On to Mekoryuk, AK

I was super stoked when I heard that we would be heading to Mekoryuk, AK after our work in Newtok was done! I had never been to Mekoryuk although my good friend Kale worked there for the past couple of years. Although I had promised him several times I would come visit I never made it out there...sorry Kale.

Mekoryuk is a cool place simply because of it's location. The village of Mekoryuk is located on Nunivak Island about 30 miles or so from the coast.

Our original plan was to take a scheduled flight from Newtok to Toksook Bay. We were to spend the evening in Toksook then fly to Mekoryuk the next morning. However, the wind in Newtok was blowing hard and many flights that day were canceled. We decided to try to make it back to Bethel instead and to try for Mekoryuk in the morning.

Grant, the principal at Newtok, brought us up to the airport and we boarded the caravan that we were told was enroute to Bethel. It took a few minutes after the plane took off for me to realize that we were not flying in the direction of Bethel, in fact, we were flying in the direct opposite of Bethel. I looked out of the plane windows and through a break in the clouds I saw we were above the ocean....we were heading to Mekoryuk. When the plane landed the three of us kind of laughed and Lee went to talk to the pilot to see if we could stay in Mekoryuk. The pilot of course agreed and we grabbed our gear and exited the aircraft.

By a sheer stroke of luck, Gary, the Site Administrator at Mekoryuk was at the airport also and we threw our gear in the truck and were in the school in no time. After we got settled Tony and I decided to walk around the village a bit. The wind was still blowing like crazy. Sand was pummeling our faces and in no time we could feel the grit in our mouths. We still got some pretty awesome pics though...

Tony...he's such a poser

After we went for our walk Tony, Lee and I combined our food and had a pleasant dinner of various things. We did this both nights we were in Mekoryuk and we ate like kings. Tony introduced me to canned oysters which I now think are the cat's meow.

I made some super awesome soup that my mom sent to me! Thanks Mom! We all loved it.

Over the next two days we worked with teachers and students and had a blast! I love seeing kids get so excited when they get a computer in front of them. Look at how into their projects these kids are.

Tony and I went out into the village to take more pictures of various points of interest. The students then used these pictures to use in their projects.

Tony in front of the church. He wanted to ring the bell but I told him that was probably a bad idea.


Da skool.


There is a stop sign in Mekoryuk. Here it is in all it's glory. People tend to stop here.


This was another little store...I think they sold candy. Tony was super excited about it. He likes candy.






Inside the store...

Outside the store

Mekoryuk was awesome. We all had so much fun! I met some really cool people there and I enjoyed working with the kids. Tony did a great job working with the students and I do have to say that this week was one of my most favorite weeks since I started this gig. I am looking forward to working with Tony and the other Apple trainers some more in the near future!