Rain, Rain, Rain

It has been a good couple of weeks here. We both finally feel like we are getting used to the way things are around here. For one thing we sure are learning to be patient. We got our phone hooked up so we feel like we now have contact back to the world but we are still waiting on Internet and satellite TV. School has been going pretty well here. It’s busy of course, but we are getting used to the routines and the students are getting used to our ways of doing things. There have been rough moments, but for the most part things are looking up.

The rain here has finally begun to stop for a while. Although, right now when I am writing this, is of course raining again. I asked some local residents and they said that there has been a lot more rain this year than in the past few years. We both feel blessed that we get to experience it! We head out in the morning with our light winter jackets and our rubber boots ready for school.

We have also noticed a huge difference in the sun. We used to wake up and the sun would beat us up in the mornings. Now, it has not even started to rise when we are walking to school at 7:00. I am starting to realize that I am going to really start to miss that sun in the wintertime. Marty, one of the other teachers was showing me some pictures of how much snow they get here in the wintertime. I was shocked at the amount that was there! He had to dig out his house in order to get out of it. Now I am used to the snow and all, but this seemed like a crazy amount of it! I liked the pictures that people have shown me with their doors open and all you can see is the snow piled up the whole way up the door. They said that this is the way that you are welcomed to the day in the morning before school. I sure can't wait.

The pictures that you see above are of Jimmy and I. We decided to take a walk out on the Tundra on the big hill area. We never made it however, because the rain started but as you can tell we were prepared as usual. The other picture is of some of the landscape around Toksook. It sure is beautiful around here when it isn't raining!

Berry Festival

It has been a long a busy two weeks here. We are busy trying to plan interesting interactive lessons for our students. Jimmy enjoyed his trip to Umkimuit. He had a chance to bond with his students and joke around with them. It did rain a lot in the mornings when they were there but overall it was nice weather and a fun trip.

The Blackberry Festival was a lot of fun. I (Kerri) was surprised at how many people from other villages were here. Jimmy and I went and helped out at the cross-country race. I was a director to tell students were to go and Jimmy did the scoring for the teams. It sure is a grueling course. I have been on my fair share of rough courses but this one takes the cake. It has a small stream in the middle of two large hills that you have to go up. There is no way you can run up these hills and from where I was standing I got to watch the kids on hands and knees trying to get up. Once they get up that large hill there is another one. They then head back (this is where I was standing). Thankfully the rain held off for awhile while the kids ran. Other than that Jimmy and I just enjoyed our long weekend and relaxed. I have been sick for a while so it was nice to catch up on some sleep and just relax for a while.

Not too much exciting has been happening here. We have parent teacher conferences this coming week so we are trying to gear up for them. We also both have class this Saturday morning for our Alaska certification.

I have not figured out how to add captions yet, so the top picture is of my classroom. The second picture is of Jimmy’s classroom. The third picture is the outside of our school. Notice all the mud? We also added some pictures to our first post one of a whale that we got to see and the other is Jimmy and I in front of a Exit glacier that is receding.

***The pictures that were just added were from Jimmy's trip to Umkimuit with his kids. The other 3 were the ones from the cross country race. In the back of one of the pictures you can see a small figure going up a hill and then on one. This is actually a runner. You can see how tough the course really is now!