Notit and Bat

The Mr. and I have P.E. with our students every day. We spend 30 minutes a day in the gym and play games and run races and whatever. We have found that most games here are the same as the lower 48. However, names are different. Take for instance the name of this post. Read it. Say it. It took us a while to figure the first one out. Do you know what it is? Sure you do... Say it again. Say it slowly ..... one syllable at a time..... Not..... It...... it's what they call "tag" up here in the Bush. Cracked us up when we figured out what they were begging us to play.
Notit -- one word, don't ya know!

Bat..... this is indoor baseball / softball. Two teams.... one bat.... one foamy ball.... Team A is in the outfield and Team B lines up behind the batter (but out of the way of the bat).... Team A's pitcher stands beside the batter and throws the ball up in the air.... the batter hits or misses.... only gets one try..... BUT... he can run or get back in line....OR he may decide to run later.... There are no bases..... just run to the end of the gym and back without getting hit with the ball....You can run to the end of the gym and wait, too.....just don't get hit. Now, if someone does get hit, then team A and B change places.... unless someone from Team B hits someone from Team A before they can get lined up! Runs don't count and no one keeps score.... the winning team is whichever one is up to bat when time is called. It's crazy.... but they LOVE to play it.

Thanksgiving is over.... I'm working in my room at school... it's 6:55pm and I'm now going home to eat dinner. Kids will be here tomorrow --- 15 days of class and then it's Christmas Break! YAY!

Pilgrims, Fire Drills, Yup'ik Dancing

My class celebrated today with Pilgrims and Indians and Friendship Salad. A really good friend from Holdenville so very graciously shared her patterns and ideas. We all had a VERY good time. The fire alarm went off in the middle of it all. So you can see we were all in a hurry to get back inside.

Yesterday we ate lunch with the community. Turkey, dressing.... all the good stuff. I asked one of the teachers what a traditional meal would be this week in a Yup'ik household. She looked at me kind of funny and said, "Turkey, of course!" However, it will be white bread --- no cornbread dressing up here. Except at our house. We are going to eat with some other teachers and watch the parades and ballgames and generally veg out.

After lunch today (which was leftovers from yesterday) the kids danced for us. They were great. They wore traditional headresses and fans. The boys always sit in front and the girls stand behind. Three or four boys play the drums and sing. This picture is not typical of Yup'ik Dancing but they enjoyed themselves. It has been a good week and now everyone is out and going visiting.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!! from your Alaska Friends

Trip to Bethel

We did it! The Mr. and I made our first trip to Bethel. He plotted the trail last week when he brought the snow go back from town. We got up Saturday morning and it was -18 with no windchill. We got dressed and waited to see if the temp would go up. It didn't. So... we left Akula at 11:00 and got to Bethel at 12:54. Two hours to go 28 miles. I WAS SOOOOOO COLD!!! Wow! My helmet froze from the inside so I couldn't see the second half of the trip. I got motion sick. I couldn't tell if we were turning or going up or down. It was like being in a white balloon. I couldn't lift the face mask because I couldn't stand the cold air.

The first thing we did was go to the new Chinese restaurant across from AC. AC and Swanson's are the two grocery stores in Bethel. I walked in and ordered hot tea ---- I "never" order hot tea; but, I was frozen. We ate lunch and I told the Mr. I had to have more clothes. So we walked over to the grocery store to get some. We had planned on buying groceries at the other place. We ended up buying everything at AC. It was just easier.

Here's a glimpse of what we paid:

box of cornmeal $6.49
Honey Bunches of Oats (2) $10.00
3lbs. Folgers $17.55
Gallon of ice cream $15.99
Whole Boneless ham $20.50
Little Smokies $7.39
Tomatoes $3.99 lb.
Potatoes $1.48lb.
Celery $1.50 lb.
Lg. Tostitos $9.99
Lg. Ketchup $4.35
Eagle Brand Milk $4.65
Evaporated Milk $2.29

And, had we not gone after ourselves we would have paid a handling charge and air freight. (about a 1/3 of our total bill.)

We got home about 7 that night. We were exhausted. My back is sore all over. We have a back rest and it makes the ride so much better, but my back.....

We can't wait to go again. However, we'll probably hold out for over "0" degrees for next time!

Fire, 15 Years and a New Snow Go

Two weeks ago we had a fire in the village. The home burned completely. We stood on the deck at school and watched it burn. That's what you do when you live in the village. Finally, someone called a neighboring village and they brought a submersible pump, cut a whole in the ice through the pond behind the house and pumped some water on to the fire. The family of 5 lost everything. That house will cost about $250,000 to rebuild. That's what my house cost 5 years ago and it was put together by the shop class so there wasn't so much paid out for labor. Everything will have to be shipped in by barge next summer when the river thaws.

Yesterday was our fifteenth anniversary. We sure have done a lot and gone a lot in our 15 years! Poteau, Louisville, Poplar Grove, Henderson, Holdenville (3 houses there) and now Kasigluk. I never would have imagined..... The Mr. gave me a necklace and bracelet made here in Alaska from jade and walrus ivory. They are beautiful.

The snow go (can't decide how that should be spelled!) arrived last Friday night about midnight. The Mr. had to go to Bethel and drive it out here. We bought it in August from a Physician's Assistant there in Bethel --- check out her blog for more info about where we live. She has a GREAT blog: TundraMedicianDreams.blogspot.com

Anyway, the Mr. couldn't bring it out here until the rivers froze. Well.... they are plenty frozen now. Last night's temp was -17 and so was the windchill. It's much colder this November than it was last year.

