Week 17

Day 112: Nov 30, 2014

Wow, my computer is particularly loud today. The fan seems to be going a little crazy so I am going to see if the IT office has a small screwdriver so I can check it out. I am making sure to do a backup right now though. Other than that the day was pretty great. In the afternoon, I started to learn how to play guitar. There were three of us, Riley, Leah, and I, sitting in the living room with a fire in the fireplace Benji just chilling on the couch and Alex trying to teach us/ trying to work on his knitting project. I learned and slowly put together a few chords so that was fun. This was one of the best nights though. There was a bonfire up on one of the tailings piles. The pile was probably 20x50ft and 15ft high. Only one side was lit so the fire will slowly work its way into and across the pile. The fire chief who started the fire thinks it is probably going to burn for a few days. Most of the fuel in the pile was wood and pallets for the remediation work but there were also some large log-looking pieces that I am not really sure about. It was fun though. A bunch of us walked up there together so we got to chat and gaze in wonder at the view from the “other side” (of the creek). I think I got some pretty good photos that I will, hopefully, post for all to see. I also took a really great movie but I know that I won't be able to upload that from the village. As I look at the photos now, I just wish I would have brought my real camera rather than just my phone. Oh well, whatcha gonna do? Tomorrow is the first day of my new job! It is both exciting and terrifying all at the same time.

Day 113: Dec 1, 2014

Today was kind of anticlimactic. So even though it was my first day as a Lead Cook, I didn't actually do any cooking today. We did a few shifts of dish team to learn where everything goes and to learn how a dish pit shift is run and then we just looked at recipes and figured out how we would run the shift and when things would get done and other such details. It was really helpful to do that but I am done with the recipes that she gave us and we are doing the same thing for at least another day and a half. At least I got to be done early so I came back to our chalet and practiced the guitar a little, helped Alex with his knitting and watched Mask on VHS. It was a pretty chill day overall and hopefully tomorrow will be more of the same.

On a completely different note, today one of the villagers left the village. His departure day had arrived. Leaving is just part of what it is to be here. The only thing is, he has no where to go. Once the boat dropped him off at the dock he was going to take public transit to Seattle and find a homeless shelter that had room for him. I have no idea if he made it there. I have no idea if he is sleeping outside tonight or if he found someplace warm. It is one of those things that brings the real world into the village. I don't know what I would do if I didn't know that my parents will be there for me when I leave this place. It really makes you look at things in a different light. I mean, here, everyone has a home, plenty of food and heat. We are, basically, all on the same level but when you hear that someone has nowhere to go when they step off that boat, it hurts. The thing is, even though some of us wanted to do something to help, we don't really have the resources to do so. We are not a homeless shelter up here and our stipend is plenty if you live in a remote village where your money pretty much can be spent at the bookstore or on Amazon but beyond that we make enough to rent a really small and gross apartment and that is it. No food. No utilities. No insurance. Nothing beyond the roof over our heads. Of course, that is not the point of our stipend. We do not need to pay rent or bills other than things that we choose to have (car insurance, phone, etc). I know that homelessness is just part of life for many people it is just hard to see someone get on a bus and drive off knowing that he has nothing to go back to. It was a hard moment but I have faith that he will be ok. He will find a job. He will find an apartment. He will be ok.

Day 114: Dec 2, 2014

Today was filled with lots of scheduling. I basically spent the whole day figuring out the December schedule and trying to fit in outs and holidays. It was a little frustrating but I figured out December by the end of the morning and then I was able to get January done pretty quickly in the afternoon. January was much easier to figure out since there are really no holidays that I needed to work around. Lunch was probably the most exciting part of my day, though. I found out that the couple who just got engaged are also expecting a baby! It was such an exciting moment. I am glad that they told us before people started questioning it. She isn't really showing but it did help explain why he needed the same days off each month. Now we have two things to look forward to- a wedding and a pregnancy!

The day ended with a few rounds of trivia. My team lost pretty badly but it was still fun.

Day 115: Dec 3, 2014

Another day of lead cooking without cooking. Today we labeled the walk-ins so that everything has a place. Pretty much our entire day was filled with rolling tape, sticking up labels, laminating labels and cutting them out. I think we are actually going to start doing things in the kitchen tomorrow. Who knows.

Day 116: Dec 4, 2014

Today was rough. We spent no time in the kitchen but all morning and part of the afternoon moving dry goods around. I felt like Peeta Melark from Hunger games, I was throwing so many bags of flour. I ended up taking a nap during lunch. Luckily the afternoon was a little easier. We inventoried the freezers (that was fun, trying to count as fast as possible) and labeled about 40 different spice jars. We did end a little early which was nice so I made it just in time to watch Pitch Perfect in my chalet with a bunch of other people. I think we are watching Love Actually later tonight. It should be good. Tomorrow we are going to actually do some cooking. It should be fun (hopefully).

Day 117: Dec 5, 2014

Today was pretty wonderful. Long, but wonderful. We started the day finishing the general prep of the kitchen-cleaning, spice organization, etc. In the afternoon we made some bread and FINALLY started to do some “cooking”. I say “cooking” because dinner was a sandwich bar so we were really just cutting and preping things. We also made some yogurt that will hopefully be ready for tomorrow morning. In all we worked 10 hours today. I am exhausted but it was a good day. Tomorrow I get to work the morning shift. It should be fun and that way I will have done both shifts before my weekend.

Day 118: Dec 6, 2014

I cut down my first real Christmas tree today! After work (I worked the first shift so was done at 1:30pm), my Chalet-mates and I grabbed a few sleds and started walking down the road. Jade jumped in one of the sleds so I pulled her as we scanned the trees for the perfect one (it wasn't too hard to pull her since the snow was packed down and somewhat icy on the road). About 15-20 minutes in, we saw a few good ones so we climbed up the embankment and checked them out. We also had to dig through about a foot of snow to make sure that we actually knew how tall they were. The tree we ended up picking was about a foot and a half too tall but we cut it down anyway and dragged it to the sleds, sinking down into the snow with every step. Our tree is full but looks somewhat sparse to me. Partly because I am used to a fake tree and partly because it is a pine rather than a fir (basically our tree has needles). The needles are about 4in long and are a pale forest green. Pictures ensued and we pulled our new Christmas tree back to the village. As we headed back snowballs began flying and once we reached our chalet the fight began in earnest. I hooked the cord from the sled around my leg so the tree would not start sliding down the hill and began chucking snowballs at Alex, Jade and Leah. It was so much fun but had to stop so that we could get the tree into water. We grabbed a bucket and some rocks to hold the tree up and trimmed the extra branches. It is still about 3in too tall so the top is bent but I think that gives it character. All we need to do now is have Alex pick up some Christmas lights while he is out so that we can decorate it!

My second day of work was pretty good. Since the first shift makes two meals it was a little harder just to make sure that everything was working with the timing of things. The only downside to my morning was that I had to go through a bag of rotting potatoes to try to find the ones that we could salvage. The best way that I can describe the stench was that it smelled like rotting meat or like a dead mouse that had been forgotten about for at least a week. It was so bad that I had to tie a cloth around my nose just to help reduce the smell. It worked a little but not as well as I would have liked. It was horrible but after they were sorted I made sure that I was going to get to be the one to use the chopping/slicing machine to cut them up. I was not going to endure the sorting without the reward of using a cool machine. Other than that, the shift was pretty unremarkable.