I LIVE IN REMOTE AMERICAN TOWN THAT'S SET TO GO DARK FOR THE NEXT 66 DAYS - WHAT IT'S REALLY LIKE
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America's northernmost town is about to enter its annual 'polar night' where residents will be plunged into darkness for 66 days.
Each year, Utqiaġvik, Alaska, formerly known as Barrow, experiences 24 hours of darkness for two months a year due to its high northern latitude.
This year, the sun will set at approximately 1.36pm on Tuesday and will not rise again until 1.23pm on January 23.
Utqiaġvik sits some 320 miles within the Arctic Circle, at a latitude where polar night occurs as a result of the Earth tilting away from the sun during winter, 'when none of the Sun's disc is visible above the horizon at all,' according to timeanddate.com.
The approximately 4,300 residents in Utqiaġvik can expect to spend most days bundled up as temperatures plummet to single digits on numerous days.
Local schoolteacher Robin Reeves, 56, told the Daily Mail that staying connected with the community is key to surviving the polar night.
'It is very important to have friends and contact with other people. Being a loner up here is not a good thing,' Reeves said.
'You definitely need to have something to do to keep you busy. I have a group of friends that we play board games and other activities to keep us engaged.'
She explained that Utqiaġvik is a small, isolated town with little to offer in terms of entertainment, but the lack of light doesn't stop the locals from going about their day-to-day life.
'The darkness doesn't really slow us down, but you don't get the physical cues that it's time to wind down and go to bed,' Reeves said.
'I think this may also be hard on the students to make sure they get enough sleep for school the next day.
'Some people have "happy lights" that help. I make sure to take a vitamin D supplement every day.'
Reeves moved to Utqiaġvik from Arkansas in 2022 for a teaching job and has returned for the past several school years.
She has documented her experience living in America's northernmost town on her TikTok account, Traveling Teacher.
'This will be the fourth time for me to experience the Polar Night,' she said. 'Polar night is a gradual thing; the days shorten by 15 to 18 minutes per day.
'I'll go home [to Arkansas] for Christmas, and the first sunrise I see just makes me happy and thankful to see the sun.'
Reeves said she 'celebrates' the final sunset of the year by watching 30 Days Of Night, the 2007 film that depicts Barrow, as it was then known, being overrun by vampires during polar night and 'laughs at all the inaccuracies about what really happens.'
Her routine during the Polar Night includes bracing for the frigid temperatures and carpooling with her fellow teachers.
'A typical day for me is getting up at 7am and checking my weather app for the temperature and the wind chill. That determines my clothing choices for the day,' Reeves said.
'The weather can be scary up here, especially in January and February. Most days are negative temperatures.'
She explained that most people in the community do not have cars because gasoline is costly, so many people share cabs to get to work.
'It is dark when we leave for school, and it is dark when we return. For me, I don't see anything resembling daytime until the weekends,' she said.
'I'm the PE teacher, and we don't have windows that we can look out of. Most classrooms do have windows where they can see out.
'On the weekends, I will be able to see Civil Twilight, that's the time right before sunrise or right after sunset where the sun is below the horizon and the sky is lighter than full nighttime.'
Reeves emphasized that living in Utqiaġvik requires a good spirit and being able to take initiative.
'You definitely need warm clothes and a can-do attitude. You need to be ready to solve problems and not wait for somebody to do it for you,' Reeves said.
'For example, if your key breaks off in the outside door, you can't just sit there and wait for somebody to come along and solve the problem for you. You might get frostbite while you are waiting. Most cabs will wait until you are inside the building before leaving for their next fare.'
Despite its challenges, Reeves said that Utqiaġvik is a culturally rich community, and living through the Polar Night gives her an appreciation for the sun.
'It truly makes you appreciate the sunshine after months in the darkness. The community celebrates by getting together and performing their "welcome back the sun" dance,' she said.
'Utqiaġvik is one of the most culturally diverse communities I have ever experienced. Every culture is encouraged to celebrate in their own individual way, and everyone is invited to participate with them.'
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