Home

Well we made it home.

Had a fun layover in Anchorage.

Walked in the door and immediately became very, very angry people.

Our realtor left some brochures re: our home on our counter so when people tour it they can get a reminder sheet.

The price on the bottom of the brochure is $15,000 less than what we discussed AND put in the contract. I phoned her and left a message.

She'll be fired tomorrow.

Done and Done

Well its a little after 7 pm and I'm just about to pack up my computer and head to the apartment to finish packing so that we can leave tomorrow morning.

"A little after 7! You must have had a busy work day today!"

Well, not really. It has been a rather slow week. I think people would rather see the new full-time, "permanent OD" than us so it hasn't been terribly busy.

"Well why are you still there after 7 then?"

Well I had to finish something that has been over 2 years in the making. As some of you may remember my solo paper is to be published in August. I have been worrying about when I would receive the proof of said paper. I didn't want it to come when we were in Romania as I wasn't sure if I would have the time and internet to go over the paper, check my citations, etc.

Luckily it came today!

Its a PDF of what the paper will look like in published form. Pretty cool looking. I had to read it a few times and make changes to my citations, a few oversights on my part, and a couple of missed letters/punctuation marks.

It took about 3 hours but I've submitted my changes (which they only gave me 48 hours to do!) and I'll just wait to hear back from them regarding said changes (no content changes as the content has already been peer reviewed. I just cleaned it up a little).

A couple of days ago I sent in my form ordering the minimum 100 copies of the paper. (It was either 0 or 100!) so I'll have a big stack of mail at home after Romania as well as, I'm sure, a letter to the editor or two to respond to.

So we're done and I'm done!

I'll update you via phone blogging during our long trip home!

It's been a slice.

Bye Nome.

Swell won't miss your cold.

But we will miss your people.

Last Weekend

Last weekend was, well, our last weekend.

In Nome.

It was actually quite a fun weekend. As many of you probably know it was solstice this past weekend - the longest day of the year. We missed a lot of the celebration regarding this momentous day because we're:
i) lazy and
b) uninformed.

We missed the Polar Bear swim. Run into the freezing cold water? Not for me. I don't even go in warm water. (Side note: some guy who took part in the swim stayed in the water quite a while (however long that is) and promptly had a "mild" heart attack the next day (?) Related? I can tell you I'm not going to put it to the test!)

We also missed the parade, the bank robbery (!? - It wasn't a real robbery), and the bonfire. We didn't miss the 21 plus hours of sunlight or the Folk fest though.

We spent about 5 hours on Saturday down at the Elementary school listening to some very talented people. For a small town a lot of the people here sure can sing/play music. In addition to the locals The Stairwell Sisters played a set. They were a lot of fun and very good.

We bought a couple of their CDs.

On the way back to the apartment we happened across the Subway (the only chain restaurant in town) and decided we might as well eat there at least once during our months in Nome. So we did.

Now the Subway also serves as the town movie theater. Zohan was to start right as we walked in so we bought a Sandwich and movie tickets. It actually was a nice theater. We are kicking ourselves for not doing it more often.

But we're lazy so we're not kicking ourselves too hard.

Zohan was funny.

Here are some pictures from our day. I'll note the time of the outdoor ones.

The Grande Finale of the Folk Fest (many of the musicians from throughout the day singing a "goodnight" song)


Swell on Front street at about 9:20 pm


Our long shadows at Midnight


The Midnight Sun

The Coming Days

Just a short update for those who are curious.

This is our last week of work in Nome*

*last week this time around. We may or may not return as locums in the future. Depending on needs and our availability.

We leave for Atlanta (via St. Louis via a Anchorage, where we have a 10 hour lay over) on Saturday morning.

On Wednesday afternoon of next week we leave Atlanta for Romania (via Amsterdam). A week after we arrive in Romania JDL and the Good One will join us. (Not very intelligent to spend their hard earned money on a "vacation" in Romania). We will spend two weeks with them in Romania and then travel together to Prague and Budapest (I think... I really have no idea. I'm just tagging along) for another two weeks.

