I arrived in Kobu a little after 5 pm on Wednesday August 3rd. I was greeted by one of my fellow teachers and a whole bunch of students. It was pretty nice. I had flown from Anchorage to Kotzebue and then from Kotzebue to Kobuk on a small bush plane. The plane had 10 seats for passengers so it was a lot bigger than I thought it might have been and it was what they call the milk run, which means that it stopped in Amber, then Shungnak and finally in Kobuk. While most people would consider this an inconvenience, since I had never been out here before, I really enjoyed it because I was able to see the villages briefly as we passed through.
So to pick back up on the story of my arrival... I was met at the airport by one of my co-workers and a bunch of students. They had brought a 4 wheeler with a cart behind it and the students happily carried my luggage for me. My co-worker drove me to my house (which was actually less than 100 yards away). When we got there she told me that they had had a problem. Namely, they didn't have the keys. So what I found was that they still couldn't get in. Another co-worker had drilled out the deadbolt lock and while we were standing there one of the men from the village picked the other lock with a credit card. The inside door wasn't locked and they did find a key that would open the door lock there (but not the deadbolt) so for right now that is the only door I'm locking. Unfortunately, today I accidently locked myself out and so one of my neighbors called the man who had picked the lock the first time and he picked it for me again today. Hopefully, we'll get some keys from Kotzebue (from the district office) soon.
After I was let into my apartment my co-workers, the kids and I then went and got all my boxes and tubs from the school. I was pleased to see that everything I had shipped from Anchorage two weeks earlier had arrived as had everything I had ordered on Amazon. Unfortunately, there are still a few key things I am missing because my parents shipped them from North Carolina only a week or so ago. Additionally, I still have tub and a suitcase I left in Kotzebue plus the six boxes I shipped from Anchorage only this past Tuesday. We'll see when those arrive. Luckily, I have a pretty good supply of stuff and can borrow the few things that I need or can live without them.
I'm told it is usually pretty nice around here, but it has been raining since I got here. Today is the first day there has been any sun (and it was raining this morning) so I haven't really taken any pictures around the village. Below are some pictures I took though on the flight in.
Kotzebue from the plane.
I know it looks like snow, but this isn't. These are sand dunes. In between Kotzebue and Kobuk is a desert. It just seems like it pops out of no-where!
The welcome sign at the airstrip.
The map feature on my phone. The blue arrow shows you where I am. The star is Anchorage.
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