Nope, it's not an expression, it's where I spent this last week. They are both communities in the coastal western area of Alaska.
Eek is a small fishing community by the Kuskokwim River consisting of about 300 people. Fun Fact Time! Eek is one of my favorite village names, it's right up there with Chicken, Alaska. They are both just so.....odd. So here's the real fact (well not sure if it's an actual fact, but I was told this by someone from another village a few years ago), apparently EEK was the airport code for a longer native name that they used for the village, and the pilots couldn't pronounce it so instead they would just call it by the airport code, which was EEK. It just stuck and eventually, came to be officially known as Eek.
Bethel is more of a hub community, with a population of about 7,000, Bethel has some of the big city luxuries that most villages don't have. For example: restaurants, hotels, multiple schools, museums, multiple grocery stores, 50 cabs for the 15 miles of road, etc. you know the essentials. Alaska Airlines even sends a jet up daily. Bethel is the most un-village village that I have been to. Although, Bethel was more luxurious I thoroughly enjoyed them both.
I was there with two other volunteers from Washington providing a free tax assistance service to the residents. Below are some pictures from our adventure. Some highlights Eek and it's no running water, -10 but feels like -30 temps, PIZZA, and we were also joined by another team who got weathered in Bethel, so our team of 3 doubled to 6! PIOHA!
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| Life for a week |
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| Flying |
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| Rivers |
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| Exiting |
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| Carpooling |
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| 2/3 of the team |
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| Christina from Team Napakiak-Napaskiak-Oscarville |
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| A little Yupik boy and his new puppy |
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| So small!!! |
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| The Washington people getting ready to brave the below zero temps |
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| Layover entertainment |
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| Yute |
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| Day 1....and we're off! |
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| Mannie and Michael in flight |
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| Elisa flying |
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| Elisa @ work |
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| Elisa and Michael preparing in Eek |
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| Moose Rib Soup! MMMmmm |
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| Hello floor! |
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| Coastal Villages Region Fund Building |
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| A family invited us over for Deer Soup and Ucala (aka dried fish)!! |
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| No running water.....Plan B |
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| Goodbye Eek, Bethel awaits us! |
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| That's me! |
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| We got this! |
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| Eek airstrip |
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| Elisa and I would like to say "Camai from Bethel!" |
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| PIZZA! |
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| The man that greets you at the door to the Bethel School |
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| One of my favorite things, school drawings and art |
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| CAKE! |
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| Can anyone guess which one is me? :) |
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Bethel Teams!
Michael, Ellen, Mannie, Elisa, Luke and Danielle |
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| Luke from Montana wanted his picture taken next to the Moose Soup sign.....ok |
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| Danielle bought some native crafts: grass baskets and dancing fans |
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| Good morning Bethel |
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| The Bethel Senior Center |
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| Making it work |
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| Group Photo |
