Mail

Moving to a bush village definitely has its challenges. Something you might not think much about is how your mail gets to you every day. Here, I’ve had a chance to give this considerable thought since I’ve received over 40 boxes here. Some were boxes that I packed and shipped to myself. Some were boxes that came from Amazon.com – I’ve taken great advantage of their free Super-Saver Shipping policy to get things like dishes, glasses, microwave, furniture slip covers, bedding, etc. If you’ve been following my blog, you’ve seen the size of the planes that come in and out of Kwethluk. Sometimes, getting the boxes on those planes is not an easy task because of the size of the cargo holds. Therefore, many boxes get smashed in order to fit – kind of like when I sit on my suitcase to get it to zip shut. I have probably had 7-8 hard plastic tubs destroyed this way – simply crushed – they come to me with holes in the sides or bottom. One tub was apparently so destroyed in transit that the post office repackaged the entire thing in a cardboard box and sent it on to me. Keep in mind that these boxes only had to travel 450 miles within the same state! That’s Alaska for ya!

If I’m lucky, the boxes don’t get shoved into a bush plane for the ride from Bethel to Kwethluk, but rather take a luxurious ride aboard the USPS Hovercraft down the Kuskokwim and Kwethluk Rivers. Yes, folks, this is the only USPS Hovercraft in North America!

It brings in shipments of supplies to our little village twice each week, Wednesdays and Saturdays, every week of the year. Now, that’s really saying something in this part of the country, where the river (it’s highway of choice) turns to solid ice in the winter.

The Hovercraft floats into the village right in front of my house and “docks” about 35 yards from my front door. I use the word “dock” loosely because there is no structure there, simply a mud embankment that has been cleared of brush.

A makeshift, man-powered conveyor belt is quickly assembled and a pick-up truck arrives to be loaded with boxes to take to the local Post Office. It took three trips with a full truck bed yesterday – lots of food supplies coming in for the school year, I suspect.

On my daily trips to the Post Office, which sits right across the road from the school, Ted is always there to greet me. He’s a super-friendly 45ish Yupik gentleman who speaks broken English, practically lives at the Post Office, and always wears a smile. I guess you would call Ted the Postmaster in Kwethluk. When I first got my Post Office box keys (the boxes are free because there is no home delivery here), I didn’t have to fill out anything – just told him my name and he gave me the keys, which are not necessary to pick up my mail – Ted will just hand it to me across the counter.

When I have boxes at the Post Office (which have arrived either by bush plane or Hovercraft), I borrow my neighbors’ 4-wheeler to bring them home. I can fit 4-5 large boxes on it in one trip and, as usual, there are always plenty of kids around to help me load and unload.

That is how I get my mail.