FAQs

Frequently, I get asked similar questions about living here, and the conversation generally has the same elements. So, I thought I'd make a FAQ page or post. Clever, eh? If you have any other questions, please let me know in the comments or by emailing me at sestotz@gmail.com.

What does [insert name of food item] cost?
This is a fun one. There is a co-op here as well as a gas station. Goods and prices are similar at the two places; generally speaking, the co-op has a better selection for food while the gas station has more supply-type things, such as toys, Carhartt clothing, muck boots, etc.

Here are a few examples to give you an idea:
1 gallon ice cream - $18.00-20.00
1 green or red pepper - $4.00
Red Delicious apples - $2.29 per pound
Oranges - $2.50 per pound (at least, maybe more)
Green Grapes - $5.59 per pound
Small salsa - $5.00 - 7.00
1 box (6) Nature Valley Granola bars - $6.00
1 doz. eggs - $3.50 (Availability can be very rare.)
1 12-pack pop - $10.00-12.00, depending on the time of year.
1 bag chips - $8.00
18 oz peanut butter - $6.20
1 quart milk - $6.00 (Good thing I don't drink the stuff!)
1 gallon gas - $6.00-7.00 a gallon

Things that are so rare that we have our mentor teacher bring them in on her monthly visit to the village: cream, cheese, cream cheese, and spinach.


Oh my GOSH! That's so expensive!!
Yes, it is. It has to be a really rough day for me to fork over $8 for a bag of chips. But those days do happen now and then. Sometimes I just want the experience of handing over cash so I'll go buy a can of pop, a pepper, and a $1.50 candy bar.

What about soap and stuff?
For toiletry-type things, I usually order bulk off of Amazon or pick things up during a visit to Anchorage.

Oh, my! I couldn't live without [insert a food here - pop, cheese, milk, etc...].
Really, you could. You just have to get creative. The truth is, when you have fresh game and are fully aware that there is no place to eat but Casa de Susana, you just deal. I am not ashamed to admit that when I am whipping together a soup or a stir-fry with a hodge-podge of ingredients, I grab random spices and start yelling, "BAM!" like Emeril when I'm really hoping that it will turn out well. (Or I call Mom/Dad/Grandma.) I've only had to choke down a couple meals that tanked in terms of texture or taste, so I think I have inherited my family's ability to improvise meals on the fly.

We do get together for some teacher dinners where everyone brings a dish. I recently attended a birthday dinner for a village friend's daughter, which was neat. She made a huge feast and a priest blessed the meal before we ate. We had moose soup, rice, spaghetti, chicken wings, three kinds of jello, and cupcakes.

How do you afford to eat, then? What do you eat?
I generally order bulk quantities of certain things off of Amazon or through the grocery stores in Anchorage. We teachers just did a huge food order with meat and frozen produce that will last us the year. My roommate and I are splitting the cost, so we will each pay about $350 for chicken, ground beef, frozen vegetables and fruits, and some random cuts of pork. Not too bad really, and we don't need to focus on these other meats with so much moose, fish, and birds to be had.

I also receive plentiful care packages from friends and family that are filled with my precious dark chocolate, gum, and various other goodies, so I'm not deprived at all. I do miss the fresh produce. We can go weeks without seeing lettuce, broccoli, or apples, and when those do arrive they are often browning already. I practically squeal if there is an avocado to be had for $4.50. When I get to Anchorage, I salivate at the thought of being able to order a salad that isn't made of iceberg lettuce.

We still have fish from last year and will get more in the coming months; another teacher just got his first moose, so we recently spent an afternoon cutting and packaging moose meat for the freezer. A week later, a student of mine got his first moose and showed up at my door holding 3 steaks' worth of fresh meat in his bare hand. We will be berry-picking as well and freezing those for the winter. Really, I get away with eating quite cheaply, supplementing with bulk dry goods like rice, beans, and oatmeal.

Hmm, moose meat. What's that like?
Moose is one of my favorite meals. It tastes just like beef but is much leaner - not gamey at all, very chewy. The crockpot and I are becoming good friends because it's one of the only ways I've been able to make it tender. Potatoes are plentiful, so moose roast or stew is a common dish.

It's fly-in, fly-out, huh? What about if you get really sick or need emergency care?
Well, luckily I haven't had to deal with this problem yet, but there is a clinic here with two health aides who can usually identify the problem and provide painkillers or cough medicine. If greater attention is needed, you can get on the morning or afternoon flights to Bethel, where there is a hospital. In the worst case scenario, we have medevac insurance that can get us to Anchorage.

Really, this means that we have to be extra careful to take care of ourselves. I try to get enough sleep, drink water, take my vitamins, wear my snow cleats, and take my time in doing things so I don't inadvertently break an ankle. (But then I do stupid things like play full court basketball after a 7-year absence. I don't recommend it because last January I almost fell down my stairs the next morning. Woops.) I've said before on here that the townspeople absolutely do not mess around with survival or safety. However, accidents and illness do happen of course.

