Wrapping up the school year...

A few weeks ago was Cultural Heritage Week at school. My dad and brother, Eric, came in town for this week long event-- it was AWESOME! Basically during Cultural Heritage Week, community members and especially elders from Kong (and other villages) are invited to work with a group and teach kids how to do 'cultural' types of projects. Some of the things they make during the week are: bracelets, slingshots, dance fans, headdresses for Yuyuuraq dancing, piluguuks, knitting, crocheting, toy boats, checker boards, wooden spoons, ulu knives, and sleds. Students are also allowed to go out hunting during the week with permission of the parents. People who catch birds, beavers, and seals tend to donate them to the school during this week and the students then have a chance to learn to work on them (skin, gut and butcher).
Below is a picture of two of my students and me with swans-- they were so excited!


Here my buddy is with a Ptarmigan-- he was making it 'fly' around the gym and didn't want to let it go ;)

Below you can see that I was 'lucky' enough to get to separate the seal skin from the blubber/oil. I couldn't believe how thick this layer was!! The ulu knife is used to separate the two and then the oil is put into a bowl and left in the arctic entry way of a house. Within a couple of days the 'solid' oil becomes a 'liquid' oil.

This is a picture of the crew that worked together on the seal- I probably only worked for 10 minutes and my back was sore- wow do I respect the people that have to do numerous seals in a day!

Below is a picture of one of the students finishing up cutting the seal meat...

These girls were working on the headdresses which they can wear for Yuyuuraq dancing- they turned out beautiful!

One of the elders, Julia, came in and helped the girls make dance fans. Headdresses and dance fans are not commonly made in Kong because up until this year they weren't allowed to Yuuyuraq dance (the eskimo dancing they do) therefore they didn't need any headdresses or dance fans. Sheila has been trying for a few years to get it started but there have always been elders who said no. This year she asked again and a tribal council meeting and it was finally approved. The group is doing a GREAT job!

Another project some of the boys worked on were making wooden spoons. They started with logs and 'cut' them down to be spoons. These took a few days of hard work and a lot of patience. Pictured below are a student and Eric working on their spoons.


A group of boys also chose to make these... (Ice cutters???) I'm not sure of the name but they are used to cut blocks of ice apart from lakes and once melted, the water is used for drinking.

The younger boys (1st-4th) made boats which they could pull around in the puddles around the village. There are A LOT of muddy puddles!

These kids also worked on checkerboards throughout the week. They had so much fun!

The kindergarten boys began the week making slingshots. Later in the week 1st-4th graders also made slingshots. (Scary to think of all these little boys outside in the spring with slingshots! YIKES!)

A big group of boys are excited to show off their projects below!

The girls had a variety of projects to work on as well. This little girl chose to sew.

These girls were knitting and crocheting. The girl in the middle is working on making a hair net.

Every morning we would gather in the gym and watch the Yuyuuraq dancing. The kids wore their headdresses and used their dance fans as they finished. They were so proud of their work. After assemblies they would go to specific rooms to listen to elders speak to them for a while.


Ok on to something new! I THINK Moose is a dad. One of the students brought over her puppies and this one in particular reminded me of moose. He has white on the tips of each of his feet just like Moose, he has a big block head, thick fur, tons of excess skin, similar ears and snout. Not sure, but I have a feeling it may be Moose's baby :) When the student's dad found out that we were thinking they were possibly Moose's puppies he called the person he had just sold one to and told him he wanted the puppy back and they would give them the money back for it.

Last Saturday we had graduation and prom. Pictured are us gals at the graduation (Garnet,Rachel, Me, Sheila, Megan).

There were 8 preschoolers and 2 highschoolers who graduated...

After graduation was the prom. Prom Princess, Prince, King and Queen are in this picture.

I think the teachers had about as much fun as the students at the prom. This is a picture of Rachel, Sheila, Me, Garnet and Bernie.



During our last week of school we were SO BUSY! We have been packing up classrooms for a few weeks now and since we will be in the new school in August we decided to let the kids help load/unload boxes out of/into school (cheap labor and finished QUICK!). Some of the kids walked out to begin and others hitched a ride on a 4 wheeler. Below are the students making the mile journey to the new school...

The kids were all lined up and ready for the boxes to arrive. We kept half the kids at the old school to load the 4 wheelers/trailers and half at the new school to unload and place in the correct classrooms.

The kids actually created assembly lines on their own to pass the boxes up the stairs and into school. It was really cool to see everyone (teachers, students, parents) work together on this project.

