Ever Been Weathered In?

Being grounded in a community because of weather is pretty common in Alaska. In Diomede, it's a foregone conclusion. Not a big deal, except when I checked into my flight, the Bering Air Agent kindly informed me that I was probably taking the last plane of the year.

Diomede (a small island in the Bering Sea) is the farthest west point in the US (Russia's Big Diomede is 2 miles away). Since the village is built on the side of a mountain, access to the community is limited to helicopter and boat; however, some genius got the great idea that when the sea ice freezes, a runway could be built. Thus, Diomede has a runway for half the year.

So, the Bering Air Agent did not freak me out with her news...well, not until I heard the helicopter has been broken since January...

Anyway, if I was more adventures and less scared of polar bears (two have been sighted since I have been here), I would walk over and touch Big Diomede. Until then, I am happy to spend my time designing a desktop background for my sister, catching up on my sleep and hanging out with the wicked sweet locals.

Chomping At The Bit

I am in love with the immediate gratification of high-speed internet and email.

Yesterday, I received an email from the Peace Corps indicated a change in my application status. Of course, I immediately logged in to my online Toolkit and reviewed the status of my application. I was elated to find out that I have been dentally cleared and there are no dental holds on my account.

Thanks Roni & Dr. Stang for helping with my dental paperwork!

Savin' the Planet

To protect my new camera, I recently order a Mountainsmith Cyber II Recycled Camera Case from Moose Jaw [dot] com. It's made from recycled PET, feels really durable, is water resistant and weights next to nothing. I think it's pretty radtacular. It might be a little small, but so is my new camera. My only problem now is what to do with all the extra cords?