Rural Practicum in Wales, Alaska - April 13-19, 2014
By Diane Hunt

April 13, 2014 - Going to Wales
I left Fairbanks, Alaska at 6am on Sunday morning, April 13th and flew to Anchorage and then to Nome by 11am. I was very tired by the time I arrived in Nome, because I had not slept much the night before. I had packed and repacked my bags at least four times, because I just didn't know what to take or what to expect in the village of Wales. I wanted to make sure that I had enough food, winter gear, and files of homework loaded into my iPad in order to do homework during the week. I waited in Nome for about 6 hours for the plane to arrive. I had flown from Fairbanks to Nome via jet, but the flight to Wales from Nome would be on a Piper, which seats about 12 passengers and/or cargo and mail for the village.

While I was waiting in the Era/Ravn Airport terminal, it was invaded by a very large group of high school students from Dillingham and Bethel who had been in Nome for the past week for a music event, in which they all played together with a guest conductor/director and competed for the state solo contest. They he chartered a plane form Dillingham for 15,000, yes, dollars! I talked with the Dillingham music teacher for quite a while about chaperoning, traveling, raising money for travel, teaching in the village and his education background. He told me that he had a friend, who had a friend,  who worked at the Diomede Island school, who was stranded in Wales for the past two weeks, because the helicopter company that had a contract to ferry to Diomede Island had bailed out for the month, so no one was going to or coming from Diomede Island.

The plane finally arrived into Nome, but the flight to Wales was canceled due to the weather. Wales was surrounded by clouds and the plane couldn't fly in today. So, I booked a room at the Golden Nugget Hotel, which is just down the block from the business that Wyatt Earp once owned on Front Street in Nome. I walked to the Polar Cub Cafe and had a grilled cheese and ham and fries and then considered my options. I immediately decided to go to sleep in the nice fluffy bed at the hotel, since I would likely be sleeping on the gym floor in Wales. I was scheduled to go out on the morning flight tomorrow. So, day one of the great Journey ends.

The best thing I saw today was the Episode I Star Wars soda machine in the airport terminal, which made me feel right at home!