What a Week!

This week was incredibly busy! With only eight weeks of school left, there is a lot going on. We had parent teacher conferences, a community night at the school, our union meeting to prepare for negotiations, and preparing for testing coming up in just a few short weeks.

How do I deal with all of these things, you may ask? Well, it's quite simple. I do one of three things:

The biscuits I made last week. They are all gone now.

1) I try to cook. The reason try is included in that statement is because I'm a horrible cook. I've been getting mildly better as my time out here, living on my own, surviving on what food I'm able to prepare for myself, has gone on. I made biscuits at the end of last week. They tasted good, but were very small compared to what I had planned on.

Beads for our earring making

This is a perfect example of the earring i was trying to make

2) I do crafts. I've been trying to teach myself for a few weeks how to knit and I've finally got the idea. That doesn't mean I'm very good at it, though. Also, my friend showed me how to make some lovely earrings. I don't have any supplies as of right now to make them, but it was a lot of fun and I'm planning on trying to make some more. The earring I made wasn't nearly as good as the one that my friend made, but I think with some more practice I'll get better.

My earrings, I made the one on the right

3) Yoga. One of the other teachers got me involved with yoga. I never realized how much of a workout it can be. We usually start off our yoga meetings with a time of venting about school. These are the only times during the week that we might have a chance to get some of this off of our chest with people who actually know what we are going through. Then we actually do yoga, which is really a lot more fun than I thought. My kids like to look at me and laugh when they see that I'm going to yoga, but then when I show them yoga moves in class, they are impressed.

The beginning of my scarf project. Finished project pictures to come

Soon my snow machine that I bought last week will be fixed and I will have a fourth activity I can do after a crazy busy week at school. In the lower 48 a teacher may relax by going to a movie or shopping. But that isn't as easy out here as it is in those places. These are the ways I have solved my problem of needing to do something that doesn't take too much concentration and that I can do as I want. In two weeks we have testing so this week at school will be a lot of preparation for that. I hope you all have a wonderful week and if you do happen to have other ideas of activities, please let me know what they are!

Happy St. Patrick's Day in the Village

Cute little sled used to bring a child to the post office

Warming up

Learning how to bat

Well this week had lots of sunshine and good times out here in the village!! It was the last week of the quarter, so my kids got a lot of work done at school. However, outside of school was all fun and games.

This week I bought a snow machine from one of the other teacher's who is leaving. She sold it to me for a really good price. I'm going to have to improve my upper body strength, though, because to start it, you have to pull a choke. Let's face the facts, I have weeny arms! Even so, I'm sure friends will be willing to help me start it and learn how to drive it as well.

On Friday, one of the teacher's celebrated her 30th birthday! We all got together and ate cake and had a fabulous time. Her husband and another male teacher put the candles on her cake for her. After she blew them all out, she found out that they put 51 candles on it! Ah, the sources of entertainment we can find out here in the village.

We also had a fun day playing in the sun. One of the married couples received wiffle balls and a bat, so we set up a field in our little courtyard between all the teacher housing area. Everyone came out to play, including two of the children who hadn't ever played before. It was a lot of fun. We didn't keep score or anything, just a fun day playing outside in the beautiful sunshine.

One more quarter and then this school year will be over!! It sure has flown by!! I can't believe my first year of teaching is coming to an end. I've learned so much from my amazing group of students, from the teachers in my village, and from the culture I live in now. I've also become more confident in my abilities as a teacher. I'm more sure of myself and what I can do. It has been an amazing experience and a great year.

Our cheering section

Contracts were due on Friday and I had turned mine in. This means another year of living in the  good old white north. There will be some changes, though. For instance, instead of teaching seventh grade, I will be teaching kindergarten or first grade. It's quite a big leap. There are also many other changes going on in our school district next year. I'm excited to be a part of it all. Thank you everyone for your continued support and prayer. Hope you enjoy the rest of the pictures in this week's update!

Running the bases with a baby on her hip :)

Daddy helping bat and run the bases

My new ride!!

Happy Birthdays, All Around!

Special Olympics was held here a few weeks ago.
This was the snowshoe race competition.