After 2 days of hard work we finally hopped on the 4 wheelers and left the new school only to return again in August!

This is a picture of the new school aka the blue school!

This is a picture of the old school, the Red School.


On the last day of school we had a student v.s. teacher basketball game. Was only supposed to be 20 minutes long but lunch was running late so we ended up playing for an hour! I was so sore by the end but had so much fun!




NOW IT IS SUMMER!!!!! I stayed up until 4:30 am Friday packing our house and 5:30 Saturday packing the house. SO EXHAUSTED now as I sit in Bethel on Sunday. I think this is the first time I have just sat to relax in a month. I leave Bethel tomorrow (hoping to hop on the morning flight to Anchorage instead of the evening flight) and spending a night in Anchorage. Rachel, Sheila and I fly into Chicago on Tuesday! CAN'T wait! Hope to see everyone soon!!!!

Homer, Dead Seals, Moose(the real thing) and Moose (the dog)

WOW I haven’t blogged in a long time- it has been a BUSY end of the school year! Only 3 weeks of school left. This week we will have cultural heritage week all week. I will explain more in my next blog and show pictures—to make a long story short, it will be awesome. My dad and Eric are coming to Kong for the week as well. They should be getting here any time in the next 5 hours. You never know when a plane may decide to leave Bethel early.

So let me catch you up… after the last post, I met my friends Anne and Michelle in Anchorage for a mini vacation.

We borrowed Megan’s truck and her condo- Thanks Megan! Well…. As soon as we got to the condo, I put the car key in the hole and turned… BROKE the key! Luckily Megan is smart and keeps a spare key which I got copied and we were still able to go out and have fun. Michelle, Anne and I went out for pizza the first night and shopping. The next morning (Palm Sunday) we went to church downtown and then headed to Homer. Homer is about a 4-5 hour drive from Anchorage. My state mentor, Ed and his wife Sheryl have a house there as well as some cabins. If you ever plan to go to Homer I STRONGLY suggest you stay with them and book early- GREAT people, BEAUTIFUL land and view- “Moose Creek Cabins”. The drive from Anchorage to Homer is just amazing as well. We stopped at Portage Glacier (but couldn’t see it because of the clouds) along the way as well as just some stops to take pictures. I really can’t stress how fun it was just to get in a car/truck with some friends and take a roadtrip through the mountains.





When we got into Homer we went to the Salty Dog Café. This place has dollar bills ALLLLLL over the inside of it.


After the Salty Dawg Café we headed to Ed and Sheryls. Talked with them for a bit and then just enjoyed sitting in a hot tub overlooking the mountains. On our way back to Anchorage the next day, we saw a Moose and it’s baby in the middle of the road!



We basically finished up our trip with a lot of shopping. It was a short trip but so much fun!

When I got back to Kong Michele had to leave to head home to Indiana the same day. Sad but true.

So onto another week, another subject… Sheila called us one day and said Rod caught some seals and we should come over. So we did of course. We watched Sheila cut up and gut the seal. I took a video but I’m not sure how to post it on here so check out Facebook sometime. I did get a couple of pictures for you to see however! We cooked up the seal meat a couple of days later—it tasted exactly like beef liver to me- which I like. Rachel gagged because we made gag sounds to set her off (well Megan did). I don’t think she liked it so much ;)



Now as for an update on Moose.... he eats, plays, sleeps and poos. He is a HUGE SLOBERY BEAST these days. He will drive you nuts but is full of love. When we go out on walks and kids are around, Moose HAS to be the center of attention. What else is new. He runs up to them, rolls over on his back and expects to be pet and loved.

Moose smiling for the camera with snow/ice all over his face- just the way he likes it.

Moose digging in the snow-- he LOVES it! He looks like a little groundhog.


Also... RIP Peter the cat. He was a good cat and he was a bad cat. He sprayed on the furniture and we think he had tumors and was sick so he was 'put to sleep'. We miss that cat and I think he was Moose's best friend. What I don't miss is Moose eating the cat poo- glad that came to an abrupt stop.

Hmmmm so I think that is about it. I will post some Cultural Heritage Week information next week so you know what I am talking about. I land in Chicago May 18th… 24 days… but who is counting. Sheila and Rachel are coming back with me for about a week- they have never been to the Midwest!!! Should be a great time :O) From the Midwest they are going on to Maine. Welp I can’t wait to see you all soon!

