
my adventure so far. Lets begin with the travel day.
Travel Day:
I was stressed. Surprise surprise. It’s generally difficult
for me to pack for a weekend trip, but a whole 3 months, now that seemed
impossible. I decided to bring one checked bag, one carry on and my backpack.
My checked bag could only weigh 50 lbs or else I would incur a large fee, so it
took some rearranging and some “Tetris” like maneuvers to get the bags packed
efficiently. I managed to bring a ton of clif bars, 4 pairs of shoes, a pair of
boots and slippers, as well as full size toiletry items (shampoo/cond, etc) and
all my clothing items. I call that Skill.
My flight left at 11am and I ended up sitting next to a UPS
sophomore returning home to Barrow! I basically bombarded him with questions
for the entire 3 hours until our layover in Anchorage. He mentioned during our
long flight that during the layover in Anchorage he had to stop at McDonalds to
buy a about 5 burgers to bring back to friends and family. “But they will be
cold when they get there!” I said. He explained that no one would care, they
don’t have fast food up there and most people bring McDonalds back from
Anchorage whenever they travel. Fast food is a luxury I guess most of us take
for granted. In fact, I don’t even like McDonalds. There are way better fast
food options to choose from! Once I boarded the next flight I noticed several
McDonald’s bags & Happy Meals bags stowed in the overhead bins. He wasn’t
joking.
The flight had a quick stop in Prudhoe Bay, at the town of
Dead Horse (pleasant name, huh?). From the plane, I spotted the trans-Alaskan
pipeline and a stretch of the highway leading to Fairbanks. That was the last
highway I’ll see for a while.
I arrived in Barrow at 6pm, but there was a miscommunication
and I didn’t get picked up from the airport until 7pm. I was given a tour of
the town by truck that evening and finally settled in at Rose’s house for the
night. (she is the veterinary technician who is renting me a room for the
summer).
Sunday
The next day, I spent the morning lounging around and
getting to know my new roommate/landlord/coworker/tourguide and her boyfriend.
They took me on another tour around Barrow and even put up with me in the
grocery store as I ooo’ed and aaaahed at the prices. Wow, I’m going to go broke
on just eating food. Good thing there aren’t any malls around here.
Monday
Today was my first day at work. The clinic is larger than I expected and the day was really
busy. I helped walk some of the dogs, went on an animal control run to catch a
stray dog, filled out paperwork, and set up a brand new dental machine.
Everyone at the clinic was friendly and helpful, except Rose. (Just kidding,
she is great!)
It was pretty evident that the community still highly relies on sustenance whaling as a major source for food. The locals kept saying how proud they were of their whaling crews for already bringing in 5 whales and lots of beluga. In fact, Joe, the restaurant owner cooked us a meal of beluga and bowhead whale (muktuk) on our last night in Point Hope. It was very chewy....
Last Thursday, I left for Point Hope on a flight by Era Alaska Airlines (yes, that's the one from the tv show, Flying Wild Alaska). I went there with the Barrow veterinarian, a US Public Health Veterinarian, and 3 Coast Guard people. Our plane was a small cargo plain that held 8 passengers. Era does not follow the rules of normal large airlines. We did not have to go through a TSA security check point, there were no stupid rules about sharp items or liquids, and there was no use of photo ID or boarding passes. Finally, the airport at Point Hope consisted of a parking lot and two trucks.
We set up our clinic in the local police department's garage. The dogs were sedated with injectable anesthesia for the surgeries. I was the surgical assistant/anesthesia technician for most of the surgeries. I helped place catheters, prep the dogs for surgery and monitor heart rate and respiratory rate and inject more anesthetic if needed.
My flight left at 11am and I ended up sitting next to a UPS
sophomore returning home to Barrow! I basically bombarded him with questions
for the entire 3 hours until our layover in Anchorage. He mentioned during our
long flight that during the layover in Anchorage he had to stop at McDonalds to
buy a about 5 burgers to bring back to friends and family. “But they will be
cold when they get there!” I said. He explained that no one would care, they
don’t have fast food up there and most people bring McDonalds back from
Anchorage whenever they travel. Fast food is a luxury I guess most of us take
for granted. In fact, I don’t even like McDonalds. There are way better fast
food options to choose from! Once I boarded the next flight I noticed several
McDonald’s bags & Happy Meals bags stowed in the overhead bins. He wasn’t
joking.
