New Year's in Anchorage

2009....Who knew that nearly a decade could go by so fast? I have moved more times and more miles than I ever dreamed....I've been self-employed in a job I swore I would NEVER do when I was growing up and my parents MADE me take piano lessons (thanks Dad, I appreciate them now that I've grown up a bit)....I've been a minister's wife and a substitute teacher --- NEVER planned on those two....and now I've moved to a fly-in only village in a state that really made Texas mad about 50 years ago.... Wonder what the next ten years will bring....

Our family spent Christmas at home this year. We went to the Moravian Church across the river on Christmas Eve. It was beautiful. The Mister got the snow-go out and hooked up the sled. We put on the clothes we could possibly find and then.... just as I headed out the door.... it started snowing. What more could we ask? By the time the service was over it was like an Oklahoma blizzard. We raced home and opened the gifts from the community gift exchange. It snowed all night and day on Christmas Day, which was truly wonderful as we were getting rather short on snow around the village.

I fixed turkey and dressing for lunch and another teacher came to eat with us. We had invited V. from across the river but the white-out conditions made it impossible for her to come over. After eating, we played CLUE - the DVD version. The Boy got it from his grandparents for Christmas. He LOVES to play Clue and this version was a lot of fun. We played again on Saturday since we couldn't get to Bethel due to blowing snow.

Blowing snow --- ice fog ---- strong winds --- these are the things that shape our lives. We finally got out of the village on Sunday morning. Up here you just have to live with it... no reason to fuss.... you can't control it.... however, I'm not so sure that there's not a weatherman somewhere who just likes to tick us off!

Anchorage is gorgeous this year. There is WAY more snow this year as compared to last year. The trees look like they've been painted in icing. The mountains have been out everyday but yesterday -- the day we took off driving. I will miss the trees and the mountains next week. But the tundra has its own beauty.... you just have to look a little harder for it!

We've seen Twilight, Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Valkyrie and something else.... actually parents saw two and kids saw two..... none are worth seeing again but most were entertaining at the time.

This post is becoming sort of a menagerie of stuff. So what does the new year bring to our family? The Mister and I have 3 classes to finish this semester. The Mister will begin classes in May for Site Administrator certification (lower 48 principal certificate). The Girl is working on finishing phases in Reading and Writing so she can take college classes next year. She and her dad will be busy with basketball until March, as well. I have to get jr. high Pentathlon together. The Boy has purchased so many video game and books that I doubt we will see him before the snow thaws. I have started a Christmas quilt that I promised to finish before class begins on the 14th and I've bought fabric for a quilt for our bedroom that will keep me busy for a while. The girl wants to get started on her quilt, too. We'll see....

Happy New Year to all. Come see us when you can......I know..... you're really busy...... :)

Weather Plays a BIG Part

The top picture is today. I took it after school at 4:00 from my classroom door. That's my house over there with the porch light on. I can just barely see the high school across the bridge from my class. It's about 24 degrees and the snow is blowing like crazy. I love it.

The second picture is from last week. Friday was my birthday and since I had never gone snow-going on my birthday.... we went. The kids rode in the sled behind us. It was beautiful but cold still. I tried to drive but I can't see anything without my glasses and I don't dare take off the goggles.

We're going to Bethel tomorrow afternoon if the weather clears enough. Right now I'm sitting here stewing because the Mr. won't go check the post office ---- of course, no planes have flown today... so, I knooooowwww there's no mail, but...... and since I didn't get a birthday present and I KNOW he ordered something..... I'm pouting. Maybe it will be there on Saturday when we get back.

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.