They are so thrilled when I ask them to pose! That's H's new kuspuk --- traditional clothing for the Yup'ik people. I apologize that it's sideways but I'm tired of messing with these pics today.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Pride and Joy
They are so thrilled when I ask them to pose! That's H's new kuspuk --- traditional clothing for the Yup'ik people. I apologize that it's sideways but I'm tired of messing with these pics today.
Basketball
Akula Schools is hosting the basketball games for our neck of the tundra this weekend. Three villages came in yesterday and played ball until 10:30 last night. Then we all played again this morning. Now we're all tired and want to go home -- more on that down below.
Akula won both games yesterday and even went into overtime. It was exciting and I didn't get any technicals! Then this morning we got romped..... so sad.
Now, everyone has had lunch, the bags are packed,the rooms are cleaned and no airplanes are flying. Sooo.... two of the teams are stuck in Akula. Which also means that our high school team is stuck somewhere. One team used snowgoes to get here so they are gone and of course, my team just walked home. Now we're trying to figure out what to serve for supper. And find someone to cook it.
District rules require travelers to bring bedding and clothing even if you don't plan to spend the night. And that's the same if you fly or snowgo. You must go prepared to stay overnight because the weather can change so quickly. During winter everyone must wear heavy insulated boot and snowpants. You cannot fly without them. You must be prepared for a crash. If you snowgo you are supposed to carry weapons. If it is below -35F you cannot travel.
So.... we wait.
It is 36F and raining now. We need snow and cold! Who would have believed I'd be begging for that!!
Akula won both games yesterday and even went into overtime. It was exciting and I didn't get any technicals! Then this morning we got romped..... so sad.
Now, everyone has had lunch, the bags are packed,the rooms are cleaned and no airplanes are flying. Sooo.... two of the teams are stuck in Akula. Which also means that our high school team is stuck somewhere. One team used snowgoes to get here so they are gone and of course, my team just walked home. Now we're trying to figure out what to serve for supper. And find someone to cook it.
District rules require travelers to bring bedding and clothing even if you don't plan to spend the night. And that's the same if you fly or snowgo. You must go prepared to stay overnight because the weather can change so quickly. During winter everyone must wear heavy insulated boot and snowpants. You cannot fly without them. You must be prepared for a crash. If you snowgo you are supposed to carry weapons. If it is below -35F you cannot travel.
So.... we wait.
It is 36F and raining now. We need snow and cold! Who would have believed I'd be begging for that!!
Monday, January 7, 2008
The Christmas Saga
School was out on December 21. That was Friday and by Sunday morning all the staff were out of the village. Except the Ward Family. We opted to stay in Akula over the holidays. Since we were getting three weeks, we decided to take the middle week and fly to Anchorage. We're back in Akula and this is our story.
The first weekend we all just slept. Something about being tired from school! Then Christmas Eve we borrowed the school's snow-go and went over to Akiuk -- that's the other half of Kasigluk (across the river and about 1 1/2 miles down the Johnson River.) The Mister and I rode on the snow-go and the two kids got the sled behind. We went down through "town" and out on to the river. Trucks passed us by. Kids on snow-goes passed us by. It was like a super highway -- right on the river! We were having a ball! We got to the Moravian Church and watched the Christmas program. Then they did the gift exchange. We came home and had dinner about 9:00 that night. It was -12 for that trip.
On the 27th it snowed and the wind did blow. No planes were out at all. On the 28th Yute Air picked us up and off to Anchorage we went. Ooops.... not yet.... We missed the morning flight on Alaska Air so we sat at the airport for half a day. Yay! Finally arrived in Anchorage.
We were renting a car but when the Mister checked in they offered him a Ford 150 --- guess what he picked! By lifting one leg and hopping as close as possible to the truck and having the Mister grab my hand from the other side --- I, too, could ride up high with the rest of the family!
Fifteen minutes later we're on our way downtown. Oh, a car is stopped. Oh, look there are 2 cross-country skiers crossing the street. Oh, what was that? Yep. We'd been rear-ended. Not a mark on the truck but the poor guy's car is a mess. And guess what? When you rent, you HAVE to have a police report. Two hours later we were checking into the hotel. Later that night we actually had to change rooms because the tv didn't work.
