Welcome to Nome!

After 18 hours, 2 layovers and a cargo stop in Kotzebue, I've made it to Nome. It's definitely not like the Anchorage area, which was full of beautiful snow-capped mountains and vast evergreen forests. 

Nome is all brown and grey and flat, and kind of perched between a big brown tundra and the coast of Norton Sound on the Bering Sea. I mean, everything about that just sounds cold. And it is. It's about 42 degrees and cloudy right now. Even the buildings look cold. They're mostly wooden or aluminum sided, many rusted, wind-battered, and dilapidated, paint peeling, siding falling off, and piles of junk around them. 

My supervisor gave me a quick driving tour of town after she picked me up from the airport. Most important things are within walking distance, like the grocery store, hospital, restaurants, and my office where I'll be starting tomorrow. It'll take me a while to get the lay of the town, even though it's really small, but hopefully it won't take too long.

The hall

After that, she dropped me back off at the bunkhouse and said, "see you tomorrow!" So now I'm sitting here in my little bedroom awkwardly wondering what to do with the rest of my day.  So here are some pictures. Above is the hallway. It's a lot like a dorm. Temporary guests (interns and researchers) get the top floor where I am right now, and more permanent staff get the bottom floor, where I'll be moving eventually when someone else moves out.

My temporary room

 My room is super tiny and crammed with two beds.

Shared kitchen upstairs

View out my window. 

On the right side of the horizon is a big graveyard

My room looks out on the southwest corner of town, over some rundown buildings and a big graveyard in the distance. There are lots of dogs around town (mostly husky/sled-dog breeds) that bark a lot and I was warned not to get too close to them. There are two outside my window that have literally not stopped barking since I got here. 

At any rate, that's a little snapshot of my initiation into Nome. Maybe I'll take a nap now. Or muster up the courage to go find the grocery store. Or maybe I'll just hide in my room for the rest of the day. Who knows!