First day in Klemtu

Tiffany, who I will be working with for the next 10 weeks, and her husband Brent picked me up from the ferry at 5:30 Sunday morning. Thankfully he brought his big truck with him so we piled all of my stuff in the back and they took me to my new home. It used to be known as “the red house”, but now that it has been painted beige I’m starting the trend of calling it “the brown house”…I think it has a nice ring to it. They showed me around the house, which is huge for just one person to be living in. It has two bedrooms with four twin beds, a bathroom, living room, kitchen, and laundry room. I will post a video soon so you can get the full tour. When Brent and Tiffany left me to unpack, I must admit that it was all I could do not to break down. It was the first time on the trip that I was truly alone with no one else to talk to, and I had to force myself to just keep unpacking and not think too much about it. At 10:30, I was almost finished getting settled in when Tiffany and I went to the Band store, which is the convenience store in Klemtu. This was quite an experience. Fresh produce comes into Klemtu every other Sunday on the ferry, and so you can imagine what a mad dash it is to get the best goods. I hung back at first, but quickly learned that if you aren’t a little aggressive you will miss out on the best stuff. As I already had enough food to feed a small army back at my house, I grabbed raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, bananas, eggs, and milk. I have a spending allowance of $50 a week so I thought I would have plenty to spare after this trip, but boy was I wrong. My total was $42, giving me my first taste of how expensive groceries are in Klemtu. I will most likely stick to the canned fruit for the rest of the trip.

Church in Klemtu is every Sunday at 7:00 pm, but this was a very special service because Violet, the oldest elder in Klemtu, turned 96 that day. I left my house at 7:00 and hurried to the church thinking I would be late. This was not the case. People started filling up the church by around 7:30, and the service got underway at 7:45. I learned my first lesson in native culture…things never really start “on time.” I was glad that I got the opportunity to watch the people coming in and was able to ask Tiffany the names of a few of them. The very first song we sang was “Jesus Loves You,” which is such a simple song and one I haven’t sung since I was a little kid, but somehow it comforted me in a way that I really needed at that time. I felt like I was going to be okay being on my own because I would never truly be alone. The highlight of the service was at the end of the singing when the church leader had Violet sing an acappella version of the hymnal “Even Me” in the Tsimshian language. The church was absolutely silent except for the beautiful sound of Violet’s voice. It was a very powerful moment. Afterwards, we enjoyed desserts that were brought in for the celebration and then Tiffany and I met the kids she mentors and watched a movie until about 11:00. I’ll be sure to write more about what exactly Tiffany does and what I will be helping with after I spend a few more days with the kids.