Despite a week that wasn't overly busy, we had a fairly busy day yesterday! Let's start with a few things we did this week:

One of the teachers had a visitor. Her boyfriend came to the village for the week. It was interesting to see the village through another person's eyes. The kids were obsessed with him! When we went to the cafe for a different teacher's birthday, the two little girls that were there kept staring at him and saying hello to him. It was a lot of fun. Later that evening we had a game night and just had fun.

Birthday dinner at the Cafe.

Also, three of my students went to district in another village for the science fair. They were there for two days and did a very good job. One of them received second place in her category, but we aren't sure yet if she is going to state. Another student from our school is going to be going to state, and we are all very proud of him.

Then there was another teacher with a birthday. He is the teacher that has been in our village the longest and has two children. We went over to their house and had cake and hung out. His oldest child is so adorable. We played with him and danced with him and had a good time.

Playing cards with an oversized lap dog

There were two other birthdays this week. One of them was a student of mine. She was so excited about her birthday. We didn't have school on her birthday, either, so that was fun, too. The other birthday was the grandpa of one of my other students and the father of a coworker. He turned ninety years old yesterday.

Sorry it is so blurry, but it is a piece of
whale meat. It tasted pretty good

Joe's birthday was a big celebration. It isn't every day that a village member turns ninety! It was such a fun party. Everyone in the village came out, plus a few people from another village flew over for the day. We all brought food and had a huge potluck. The elder ladies made some delicious cakes and there was an Eskimo dance after we ate. I didn't stay for the dance, though, because my students were playing ball at the gym.

My kids playing basketball

It was sort of a pick up game with the closest village. Unfortunately, I only made it to the boy's last game, but the girls did good and won both of their games. The boys didn't win, but I really enjoyed cheering them on and watching them play. My students are very talented and as I was talking with a few of the parents, we said that when my students are old enough to play senior high basketball, we should have a really talented team.

All in all, it was an eventful week. Unfortunately, I didn't take lots of pictures, especially of what we did Saturday and the birthday party of the older teacher, but it was a lot of fun. Some of the pictures this week are older that I meant to put on a long time ago and just hadn't. I hope you enjoyed this week's blog!

Science Fair in the Bush

Spring is on the way! March is here!! It was quite an exciting week. We had the Science Fair, basketball games, and a Lap Game all in one day! I wish I could have made it to all the events, but I did get to judge the Science Fair for the first time, which was quite fun. Our students did a great job on their projects.

All the Science Fair boards set up

We've been working on these projects for a long time, basically all of February and a little bit of January. A few of the studets were extremely excited about it, others not so much. My students had a total of four groups- one of three students, one of one student, and the other two each had two students in the group. 

Two of these groups were so excited about it that I hardly had to do anything to help them. They did the whole project by themselves. It was very interesting to watch them work, and it also freed up my time to help the other two groups.

Handing out awards

One student did a project titled, "Does Listening To Drums Alter Your Heart Rate." This student wond first place in district last year, but because of the grade the student was in, was unable to go to state. This year, however is different. This student put in a lot of work, coming in every day after school for a few hours to get more done on the board for the project. My student was correct in her hypothesis that your heart rate is altered by drumming. This student won first place for Junior High in our village. 

My students' project demonstrating how lungs work

The second group I didn't have to help did their project on "What is Different in Three Types of Water?" The students tested three types of water- Brita, straight from the faucet, and snow. They tested these types of water three different times with a zero tester. They also looked for slime on top of the water. My students were right in their hypothesis that snow had the least amount of particles in it. They also put in a lot of work and were able to get second place in the Junior High group for our village. 

My students' Science Fair projects set up for judging

Both of these groups of students will be going to districts next week. Please pray for safe travel and I'm hoping that they win. If they place in district, they will earn a trip to Anchorage for state Science Fair. My students are smart and I think they have what it takes to go all the way. I hope you enjoyed reading about my student's projects.

Potlatch-The Traditions of a Historic Culture

Well, this weekend was, for lack of a better word, UNBELIEVABLE!!! I learned so much about the culture of these people that I have been living with this year. I learned about how they make different parts for their ritual Potlatch as well as a lot about the Potlatch itself. It was a very big learning experience for my roommate, who was allowed to participate in her first dance this year and had a lot of things to do to prepare for this event. 

