Still Alive, Still Having Fun

I’m still really glad that I’m here and I feel like I’ve adjusted to being here really well! It’s not somewhere that I feel like I want to get away from, which is always a good thing, especially since I'm "stuck" here for the next 2 1/2 months :) 

Niko (Jordan’s brother), Randy, their daughter Kylin, and Randy’s cousin Adeline came in last week and we’ve been having a good time with them! Niko looks so much like Jordan that sometimes I think he is Jordan. Jordan is still in Hawaii but he’ll be back tomorrow. 

Randy makes jewelry so she taught me how to make the fish bone necklaces/earrings that we’ll be making and selling soon!

When Niko and his family came, I was kicked out of the room I was so happy to be in, but it’s okay. I’ve learned that I need to be really flexible since there are so many people trying to deal with such a small space! In fact, I became so flexible that I moved into this storage space. There was a washer and dryer in there, that I brought to the front to make a sort of wall for my “room” and we put a bed and night stand table in there. It’s actually a great little place! I don’t need much privacy because I’m not usually even in my room. There’s too much to do here to be stuck away hiding in my room! :) 

Corseina is still in the room that we were originally both in, but once Dana and Nadia (Jordan’s mom and sister) come, she’ll move into the room that Niko and his family are in (the room that I used to have). I’m letting her have that one since she’s in her room more than me anyways and it’s a nice little room to have!

Oh yeah! Josh and Brittany came back! And thank goodness for that! Things were getting a little crazy without them here. There’s some strange dynamics when it comes to structure, communication, and other things like that, so now that Josh and Brittany are back, some things are getting sorted out. They are both so great and friendly and I’m so glad they’re finally back on the island! Three contractors came back here the same day Brittany and Josh came back. The contractors were here for a few weeks before I got here, but I hadn't met them yet. Their names are Ticker, Mike, and Dan. Mike is 17 and Ticker and Dan are both about 60, I'd say. I don't know Ticker well yet, but he doesn't like sleeping indoors, so he sleeps either outside or in the sauna in a sleeping bag. Dan is a little old man that is very high energy, friendly, and funny. Mike is Dan's grandson and he's a cool kid who is very friendly too. 

So right now, the people here at Afognak Wilderness Lodge are: 

Josh, Luke, Shannon, Brittany, Brian, Jordan (who is coming back tomorrow), Niko, Randy, Kylin, Adeline, Ticker, Mike, Dan, Corseina, and I. And since I've had people ask me the ages of people so maybe other people are wondering...Josh is 40, Luke is 35, Brittany is like 26 or something, Brian is 21, Jordan is 24, Niko is 21, Randy is 22, Kylin is 3, Adeline is 17, Ticker is like 60, Dan is like 60, Mike is 17, and Corseina is 21. Dana, Jordan and Nikos aunt, is coming soon and Jordan's brother Nadio, who is 18, is coming soon and will be staying for the rest of the summer. I like all the different people coming in and out! It's so fun!

 Lately, Corseina and I have been in the kitchen preparing meals as usual, as well as getting the garden done, setting up slug traps in the garden, weed wacking, cleaning the windowsills of the cabins, cleaning the cabins, and cleaning and rearranging the staff cabin. The kitchen stuff takes up about 5 hours of our day, and then we spend the other 6 or so hours doing other types of work.

The other day we cleaned out one of the salmon rivers. Everyone came along for that! So we had Luke, Niko, Randy, Kylin, Adeline, Manny, Brian, and we even picked up two fish & game guys off of the island they’re staying on. 

 

When we clear out the salmon river that means that Luke and Brian use their chainsaws to cut branches off trees and to cut up logs that have fallen into the river. Then the rest of us go behind them and pick up the heavy logs and branches and throw them to the side of the river. We do that so the salmon can swim upstream. If it weren’t for us, they wouldn’t be able to get up the river, lay their eggs, and die. And then their babies wouldn’t be able to swim down the river and we wouldn’t be able to fish for them!

When we were on the island clearing out the salmon river, the strangest thing happened…We ran into people! Like real live people! Which is very unlikely out here. It felt like we were in civilization or something, goodness! Luke and some of the others talked to them for awhile and I played hide and seek with Kylin, the three year old, in the tall grass. She’s so cute and sassy and it’s been fun having her around!

On Tuesday we have about 15 guests coming in, which is scary. I think we’ve prepared ourselves enough in the kitchen to handle it, but I think the first few days will be rough! Manny will probably be pretty high stress in the kitchen. He has his days where he’s happy and easier to work around but then some days he’s a little grumpy and stressed and wants us to work faster than I think we’re even capable of doing. But it really pushes us to get faster and faster at setting everything up and cooking things. I’m learning a lot of new skills, especially how to multi task really well and get stuff done very quickly. The kitchen is all about timing, so we have to think about what should happen when, so that things get done on time.

Corseina and I made books of all the different things we need to do to prep in the morning, clean up after breakfast, prep for dinner, and clean up after dinner. We are also writing recipes down that we need to know and different methods of doing things. For example, Manny has very specific ways of how we should cut fruit and vegetables, so I make sure to write his different ways down so that I can go as fast as I can and do it right when I’m cutting things.

Before I got this job, I contacted a girl that worked here last summer and asked her questions about her experience here. One of the things she said is that she REALLY wishes she could come back here and visit. She also said it was sad to leave when her time working here was over last summer. I didn’t really understand that when I first got here. Yeah, it was pretty and I liked it but now I understand how much I’m going to miss it when I’m gone. I love it here! I love living in a huge cabin with people that I like being around. I like how it’s so beautiful outside that I don’t even feel like it’s real sometimes. I like how it feels like home and how these people are starting to feel like family to me. I’m glad that I decided to come here! Sometimes I build things up too much before they happen, but in this case, this is better than I was imagining it would be before I came here! 

This blog post is a little all over the place since I have so much to write about! I just wanted to talk about my friendship with Corseina, the other BYU-Idaho student that was hired to work with me! Corseina and I have gotten pretty close and I'm glad that she's here. We have our differences and don't always get along perfectly, which is bound to happen when you're with someone almost all day, every day, but we work through everything and we are becoming great friends! We love to tease and joke around with each other and we can be pretty funny together! She's really thoughtful and always brings me water bottles and snacks that she knows I like. I feel like I can tell her anything and be myself around her & I'm way thankful to have made a new close friend!

Well, that's about all for now! :) I'll try to post more but the internet REALLY stinks! I'm surprised I could even get on Blogger to post this. But I'm glad it worked so you guys could know I'm all still alive.