Waqaa, cangacit?

When we last left off, I was staying at the Holiday Inn because my flight had been cancelled.  Well I am pleased to report that my flight went through and I am safely in Kokhanok.

We took the Polatis PC 12 and I am told that my pilot has logged more hours in this type of plan than any other pilot in the country, if not the world.

It was very strange walking to the plane because we essentially had to walk through the airplane hangar and we couldn't take any carry-ons, everything had to be checked.  So we get on this plane and there were 10 seats.  It was the smallest plane I had ever ridden in.  The turbulence was just horrible.  It was the scariest flight I have ever been on.  I was clutching the arm rest with everything I had.  The flight from Anchorage was just over an hour and we didn't land in Kokhanok, we landed in Iliamna, which is just across the lake.

[Funny story, if you put those two places into Google maps, it won't calculate the directions because the only way to go is by plane or by boat (if the lake's not frozen) or four wheeler (if the lake's frozen)]

So we land in Iliamna and I was never so thankful for a flight to end as I was at that moment.  It wasn't all bad, though.  I was able to get some awesome pics from that flight.

And my personal favorite:

I don't know that I could ever tire of looking at these mountains.  They are just breathtaking.

We waited in Iliamna airport for at least two hours to wait for the winds to calm and the weather in general to improve.  During these two hours I started compiling 

SARAH'S RULES FOR LIVING IN ALASKA:

1. always have food on your person.  always.
2. always have a flashlight
3. always have a book/magazine/entertainment

I found myself in Iliamna airport, starving once again.  I had eaten a bagel at the hotel at 9:30 and we didn't leave Iliamna airport until about 3.  That might be the most hungry I have ever been in my life.  The pilot decided we were okay to take off and it's just a 15 minute flight across the lake to Kokhanok!  Here's some pictures from that flight and you'll notice some terrain differences (less mountain-y, more forest-y).

And my principal was there to meet me at the airport.  He has been great and I'm having dinner at his house tonight (don't worry, they'll be a post tomorrow about it.)  He dropped me off at my house/apartment!

I am super impressed with this place.  It's big, it's in really great condition.  I love it.

I started unpacking which took hours to put everything away.  I had to start by cracking open my tote full of frozen stuff.  Here's all the food that made it to Kokhanok with me one way or the other (i.e. in my pockets)

(And just to clarify, that is non-alcoholic Bailey's coffee creamer)

(bagels, butter, frozen veggies, frozen fruit, chicken breasts, ground beef)

(cheese, bagels, shredded cheese)

Once I had gotten home I was just so happy to be there and caught up in the unpacking process that I momentarily forgot how hungry I was.  Then I remembered. I found these beef sticks in my carry on luggage and I'm pretty sure that they are left-over from Christmas.  (Do beef sticks go bad, because I'm operating under the assumption that they don't.  And since I ate them one day ago and I'm still fine, it would seem that my assumptions are correct.)

I also made myself mac and cheese for dinner, but I didn't have any milk (it's in the mail.)  Did you know you can make mac and cheese without milk and it's not the worst thing ever?  Because I know that.

After I had made dinner, I still had all this stuff to put away.

I got it all put away and rearranged the furniture a little, and then...

You get to see me give a virtual tour of my new house!  Lucky you!!!

Before I forget, if you're wondering about the title of this post, I went to Yupik class with my kids today and this is what they learned.  "Waqaa, cangacit?" is essentially "How are you?"  and the response they learned was "Kaigtua" which means "I'm hungry."

And with that....

kaigtau