Finally in Barrow!

We're finally here in Barrow! This is so surreal! Maybe more so because we got on and off the plane via manual stairway, like in the movies. It was pretty awesome. I love getting on and off a plane that way. Anyways, when we arrived in the tiny Alaskan airport, the Presbyterian pastor was waiting for us. We collected our bags from the one baggage carousel and then got in the car. He took us to his house where we unloaded luggage and met his wife, who works at the women's shelter. We spoke with her a little bit about their move to Barrow about a year ago; and what her experiences here have been so far. We drove to the ocean and took pictures at the "top of the world" famous entrance to the Arctic coast. We went out to lunch at one of the five restaurants in Barrow, called Brower's. Restaurants here do not undergo inspection so we were told to be very cautious when eating out. My pancakes and hashbrowns, however, were very good. After we ate lunch we took a driving tour, which allowed us time to conduct our windshield survey of the resources available in Barrow. We saw the library and cultural center, the expensive grocery store called AC (Alaska Commercial), the neighborhoods, the whaling boats, Ilisagvik College, the elementary and high schools, and out to the cemeteries and the satellite field out on the tundra. Barrow is very interesting. We've learned, as previously suspected, that some of the most disconcerting issues in the town deal with domestic abuse (or abuse of any kind), alcohol/drug use, and type 2 diabetes and obesity. Driving through the town was amazing. I've never experienced this way of life and I'm sure it will take some time to adjust to the differences. It's good to know we'll be here for a month, which will give us time to acclimate to the culture. Initially I had a sad feeling about Barrow. Poverty and the lack of availability to resources is astounding. There is no acute care. There are no clinics. The hospital doesn't do surgery because that requires anesthesia. For nearly everything, including severe domestic abuse consults, people are flown to Anchorage or Fairbanks. In town here there is a dental clinic and a wellness clinic. A can of soda costs $1 as compared to the exorbitant prices of anything else. Babies are given soda in their bottles because it's cheaper than formula. Their baby teeth completely rot out. I was shocked. This area of the North Slope Borough has the highest per capita of soda drunk per person (20 cans/day). Also astounding are the quirks of the culture, which we'll hear more stories about over the weekend. Tomorrow morning we will go to the 11:00 church service and meet some of the prominent people in town. I got to look through an Inupiaq language New Testament Bible and it was neat to look up the verses I know and then look at the Inupiaq language, which has only been incorporated as a written language for fifty-some years. It's very confusing! We are hoping to go to a class or learn some Inupiaq while we are here. The pastor is currently taking an Inupiaq course. It's been a pretty long day and I'll upload some pictures of what we've seen so far....stay tuned!