The natives call a snowmobile a snow go. Ours is a Polaris and it's dark red. It a touring model with an extra long seat. It rides great. Saturday when the Mr. took me out I was hanging on for dear life but now I just ride. We are going to Bethel tomorrow for groceries. 28 miles and we figure it will take us at least 2 hours to get there and 2 to get back. I hope it warms up some...

Native Dress - Kuspuq

This is Teacher Vivivan and Teacher Georgia. I caught them visiting in the gym during Eskimo Dance one Friday. Every week the kids get to practice dancing and everyone is encouraged to wear their kuspuq. They are like hoodies but are made of cotton and have the sleeves, big pocket and the hem are decorated with matching rickrack. Sometimes they are waistlength and sometimes they have a ruffle and are longer, almost like a dress. The design of the shirt and the way the rickrack is put on will let onlookers know where you come from. Different regions use different patterns. I have 2 and I love to wear mine. I hope to bring back material back after Christmas for another.

Georgia is from Oklahoma... in fact, she's the one who got us hooked up with this school district in Alaska. Did you know that Lower Kuskokwim School District is as large as the state of West Virginia? We have about 20 villages in our district and Bethel is our hub. Bethel has about 5000 people..... with about 2.5 grocery stores..... our village has about 600 people and we have a small store. Walmart is 428 miles away.

Robotics, Basketball & Sirens

This is what our family spends time doing nowadays. The Mr. is the coach for our robotics team at school. It is open to fourth through eighth graders so the Boy is on the team but the Girl opted not to join. The kids spent the first part of October playing with the Legos and getting the board ready. They also played around with the robot and the computer. They will have to learn how to program the computer and connect the robot to it. The team has to plan out how they will have the robot accomplish its tasks on the playing board. PLUS, they have to research and make a presentation on the year's theme. This year's theme is "climate." They're supposed to do a project on how climate presents a problem in our community and what would be a possible solution. Needless to say, enthusiasm was much higher before the research started! The meet is set for Bethel on Dec. 5 - 6.

Basketball practice begins on Monday after Thanksgiving. The Mr. is going to coach and I'll be team mom. My job will be to tutor kids who want to play ball but are ineligible. They will be able to work-out (exercise) with the team but when practice with the ball starts each day --- they will go to tutoring. This will be new to them and I'm sure some of them will be very unhappy this year. Eligibility is dependent on attendance and grades. Don't come to school = you don't play ball, or go to movie-night, or whatever.

Which somehow makes me think..... Have I told you about the siren? Every night the VPO (village police officers) runs their siren to signal curfew. Weeknights right now close down at 9:00. Weekends are 10:00. In the summer it will be 11:00. Kids wander the village until these times and sometimes even later. During Slavik (Russian Orthodox religious celebration) kids and adults will be out all night, even though the siren will go off. Anyway, we love the siren at our house. The playground is right outside our front door and kitchen window. Some nights it's a real relief when everyone goes home.

Out on the Tundra

I took these pictures back in September. We borrowed the school four-wheeler and trailer and went out to Fox Lake. We picked berries and went sight-seeing. The rest of the family had been out there last year but it was my first time. It was very interesting walking on the tundra. The ground was VERY spongy - sort of like the moonwalk at the fair. You really can bounce. And the colors were gorgeous. These pictures don't show it but when you're out there and looking down at the ground, it's amazing how many different plants there are and each one is a different color. So... our fall here is much different than Oklahoma. No trees but still a lot of color if you know how to find it.

We got the snow-go on Friday night. Joe hitched a ride into Bethel with a couple of teachers from a nearby village. We are 28 miles northwest of Bethel. The trip on a snow-go is almost 2 hours. He said the trip there was pretty rough and it wasn't much better on the way back. Closer into Bethel they ran into overflow --- where the tidewater pushes up through the ice. And, he said they actually saw open holes in the ice on the river at one place. Auggghhh! Anyway, we had to work at school on Saturday but when we finished ----- we were out and playing on the snow-go! It's great. Now we are so bound into the village. At least we can visit other villages and go to their stores. Yay! It costs about $240 to charter a flight into Bethel. Now we can for a lot less.

Family

Grandma and PaPa came to visit us last month. They flew to the village and stayed with the grandkids while we were in Anchorage for J's hand surgery. Grandma got to substitute for me that week. I was so glad she was here and able and willing to help out. My students really enjoyed having them here. We talk about D and C a lot now in class.

The bottom picture is from the summer. Those are the grandkids. Two in Oklahoma, one in Missouri and two in Alaska. That will keep the grandparents busy in retirement---- just traveling!

He's My Helper

The boy is my really good helper. Many times he will dry while I wash the dishes. Here he is helping out all by himself. Last night he was all lovie-dovie with me on the couch. He's a special boy.

Akutaq

This picture is from earlier this fall during berry picking season. These are basically blueberries from the tundra. The kids picked them one day and we made Eskimo Ice Cream (Akutaq) the next. You mix crisco, sugar and berries and in this instance fruit cocktail to make it go farther. Sometimes they will add white fish to it. You mix by hand --- no spoon --- whipping it until it is creamy. Then you add the berries. Everyone enjoyed it.