Then its back to Atlanta for us.

Last Village Trip - Part 2

I guess I better start writing this before I forget everything. We were supposed to leave Unalkleet at about 3:00pm. We got back to the apartment, from exploring the area, at around 1:45 to get ready to go to the airport. The optician storms into the house and shouts that she had already brought the equipment to the airport and it was ready to go. Then she disappears. Worried that our flight had been changed to an earlier time we called a ride and were off to the airport lickety split only to find out that the flight was delayed and that we might not even make it on to the flight but most of our stuff would. We sat around the airport for a bit and then were told it would be quite a while and we could just call closer to that time. Our new boarding time was to be around 4:30 although the optician and some of the stuff was to leave at 3:30ish. You see, somehow Bering Air forgets how much stuff the eye care team travels with and forgets to account for it sometimes. Anyways, it was all very confusing and we actually ended up making the first flight, with half of our stuff on the first plane, the rest on the 2nd plane which left 10 minutes after the first. Here's me happy to get on the plane finally:



The area looks so different now that the snow is almost all gone:



Our next village was Shaktoolik, the hometown of our accompanying optician. We got there thinking we would have too many patients to see and not enough time to finish, but it ended up being quite easy to finish everyone that needed to be seen with lots of time to spare. The sign up list was only 27 people, although the health aides had phoned the eye clinic the week before in a panic thinking that there were too many people signed up. Shaktoolik has a population of about 224 people, but it is fancy enough to have 2 grocery stores. We were also promised a restaurant type place where you could hang out and play games and order pizza or hamburgers..more on that later.

After arriving we of course set up in the health clinic:



We had sleeping quarters in the same clinic:



Tight quarters, but we had a kitchen (the staff kitchen) to use complete with stove, and a TV/DVD player combo which we took full advantage of to watch Monks during our meals and free time.

Like I said, we kinda had lots of unexpected free time here.

I had time to read a magazine:



Time to socilize with the kids:





Time to go for a walk:



From one end of town:



To the other:



The coast was very pretty and had lots of drift wood:





We didn't bring as much food as we do on other trips and we were running low on Thursday. But, we were promised hamburgers!!! Which would be a treat after eating frozen entrees, canned soup, and way to many homemade snitel (schnitzel). We had saved just enough cash for this occasion and happily walked over to the Annex across the street. There were about 15 kids there playing games and having fun. On the menu were hamburgers and cheeseburgers among other things. We ordered 2 cheeseburgers and to my surprise they were frozen! She offered to "cook" them for us, but we said we can just take them to-go since we had a microwave at the clinic. Well, this was interesting....frozen cheeseburgers... Now all we need is some microwavable frozen French fries and we've got ourselves a microwavable meal that just can't be beat. Hopefully we'd be able to find some ketchup in the fridge. And lo and behold our cheeseburgers dreams came true:







It actually tasted pretty good, although the cheeseburgers were a little tricky to cook since they were completely frozen. Fries came out crispy too! It was actually one of the best meals we had on a village trip. Crazy as that sounds.

Well, our time here was coming to and end and we had to pack up and get ready to go to the airport.

We waited for our ride, and it was a bumpy ride on the back of a 4-wheeler (Sheepie and I both behind the driver) and our stuff getting lugged in the back. Really, it was the longest/worst/hurt-my-butt-s0-bad 7-8 minute ride of my life. Here's most of our stuff:



Us waiting at our "gate":





It's always a happy time to be leaving a village and to be heading back to our "home". Our plane is here!



We have made it a habit to go out to eat as soon as we get back from a village. It is so expensive to eat out here that we just do it on Sunday brunch and after village Friday dinners. We were pretty hungry, but our plane had different plans for us.

