I decided to leave Wales on Friday evening, instead of Saturday morning, because the weather was finally breaking towards the end of the week. It's been snowing and blowing all week, leaving snow drifts along the houses in the village that reached to the roof and were nearly as large as the house itself. On Thursday evening, I had taken a walk along the beachfront, wearing all of my cold weather gear in order to stay warm enough to battle the wind chill. The walk in the wind was worth it, because I saw a cross-fox run across the ice towards the village, only to be thwarted by a miniature yippy dog. I left Wales on the 6pm flight back to Nome, along with the visiting artist, who was heading back to Anchorage. She told me that she was heading out to Kobuk the following week to complete another mural for their school. The eye doctor and her apprentice were hoping to return to Anchorage today, but were sent to Diomede Island instead, without any prior notice. There was also a principal and his wife from Diomede trying to get into Fairbanks with a group of students on a field trip, but they were probably going to be laid over until Sunday.
The school itself served as a place to gather, to sleep in (for out of towners), for medical and dental visitors to hold office, and as a school. The building was one of two in the village that had running water. The teacher housing was the only other building that had running water. I discovered a Washateria on the other side of the village, where the residents washed their laundry and took showers. I think it would be difficult to adjust to the lack of running water, if I couldn't stay in the teacher housing. The only drawback of the teacher housing was that ALL of the teachers and the principal live in the same building and worked together all day in the school. It would be hard to have any privacy. I enjoyed being in the village, a small, rural place, where it would be easy to get to know almost everyone. I like the idea of living in a close-knit community, but I would also crave a bit more privacy in the long run.
This is a video of the sunset looking west, towards Russia. I love this image because it shows how beautiful the arctic is, stark, but very alive!
I arrived in Nome on Friday night and tried to go standby on the flight to Anchorage, but it was full, so I spent the night at the Golden Nugget Hotel and ate an excellent pizza from Milano's restaurant. I'm glad I went to Wales and I would go back. I enjoyed the students and the village, but I can see why it's difficult for teachers to spend many years in the same village.
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