I have a a library card!

OK, so that might not be exciting to most people, but are you surprised? :) But in order to get the library card, I needed to have a P.O. Box, an apartment lease, and an Alaskan driver's license. We've been a bit busy recently. 

First up, here is the building that houses the library, museum, and cultural center. The library serves both the public and community college campus in Bethel (part of University of Alaska Fairbanks). That's a wide range of needs and expectations, and very rare in the library world. I've already met with the director and plan to start volunteering there soon. The Cultural Center is really like the multi-purpose  space in Bethel. I've been there twice already - for Saturday Market and the Blood Drive. I missed the crab dinner and auction recently, but the parking lot was packed. Anytime there is an event, it typically happens in the Cultural Center. It also serves as the drop-off spot for produce delivery. Thankfully a group of farms in Washington delivers boxes here; between this and Meyers Farm in town, we have some options on fresh fruits and vegetables. 

Saturday Market is really interesting. It lasts for a few hours and is a place for people to sell food and crafts, as well as set up information tables. I registered to vote at the last one. They also serve food so we stayed for lunch; only in town for two days and we saw people we knew. :) 

For those wondering, Bethel has about 6,000 residents. 

And here is our trusty atv. Notice the nicely decorated trash container. They're all over town, as there is no trash pick-up. There is also no mail delivery, so everyone has a free P.O. Box. The post office is great for seeing people too; I run into at least one person I know every time I'm there. One small story about the DMV (yes, there is one here). We showed up for our licenses and had to take a number. Then an automated system alerted us to our tun. "Now serving number 112 at Station 1." Sounds normal, right? Well, there was only one station, one teller, and a handful of chairs. It was like being in an SNL skit. At one point the machine got stuck so we had to listen to the automated voice run through 10 numbers before our turn. Oh, but the phone wasn't working, so the teller had to use her cell phone. Ha!