Who's Hungry

So sad to say it but I think I cut up Rudolph!

Yesterday Rod (Sheila's husband) returned from hunting in EEK and had 2 caribou and a reindeer (the caribou is on the left and the reindeer is on the right).

We wanted to help butcher next time someone got a caribou even though Michele turns white at the sight of a dead animal! We headed over at about 8:30 last night ready to work. When I walked in the door (I arrived later than the other girls because I went to a friends house for dinner) they told me to pick up the heart and get a picture. I wasn't afraid so I picked up this heart, nearly the size of my head, and smiled for a picture. Michele turned around and apparently worked hard to keep the vomit down. She was in for a long night.

Sheila had some akutaq (eskimo ice cream) waiting for me when I arrived :) After eating, the ulu knives were brought out and the skinning began. Luckily the animals were already gutted (that's the smelly part) and we needed to start cutting of the skin. Wasn't too hard- just had to make sure I didn't get any of the meat on the skin and waste it. Sheila kept the fur from the caribou neck because that is used for dance fans. While skinning the animals we also cut off the calves of all the legs. Dolores, a new friend and parent of a student here, told me I was now 'qualified' for a husband because I can cut up the animals. We will see about that ;)



Took maybe a couple of hours but we skinned BOTH animals and took a break. Next we had to take wet paper towels and began wiping the hairs (MANY of them) off of the bodies. We then cut off the legs and from there cut the meat off of the bones and into roast size pieces. After the pieces were cut we washed them again to get off as much hair as possible. While we did this Sheila worked on sawing the ribs so they weren't as huge. We bagged all of the rinsed meat so that people from the village could come by today, Sunday, and get meat. This work was exhausting. Rachel, Michele and I left at about 1:30 because we were so tired. Sheila and Rod were saving the rest of the work for the next day. We got a lot more finished than they had expected :) This is a picture of us at the end of the night-- wiped out...

Sheila sent some meat home with us and Rod drove us by 4 wheeler so we wouldn't have to make the walk. It was FREEZING out- unfortunately I don't know the temperature. On Thursday I walked to school without a hat or gloves and didn't feel too bad. Found out that afternoon it had been -20 not including the windchill. I MUST be getting used to this cold weather.

I also wanted to let you all see the MAMMOTH TOOTH! Gideon, the 2nd grade teacher, was out hunting at the beginning of the school year and found it. Apparently mammoth bones/tusks/teeth have been found in this area. It's pretty awesome is all I have to say.

Ice Road, Dr. Bob, SRA, & Hospital!

After a lonnnnngggg bad week last week (to say the least), I am off to a great start this week! Sunday I flew into Bethel for another SRA training. I am starting the SRA program at our school and therefore the District Office flew me into Bethel because a lady came in from Colorado to train/coach us all day Monday. When I flew in, a friend picked me up at the airport with another friend’s car. I stayed at Julane and Michael’s house, my friends I talked about from the Anchorage conference, while they were out of town and borrowed their car. They both work in Bethel. What a GREAT help that was! Sunday night I was able to go shopping and pick up dinner without having to walk in -35 degree weather or paying for a cab. Monday I went to the District Office for the training, which was great by the way, and took Moose to the vet right after. I e-mailed the vet last week about Moose’s leg and attached a picture to the e-mail. The vet said he wanted to see him when he was in town. He comes in once a month and luckily this was the week he was in town- couldn’t have worked out better! The vet said to keep it wrapped and not let him lick the wound at all... whoops- Megan and Garnet swore that would help HEAL the wound so I left it uncovered for a week or two! That’s right, I’m calling you two out on this issue! I brought Moose in and the vet said as long as he doesn’t lick it- he thinks it should heal. He could give him stitches but the wound is in a bad spot for stitches because they would be really tight. Living in bush Alaska, so far from a vet, it was probably more of a danger to go with the stitches. Moose didn’t need any special meds or anything! He did however get… dun dun dun… the cone of shame (for those of you that have seen the movie UP, you will appreciate this). Let me tell you… Moose was thrilled!!! When the vet first put the cone on Moose turned his head fast and WHACKED me right in the head. I guess I deserved that. (I’ll try to put a video of Moose’s reaction to the cone on facbook).

After the vet I brought Moose back to the house. Zach (another 1st year teacher in Bethel- he too was in Anchorage at the conference) and I went on an adventure! There are many of these in Alaska ☺ We went for a drive- on the ICE ROAD! It was weird, scary, and thrilling all at the same time for me to drive in the middle of a river that in August I traveled on by boat and caught my first salmon!

