The Four Types

I think there are four types of people who are in Barrow.*

There are the Inupiat people, the ones who’ve been here forever and the ones who’ll remain here forever. They know the land and the ice better than any scientist who has all the fancy equipment in the word, and they are tied to them. The Inupiat are a close-knit family and fight diligently for what is rightfully there’s. To them, Barrow is beautiful. To them, Barrow is home.

Then there are those scientists with their fancy, and not so fancy, equipment. To this group, I’ll add the archaeologists, the engineers, the researchers, the oral historians – the people who come to Barrow to find something out that will be published in some journal or talked about in a conference. Barrow and the surrounding North Slope area appeal to a multitude of scientific minds from all over the world.

The third type is the individual who comes here for money and stays here for money. Money and benefits. These types say they get paid double than anything they would make down south or even elsewhere in Alaska. They want to go and live elsewhere but the package is too tempting. They live in Barrow now so that they can be happy in ten years, so that their long distance wife or husband can be happy. This is the type that mystifies me the most.

And then there’s me, and those similar. I’m the farthest thing from a scientist. I’m not by any means making a lot of money, and I’m not Inupiat. I’m here because I wanted to experience the extreme and that’s exactly what I’m doing. There was less than three hours of daylight today, so very soon, I’ll be experiencing extreme darkness. Although I’ve already experienced extreme cold, I know it will get a lot more extreme. When I saw the whaling boats come in from a distance and saw the whale they were pulling behind them emerge out of the water, I was extremely awed. StoryCorps Alaska and its poor reception in Barrow have made me extremely deflated. I’ve been extremely homesick and extremely lonely. In one month of living, I don’t think I’ve ever made less of an impact on anything or anyone, and that makes me extremely sad.

* Of course, there are way more than four types of people in Barrow. There’s the “Darlene” type. Darlene came to Barrow because a long, long time ago when she lived in Wisconsin and worked with the elderly, she joined the Lonely Hearts Club. Through it, she corresponded by letters with a man named Richard for over a year. One day Richard went to Benton, Wisconsin, freed Darlene of her lonely heart by marrying her, and brought her back to Barrow where, at age 63, she lives today, even though Richard has since died. There’s also that type. And they’re not really “types.” I hate to generalize, but I am for the sake of this blog entry.