March 12th was the day we traveled to Kotzebue! We left the Anchorage house at 4:30 am and Cindy drove us to the Anchorage airport. We had to travel by plane to Kotzebue because there are not any roads going to that area of Alaska. Each of us had window seats, so we were able to see Kotzebue’s light from above. This also helped me understand how isolated the town is because there were no other lights that I could see on the landscape. Once we landed, we were told that we could have to wait at least an hour before we could get our luggage. The reason for this is because they are currently remodeling their airport, so there wasn’t enough room for us, the people waiting to fly out of Kotzebue, and our luggage. Once we got off the plane, I was surprised to see Paula talking with a man in the airport. When I got close to them, Paula introduced the man as Ernie, who is an old friend of hers. Earlier she explained to us that he is an important leader in the town and that he knows a lot of people. If I were a public health nurse coming into this community, he would be a key person to talk to about the community’s strengths and challenges. Originally, we were all planning to walk to the hotel from the airport, but Ernie offered to drive us to the hotel instead. We gladly accepted his offer! Although it was still very dark, Ernie pointed out a few important buildings in the town such as the church, the bed and breakfast (where Paula would be staying) and the grocery store.
After only a minute or two of driving, we arrived at the Nullagvik Hotel, My first impression of the hotel was that it was very nice and a lot larger than I expected. I did not expect that a town this size would need such as large hotel. However, after doing more thinking on the subject, I realized that many people traveling to the town from the surrounding villages would likely use the hotel.
Once we were dropped off our luggage in the hotel room, we walked over to the hospital to begin our first day. We completed some HR paperwork, complete a N95 mask fit test, get our name tags, and tour the Maniilaq hospital. Later that day, we came back to the hospital to meet some of the staff at a potluck. The food was amazing! They had moose chili, salmon berries, blueberries, homemade rolls, salad, pickles, oranges, cookies, and a cake. In addition, we all tried muktuk, which is basically whale skin and fat chopped up into little strips and covered in seal oil. It wasn’t something that I would choose to eat, but it was an interesting thing to try because it is such a common dish for the Alaskan Natives in the area. Here is a picture of the muktuk:
After only a minute or two of driving, we arrived at the Nullagvik Hotel, My first impression of the hotel was that it was very nice and a lot larger than I expected. I did not expect that a town this size would need such as large hotel. However, after doing more thinking on the subject, I realized that many people traveling to the town from the surrounding villages would likely use the hotel.
Once we were dropped off our luggage in the hotel room, we walked over to the hospital to begin our first day. We completed some HR paperwork, complete a N95 mask fit test, get our name tags, and tour the Maniilaq hospital. Later that day, we came back to the hospital to meet some of the staff at a potluck. The food was amazing! They had moose chili, salmon berries, blueberries, homemade rolls, salad, pickles, oranges, cookies, and a cake. In addition, we all tried muktuk, which is basically whale skin and fat chopped up into little strips and covered in seal oil. It wasn’t something that I would choose to eat, but it was an interesting thing to try because it is such a common dish for the Alaskan Natives in the area. Here is a picture of the muktuk:
The potluck was a great opportunity to meet some of the nurses and other staff that we would be working with later in the week. After the potluck, we still had a lot of daylight left so we decided to walk around town to get a better sense of the area. While walking on Front Street (pictured below) we met a man named Martin. He was very open and asked us all if we were from out of town. He told us stories about his travels as a Native Alaskan dancer and he also gave us information about Kotzebue. By the time we got back to our hotel room, we were all exhausted and ready for bed! Since we finally had a moment to think, we all attempted to use our phones to text our families, but four out of five of us did not have any cell service (Verizon). Therefore, all we could do was use the wifi at the hotel for communicating with our loved ones. Finally, we ended out first day in Kotzebue with a clinical conference with the group in Anchorage.