While we were driving we passed a lot of fish camps (used in the winter but especially in the summer) and people out on the river ice fishing.

We drove all the way to Oscarville, a village of about 70 people. Oscarville is only about 5 miles from Bethel but still. In the summer they can only travel to/from the village by boat because it is on an island (I think it’s an island but regardless, there are no vehicles and no planes). In the winter they travel by car or ‘snow machine/ snow go’, Alaskan for snowmobile. It was sooooo nice to be able to just get in a car and drive around- I miss driving. Below is a picture of Oscarville.

We also passed a lot of fish camps on the drive.

After going for a drive, Zach and I went out to dinner and had Sushi. I know, sounds scary eating Sushi in Bethel, AK- but it was delicious! At dinner we ran into the SRA trainer and the guy from the DO who organized the training. After dinner we decided to visit his neighbor/friend, Jackie, the vet’s secretary and her family. Dr. Bob- Moose’s vet was there as well. (Dr. Bob works with some of the Iditarod dogs!) They too were about to head out for Sushi (I wanted to sing ‘It’s a Small World After All). Anyway, I can stop blabbing now- it’s probably getting boring but it was much more eventful than a school day in Kong would have been… well maybe.

ANNNNDDD I'm adding onto this blog as I wait for pictures to upload...
I returned from Bethel on Tuesday and went back in on Wednesday! Michele was sick Tuesday night with a lot of stomach pain and nausea. She went to the clinic (we were worried she had appendicitis) and they gave her tylenol and sent her home. Wednesday morning they called her to come in again and ended up sending her to Bethel. She asked me to go with her so I left school early and we took the next available flight. Unfortunately we were on weather hold and had to wait an hour for a flight to come... could have been much worse. When we were approaching Bethel I noticed the pilot turned around (7 times!!!!) because the weather wasn't ok for landing. I was stressed and anxious. 1. I don't do well with vomiting 2. I just wanted to be on the ground. Luckily we were able to land in Bethel, got a cab and went to the ER.
3 shots, 1 IV, blood drawn, morphine, anti nausea medication, catscan, and 2 bags of fluid later Michele was sent home for the night. Her bloodwork showed a possibility of pancreatitis- YIKES. The doctor wanted to see her in the morning. We stayed at Julane and Michaels again and headed back to the hospital in the morning. They took her blood again and all levels were normal so she was free to go back to Kong. Could have been an Ovarian Syst and the flu... not exactly sure. She was definitely feeling better :)
Considering the circumstances, Michele and I managed to have a good time in Bethel. Could have been the morphine- but there was a lot of laughing. *When I called for a cab I could see it coming in the distance. I pointed it out to Michele and she said, "So all Red Trucks here are cabs?" No, not the red truck... the vehicle with the 4 numbers on top of it is the taxi. *When Michele was finally in a room, the doctor poked his head in and said abdomen or rash? We responded abdomen. He responded "cuase if it's a rash I'm NOT going in there!" *Later at the hospital a machine in Michele's room kept beeping and the screen said to press stop. Well the doctor came in and could NOT figure it out. Finally I was like... ummm just press stop and pointed to the stop button. He wanted to hire me after that one but I rejected. *When Michele was released the first night she started to grab the IV and said "So I just pull this out?" The doc was like "NO- hurry up and get in here to help this girl out she's trying to do it herself!" ....just a few of the examples.
This morning (Friday) when I woke up it was 53 degrees in our house! COOOLLLLD! All 4 dogs (we are watching all dogs since Megan and Rachel are out of town for spring break) jumped on my bed during the night because I had an electric blanket. They were actually shivering. I ran to school in the morning and our reliable maintenance guys came and fixed the heat. A couple of hours later I was in the office talking about how my room is always cold because of where it is located in our house (or so I thought). Nick, the maintenance guy was like "oh you probably have an air pocket... I'll come fix that too." TURNS OUT... all I had to do was open the vents! I am so dumb some times. I have been FREEZING for 3 months in my room... so bad that I sleep in the living room quite often... and all I had to do was open the vents. WELP now it is warm at least. This evening I made chicken and dumplins (with Grandma's recipe) and pumpkin bread. Garnet and Margaret came over- it was delicious if I do say so myself. Now it's time to relax and enjoy what is left of my break.
(These are pictures I took on a 10 minute walk today- it was soo cold I couldn't handle any longer)