Lonely little buildings left behind at the edge of the sea, the Russian Eastern Orthodox churches in the Kenai Peninsula point to a little discussed aspect of Alaska’s history. That of it being a Russian colony. Eventually sold to the USA for a pittance ($7.2 million) back in the day (1867) when oil wasn’t worth anything. I had coached myself on Alaska’s history before going so I cannot claim to be unbiased but there was something distinctly Siberian Suburbia about those areas. Villages like Ninelchek and Kenai matched up to what I imagined Russian villages to be. The colours of the church domes contrasted against the blue sky and the colorful choice of vestments for the priest there compounded the effect of little Siberian villages on the sea. A priest at one of these churches aked questions laced with a hint of “India… who lives in such faraway exotic places?” The irony of a man who lives in the edge of nowhere himself to grade India for faraway-ness was not lost on me. Nor was the sneaky feeling that the Cold War never really resolved itself out there where Russia and America come closest to shaking hands.
[Part of the Series: Notes from the Last Frontier]
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