Many of these fan-like things were hanging from the ceiling

Let me back up a minute. Potlatch is the biggest event of the year in the Yup'ik villages. It is where mostly children have their very first dance. I've mentioned Eskimo dancing in other blogs, but this one is the one where you become a part of the community; sort of like a rite of passage into becoming an adult. The typical age to have your first dance is around the age of 10. Of our staff of sixteen teachers, only three had participated before this year, and one of those is a native man, so he did it as a child. This year, another teacher joined this rare group. She has told me a lot about it and how mentally and physically exhausting it is not only from learning the moves for your specific dance, but also for all the preparation one has to do to be ready for this dance.

Boots made mostly of seal skin

Each dance represents something. The words and movements go together to tell a story. Unfortunately, many of the young people don't understand the words and many of the stories that the dances are telling have been forgotten. My coworker and I tried to figure out what the dances meant as we watched, but it was quite confusing to us. 

Fans, made of caribou fur and owl underarm patches. 

The Potlatch goes on for three nights. The first night is the longest. Everyone does their first dance as well as many dances added in for the community who has already danced. The second night is a little bit shorter because it is just the first dancers dancing. One of my students informed me that first dancers from other villages would come dance at our Potlatch on the second night. The third night is where anyone can dance. The new dancers are allowed to dance to any song they want, as opposed to the specific ones they danced the nights before.

Headdress, made from wolf fur and wedding dress embroidery

Night one started out with a speech from one of the elders. It was all in Yup'ik, so I was't exactly sure what he was saying, but I'm pretty sure it was something about the traditions and customs that go along with Potlatch. Then we had a prayer by the Priest from the Catholic Church. Then the dancing began. People wore their headdresses, Qaspaks, belts, boots, and had fans in their hands. Qaspaks are fancy shirts, the boots are traditional style, mostly made from seal skin, but occasionally cow. The belts are not like our belts in that they don't fasten in the front. I've been told that any time other than Potlatch you wear a belt to show that you have had a family member pass away recently. The headdresses are my favorite because of how unique and beautiful they are. The picture of one I have here belongs to one of my students. 

Handing out gifts to the people, better gifts go to elders 

Before a person is allowed to do their first dance on the first night, they must hand out gifts. These gifts include candy, soda, akutaq (Eskimo ice cream) dishes, paper towels, and things for elders like shovels, seal skins, and buckets. They have their family members and friends that have already danced help them pass out all of these things. The first night is the biggest amount of these items, so it takes the longest. Then they begin the dance by singing through it once without doing the movements. Once they have gone through the song one full time, they dance. The dances are beautiful and rhythmic. I think my favorite thing is how after you go through your dance one full time by yourself everyone else who has already had their first dance is allowed to join you. A massive crowd envelopes the dancers, their family members standing closest to them and friends fanning out around them. It is wonderful.

My roommate's first dance. People joined
her after she did it once through by herself

Something else I found very interesting is how many times they repeat a dance. The elders sit in the front rows. They watch very closely. If someone messes up during the dance, it is believed that an elder who has passed on is "being mischief" with them. If this happens, the present day elders will have them do the dance again until the passed on elders stop toying with them and allow the dancers to do it perfectly. I thought this was a very interesting concept.

This was called a stand up dance. No one used fans,
 instead they all had gloves on
 and the boys were standing as well instead of kneeling on padded floors.

On the second night, things were a little different. The dancers began by handing out all of the things they brought first at the same time. This made the night flow a little more smoothly because we weren't stopping every so often to get more things. They also had two dances called Stand Up Dances. In a normal dance, there is a pad on the floor in front of the women dancers that the men dancers will kneel on to dance from. The drummers are behind the female dancers. However, in the Stand Up Dances, there was no pad on the floor and the men dancers stood among the women dancers. Also, instead of folding around the padded floor, they had about four rows. No one had on their headdresses or had out their fans. They had on gloves, instead. It was so very interesting to watch. After they did two Stand Up Dances, the first dancers began to do their dances again. Everything else was pretty much the same as the night before. 

I loved Potlatch. It was a lot of fun and a very interesting experience. I look forward to watching it some more next year. I hope you understand a little more about the culture and these people. They have a very beautiful history. Their way of life that they have had for the past four thousand years is truly incredible.

The Beauty of Snow Drifts

I don't have an awful lot to post about this week, even though it was a holiday. But the three main things I would like to tell you about are Valentine's Day, power and water outages, and snow drifts.