Saturday we shopped and drove south to Whittier. We went to Portage Glacier --- which wasn't there. And then, we drove through a tunnel (2 1/2 miles!) to see Whittier. This is a port that a lot of cruise ships sail into and then they bus passengers into Achorage. The tunnel was extremely interesting and the mountains were ----- spectacular.
On Sunday we drove to about 80 south of Denali -- the BIG mountain. We got a late start and darkness caught us too soon. We did get to see our first and second moose.
We spent our week mainly shopping and learning our way around Anchorage. On Thursday we drove down to Seward. It was a beautiful drive and we went to the Marine Aquarium / Research Center. Had it almost to ourselves.
We got back to Kasigluk on Saturday night. No running water. No sewer drainage. It's been as low as -19 since then and today the windchill is -30. The school maintenance man has been working to get heat to the pipes. We have water and sewer at the school but it sure is a pain to get dressed for the arctic just to go pee. Oh, and last night the sewer backed up and it's all over bathroom. And the phone hasn't worked since Thanksgiving.
Well, Happy New Year to all. We really do like it here. We are happy and safe and usually warm. We are making friends slowly but surely. We are on our way to surviving our first Eskimo winter! Come see us!
The first weekend we all just slept. Something about being tired from school! Then Christmas Eve we borrowed the school's snow-go and went over to Akiuk -- that's the other half of Kasigluk (across the river and about 1 1/2 miles down the Johnson River.) The Mister and I rode on the snow-go and the two kids got the sled behind. We went down through "town" and out on to the river. Trucks passed us by. Kids on snow-goes passed us by. It was like a super highway -- right on the river! We were having a ball! We got to the Moravian Church and watched the Christmas program. Then they did the gift exchange. We came home and had dinner about 9:00 that night. It was -12 for that trip.
On the 27th it snowed and the wind did blow. No planes were out at all. On the 28th Yute Air picked us up and off to Anchorage we went. Ooops.... not yet.... We missed the morning flight on Alaska Air so we sat at the airport for half a day. Yay! Finally arrived in Anchorage.
We were renting a car but when the Mister checked in they offered him a Ford 150 --- guess what he picked! By lifting one leg and hopping as close as possible to the truck and having the Mister grab my hand from the other side --- I, too, could ride up high with the rest of the family!
Fifteen minutes later we're on our way downtown. Oh, a car is stopped. Oh, look there are 2 cross-country skiers crossing the street. Oh, what was that? Yep. We'd been rear-ended. Not a mark on the truck but the poor guy's car is a mess. And guess what? When you rent, you HAVE to have a police report. Two hours later we were checking into the hotel. Later that night we actually had to change rooms because the tv didn't work.
Saturday we shopped and drove south to Whittier. We went to Portage Glacier --- which wasn't there. And then, we drove through a tunnel (2 1/2 miles!) to see Whittier. This is a port that a lot of cruise ships sail into and then they bus passengers into Achorage. The tunnel was extremely interesting and the mountains were ----- spectacular.
On Sunday we drove to about 80 south of Denali -- the BIG mountain. We got a late start and darkness caught us too soon. We did get to see our first and second moose.
We spent our week mainly shopping and learning our way around Anchorage. On Thursday we drove down to Seward. It was a beautiful drive and we went to the Marine Aquarium / Research Center. Had it almost to ourselves.
We got back to Kasigluk on Saturday night. No running water. No sewer drainage. It's been as low as -19 since then and today the windchill is -30. The school maintenance man has been working to get heat to the pipes. We have water and sewer at the school but it sure is a pain to get dressed for the arctic just to go pee. Oh, and last night the sewer backed up and it's all over bathroom. And the phone hasn't worked since Thanksgiving.
Well, Happy New Year to all. We really do like it here. We are happy and safe and usually warm. We are making friends slowly but surely. We are on our way to surviving our first Eskimo winter! Come see us!
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