Bethel, Alaska

About a week and a half ago I got the chance to go to Alaska for work. It was, well. . .
interesting.

A month ago my boss let me know that there was a possibility that I may have to go to Alaska. When I further inquired where exactly in Alaska I was told Bethel.

Bethel, Alaska.

My initial reaction was a mix of emotions. I was nervous, surprised, excited, and a little confused. I had never heard of Bethel and tried to flip through the notes in my head on all things Alaska. . . Polar Bears, Dog Sledding, Deadliest Catch, Eskimos, Northern Lights, No sun and then a ton of sun, and Snow, lots of snow.

Yeah after going through that list I guess I became more excited then anything else. I couldn't help but think, this was going to be an ADVENTURE!!! Now that I look back on it, my "notes" didn't help create a realistic expectation of what was to come.

I may or may not have imagined getting to experience most, if not all, of those things on my list.

Yup. And I'm not afraid to admit that I'm still a kid when it comes to thinking about places I've never been.  To me they are all just like the movies. Just as fantastic and grand and magical.

So did I experience all of those things, much less any of them? No. Not really, except snow. I did have that idea right but not much else. However I did have an adventure. . . just of a different sort.

Bethel.

Let me give you an idea of what it is like.

**Sorry I had pictures for this on my iphone but it decided to completely die before I could get them off, so I had to pull some from other sites that were basically the same pictures I had**

http://www.alaskatravel.com/alaska/bethel.html

Population: 6,000

Average Temperature in March: 6 degrees (though it was -23 the week before I went)

They have two languages in Bethel, English and Yup'ik

It takes roughly 12 hours to fly there from Salt Lake City.

And its ~400 miles west of Anchorage and can only be reached by barge, plane. . . or dog.

Yes, they really do ride snowmobiles to get around.

And because there is so much snow that never melts, all of the houses are on stilts and everything is metal.

http://sherylsgreatadventureyear2.blogspot.com/2012/02/trip-to-bethel-alaska.html

Gasoline is over $7.00/gallon and a jar of peanut butter is over $12.00.

The water is tainted yellow, but apparently still safe to drink.

It costs $2,000 just to ship a car into Bethel so most people take cabs everywhere (has more cabs per capita then NYC).

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/19814043/ns/travel-destination_travel/t/its-easy-hail-cab-bethel-alaska/#.UUZ6HBxJMx

Reindeer was on the menu in every restaurant (all 4) we went to along with sushi, Mexican, Chinese, and hamburgers.

And when you look up Bethel this is pretty much the only news you can find. . .

Yup. Taco Bell.

And that's what I love about going to different places, you get to see how they deal with their environment. You get to experience a culture different from your own.

I don't know, I guess it just brings it all back into perspective for me what life is all about. That some of the things I think of as "standard living" really are luxuries, not commodities. And that you can find joy and savor the experience of having something as simple as a taco from taco bell.

And that IS the adventure.

Someday I will go to Alaska. Check.