Bethel Lesson 3: How to Catch a Salmon

A few weeks ago my housemate Nora’s coworker offered to take any of the JV’s interested out fishing for silver salmon. Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity. It had been years since I last went fishing with my dad and I remembered enjoying it back in the day. Plus, I knew how much John Scarano raved about fishing in Alaska so I figured it was something to experience. Why not, right? Because of the size of the boat, we had to break the adventure into two days. Kit, Christina, and Nora went the first day and caught about 10 fish and a few days after Nora, Whitney and I caught around 18 more. It would seem we are quite the little fisher-women.

Boating down the Kuskokwim

pulling in the net and hoping there are a decent number of salmon caught...

Maybe it's just me, but I was not aware of just how slimy fish were. I suppose it makes sense when you stop to think about it: fish are in the water - water is slippery – ergo, the fish may to be slippery. This clearly did not comprehend in my mind (shocking) because when I went to get the first fish from the net, it may or may not have slipped from my hands to the floor of the boat... Also, I think Rainbow Fish was a lot more selfish than the book let on. Scales come off of fish rather easily and there are tons to go around. They are also quite difficult to remove from your hands.

pre-dropping the salmon...

mostly silvers with one or two chum

Along with catching the salmon, we also got to learn how to cut and fillet them. After a few moments of being grossed out by the process, I found it was relatively easy and I was actually decent at it. (I know, Sarah with a knife. Scary stuff.) I’m proud to say we successfully gutted our catch with all of our fingers left and only a few minor cuts (Whitney got a little over-zealous with a few fish). 

my first fish had a bit of rigamortis...

Here I go...

Even Lou, our vegetarian housemate, gave it a try!

Whitney and Nora racing to see who could fillet the fastest.

The final and probably most boring step was wrapping the salmon in freezer paper, but it had to be done and we now have 27 salmon waiting to be eaten by the JVs this year. 27, not 28 because we cooked one for dinner when we were done storing the rest. Now that’s fresh salmon! And as cheesy as this is going to sound, it felt pretty neat to catch something and eat it all in one day. Talk about living off the land, eh?

apparently grabbing the fish by the gills keeps it from slipping away as easily.
A tip I found out on our last couple of fish...

Bethel Lesson 2: Tang is a food group.

Yes, you read correctly. That violently orange drink mix made famous by the monkey commercials is quite the commodity here in Bethel. According to the container, it provides 100% of the recommended daily intake of Vitamin C and is also “a good source of Calcium”. And with the absolutely ridiculous prices of food here, we’ll pretty much take our vitamins any way we can get them.

Scurvy is a genuine fear here ladies and gents, and we volunteers take the threat seriously. Thus, we’re beginning to think of ways we can mix the Tang-powder into our every day cooking. Ideas so far include “Tang-seasoned salmon”, “Tang-flavored cookies” and “Chicken a la Tang”- if we ever get our hands on some chicken. Actually, the majority of our creative genius requires ingredients well out of the price range, so for now it’ll be rice, beans and some Tang. It’s a kick in a glass.

$68.15 for a turkey...

Looks like Bethel will be the place for me to kick that diet coke addiction...

To be fair, we do eat more than just rice and beans. My housemate Lou has recently made a delicious lentil soup with some of the veggies her parents sent the house and my other housemate Nora is a wiz at baking bread (we’ve found it’s way more cost effective to make our own). The Bethel Community Center participates in a program called “Full-Circle” that brings in produce from Washington to families who pay for a weekly box. The boxes are way to pricey for us to purchase our own, but if someone doesn’t pick theirs up by the weekend, the JVs are lucky enough to have it passed along to our house. Each box is a little different so it’s like Christmas each time we get a new one! The house has also caught and filleted 28 salmon that we’ve frozen for the winter. That adventure will be another Bethel Lesson at some point.

So in conclusion, do not fret about us starving dear friends and family.

…But if you ever feel inclined to send care packages or just a good-old-fashioned letter, my mailing address here is:

P.O. Box 1765
Bethel, AK 99559

So that the post has more than just food pictures, here is a photo I took on the walk home from mass Saturday. Bethel really is beautiful

Bethel Lesson 1: "There are no mountains. There are no trees. It's like being in a third world country in the U.S."

These encouraging words of wisdom were shared to my housemates and me as we waited for our flight from Portland to Seattle to leave the runway. Because of too much luggage, the plane was delayed giving us just enough time to learn that the young woman sitting by us was a nurse in Bethel. Judging by her tone and attitude, I have slight feeling that she was not granted her first choice of placements to work in Alaska.

