Our Journey

I started this blog in 2008 to keep family and friends updated about our adventures when my husband, and I moved from Ketchikan, Alaska to Gambell, Alaska- a small Siberian Yupik village of 720 residents. He took his first teaching job there, and to say it was an experience of a life time would be an understatement. It was a surreal place where you could literally see Russia from the beach on a clear crisp day. We learned about traditional Yupik ways of living while trying food and getting to know the language and people. Even though we were there only a year, Gambell and it's people will always have a special place in our hearts.

Here is a little bit about Gambell to give you an idea of where we were:

Gambell is located on St. Lawerence Island in the Bering Sea 200 miles south of Nome and 36 miles from the Chikchi Peninsula in Russia! The total village of Gambell is aprox. 30 sq. miles. None residents of Gambell had strict guidelines and could not go past the 1 mile radius mark. We had to buy special permits as the land was owned by the Yupik corporation. The first language is Yupik, and English is spoken mostly in the schools. We have had the experience of witnessing the most beautiful ivory (walrus) carvings, and purchasing some of the most incredible pieces of artwork including dolls, masks, and ivory figurines.

If you would like to see some of our Gambell pictures click here

In 2009 we moved to yet another small Inupiaq village called White Mountain, Alaska. White Mountain is called Nachirvik which means "mountain look-up point" and is part of the Fish River tribe. This is the only villiage in the Norton Sound that is not on the coast. This was a camp for the Inupiaq Eskimos and is full of bountiful resources of salmon, berries, and medicinal plants.

We have been here 3 years and it is our second home. We have grown to love the community, school and the people of White Mountain. We have had so many first experiences, moose-hunting, camping on the tundra, and cross country skiing, seeing our first grizzly bear, and porcupine. We are experiencing our greatest adventure of all : raising a child in rural Alaska.

If you would like to see our pictures of White Mountain, click here!




**UPDATE**

It has been exactly two years since I have last updated this blog (August 25, 2012 was my last post after our second child was born).  As of right now, we are back home! We have finally settled down and made the house we built in 2007 our home in Southeast Alaska!