Surprise ending to my trip to San Juan

First off, my short trip was cut even shorter than expected since my flight from MSP to Chicago O'Hare was cancelled and since all flights were booked solid. I tried to go standby for about 7 hours, but I wasn't able to leave until 11:00 am the next day. That was unfortunate because, except for a short meeting, Sunday would have been my free day to see some of the island. Instead I spent the day traveling, finally arriving in San Juan at about 10:15 pm. I worked 10 hrs. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday then left SJU early Thursday morning.

Since I was only planning to be gone for 5 days, I packed pretty light and mostly clothes for warm weather. Then Wednesday afternoon, I found out that that was a big mistake. I was not sent home from SJU as expected, but instead received orders for BET (Bethel, Alaska). I left San Juan 25 hours ago and I'm still not there. From what I've heard from other NDF, Bethel is quite small with TSA staff totaling seven and only one of them being a local employee. It is located approximately 80 miles east of the Bering Sea, 400 miles west of Anchorage. The airport is very small. So small that it makes Key West look big. We work a split shift most days and everyone works in the baggage area first and then we all move over to the checkpoint.

My cell phone has no service up here. I have a few calling cards that Jess gave me when I thought I was going to Cypress and I'm sure I'll be able to get more, but I'll be using my blog and email to keep in touch more than anything else.

The mailing address here is:

Teresa Stewart

c/o TSA

3521 Chief Eddie Hoffman Hwy.

Bethel, AK 99559

Brown Slough Bed & Breakfast

(907)543-4333/(907)543-4332

I'm currently scheduled to be here until the end of May. However, I've already heard that there is a good chance that I'll be extended. Hope everyone has a happy Easter. Wish I could be there.