Welcome to Bethel: Population 6080.

She wasn’t completely wrong, but to be fair there are parts of the town where you can see mountains in the distance (if it’s a clear day). There are also a few trees here and there - not many, but certainly more than needed to make the claim that there are none. And sure, our house sways in the heavy Bethel wind because it’s built on stilts for the snow and mud, there are only about 16 miles of road (one of which is paved), and on dry days there is dust and dirt everywhere, but it’s all part of what makes Bethel Bethel. It’s not your typical beauty, no, but in it’s own way, the flat tundra with the wild grass, berries and flowers holds an incredible wonder that I am certain is filled with adventures just waiting to be had.That or mud and mosquitoes... 

Chief Eddie Hoffman: the main road in town

The Bethel JV House

View of the back yard filled with tundra. 

Either way, it's certainly going to be an interesting year.

 

Stick to the Code

I’ve attempted this whole “blogging” bit a few times before, once in middle school with “xanga”, essentially a public tool to display teenage angst, and then again with “tumblr” when I studied abroad in London, which has ended up serving more as a way for me to store pictures and quotes that I feel some connection to than being what I would consider a “legitimate blog”.

Failed attempts aside, this time I hope to produce a more substantial compilation of my adventures during my year of service with JVC Northwest in Bethel - a sort of montage to my Alaskan experience, if you will.

And to give my readers an idea of what’s in store, even if they are only my mother and maybe Mosby, who I know will examine each entry with a critical eye, sizing up my writing skills (or lack there of), I’ve come up with a list of expectations you can have of this blog which will a) supply myself with a set of rules I’ve put in place and perhaps hold me accountable to do so and b) provide proof in writing that I in no way expect this blog to be particularly entertaining or well-written and you are reading by choices made of your own free will and thus I am in no way responsible for any emotion that ensues. 

And so, without further ado:

Sarah’s “Pirate-Code” for her Bethel-Blog:

     1) This will not be a step-by-step analysis of my daily routines.

Frankly, there are too many boring, pointless things that happen throughout my day and I don’t really care to re-live them myself much less bore you with what I ate for dinner - unless that dinner happens to be something completely random that I’ve never experienced and think could be used as a “fun-fact” in one of those annoying getting-to-know-you-icebreakers I’m sure I’ll be frustrating my teens with. Like moose. Yes, they eat moose in Alaska and no, I have not tried it yet, but I will probably post about it once I do. Be prepared.

     2) This will not turn into an online diary.

There won’t be any posts about house drama, who’s fighting with who, or detailed analyses of all the men in Bethel just itching to get with the single ladies of the Bethel house (which we have lovingly nicknamed “The Bethel Brothel”). To those of you truly disappointed with this part of the code, I recommend reading a book. It’s probably filled with much more interesting stories then I’ll have to share and it’s probably written with better grammar, spelling and general style. If you’re still intrigued to hear the super-secret-shenanigans of the daily life of this Bethel volunteer, phone me. If you’re someone I’d share such stories with you already have my landline, but chances are if it’s a story worth sharing I’ll already have contacted you about it.

    3) Though I will try to post weekly, this cannot be guaranteed...

I do not have the time, energy or creativity to sit down in front of a screen and write a thoughtful description of my goings-on in Bethel on a regular basis. I also do not have the attention span to just think and write for long periods of time. In fact, I have a tendency to go to the computer with a very optimistic attitude, thinking “yes, I’ll write a bit today”, open the laptop and decide I have no interest in it at all. (For those of you who’ve witnessed my study habits, you probably have a decent idea of what I’m talking about.) Therefore, while I intend to write a post about once a week, I make no guarantees that this will happen. Plus, I already explained that I refuse to write elaborate accounts of my daily schedule in Bethel, and as hopping and rambunctious as the town is, I don’t foresee experiencing noteworthy occurrences all too often.  I know you’re all heart broken about this.

   4) I make no promises to stick to this “code” I have set up.

“The code is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules.” (Perhaps the title of my list makes a bit more sense now, eh?)

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Edit: I wrote this about a week ago but didn't want to post it until I had a blurb about life in Bethel. Just goes to show how this whole "keeping-a-blog" thing will work for me... 

Oh, and I have tried moose. And caribou. Just FYI :)