What size planes land there? How big is the airport?
We generally have either a Cessna 6-seater or a caravan, which seats 9 or so. The airport basically amounts to a gravel clearing; while there is a big red shed there for tools and for what I assume would be a hangar only in case of a breakdown or emergency, I have never seen the inside of it. When we leave or return, a school vehicle is always used so we can wait in warmth or hop right in when the plane lands. "Security" consists of telling them your name and possibly your weight. It's really nice to just hop in and avoid that whole fiasco.

How cold does it get? How much snow falls?
The coldest I recall experiencing in my village was about -52 degrees F. If that happens on a weekend, I don't even leave the apartment. Some of the elders said that -52 is a normal low temperature, but that this last winter was the longest period of time that they've ever experienced at such a low temp - about 3-4 weeks. Usually it gets there for about a week (two maximum) and comes back up to -30, or so they say.

While traveling for Academic Decathlon in February, I did experience -62 degrees while being routed through another village, which is significant because planes do not fly at -70 degrees. That story can be found here. Long story short, I thought my nose fell off after being outside for about 20 seconds at that temperature.

As for snow, I'm not sure. I could google it, but it's sort of trivial because the roads aren't cleared. The lighter stuff blows away and then snow machines pack down the rest, so it never really feels like I have to wade through too much. Only once did we have whiteout conditions. The kids love it.

How do you deal with the cold? Are you just chilled all the time?
No, not really because, hey, I'm from the midwest and went to school in Minnesota. However, the kids generally want it much cooler in my room than I do, so from October to March last year, I wore long johns every day. The cold really isn't so bad as long as you're dressed for it. Up here, fashion is purely function, so my typical gear for a school day is long underwear, tall thermal socks, and a long-sleeved shirt topped off with a fleece or a sweatshirt. You have no idea the freedom the month of April brought with it, when I could go without layers! As a rule, I drink a lot of tea to avoid being chilled. Thanks to Stacie at Halo Soap for keeping me stocked with that!

So, if fashion is function, do you even wear makeup or jewelry?
Yes, every day I do. For one, fun earrings or necklaces or bracelets are my one way to feel jazzed up about my appearance some days. One needs a bit of frivolity daily, and this is mine. I wear minimal makeup, sometimes just to say that I at least made an attempt to put on my face for the day, but I don't know that it does any good. Students often tell me that they can see the "bloodveins" around my eyes and ask one of two questions:

"Who wrote on you?" or "Why so tired/stressed?" Yes, they often leave out the verb and subject of "are you."

I usually answer that I'm just pale and that's how I am. During a school trip, a girl saw my little makeup bag and asked whose it was. Another girl answered that it was mine. The first girl responded, "I didn't even know she WORE makeup!"

OK, Laura and Kat, I finally get the message. I could stand to wear a bit more makeup, and for heaven's sake, I don't want to scare the children. You've been telling me this for years and now my students have confirmed it. I will take this into consideration when I am outside the village. However, I make no promises.

How long do you go without light? How do you deal with that?
I vividly remember a friend calling me at 11:00 am one December Saturday and the sun was just rising. By 4:00, it's dark again. During this period, it doesn't really get that sunny but resembles dusk more closely during "daytime." I believe we lose about 6 minutes per day.

This light loss mostly affected me in two ways last year: I fatigued fairly easily and my attitude absolutely tanked. The name of the game was "make it to 3:30." To deal with that, taking Vitamin D is crucial as well as scheduling time to work out and hang out with friends. Just trying to live by the clock helped too. It's hard to not want to go to bed by 7:00 pm because at that point, it's been dark for 3 hours already. The absolute hardest part is getting up when it is pitch black, getting ready while it's pitch black, and walking to work while the beautiful stars are out. Walking home in the same darkness, it can almost feel like I'm on different planet.

And therein lies the only noticeable bonus to the lack of light - I never knew how many stars could be seen. In such a rural place, the lack of city lights (light pollution) makes the night sky appear almost speckled, as though you could not even measure a distance between two stars in some spots.

Wow. What are the northern lights like?
Unfortunately, I've seen them faintly only once. It was a very faint grayish blue haze. This year they were a bright green one night but I missed them. Hopefully I'll catch them at a later date.

What do people do for industry?
Many work at the school or for the city, do commercial fishing, or firefight in the summers, but it's mainly a subsistence community, meaning that people fish, hunt, and berry-pick to prepare for the winters. There are a few jobs at the Tribal Council, clinic, post office, and gas station as well. Some of the ladies make beautiful beaded jewelry to sell.

So, that's it for now. I hope I've given you a slightly better picture of living off the grid. Let me know if I can clarify anything or if this brings something else to mind. This was a fun one to write!

Quyana [goy-ah-nuh] (thank you) for reading!