We boarded the plane and were told it was going to be a long ride: Shaktoolik to Koyuk to Elim to Golovin to White Mountain and finally back to Nome! We were to take the scenic route home. Although a little disappointed this would delay our dinner plans, this turned out to be an amazing flight on beautiful (almost 70 degrees!) sunny day. The pilot flew extra low so we could enjoy the scenery. Sheepie had to sit up with the pilot since our stuff took up so much room. It's amazing how diverse the scenery was. And we got to see trees! Boy, did I want to go hug a tree!

Me getting comfy for the long flight:



Lots of pretty scenery pictures:



























Finally back to Nome!!!!

Life After...

Swell is still working on her conclusion to our last village trip. She's training a contact lens new wearer right now so I have the computer. Why is she training said contact lens patient and not me? Because I refuse. It is not something I have the patience to do. If it were just me here in Nome there would be no new contact lens fits. But it isn't just me so there are new contact lens fits.

Following my last post an anonymous commenter (probably my Ma?) made a comment that actually encapsulates all of the struggles we're having right now. I thought that the comment bears a post of its own.

Life After Nome

Swell is really struggling with life right now because ever since she met me life has become Life After...

After we finish school and get married life will start.
After we find better jobs in the Portland/Vancouver area life will start.
After we move to Atlanta life will start.
After I finish school life will start.
After we come back from Palestine life will start.
After we find new jobs in Atlanta life will start.
After you can quit your terrible Eye Gallery job life will start.
After we get to Nome life will start.
After we finish in Nome life will start.

But here we are finishing up in Nome and we're stuck with a house that isn't going to sell in a city we're not terribly fond of. So when will our life start? And what is Life?

The comment: "Ethiopia? starving children? flies/bugs? no/low pay? boy I wish I could volunteer....NOT.
No planned visit from here - not even a stirring of desire - now, New Zealand - how's that going?"

Now I want the commenter to know that I'm not making fun of their comment at all. It really is appropriate to the discussions that Swell and I have been having of late.

Ethiopia? Why not for me. But why? for Swell. Can our Life be found in Ethiopia? Is there anything there to move us forward in Life?

This is where the definition of Life comes into question. Life by the definition that we're raised with in the west is to get an education, get married, get a good paying job, buy a house, have kids, buy a bigger house, raise said kids, put them through college so that they can get an education, get married, get a good paying job, buy a house....

Is that life? Is that a Christian life? What if in the midst of the above we throw in volunteer with charities, give of our time and money to the church and worthwhile causes? Does that make life Life?

Perhaps. And that is our struggle.

What is the meaning of our Life? What are we put here to accomplish.

Swell made the very teary and thought provoking comment a few weeks ago after she listened to me working in a village for 14 hours. "There has to be more to Life than 'which is better 1 or 2'". And there is. And there has to be.

But is that more for us to be found in Atlanta? In Seattle? In Edmonton? Or in Ethiopia/Tanzania/China/India/Insert developing country of your choice?

"Starving Children". For me, Yes! Starving Children. I want to be near my brothers and sisters who are dying by my greed. I don't want to go and hold them and preach "I've seen poverty!" in multi-million dollar churches or in the living rooms of my neighbours. I want to go and be poor. Not so that I am more righteous but so that I can get to the core of Life. So that I can experience Life more abundantly. But at the same time I don't want to be the stereotypical westerner who returns from a visit to a developing country claiming to have changed the world by building a house or digging a latrine. I want to return and say I did my best to leave lasting change. I educated. I was educated. I heard what the community needed and I helped them meet that need.

For Swell its more like starving children? what if I want children when does that life begin? But at the same time deep in her is the desire to meet needs. Her passion has been simmering for a long time and it han't been met in her optometric jobs. "There has to be more" has become her motto. "Does that more have to be somewhere else?" has become her question.

"Flies/bugs?" I agree with this one! I like living in Northern climates. Far fewer bugs. Swell likes bugs - especially giant flying cockroaches that join her in the shower. Just ask her.

