My cousin, Koke, had invited me to Golovin for the summer to work in the family store (and only store in Golovin). I was devastated when upon arrival I was told my other cousin, MO (Koke's brother) had already promised the summer job to his fiance, Carol. Carol would be arriving in two weeks. Thus, I had two weeks to either find a way back home to Chicago, or possibly find other work in the village. That seemed unlikely. Meanwhile, I had two weeks to prove I was a worker; I wasn't some prima dona suburban girl who needed to be taken care of. But, in the end, two weeks would not buy me a ticket home.
Although I had known my three cousins, Donny, Koke and MO for a few years; they had visited my parents' home in Chicago a few times; I didn't know they had a sister, the youngest of the four. Thus, she was another cousin of mine, along with my aunt and uncle, who I would meet for the first time in Golovin. The boys' sister was the youngest of the four and named Margaret though they called her Sister.
Koke finally arrived in the little yellow plane 4 days after Dan's and my arrival. We were all very happy to see him. The fact that he had flown from Duluth, MN to Alaska's Seward Peninsula, in a fabric covered, single passenger (pilot only), stick controlled, single engine, instrument-spare plane over the Rocky Mountains, was barely acknowledged by his family and Dan. I, however, was greatly impressed by this feat.
Sister and her dad, Martin, my uncle, did not seem too keen on my being there--actually, they were borderline hostile. I suspected they thought me to be a "white" girl they'd have to take care of. I didn't blame them for their seemingly negative attitude towards me. Golovin is the arctic wilderness and my relatives were living a somewhat subsistence lifestyle and I must have looked rather skinny and helpless. Sister was a necessarily physically tough girl, so it was up to me to work as hard as her and earn my keep however I could. I was determined to win them over.
(to be continued) copyright 2008 Tamara Ann Burgh, all rights reserved
View of the Bering Sea from my bedroom window. My Great Uncle Harry Gerberg traveled across these waters to Siberia to trade with the coastal Eskimos there. He was quite the storyteller--stories I plan to share on this blog.
Beach line where I followed Sister's lead in gathering firewood.
The mail plane arrived on Wednesday's. Dan is in the orange jumpsuit. We used to tease him for how he buttoned it all the way to his chin. My cousin, Donny, is in the red shirt. Unfortunately, I didn't anticipate the need to take FRONT pictures of anybody!
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