WOW I haven’t blogged in a while! Let me start from the beginning of what I can remember/kept notes on that I should blog about…
About 3 weeks ago we had a JH Basketball tournament here in Kongiganak. The team from Kwigillingok rode over by snowmachine aka Snow Go. This is a picture of the team loading up afterwards for the drive home. The kids all sat in the sleds behind the snowmachines.
While I watched them load up I saw this partial rainbow. I saw it a few times that week and my classroom aides told me that it means it will be really cold. A ring around the moon also means it will be really cold.
After the tournament we all went for a long walk out towards the dump and graveyard. At one point I stopped on a hill to take a look at the view of the village and the tundra. Moose came running from behind me and totally knocked my legs out from under me. He didn’t even stop to see if I was ok- just flattened me and kept going! He is a beast! He also managed to chew my new shoe, a slipper, and a sock that week. He has been perfect ever since though!
This is a view of the village, tundra, and boardwalk.
After our walk we went to Sheila’s for fried bread… MmmmmMMmmm delicious! It was basically a donut without the sugar on it. Instead she fried the bread and then we could add butter, jelly, cream cheese, sugar, peanut butter or whatever we wanted to the bread.
That same weekend I also went for my FIRST ALASKAN STEAM! In case you don’t know what a Steam is… it is similar to a sauna but a lot hotter. This is the equivalent of a bath to the locals. Most of the families have their own steam houses. Each steam house has 2 little rooms. An outer room and then one room containing some floor space and the stove. First everyone goes into the outer room (a little bit cooler but still HOT) to undress. They then carry a tub of water into the stove area with a cloth to cover their mouth and try to protect it from the heat. It was SO HOT! I thought my throat was scalding and that I would die of dehydration or something. I don’t think I can truly explain how it felt. We were all sitting in this small room with a stove and then cups of water were poured over the stove and coals creating a ton of steam. Whenever you can’t bear the heat anymore, you are supposed to go to the outer entry room to cool off and then do it all over again. When you are about ready to be finished for good you take the soap and shampoo back into the heated area, clean and rinse off. Then back into the entry way until dry. Sheila, Rachel, Garnet, Michele, and I steamed together. Usually women steam together or men steam together. Children can go with anyone and married couples can steam together. Sheila said it was a good time to gossip and vent. I agree! Although the very beginning felt torcherous, I LOVED the experience. My skin felt great after and I was so relaxed. It’s not good to steam on a full stomach and after a steam you are ready for bed. We went home and lounged for about a half hour until Sheila called AGAIN! One of the ladies in the village had been hunting and go her first Caribou! All were welcome to come take some meat home with them. Why not?!
Michele, Garnet and I went with Sheila to get some meat and boy were we surprised. We walked into the house only to find a huge Caribou body being cut up on the kitchen floor!
Sunday evening Garnet, Michele and I made a Caribou stirfry and Monday night Caribou stew. Both were decent although I still prefer Moose meat to Caribou.
…Maybe Garnet and I shouldn’t cook together…
On Sunday Megan let me go Skijoring on her skis. What this means is I was on her skis and Moose was in a harness hooked onto me. When he ran, I moved. It was a BLAST!
…what wasn’t a blast is shown below…. Moose tangled me up and I fell face first into the snow. Lonny then came up and attacked me on the ground. Michele was nice enough to get a shot of all this instead of helping!
This next picture is of Megan skijoring with Moose—I LOVE the picture because they are out on the tundra skijoring AND there is a plane flying/landing right over them! A TRUE bush Alaskan picture!
We really had a fun weekend!
On Monday of that week we got another call to get Caribou meat from one of my student’s dad. He had caught 3 caribou!
(His dad is on the left and baby sister on the right sitting in the chair watching)
It was pretty cool because the dad tore out the tendon in the leg and told us the importance of these tendons. When they are dry, people bang on them and little threads peel off. The peels can be used for sewing or to wrap around a baby’s leg to help with walking/running in the future.
While the dad talked to us (for about an hour) I thought for sure we were going to lose Michele. She started looking really pale and had to look away from the body. We walked home with lots of ribs and who knows what other body parts!
Sheila came over and showed us how to saw the ribs to make it easier for cooking.
ANCHORAGE!