"No/low pay?" Now this is the crux of our problems. I have student loans. Lots and lots of student loans. Those loans are the only reason I need money. As Swell so often says "I know you'd be happy living in a box under a bridge but not me!" I would be happy in a box under a bridge (but not in Nome. Too cold.) I'm happy in our condo too. Its a nice condo. Maybe I'm too happy in it. Thats the problem. What are we to do with our Life? Are we to live the western Life of work and spend? Is work and spend worse than work and save? What about work and give away? What is the correct combination of work, and spend, and save, and give away?

I have a sticker on my bus - oh, how I miss my bus - it is four simple words: Work. Buy. Consume. Die.

Is that Life?

Swell, probably like most women, needs a safety net. Her heart goes crazy when we're low on money (which hasn't happened much). Is that Life? As Christians should we worry about that? In our day to day life? What about as retirement approaches? Should we be storing our treasures?

Swell is very good about doing without. She had to for much of her younger days. Now as an adult with a job and an education is it fair to ask her to do without? Or is consumption part of Life ? How much consumption?

New Zealand? We haven't heard yet.

These are the questions that continue to swirl around us here in Nome. Questions that we don't have answers to. Questions that need answers.

Life?

Yes, please.

Dang

In the I wish department:

"Ethiopia is a country where optometry got started only two years back by a British Optometrist at the University of Gondar, College of Medicine & Health Sciences.Optometry is a section of the Department of Ophthalmology and Optometry has full support from Ophthalmology here. I am presntly working here as an assistant professor in optometry alongwith another South African Optometrist. We are in need of short term visiting fellows who would teach optometry here as well as do clinical supervision of the would be graduates. Short term may be from 2 weeks to 2 months. Orbis International actively supports this program in Ethiopia. Optometry books, charts and journals (both old/new) can be donated for the students. I am requesting the US optometric fraternity to extend their hands of cooperation for which this country will remain grateful."

So wish I do. Email sent.

Postpone life some more? Freaking why not!?

Swell? Not so happy. But I'm the man. I'm in charge. J/K

Village trip part I

Since Sheepie is telling Swell to write this post, it will no where close to being witty or funny or depressing as some of the others. This post will be about our last week away at villages. We’re thinking this is our last trip out of Nome until we come home, but you never know.

We were not looking forward to going again since it is actually pretty hard work and we were just tired. We’re tired of being away from what we knew as home and tired of working long hours when we are at the villages. But this trip turned out to be less tiring than we expected and was actually a nice week overall.

I’ll just be putting up lots of pictures of the time we spent away from actually doing eye exams. The first part of our week was spend in Unalkleet and it’s a pretty big village (pop 600+) and they have a very nice clinic, much nicer than any other village we’ve been to. So nice, we didn’t want to leave. It felt like we were in the USA when we went to the clinic. We did the exams in the physical therapy room. (They have PT here?!?) Sheepie in the great room:

Me in the side room:

We were given keys to an actual apartment! We didn’t have to sleep on the floor in the clinic this time! Yay! This was a very new place and much, much nicer than our place in Nome. Here’s what it looked like:

And a real bed:

Our optician set up in the Audiology room, with glasses in the hallway. Here's Matthew walking by the glasses.

They had a nice, perfectly well-kept kitchen where I can fix up my oh-so-yummy Tim Horton’s hot chocolates in the morning:

One morning they had a breakfast meeting and part of the buffet was this. Some people have ham and sausage, some have fish:

We walked around like we always do and here’s some of the interesting things we found. At least it was interesting for us.

As our Nubian guide from Egypt puts it: “Well guys, (long pause) this is…”

….a plane turned into a storage shed:

….a beach shack

….a very old church

….fishing boats. Everyone goes out fishing this time of year.

…a puppy

….the only stop sign there. It's seen better days...

…a skull?

That's all for now, next up is Shaktoolik with lots more pictures.