Things I learned in Chevak

As you know, I spent the last few days in Chevak, Alaska. It is a decent size village in Western Alaska. This was my first excursion into bush Alaska so I thought I would change up my blogging style. I don't really want to write a detailed description of everything. Because I honestly don't remember each day well enough to do that. Sooo I will make a list!

Things I learned in Chevak:

Riding a snowmachine is a great way to cool off your coffee

Dumping antifreeze all over the Tundra should be avoided

Drillers are crazy. In a good way. In this case. But "their brains are weird"

Drillers will resent you a little for having a clean jacket... and will quickly remedy the situation by wiping their filthy hands all over it

...even though their own jacket is actually cleaner than yours

there is a huge difference between sandy silt and silty sand. The term "sand with silt" should not be used

If you manage to dump your coffee over three times and fall off the snow machine before 9 am, it will be a good day

the sun stays out until 11.

Working until 1:30 am is awesome

UFOs can be seen in Chevak (for serious)

finding Internet is a pain in the ass

...As is submitting a timesheet with no Internet access....

dirt in your eye hurts

do not ever eat silk worms. They smell like dirt and will probably make you vomit up the delicious dinner you just ate. it might be worth $100 though

20 degrees is not bad to work in. 20 degrees with constant 20+ mph winds sucks.

steel toed boots suck in the cold. No matter how insulated they may be.

Mittens are warm. Though the drillers will make fun of you for wearing them.

Snowmachines are extremely unreliable. Towing them is relatively easy though

a great way to warm up your hands is to stick them in a pot of boiling water.

Goggles are a life saver in the wind. Especially if you have contacts and your eyes bitch about being cold and outside all day. Like mine do.

It is not possible to go to the grochery store and spend less than $50.

sunrise and sunset over the tundra are beautiful.

Stomping on, and crunching ice is fun.


Ok, hopefully that gives you an idea of what my trip was like :) 

It was informative, pretty fun, and cold. Though it could have been a lot colder...

I might post a picture or two later... I don't have a lot. I did not bring a camera....