I went to Anchorage for a Special Education Conference last Friday night until Wednesday afternoon. I headed back to Bethel on Wednesday night and made it to Kong Thursday morning (because planes don’t fly into the villages after dark, I couldn’t go to Kong on Wednesday evening). The conference was GREAT. Well, either the conference or being in Anchorage… whichever the case, it was MUCH needed. I was reaching the point of being burnt out and the conference was a nice break and great way to meet other sped teachers from around Alaska. I went to some trainings on understanding the state of AK Sped Handbook. I also went to presentations concerning FASD, assistive technology, and filling out the transition section of an IEP. After the conference I went out to eat a TON, did some shopping, and even had a few drinks (no more dry village!). We went to a dinner theater called Bear Tooth to watch the Superbowl. The game was on a big movie screen and it was free to go. I went with my friend Zach (1st year teacher in Bethel) and Marco (1st year teacher in Palmer). Seemed like most of the people there were Saints fans but I wore my BLUE still!
The conference was at the downtown Sheraton hotel which is also where we stayed. Here is a view from the window!! Beautiful!
Below are Julane and Michael (aka Papa T). Zach and I spent a lot of time with them- they both work in the district as well. We had a great time! This picture was taken at Moose’s Tooth— a pizza place and brewery (I think)!
Zach apparently enjoyed the Moose’s Tooth beverages…
Here is the PT Cruiser Julane and Michael rented-it was fun to ride around in. Almost forgot what it was like to be inside a vehicle!
I <3 Moose! The lady at this store told me she had seen 7 moose on the interstate that morning!
We went to a chocolate factory and saw this Chocolate Fountain!
While in Anchorage, I bought new Backcountry skis as well as a dog harness so that Moose and I can go skijoring or I can just Cross Country Ski on my own. On Thursday evening Moose and I tried out the new skis with Megan and Lacy. DISASTER! Everything was going great… Moose pulled me over the lake to the very end of the new housing. We were just standing there on a snow drift and I fell over… don’t ask how. When I fell, the metal edge of my ski must have hit Moose in the leg and pulled off about a half inch of his skin/fur most of the way! It is now hanging on by a thread. I unhooked him and he still ran home but was bleeding. We wrapped it up with an ace wrap and duck tape (you could see the bone!) and then his foot swelled up really bad. I was pretty upset about all of this—not sure if I can make him pull me ever again the way that ended…
After loosening the wrap the swelling has gone down and although he limps sometimes after waking up from a nap, he still loves to run an play with the other dogs. I put these Notre Dame socks and a pair of booties on him for the long walk today- doesn’t he still look happy?!
Friday the kids celebrated Valentines Day at school… here are a few pictures that you may enjoy seeing:
This weekend was the JH basketball tournament at Kong. Kipnuk came and played 4 games. I got to keep the books for 3 of the games- LUCKY me! I’m getting good at this.
NOW… if you don’t see a blog again in the next couple of weeks don’t be surprised. I have 5 IEPs this month, 4 of which are 3-year re-evaluations! Sped teachers out there- I’m sure you know how I feel right now! Slightly stressed out and overwhelmed! In fact I should have spent the last few hours working on the 2 coming up this week instead of blogging but this was a little more exciting. Hope you enjoyed!
Since I am still sitting here waiting for my pictures to upload (takes forever with this internet!!) I thought I would add a few things to my 'Only in Alaska' update:
**My aides can take kids to the clinic if they seem to be sick. They just leave the school and walk to the clinic.
**When women are about to have a baby, they fly to Anchorage... alone... and have the baby... alone. 3 days later they fly back to the village with the brand new baby! I couldn't believe they go through all of that alone! As Jean, one of my aides told me, "We are tough women!"
**A few weeks ago we saw a ton of smoke near the village (maybe 2 miles away). I was in the store when it was first spotted and someone came in saying there was a plane wreck (very possible out here). I went out side and sure enough a HUGE black cloud of smoke. I went into minor panic mode... I was supposed to fly to Anchorage in a week. I thought, no way was I getting in a plane right after a plane wreck! TURNS out, it was just a snow machine that had caught on fire on the tundra! YIKES!
**People tend to say good morning at any time of the day
**Kids constantly say "THAT'S CHEAP!" when they aren't happy about something. (Example: Open Gym is over and I tell them it's time to go... their response is "That's Cheap" or "So Cheap".) (Example: They don't like the snack they get at extended day so they yell out "That's Cheap!".) One of my little students was even told me the principal was "SO CHEAP"... really?
**when kids are playing around, instead of saying "just kidding" they say "I JOKES"
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