Gifts from all my family members

Valentine's Day has always been my least favorite holiday. I don't think it makes sense to devote one day to love. If you truly love someone it should be every day. This hallmark holiday is just something I see as a day to force couples to be romantic and make single people feel sorry for themselves. My students saw it as an opportunity for a party. My coworkers and I celebrated with dinner at the cafe. I also received gifts from  my parents and grandparents. I still don't love the holiday, but I truly love my students, my coworkers, and my parents.

Happy Valentine's Day- Heart made out of candy by one of the teachers.

Another thing we dealt with a lot this week were power outages and water outages. In fact, on Thursday we had to let the students out early because of not having water. It never fails that when I'm told the water or sewer is out in the village, I have to go to the bathroom immediately. Fortunately for me, so far, the water hasn't ever gone out for a very long time. But we did have our longest bout of power outages this weekend. The power was out for almost an hour on Saturday morning. My roommate had walked to pick up buckets for her potlatch dance from the store and had to wait around for nearly an hour before she was able to head back with her purchase. Hopefully, as spring comes along, we will have less and less of these outages.

Lovely drift outside of our assistant principal and counselor's house.

Lastly, I wanted to talk about how much I love the way the snow forms snow drifts out here. It makes me laugh to walk in the village and see one spot with tons of snow right next to a bare space. The houses are the worst. It piles up right next to them. Of course, we can have loads of fun with that. I haven't done much playing in the snow, but I feel as though snow drifts are the best to play in.

This week was semi eventful. I'm still really looking forward to next weekend when we will have our village potlatch. Pictures will be plentiful! May the Lord bless you and keep you over the next week!

Moose Catches, Cold Catches and A Couple Days of Snow

It's been a while since my last post so I figured I would update my readers on the last two weeks of my life here in the good ole frozen North. It certainly hasn't been anything too amazing for me, but my friends, the other teachers have had a few awesome events happen.

My beautiful snow angel that I made

"Mmm, this snow is so yummy!"

The first thing that happened with two of the other teachers was a week ago, on Super Bowl Sunday. You see, instead of sitting around watching people tackle each other over a pigskin like the rest of the world, two adventurous women set out on a journey to capture a mighty northern beast. Their adventure began with their native guides, one of which was a student from my class.  They set off along the path southeast of the village. While the world was waiting for power to return to the most important game of the year, shots rang out across the tundra. Two girls from the Lower 48 took aim and shot a moose each! Their very first catches ever meant a tremendous victory for each of these women. And while the exhilaration of their first kill pumped through their veins, they began the work of cutting up these magnificent animals. 

"Help me! I can't get out!!"

Your first kill in the village means donation time. After cleaning and cutting, the meat is distributed around town to those who need it; elders, families, what have you. The task at hand is not easy, but the girls managed to pass out all of their meat by eleven o'clock the following evening after having worked all day at school. It was a very exciting accomplishment for both ladies and I am proud of them.

My roommate getting her things together for her
first official dance in Potlatch this year.
She has her hat, belt, and boots here in this picture.

 Unfortunately I've been suffering from a head cold for the past few days so I wasn't able to embark on another adventure with some of my coworkers. However, they were able to go on a twenty mile drive down the river to cheer on our high school boys basketball team. Four teachers found themselves in another village, much smaller than ours. They had a wonderful time, and I was very jealous I missed out. On their way back, they almost missed the path, but thankfully made it home all in one piece before the storm blew in.

Practicing for Potlatch

We also had a visitor this week. It is always a good time when the tech guy comes, especially when we break out the dog toys. The video below is of our tug-of-war competition. The snow goggles are a safety precaution. Unfortunately I didn't get much of it because I'm still getting used to my camera, but it is a combination of tug-of-war and the Native Youth Olympic stick pull. I dare you to have as much fun as we did playing this crazy game!


 That's about it for this week's blog. I'm looking forward to two weeks from now when our village has Potlatch. I'm  sure it will be very exciting, I will have lots of pictures of that events and hopefully many more stories. My roommate will be dancing at Potlatch, which is an extreme honor. For my prayer warriors out there, please pray for me that I will get over this cold ASAP! Thanks, and God Bless!